I went bowling last week, and each time I threw the ball down the lane I couldn’t help but think how much bowling can teach us about the most basic fundamental to sales success, KEEPING SCORE!!!

For me, bowling isn’t just about throwing the ball down the lane. I want to knock down as many pins as possible with each throw, and ultimately my performance or ability in accomplishing this goal is measured by the final score after 10 frames.

As a sales coach, I can tell you that most people track their results (pins knocked down). However, they’re not tracking the number of times they throw the ball (attempts to make a sale). Wouldn’t it be cool if after every 10 Contacts (like 10 frames) you got your "policies written or premium closed score"? By doing so, your results would ALWAYS be measured against your 10 Contacts. For example, if you closed $1,200 in premium from your 10 Contacts, you could divide $1,200 by 10 to see that you’re averaging $120 in premium per Contact. Or you could divide the number of policies closed by 10. Either way you get “a score” and it’s this score that needs to be seen to increase production!

Imagine bowling with no system of keeping score, you’d never know how good or bad you really are. You wouldn't know if you’re improving, getting worse, or staying consistent. There would be little motivation to make the changes necessary to improve. In my opinion, this is why people struggle, work harder than needed, and lack an ability to know what actions and steps will take them to the next level.

When you assess your Sales Process activity, are you just throwing the ball and only remembering your strikes or are you actually keeping score?

When keeping score, your goal is to SEE PERFORMANCE, which is the amount of effort it takes to get a result. By seeing performance (percentages, averages, etc), it then becomes easier to make the changes necessary to increase production because you start focusing more on HOW you’re getting the result, rather than the result itself! To get your “sales score” it's important to understand that sales DON’T just happen. They’re what you get when successfully moving people through the Sales Process:



This week, to keep things simple, we’re only going to focus on the Contact, which we will define as, ASKING WITH THE INTENT TO SELL!!! For example, if you say:

“Can I give you a competitive quote?”

“I notice we have your auto and home, but not your life. Who’s taking care of your life?”

“Can I interest you in a ____________ credit card?”

“Would you like to come in for a review?”

“If we had another line of insurance we can get you a multiline discount. Can I quote you a renters policy?”

ANY ASKING WITH THE INTENT TO SELL, like the examples above, count as a Contact! (Follow-up calls DON’T count – they’re important they just don’t count as a Contact, but you can count them as a Follow-Up).

Another definition that needs to be counted as a Contact is when someone asks YOU about your product or services. For example, if someone calls and asks for a quote, this would count as a Contact. For your benefit, I would HIGHLY recommend that you DO NOT count existing customers calling in with a car change or adding a driver as a Contact (I will explain this more in future newsletters). These things should be counted as “basic service etiquette”. However, people shopping around should definitely be counted.

For perspective purposes, think of a Contact as throwing the bowling ball down the lane. This is a necessary act before ANY pins can fall!!! Just like getting a Contact (asking with the intent to sell) is a necessary act before ANY sale can be made. So what you want to be able to do is to measure your Contacts against your results, which will then give you your score! For example, you can measure Contacts against policies written, premiums closed, or even appointments set. It really depends on what “score” you want to see and once you see your score you’ll be amazed at how easy it becomes to improve your score.

“Only those who see the invisible can do the impossible!”

In summary:

• KEEPING SCORE will increase your production
• Performance is the amount of effort it’s taking to get a result
• To see performance you must track both your effort and results
• Seeing performance (your score) will give you the motivation and drive needed to make the changes that will increase your performance and results