Andy Neary explains how insurance sales have shifted from cold-calling to a slow-burn model that builds trust through consistent value. His Brand Authority Blueprint uses LinkedIn, YouTube, and speaking engagements to establish credibility before any pitch. By the time you present a proposal, the decision is already made.
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So the modern insurance sales cycle looks a lot different. You still have suspects, right? A list of suspects who don't know who you are. But before you can go to work putting the activity in to turn them into an appointment, you have to build awareness with them. And this, quite frankly, is a slow burn. Doesn't happen overnight. But you have to build awareness where they know you exist, where you are delivering a lot of value to them, long before they are willing to give you any time. This is why we stress the use of our Brand Authority Blueprint, the 4 pillars to help you become and create a unique sales message in the industry. One, it's going to help you stand out, but two, it allows you to build a lot of, create a lot of value for your prospects before, before you ever walk in their door. And if you're willing to commit the time to deliver a lot of value to your prospects, before you ever walk in the door, you're gonna build credibility and some trust before you ever walk in their door. That's a must today. What does that mean? Well, this is why, this is why you gotta start to consider some of the challenge, some of the channels via marketing that you can use to build credibility and trust. Are you using social media appropriately? You know, if you're in B2B sales, you should be using LinkedIn and YouTube at a minimum. Are you using that appropriately to build awareness with your ideal prospect? Are you speaking? Where can you go find rooms that your prospects hang out in? Conferences, organizations, associations where you can speak and build that credibility and trust. Are you hosting webinars? Are you out networking? It's why podcasting exists. All this is, is another channel of delivering value to build credibility and trust. You know, when I look at the success we've had here at Complete Game Consulting, it has definitely been through leveraging the power of the slow burn. I made a commitment long before I opened the doors of Complete Game Consulting. When I was still selling health insurance, I made a commitment that I was gonna show up every day on LinkedIn with valuable content directed at my ideal prospect. And that's what helped me sell a lot of insurance and also open a lot of big doors that I could have never opened before. Fast forward, It's the same strategy we're using at Complete Game Consulting. When I go do a half-day workshop with a team, hands down, the number one reason that workshop happens is because the sales leader, an agency executive, had been digesting enough of my content that he or she got to the point that they knew I or we were the right choice. That doesn't happen overnight. In fact, I can think of 3 separate workshops we did just this year where the sales leader introduced me to the team by saying, "I've been following Andy's content for years, and I finally realized this is the guy we gotta bring in." It's a slow burn, but the modern insurance sales cycle requires you to build awareness with your prospects. Because if you build enough awareness with the credibility and a little trust, you will open doors. Guess what? You'll open doors with a leg up on the competition because you're already walking in with credibility and trust. It's a differentiator. Now, here's another area where the modern insurance sales cycle has adjusted. Just because the door's open doesn't mean your job's done. You also have to utilize a sales process that allows you to continue building credibility throughout the sales process. So by the time you get to the finish line, you're the only choice they want to consider. When I look at the elite producers we get a chance to work with, they utilize this strategy. They build credibility throughout their sales process to the point where the proposal or the finalist meeting, whatever you want to call it, is actually an afterthought. It's almost like the proposal is just the prospect's way of validating their decision to hire you. Really what it is. It's not, you're up against 5 others and I hope you do well. It's no, no, no. You've built so much credibility and trust with us that we just need to make sure we trust, we, we are validating what you're saying to us and what you say you can do for us. Let's get together and let's validate that. The, the proposal is almost the afterthought. The decision has already been made before the proposal. Why are they doing that? Because what they're doing in the sales process is they're utilizing a lot of modern sales strategies to build the credibility. Number one, they're being transparent. 2, they're actually trying to disqualify the prospect as much as they're trying to qualify. They're trying to give the— they're giving the prospect reasons not to do business with them or the reasons they may not be a good fit for them. They talk about objections early and often, all things we preach and you've heard me say, but they're also continuing to deliver immense value to the prospect. They're giving away everything for free, whether it's in their content, talking to the prospect throughout the sales process, they're giving everything away for free. Which is making them the obvious choice. This is how the modern insurance sales cycle works today.
