Recently I was in San Antonio speaking to a group of super talented wholesalers.
The speaker before me was the national sales manager of a mid-size third party marketer. As a COI he was invited to give his perspective to the team.
In his presentation he was focusing on the best practices of wholesalers that call on his firm and the areas that are in need of improvement.
His message?
Don’t ignore the producers in the middle of the sales pack.
It’s what Wholesaler Masterminds calls the ‘Movable Middle’.
Many wholesalers focus on 2 distinct groups: the folks at the top of the sales charts (because everyone wants to bag an elephant) and those producers that are newer to the firm (in an effort to build allegiances with new arrivals).
Yet this manager stressed the importance of also focusing on that broad swath of advisors that are firmly placed in the middle.
And we think he is right.
After all, somewhere is the middle is the next elephant. And doesn’t it make sense to have them as a raving fan of you and your firm now, before they blow up, grow tusks and are then impossible to schedule time with?
Idea: Assuming you have a relationship with the COI (and if you don’t, shame on you and read this) offer to do a training specifically for the Movable Middle advisors that she/he recommends. The training should focus on a product concept or value add, not your specific product.
It’s a GREAT way to build relationships with COIs and the advisors recommended by them!
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janet haley says
Rob,
I agree with this article about focusing on the middle of the pack. Can you give us some of your ideas on how to do that? Pretend you’re trying to get into a BIG city branch with 100 advisors and don’t know a soul. How do you start? After 19 years, the ideas don’t have to be new to be helpful to me – sometimes I just like to be reminded of what’s worked in the past that I’ve forgotten or stopped doing for no good reason.
Thanks!
Rob says
Here’s one idea Janet:
I would focus on the COI for the office and let them know that I have tools to improve the sales performance of his Movable Middle Producers (MMP) – and set a meeting to explain what you have and how you can help. Assuming you were successful and can assist (if you can’t, don’t set up the meeting), I would ask the COI to set up a meeting comprised only of MMPs. We have clients that have used this approach very successfully. Good luck!