Lead vs. Lag

2021-08-17T19:20:40-04:00August 16th, 2021|Mindset, Personal Development|

lead vs lag indicators

I have a frustration to share. See if this one sounds familiar for you, too: A member from our Rock Star Team Member Training sent me an e-mail recently explaining she is frustrated because her recent appointments have been going well but not leading to sales.

My hand shot straight up when I read this one. 

This is something we ALL experience in the insurance field and at our agencies.  

The part of sales that makes everyone go crazy (self-included) is when you do everything right, and you still do not end the interaction with a sale. THAT is why 90% of this industry is constantly turning over. If it were easy, everyone would do it, and there’d be no money to be made.

From a mindset standpoint, I have found we must get comfortable with the two following concepts.

NUMBER ONE: 

When you do the right thing, for the right person, at the right moment, you can NEVER be wrong. Even if it means you didn’t close a deal.  

NUMBER TWO:

Lead indicators versus lag indicators.

The lead indicator we CAN control, the lag we CANNOT.

What does this mean?

It simply means if you keep doing everything right up front… performing customer service indicators — like pivoting from service to sales, having the needs-based conversations, educating people on how insurance works when they need it the most, etc. — then you will be filling your “lead bucket,” which will ultimately lead to results that may lag now, but will come to you later on down the road.

A “NO” today is never really a “NO,” it’s a “NOT NOW.”  

I promise you that when you do the right thing for people upfront and periodically stay in front of them with follow-ups, they WILL close in the future (even if it’s two or three years from now).

So get comfortable with the “long game.”  

It can feel hard because you have monthly goals today, but “future you” will appreciate “present you” down the road for putting in the sometimes tedious work of massaging relationships today.

Keep in mind, it is possible to have everything go right today, but the sale doesn’t happen. Again, that doesn’t mean it will never happen. You will have goals in the future, and customer service indicators that you practice today will help you one day hit that future goal. 

So which LEAD indicators CAN we control?

  • Number of calls we make
  • Number of appointments we ask for
  • Number of Quotes we run
  • Number of Referrals we ask for
  • The amount of time we practice our word tracks

Focus on the lead, and the results will follow.

Do you have an example of nurturing a lead, and it finally resulted in something good (a sale or something else)? We’d love to hear about it. Drop us a line on our Facebook page

Is your agency optimized?

Are you consistently:

  • Connecting with key community influencers
  • Posting on social media
  • Having team meetings
  • Holding your team accountable
  • Staying on top of industry updates

You know what to do; you just need a hand. That’s where we come in.

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