The concept of the Chinese Egg Syndrome gets off to a fascinating start. Most people have no idea what a porcelain egg really is. The story dates back to the early 1960s. A life / health insurance trainer had one on his desk. Typically this is a nice decorative object, a colored egg-shaped piece of glass or porcelain set on a small gold metal stand. You may have seen one. This particular piece was used as an agent training display. This is the meaning.
Most agents, whether new or veteran, have a problem. And if they don’t solve this particular problem, they are likely to go out of business. It’s that easy. As any successful practitioner of the art of sales will agree, one must be on an everlasting drive to find, develop, and close leads. The search for people and companies that are receptive to our products and services is continuous. In the insurance business, that means using all sources and methods to gain access to those who may be receptive to what we have to offer. So we have to get them to buy our offered policy solutions.
You would think that finding clues is important but not crucial. Let me disabuse the whole notion. It is the life blood of the sale; insurance is no exception. Closing leads to produce business and commissions is the penultimate step in the process. The last step is service and conservation. Therefore, the main aspect is to develop a constant and fresh flow of good leads; that everyone knows is the hard part.
Now we come to the subject of this comment. In poker lingo, it means knowing when to keep them and knowing when to withdraw them. In terms of insurance sales, it means knowing when to continue developing the lead (sit back and nurture that egg, if you like) until it turns into a sale. It means knowing how and when to recognize that one is sitting on a sales lead, (an egg) one that will never hatch, a porcelain egg. Don’t think this is easy. It is not. And retain and spend time, energy, effort, calls, forwarding, additional contacts and interviews, and worrying about well-developed leads, work-in-progress, which we’ve really gotten quite attached to because we’ve put so much effort into them. , is the nightmare of too many otherwise successful business salespeople. At some point, we must part with this porcelain egg. It’s almost like saying goodbye to an old friend, an old mortal friend.
The way out of this enigma is to turn the problem into a process. It takes organization and discipline. Here’s a way to do it. Once the lead sheets are turned into product / service proposal folders, and after the first one is closed, we begin the search to determine if the proposed solutions are eggs that will hatch or porcelain eggs. From here things get interesting. From here the sales begin. From here the most creative excuses begin. From here, most of the time, potential buyers start to run low (difficult to communicate with, you don’t return phone calls, you don’t respond to voicemails, emails, faxes, follow-up letters). All seasoned advisory agents have experienced them; therefore, you don’t need to overload your readers with either.
The simple process is three strikes and out. I know this is difficult, but it is the life saver. Obviously, it makes sense to keep some in a suspense file for future follow-up. When one appears a few months later, you may want to try again. I say do it. There is something about finding a folder 8 months down the line that gives it a new look. And sometimes the porcelain egg turns into a real one and hatches. In some cases, you can even receive a call! It has happened to all of us.
I even have a FINAL resting place for a few of my porcelain eggs in the back office morgue file. You know, just in case? When this process is complete and most of the porcelain eggs have been discarded, you will find that it has been best served by serving well and in a disciplined manner. The process from initial closure to final disposal can take a few days, weeks, or at most a month. That’s with spaces to breathe between tracks and everything. You know you are doing well when you notice that you are not accumulating large files in thick folders that get more and more numerous and old! I’ve known agents who have kept these leads files for so long, the leads have died! Keep them moving.
You know you’re doing well when you’re constantly getting new leads, working them (HARD) and discarding most of them quickly, using the “one, two, three ad and you’re out” procedure. all in a fairly short time. It’s a judgment call. And by keeping a hold file, you still retain the ability to make a sale every now and then. Rotation is the name of the game. It is quite liberating. Time to move on. Here are two final thoughts. 1. Our only business action is time and skill. 2. Chinese eggs are nothing more than a waste of time, a kind of sinkhole, which must be disposed of in a reasonable, quick but orderly manner. Good sales everyone.