Webster's Dictionary defines selling as, "to persuade someone to buy something." Successful salespeople are artists who work in the medium of persuasion, but even the Picassos of the sales world sometimes have trouble creating a masterpiece.
Whether a sales agent is a master artist or a paint-by-number apprentice, selling to the small business sector is one of the smartest career decisions he or she can make.
Why sell to small businesses?
Small businesses are motivated buyers. Research makes it clear: small businesses need the added value leverage that insurance solutions can offer, to attract and retain quality employees.
The numbers are in our favor. Data from the Office of Advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration states that small businesses accounted for 99.9% of the 25.8 million businesses in the United States in 2005. And according to U.S. Census data, over the past 10 years small businesses created between 60 and 80% of job growth in America.
But in the 21st century, knowing the small business numbers is not enough --it is also necessary to know the owners. For example, according to the recent Survey of Business Owners by the U.S. Census Bureau, women owned 6.5 million (28.2%) of non-farm U.S. businesses and generated $940.8 billion in revenue. Minorities are emerging, too, with 4.1 million firms generating $694.1 billion in revenue. These businesses employ half of all private sector employees. To recruit qualified employees and retain their current workforce, small businesses need to offer some of the health benefits that larger corporations provide for their employees. Employers who offer a rich employee benefits package can help curb turnover rates and alleviate the need for additional employee training if a veteran employee leaves the company because of inadequate benefit offerings.
There is a wealth of opportunity for sales professionals to succeed in the small business marketing arena. But success will come to those sales professionals who recognize the size, shape, motivation, and face of 21st century small businesses and take the steps necessary to capitalize on this opportunity.
Do small businesses need insurance?
Historically, large firms have had a competitive hiring advantage because they could offer more comprehensive benefit packages than small businesses could. This, and the fact that the pool of high-quality employee candidates is shrinking, makes small business owners and managers increasingly concerned about the benefits they can make available to employees.
To find out more about these concerns, Aflac commissioned a survey of 501 small business decision-makers in May 2006. According to the survey, the top five concerns of small business owners are maintaining healthy profit margins (83%); controlling operating expenses (82%); providing affordable insurance coverage for employees (70%); attracting and retaining employees (66%); and providing a benefits package that will help attract and retain employees (63%).
The survey also showed that 37% of small business owners believe that health benefit offerings impact their ability to attract and retain good employees and nearly half (49%) of respondents agree that they cannot attract and retain top-quality employees without competitive health benefits.
Survey respondents indicated a direct correlation between profitability and current health benefits, with more than a third (36%) reporting that their current health benefit plan has negatively affected their business. The top three effects were cited as: decline in profitability (24%), inability to attract new employees (11%), and loss of good employees (7%). These survey results show that small businesses need competitive insurance solutions -- which is where the insurance sales professional comes in.
How can you tap into the small business market?
Professional salespeople have to realize that small business owners are not scale models of big businesses. They have their own unique challenges and opportunities and need help from vendor partners, such as insurance professionals.
Small employers may need to buy insurance to offer to their staff, but what they really want is to find and hire high-quality employees and keep them. Employers want to make sure any newly built relationship with an insurance professional is focused more on what the employer wants -- productive employees -- and less on what the sales professional wants -- to sell insurance.
Differentiation is among the most powerful ways to create a competitive advantage. The key to success with small business owners is differentiation through customized solutions designed for them. The sales performance of those insurance professionals who understand this will increase as their customer's employee base grows.
Here are some small business relationship-building tips to consider:
Value their time
Small business owners have too many hats to wear and not enough heads to put them on. Time is their most precious commodity. Employ differentiation by avoiding lengthy and complex sales presentations. Find out what they want, and show them how you can help them accomplish their goals in as few words as possible. When more details are needed, they will ask.
After you make the sale, recognize that employee time with you for enrollment is likely time away from work. So conducting a smooth enrollment/application process that is as customized as your sales approach is important as well.
Position yourself as an expert
Educate your customers with the information they need to make informed decisions as they need it, but not all at once. Sell the concept that they don't have to be an insurance expert because that's what you're there for.
Build a trusting relationship with small business customers by providing useful and accurate information even when -- especially when -- the focus of a contact is not about selling anything. Small business owners tend to have closer relationships with their employees than their larger business counterparts. By providing entrepreneurs with insurance options for their employees, you could become their trusted insurance professional for years to come.
Don't overlook women and minority-owned businesses
As we noted earlier, women and minorities account for a large percentage of business ownership and revenue. For the savvy insurance sales professional, these emerging business owners are new sales growth opportunities.
Women- and minority-owned businesses have all of the same challenges and opportunities of any small business, but there are some elements of your relationship with these owners that are unique to them. And just as you will develop a customized strategy for how a small business is different from a big one, you must become knowledgeable of the characteristics of women and minority business owners.
The most important thing to know about women is that they make decisions differently than men do. For any man who finds this concept difficult, get a woman to help with the marketing strategy to this very important prospect pool.
The more insurance professionals can understand the market strategies of their minority small business clients, and incorporate those issues into a customized approach, the quicker customers will come to rely on them as invaluable partners.
Take the opportunity
With the millions of small businesses in our country, chances are that at least one of them is just around the corner, creating a prime sales opportunity for nearly any insurance agent. Remember, small business owners are concerned about the benefits they can make available to their employees, and they are looking for solutions that sales professionals can help provide.
Agents who do their homework to develop smart sales approaches and build solid client relationships are not only seen as heroes to small business owners, but they are also able to paint brighter pictures of their sales goals than ever before.
Ron Kirkland is senior vice president, director of sales for Aflac. Kirkland's successes included doubling new sales throughout Missouri over a three year period. At that time, Missouri was one of Aflac's fastest-growing state operations. He is also credited with developing some of the company's leading regional and district sales coordinators. With over 30 years of sales experience, Kirkland is currently responsible for the company's 60,000 independent agents' sales objectives.
