How to recognize – and get over – a sales slump

By Ayo Mseka

Many agents and advisors who are facing a sales slump or moving in that direction are often unsure about what they can do to recharge their batteries and continue working to move their practices to a higher level of success. Two financial professionals recently shared some steps they can take to overcome their setbacks and breathe new life into their careers.

Sales slumps are inevitable, no matter your experience level, Robert Arzt, founder and president of Polaris One and InsuranceCoachu.com, explained. “The key questions to ask,” he said, are, “how long will they last, and what can you do to overcome them?”

Those going through a sales slump should start with serious self-reflection and an honest assessment of the factors contributing to the slump, Arzt said. He then shared a few self-reflection factors they can consider:

Have you become complacent about your goals? When did you last review them and do they need resetting? What is your “why” behind these goals?
Has your time management and organization become sloppy?
Are you dedicating enough time to high-value activities that directly contribute to achieving your goals?
Has your attitude shifted regarding what you consider possible to achieve, and are you proactively making the adjustments needed to fix the problem?
Have you sought feedback from others?
Are you maintaining your mental and physical fitness and are you practicing adequate self-care?

Arzt added that “keeping records and statistics helps you stay on track and serves as an early warning system to let you know when you’re veering off-track, and every business has its own set of relevant metrics.”

Areas to consider

He then shared the following “nuts and bolts” to consider:

Outreach attempts to set appointments. How many prospects do you need to contact to secure an appointment? Has that number decreased? If so, why, and what steps can you take to fix it?
Closing ratio. How many prospects do you need to ask to buy before one says yes? Are you asking enough people to buy? Is your closing ratio not what it used to be, and is it you, or are you not meeting with qualified prospects?
Have you evaluated your fact-finding skills?
Have you anticipated the objections you may get and are you happy with your responses to those objections?
Mix of business. What is the ratio of new clients to existing ones? Have you relied too much on existing clients without cultivating enough new ones?
Networking. Have you reduced your networking and other outreach activities? “This was a common problem due to Covid, but it’s time to restart your face-to-face outreach and relationship building,” Arzt said.
Based on these insights, create a plan with actionable steps to address the slump.

“Maintain a cheerful outlook and remember that consistent right actions will lead to improved results,” he said.

Early identification of a slump is key

For MDRT Past President Brian Heckert, early recognition of a slump is important in addressing that slump. He said that in the 39 years he has been in business, each of his slumps was preventable—if only he had paid attention to the warning signs.

The first piece of advice he would give “is to not let yourself get that far into the slump. Identifying a slowdown early is the key to avoiding the slump,” said Heckert, CEO & founder of FSM Wealth Management. This is done by keeping impeccable records on activity and outreach, which will detect the warning signs before the slump arrives.

Second, if it gets to that point, agents should look for activity quickly. “Go through your appointment schedule over the past year to open a discussion with opportunities that were missed or overlooked,” he said.

Third, if that approach doesn’t work, “work the best system of lead generation—referrals with a twist,” Heckert said. Rather than ask someone who they know who might be interested in working with them, advisors should schedule a breakfast, lunch or dinner appointment with some of their good clients and ask them if they would help them with their growth plans. “Find a list from Larkspur, LinkedIn or a membership directory, show it to the client and ask him or her if they know anything “about” the people with the names on that list. This will often lead to a longer discussion about opportunities,” he said.

Ayo Mseka has more than 30 years of experience reporting on the financial services industry. She formerly served as editor-in-chief of NAIFA’s Advisor Today magazine. Contact her at [email protected].