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Databases vs Lead Campaigns – Which Creates More Sales Don’t Let Them Go! Farming vs. Hunting Leads for Annuity Sales Success Most salespeople are familiar with the Standard 10-3-1 Rule, a widely accepted benchmark in the industry. This rule states that for every 10 leads, you should aim to secure 3 appointments, ultimately leading to 1 sale. Achieving this level of performance and closing ratios is a reliable way to earn a decent living. However, it’s important to remember that the ultimate goal of any lead campaign is not just to set appointments and make a sale but also to build a database of prospects with ongoing sales opportunities. It’s easy for all of us to forget that purchasing an annuity is a HUGE financial decision that takes a lot of time and care to consider. People have worked their entire lives to build up their retirement savings so they can enjoy their golden years. Therefore, they are (and should be) ultra-protective of those assets. This leads me to my next point: most leads will not become sales and clients within 30 days. Simply put, that’s really not enough time for most people to make a larger financial decision, especially for many, the last major one that affects their entire retirement moving forward. Most advisors in the field tend to operate on a “hunting prospecting sales strategy” rather than a “farming prospecting sales strategy.” Hunting is a sales approach that only tries reaching the leads for a short time, such as 2 weeks. If the advisor doesn’t connect with that person after many attempts within days or weeks, they stop contacting them and move on. These agents assume that a sale is unlikely if they can’t connect to the lead within that time frame. However, some of the most successful advisors beg to differ. One of our most successful producers increased his annual production tremendously after he went from a “hunting” prospecting sales method to a “farming” strategy. His system helped him go from a $1M + Producer to a $20 + M producer. What he found was there was a lot of “low-hanging fruit” in his database of his older leads. So, by creating a long-term drip system, he could stay in contact and top of mind with those leads as they became closer to the buying stage of the sales cycle. And the best thing, his ROI improved because he was no longer just throwing away money by tossing away the lead after 30 days… he now had a lead until the person said, “Stop calling”. This is one example of why building a database of prospects is just as important as the immediate sale. It creates scalable growth by having a pool of future sales opportunities. Since we run a successful lead program, we’ve seen it ourselves first-hand. We’ve had leads reconverted through our system 6 months later, even 12 months later, and they will become a sale at that point. For us, this ongoing lead system is a long-term marketing strategy that resembles farming sales and marketing strategy. So… what is a “farming prospecting sales strategy,” and how do you create one? This strategy means the advisor has created a long-term drip marketing process built around a database of potential sales prospects. Basically, advisors have a system in place to keep the sale alive for longer. Some advisors have a CRM where they automate follow-up reminder tasks. For example, they set the CRM to remind them to manually send emails and call people periodically… like 2X per month or once a week. Other advisors have a full-on automated drip marketing system that sends out emails, text messages, and reminder tasks to make phone calls regularly. Whether you’re a tech guru or not… the main thing to developing a “farming prospecting sales method” is to create a long-term drip process. This could literally be something as simple as having email templates written up in Microsoft Word and a spreadsheet in Excel that helps you stay organized on your follow-ups. Next time you run a lead campaign, please remember that you may have a lot more sales opportunities than what presents within 30 days. It’s important to put yourself in your client’s shoes. I would encourage you to ask yourself, “How much time would you need to research the product solution, the advisor, and reflect on whether purchasing a $250k annuity is a good decision?” Would you need more than 2 weeks to make that decision? I don’t know about you, but I’d spend more than 30 days researching a car purchase, much less an annuity! Many people need more time to make that decision. They may be nearing retirement but are still working and are preparing to retire 90 days or even 6 months to a year later. So, it’s important to stay in consistent communication with one another without all the labor.