The One Question That Turns a Name Into a Red Hot Introduction

You've got clients who'd take your call on a Saturday, and you haven't asked them for a thing. 

In this episode, Randy Schwantz breaks down the exact conversation that gets your best clients telling your story before you ever pick up the phone, including the one question most producers skip that's the difference between a lukewarm name and a red-hot introduction. One producer ran this system for three years and 43% of his new accounts came straight from introductions. Cold calling is the hard way. This is the smart way. 

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Hey, I wanna tell you about the best appointment I ever watched a producer set. It's not a cold call, not LinkedIn, wasn't a mailer. He was sitting across the table from a [00:00:10] client. They'd been together for eight years. And he slid a piece of paper across the desk to him.

It was a short list of companies that he wanted to get into. And he [00:00:20] said, "Do you know anybody on this list?" Well, his client ran his finger down the list. He stopped about halfway and said, "Yeah, I know this guy. We golf [00:00:30] together."

Now, most producers, that's where they grab the name and run. They call the guy up, "Hey, your buddy gave me your name." [00:00:40] Well, this producer did something different. He asked one more question, and that one question is the whole [00:00:50] difference between a name that goes nowhere and a solid account that is thirty percent of this year's new business goal.

Well, three days later, he had a meeting. [00:01:00] Two weeks later, he had a BOR. And here's the thing, almost every producer has a client who could open a door just like that. [00:01:10] But they don't ask. And the ones who do ask, most of them are asking the wrong thing.

Welcome to the [00:01:20] Agency Growth Machine Podcast, where it's all about transforming potential into profit. And now your host, Randy [00:01:30] Schwantz.

Hey there. Welcome to the Agency Growth Machine. I'm Randy Schwantz, author of The Wedge, founder of The Wedge Group, and creator of Bignition.

It's the [00:01:40] only sales operating system built specifically for commercial insurance agencies. And today, we're talking about what I call red hot introductions. [00:01:50] It's the fastest way I know to turn the clients you already have into the best prospects you've never met. So let's get rolling. So here's [00:02:00] the deal.

Cold prospecting is hard. I mean, I know, because before insurance, I sold Kirby vacuum cleaners door to door. [00:02:10] But let me paint that picture. You walk up to a stranger's house, knock, knock, knock, knock, the door cracks open, and before you get three words out, it [00:02:20] shuts. Next house, you get a maybe. Next one, a dog is sitting there barking at you.

You do that a hundred times a [00:02:30] day, maybe if you're lucky, you get five real conversations, and that's just the cold math. It's a young man's game, and it's brutal. So most [00:02:40] producers figure out pretty quickly there's gotta be a better way, and they land on one word, referrals. Get some names, [00:02:50] warm it up. But here's something I learned a long time ago that changed everything for me.

A referral and an introduction, they're not [00:03:00] the same thing. They're not even close. So let me show you the difference. A referral is a name. That's it. You get a name and a number. Here [00:03:10] you go. And the prospect has no idea you're about to call. So you dial them up and say, "Hey, Joe gave me your name. I'd love to get together."[00:03:20] 

And what is that guy thinking? Two things. Number one, I already have a guy. And number two, why is Joe giving out my name? [00:03:30] So basically, you're a telemarketer with a mutual friend. You're still cold. You just happen to some-- know somebody he knows. [00:03:40] Now, an introduction, a real one, a red hot one, that prospect is expecting your call.

Because before you ever pick up the phone, [00:03:50] your client has already reached out to him and told him what it was like to work with you. The specific mess that you walked into, what you did about it, [00:04:00] the money you saved him. So when you finally call, that guy's thinking, "I've been waiting to talk to you." Same client, same prospect, [00:04:10] two completely different temperatures.

One hands you a phone number, the other hands you their credibility and walks it through the door ahead of you. [00:04:20] So let me make this real. Think about the last time you needed a great surgeon, a real one. Somebody who was going to operate on a person you love. [00:04:30] You didn't open up Google and sort by star rating.

You called the one person you knew in medicine, and you asked, "Who would you use?" And whatever name [00:04:40] they gave you, that surgeon was basically hired before you ever shook his hand. You hadn't met him. You hadn't seen his numbers. It didn't matter. [00:04:50] Somebody you trusted vouched for him. That's borrowed trust.

And borrowed trust is the most powerful force [00:05:00] in selling. Now, take it one step further. Imagine that same friend doesn't just give you the name, he picks up the phone, [00:05:10] calls the surgeon ahead of time and says, "Take care of this one personally. They matter to me." Now, you're not just trusted, you're expected.[00:05:20] 

You're important before you ever walk in the room. That second phone call, that's the whole difference. The first one is a referral, the second one is [00:05:30] a red-hot introduction. And in your world, that second phone call is your client picking up the phone and telling a prospect what you did for them before you ever dial.[00:05:40] 

Same prospect, two different temperatures, and that gap right there, that's the whole ballgame. So if a red-hot [00:05:50] introduction is that powerful, why don't more producers get them? Well, there's three reasons, and I hear all three constantly. Reason number one is [00:06:00] the relationship. See, they've got a great client, and they're scared that asking for something puts it at risk.

They don't wanna look needy. They don't want to [00:06:10] impose. Had a producer tell me once, "Randy, these are my best clients. Why would I risk that to ask for a favor?" [00:06:20] And I said, "Well, let me ask you something. When a friend you respect comes to you and says, 'You've got great judgment. Who would you trust with this?'

Do you [00:06:30] feel used or do you feel honored?" So he just looked at the floor. Because asking the right way isn't imposing, it's a [00:06:40] compliment. You're telling the client, "I trust your judgment enough to ask." And most people don't get offended by that. They sit up a little taller. And [00:06:50] reason number two, they don't know how to ask.

So they do one of two things. They go way too broad, "Hey, do you know anybody who could benefit from what I've done for you?" [00:07:00] Which is a dead question. Nobody's brain does a thing with that. Or they go too hard, "Hey, can you give me three names?" [00:07:10] Now, that feels kinda like a shakedown, doesn't it? So there's a craft to this, a specific way to ask that makes it easy and natural for [00:07:20] everybody, and I'm gonna give that to you in a minute.

What is reason three? Well, this is the big one. Deep down, they don't feel like they've earned the right to [00:07:30] ask. They don't feel like they deserve it. And here's the honest part. Nobody's owed an introduction. It gets earned. You earn it by [00:07:40] over-delivering for the people you already have, and that's what the best producers do.

They over-serve their top clients. The top twenty percent, the ones who drive most of your [00:07:50] revenue, get taken care of so well that asking for an introduction, it isn't a favor. It's the most natural thing in the world. John [00:08:00] Wooden didn't win ten championships for running a great practice once in a while.

He over-delivered every single day until winning [00:08:10] was just the residue of the routine. Same idea here. You over-serve, and the introduction takes care of itself. So stay with me [00:08:20] 'cause I wanna walk you through the actual conversation step by step the way the pros run it. And there's one move right in the middle of it, one question [00:08:30] most producers would never think to ask, and that is the entire reason the introduction comes in red hot instead of lukewarm.

And here's how it actually goes. [00:08:40] It's not complicated. It's a handful of steps. First, the segue. You don't ambush them. You set it up. You say, "You know, has your [00:08:50] business changed the last few years as much as mine has? Well, because of that, I really had to get focused, and so I sat down and figured out exactly the kind of companies [00:09:00] I can help the most."

Now that does something. It tells the client you're intentional. You're not begging for scraps. [00:09:10] You know precisely who you're looking for. And second, you bring the name, and this is the part most people get backwards. You don't [00:09:20] say, "Do you know anybody who could benefit from what I've done for you?" You come prepared.

You either slide over a short list, do you know anybody on this list? Or better [00:09:30] yet, you already know who they know. And so you'd say, "Hey, don't you know Bob Metcalf over at Metcalf Industries? You know, that's somebody I'd like to meet." [00:09:40] So do you see the difference in those? You're not asking them to do your homework.

You did the homework. You're just asking them to open one door. [00:09:50] And then third, you ask them to act. Would you be willing to give him a call, tell him what it's been like working with me, and see if he wants to talk? [00:10:00] And most clients say, "Yeah, okay. Sure, I'll do that." Now, here's the move, the one I told you about, the one almost nobody makes.

You say, "I'm [00:10:10] curious. When you call him, what would you tell him about us?" And nine times out of ten, the client pauses and says, "Yeah, I'm not sure." That right there, that's the [00:10:20] moment. That's when most producers panic and let it slide. The pro leans in and says, "Well, do you remember when we first met?

Remember what was going on back then? [00:10:30] That renewal that blew up, the claim nobody was handling, the gap that almost cost you everything. Remember what we did about that? And remember where you ended up?" [00:10:40] Now the client's got it. They've got the story. It's your story, the one with a specific number on the end of it.[00:10:50] 

Because here's the truth, your client likes you, but they don't remember your value the way you do. You kind of have to hand it to them or pull it out of them. You have [00:11:00] to remind them exactly what you did so they can go tell it to the next guy. And then you close the loop. You say, "Okay, so when you call them, would you be willing to tell [00:11:10] them that?"

And then the client goes, "Yeah, I'd be happy to." That is a red-hot introduction, because now that prospect's going to hear your exact story, [00:11:20] the mess, the fix, the number you saved before you ever dial his phone. And then one last step almost everybody skips. You say, "Hey, when can I call [00:11:30] you back to see how it went?"

And they say, "Well, how about Tuesday?" That callback is not just logistics. That's where your client becomes your [00:11:40] coach. You ask, "What's going on inside the company? Did the two of you talk about his current agent? Is there anything he's frustrated about?" And just like that, you're [00:11:50] walking into your first meeting already knowing where the soft spots are.

You're not guessing anymore. You've got the inside scoop before you ever sit [00:12:00] down. And think about what that does to the fight. Your competition is going to walk into that same prospect blind, reading off a generic proposal, [00:12:10] hoping something sticks. You're going to walk in already knowing where it hurts and exactly how to help.

That client of yours didn't just open the door, they handed you the [00:12:20] playbook. A coach on the inside is worth more than any prospect list you could ever buy.

And that producer I told you about, he built his whole year around [00:12:30] this. He over-delivered for his best clients. He kept a running target list of accounts he wanted to meet, and a few times a year, he ran this exact conversation. [00:12:40] In three years, forty-three percent of his new accounts came from introductions.

Forty-three percent. That's not luck. [00:12:50] That's not charm. That's a system that's run on purpose. Now, back to the opening The one more question [00:13:00] he asked his client after he pointed at the name on the list, he didn't grab it and run. He asked him, "What would you tell him [00:13:10] about me?" And when he said, "I'm not sure," he walked him right back to the day they met, the mess he was in, what he did about it, [00:13:20] where he ended up.

That is what he told the prospect, and that's why it came out red hot, and that's why he ultimately closed it. [00:13:30] So here's what I want you to do. Make a list of your ten best clients, not your ten biggest necessarily, the ones you've taken great care of, the ones who would take your call on a Saturday. [00:13:40] Then for each one, figure out who you'd love to meet.

A short list or one name you already know they know, and then go run the conversation. [00:13:50] And do not skip the move. Don't just get the introduction, get the full story. Help remind them what you did for them and have them tell [00:14:00] that to your prospect. And then call them back. Get the scoop. See how it went. Ten conversations, ten red-hot introductions, [00:14:10] every one of them carrying your story through the door before you ever say a word.

The books that grow the fastest aren't the ones working the phones the hardest. They're the ones whose best clients are out [00:14:20] there telling their story for them. Look, subscribe to this. Share this with someone on your team. But before you go, I want to leave you with something. Everything I just [00:14:30] walked you through, the target list, the segue, the one question that turns a name into a red-hot introduction, the call back where your client becomes your coach on the insight, all of it works.[00:14:40] 

Producers have been doing this by hand for thirty years. But here's the problem with by hand. It lives on a legal pad or a sticky [00:14:50] note stuck to your monitor, or worse, just in your head. And the day you get busy, it's the first thing that falls off. That introduction you meant to ask [00:15:00] for never gets asked.

That's the gap Bignition closes. Think about what it actually takes to get a red-hot introduction [00:15:10] done right over and over. You have to know your top twenty percent cold, the clients you've earned the right to ask. You have to over-serve them on purpose. [00:15:20] You have to keep a live target list of accounts you want to meet.

And then you have to walk them into that conversation with your value story ready, the mess, the fix, [00:15:30] the number on the end of it. And after the intro, you have to capture the inside scoop and turn it into a pre-call strategy that drives a wedge. No binder does [00:15:40] that. No dashboard does that Your typical generic CRM will store a name.

It will never hand you an introduction. [00:15:50] Bignition is the only sales operating system built to engineer the whole thing. It knows your top twenty, it holds your target list, it [00:16:00] captures your story so you can put it right in your client's hand, and it carries what you learn straight into your next move, every step, every producer [00:16:10] measured.

That's not a binder and a dashboard that don't talk to each other. That's one system turning the clients you already have into the best prospects you've [00:16:20] never met. That's Bignition. Come find us. And if you like this, leave a review. I'm Randy Schwantz. Go knock out your Red Hot [00:16:30] introductions, and I'll see you next week