Case Study: Building your Sales Pipeline with a Happy Customer
Periodically we choose one of our case studies from real-member issues in our CEO peer group meetings. The objective is to share a real-world CEO challenge with practical solutions and experiences so that if you know anyone facing something similar, you can help them with ideas. We will never reveal anything confidential or of sensitive nature.
Industry: Insurance
Category(s) of the COPI: Challenge, Opportunity, Problem, or Idea:
Speaking Engagement with an Audience of Prospects
THE ISSUE: The CEO of a Health Insurance brokerage has an upcoming opportunity to speak at a state university conference of CPAs. CPAs are often the decision-makers or referral sources for corporate health insurance. The question to the CEO’s council was: What can the Health Insurance CEO present to be most effective in his 45-minute engagement to an audience of CPAs?
The Insights:
To prepare for the presentation, the group came upon the following list of questions and thoughts.
What are the other topics they have heard at this conference?
How are the sessions measured – what will maximize the value for these CPAs?
Do you have a local champion: a CPA or CEO, that loved your service?
Bring that champion with you!
Be brief and factual
Maximize the time the champion gets to speak
Show the ROI for effective health benefits: dollars as well as employee retention
The Outcome:
The Health Insurance CEO’s presentation was near the end of the conference after the CPAs had heard many tax, accounting, and legal presentations. The CEO introduced himself, spoke briefly of the importance of health benefits in a tight labor market and brief updates on the Affordable Care Act, then introduced his satisfied client: a CPA who had been with the CEO’s Health Insurance company for five years. The CPA spoke for 20 minutes, extolling the CEO’s health insurance practice and excellent service history, then they both took questions. It was one of the highest-rated presentations at the conference. CPAs from across the state now call the CEO for Health Insurance quotes or advice, and the CEO has become not only a regular speaker for this conference but has been invited to numerous similar conferences, growing his practice from a five-county region to a 3-state region.
