As writers -- and editors -- we're frequently admonished to remember our audience. It doesn't matter how well we string the words together if no one's reading them.
Sales is no different. And it makes no difference what level of sales we're talking about. It's the same for candy bars as it is for retirement plans. Before you pick up the phone or knock on the door, all sales people need two things: something to sell and someone to buy.
Case in point: Immigrants. Official estimates put the number of immigrants in the United States at 35 million. The Denver Post reported in July that from 1996 to 2003 immigrants accounted for 55 percent of job growth. That number leaps to 90 percent in some industries, the report added.
That's a wealth of potential -- in more ways than one. And it's one this month's cover guy is all over. Jesus Bustillos, president of Plans for Life in El Paso, Texas, runs his business in a town that's 75 percent Hispanic. He'd be a terrible businessman -- and not much of a broker either -- if he neglected that market.
So what does he do to tap the overlooked market? Sounds simple, but speaking Spanish certainly helps. But there's more to it than that.
"Non-Hispanic agents that are out there who are enrolling in groups, the reason that they don't have any higher percentages of penetration is because they don't connect with [the employees]," Bustillos says. "But we really get down to the nuts and bolts of how they speak. If we're visiting with a construction company, you've got to learn construction Spanish. You know, it's not regular, plain-old, vanilla-flavored Spanish. It's construction Spanish. If you're visiting with an engineering firm and those people have backgrounds from the interior of Mexico, you're going to have to learn or speak a more formal Spanish for you to connect with them, for them to know you know what you're talking about. And that's something that a lot of people don't have to worry about who are not Hispanic. Because English is English."
And that's where knowing your audience pays. All that work getting past the gatekeeper (and the human resources department) was for nothing if you enter the conference room unprepared. Who is that at the end of the table with the crutches? Which part of your plan appeals to him? And that woman in the corner who's not quite showing yet? Will you address pregnancies during your presentation?
It's as simple as doing your homework. Talk to the HR director. Who are the employees? Where do they come from? And look beyond the numbers. Find out their stories, their backgrounds, their ambitions. Then show them how you can help them get there.
From the August 2006 issue of Benefits Selling Magazine • Subscribe!
