I work with a company located in Irvine, CA. We market for commercial insurance brokers around the nation and generate leads and do appt setting. I have a hard time distinguishing myself from every other sales call. Any Ideas on how I can make an impression with the decision makers? On average I have about 10-15 seconds to generate interest and frankly, insurance brokers offer pretty much the same thing. What can I focus on to stand out.

Are you making cold calls? It might be difficult to make an good impression with anyone if you are making cold calls.

Depending on the acount. If we are cold calling we start off with a contact name, company SIC code, and an aproximate employee count. We also take into consideration what state we are calling. If we are doing appointment setting then we have all previous insurance renewal information ie. policy expiration dates and current vendor information.

If your company is well-known and has good reputation, it might be easier to set yourself apart from others but if not, cold calling is really not a good way to get prospects IMO. Pull prospecting approach will position your company better. Is there any way you can keep yourself and your company in front of prospects so that when they are ready to buy, they will call you (instead of you making a call)? As Bill Brooks said, "Prospects buy when they want to, not when you need to make a sale".

 In my experience most companies are only familiar with Brokers that they have dealt with in the past or were referred to by customers or other business of their industry. So it's hard to stand out when we all look the same and ultimately go to the same markets. The only thing that has worked for so far is to focus on Pre-call planning. I try to send out newsletters, General information packets about us and our markets. I also call them way before time and try to expose any problem areas or pains with Price, Coverage or Overall service. Then when it is time for the dm's to decide if they will shop. I fallow up and pick at the exposed nerves. I try to identify their current provider as the source of their problems and the need to review their policies in place. I just need to get in the door. If the quote is not as competive then we are SOL anyway.

Yeah, I see your pain but it sounds like you are already doing the right thing by forcusing on pre-call planing. I looked around for some tips and if you haven't seen this, the video below might help. Bill answers questions such as "how to talk to decision makes and get them interested" and "how to deal with price beaters".

http://www.brooksgroup.com/blog/2007/06/01/ceo-bill-brooks-answers-your-questions-week-3/

Several things are happening in relating to positioning yourself as someone who has a unique offer of particular value.  The first thing I would recommend you do, is please don't think of what you do as being a commodity, even though others may see it that way. If we think of what we provide as a commodity, we will tend to describe it that way and we will tend to position it that way and we will get the typical response that you have mentioned here, which is just like everyone else. 

I recommend crafting a direct value statement, or what we would sometimes call an elevator speech, that very specifically and interestingly positions your insurance solution uniquely or differently from that of your competition.  And one way to do this is to remember, and I notice you said 10-15 seconds, we say typically, no more than 30 seconds, or you're right within the timetable here to convey a message of high value.  I recommend crafting a statement that may be something like this:  You might say who you are, who you represent as you normally would, and describe what you're offering as something of unique value to an organization such as the person you are calling.  You believe it has tremendous value, you'd love to see what they think it could provide for them.  Depending on who you're talking to, that is whether you're talking at the C level,  or, if you're talking at an intermediate level you might want to craft that statement a little bit differently.  Remember, you want to achieve an audience.  You want to get an opportunity to sell, as we say, or at least to schedule an appointment. But you're not going to get that opportunity if I perceive what you are talking about to be just what everyone else is talking about.  So position your commercial insurance broker offering in a different way.  It may be from the perspective of specializing in a particular line of commercial insurance, having a unique experience, having a very well-known customer base, or whatever it may be.  Anything that you can use to distinguish yourself as being different and therefore providing a higher degree of value.

I have implemented your advice in my prospecting technique such as: "I understand you’re SIC code is "1234" we have access to specialty market programs for your type of business and __ years of experience in your industry. We would like to see how our resources and expertise can help manage and litigate your insurance costs. Etc" I found that going into industry specific coverage right after the introduction generates enough interest so that I may shoot for an appointment. It's easier to sell in person. Thanks a lot.

 Why not something a bit simpler to understand......

Hi, my name is Borisavich. I with xxxxxx insurance company. We are experts at finding and covering gaps in your insurance that you may not know exist. I realize you were not expecting my call so I don't want to take any more of your time. We currently don't do business with your company and I would like to change that. Perhaps we can do business together sometime. Would you be open to that possibility?

Or...

Hi, my name is Borisavich. I with xxxxxx insurance company. We are experts at finding and covering gaps in your insurance that you may not know exist. I realize you were not expecting my call so I don't want to take any more of your time. We currently don't do business with your company and we would like to change that. Would you be open to meeting with one of our reps so we can learn more about your business and your current insurance strategy?