Too many people in the insurance business think that selling requires them to be pushy and aggressive. They think they have to talk and talk, wearing their clients down until they buy. Or, they think if they just tell clients enough information about their company or products that they’ll just go ahead and buy something — anything.
In many instances, folks who aren’t educated about their insurance needs or haven’t analyzed their specific situation may simply accept whatever you’re offering. While that might make a sale for you today, it may not do you much good in the long run. And in this business, you want to be in it for the long haul if you intend to achieve much success.
Great selling involves being low key. It involves developing the ability to lead people with questions rather than push them with facts. When you’re talking, you’re only spouting off what you already know. Truly successful people in this business understand that what really matters is getting the clients to talk about what they need, then finding the solution to their needs among your product offerings.
Don’t just tell potential clients about the products you have available. Ask them what their goals are. What are their thoughts about what insurance will do for them? Make certain they understand what insurance will and will not do for them.
In essence, your primary job is not to sell insurance. It’s to educate people about what the different insurance programs can and will do for them.
If helping people with insurance is your professional career choice, you need to see yourself as an expert advisor. You want to counsel clients into the right plan for their needs, not just sell them a product. Being an educator is an important aspect of selling. Think back to your favorite teacher. It’s likely that teacher asked a lot of questions to draw out what you knew about a subject. In fact, at the beginning of every school year, most good teachers will ask a lot of questions to determine how much their students already know about the subject at hand. You need to do the same with any new client.
If you don’t already have a needs analysis list of questions prepared and ready to use with potential clients, invest some time in drafting one.
Be careful to make the questions conversational. No one wants to be cross-examined or feel like they’re being grilled for information. However, most people do like talking about themselves and sharing the details of their situation when they feel you truly care.
None of this requires you to be aggressive. It doesn’t involve talking fast, either. Many consumers perceive salespeople as being fast talkers. If they hear that coming from you, they’ll quickly raise their defenses. They will try to get away from you as quickly as possible and seek out someone who can provide them with professional counsel rather than controlling them.
In some cases, clients will contact you seeking Product A because they think that’s what will take care of their needs — perhaps after reading about it in the newspaper or doing some online research or just talking with friends or relatives. However, you’re the professional on the subject of insurance. If all you do is talk with them about Product A and try to sell that product, you could be doing them a disservice. By remaining low key and asking questions about their needs, you could very well determine that Product B would be so much better for them and make them happier, knowing that you really listened to them.
By making your clients and their needs the star in your communications with them, they’ll sense the level of importance you put on serving them well. When people feel they are being taken care of well they’ll come back to you with repeat business and refer their friends and relatives to you. That’s when you’ve truly made it in this business — when clients think “insurance,” they think of your name.
Those producers who take center stage for themselves and their products by being pushy, showy, or talkative may appear to outshine the low-key agents. But, those who keep their profiles low and their service levels high are will be sought out again and again.
Tom Hopkins is a sales coach. He can be reached at www.tomhopkins.com or tom@tomhopkins.com.