Four Tricks to Make Selling Insurance Easier
1. Be Consistent
I’m going to start with the most important thing. I’ve seen seasoned salespeople, and even sales managers, make this mistake all the time. They take a call for an appointment with an agent, but never make it there or never call them back. This is not okay! You must be consistent with your appointments, because if you are not consistent you will lose credibility and trust with your clients. Being trustworthy is key to selling insurance! The next time you need to take someone out on an appointment ask yourself, “Will I go?” If the answer is no then don’t schedule it! This will hurt your business in the long run because it makes people wonder what else you’re making up as well as making them feel like they can’t trust you. This leads me into my next point…
2. Be Honest With Your Prospects
I have heard so many stories of agents saying one thing but doing another when they meet their prospects in person for an appointment – this is NOT GOOD! Agents need to be honest about everything from how much they earn each month to what insurance coverage they have or if their spouse has any that needs taken care of by a life insurance policy etc.I am becoming an insurance agent now, so I know it’s hard to be honest about your sales numbers, but you need to be. This will go a long way in trust with your clients.
3. Be Yourself!
You’re going to get a lot of different advice from salespeople and sales managers when trying to sell insurance. Some people will tell you that the only way you can make more money is by selling policies that are more expensive or selling policies that may not fit what your client really needs… DON’T BUY INTO THIS! If a person has a $10,000 policy on their life and they need another policy on their life for $100,000 don’t try and convince them otherwise. You’ll lose some business this way because sometimes people want cheaper insurance or they may not really understand what exactly is needed for them until they get into their new home or car etc., but I’m telling you now – BE YOURSELF! Sell the best policy that fits their need based on what they have told you up front – then let them decide if it’s worth it at the end of the sale if they want to purchase another one even though it isn’t a necessity. People need to understand that they really need life insurance and how it can help protect their family after they’re gone.
4. Take Notes
This is very important! If you do not take notes when someone calls in or even when you meet with them for an appointment, you will forget things that were said and then either the prospect won’t trust you or, in most cases, the prospect will flat out tell you they don’t trust what you told them previously. This has happened to me many times and I am still learning this lesson! When a client calls in make sure to write down what kind of policy they want (term = whole life), why they want it (to protect their family), how much coverage ($300,000), if any other policies are needed ($500/month), when their current policy expires ($12/month – June 2017) etc., because if your prospect gets sick or is in an accident before the current policy is up he may not remember why he called in initially… this way all of your information is clear and consistent throughout the process. If a client comes into your office for an appointment write down all of these things so that if anything changes on your end or theirs soon after meeting them again at some point later on there won’t be any confusion about what was sold already or needs sold now etc.