If you're struggling to gain new customers and grow your book of business, remember that sometimes all it takes is persistence, courtesy and patience to make potential customers into sales.
Here are six things you can do to help you and help your customers make the sales process smoother and more successful:
1. Don't Be Pushy
In short, if you're pushy with your clients, you'll lose them. And that doesn't just apply to insurance sales. Any time you have something you want to sell and you're pushing a client to buy buy buy, odds are you'll just end up pushing him or her away. You've seen that annoying salesperson when you're out shopping.
Don't be that person.
If you are kind, considerate, and most of all, patient, it will make a significant difference in the number of insurance policies you are able to sell. Your client needs to feel like you are there to help them to secure their health and financial well being for years to come.
2. Honesty Is Key
Don't beat around the bush and don't stretch the truth. You don't need to.
From the beginning, it's important to be honest about what it is you are offering the client, the pros and the cons. Truthfully describe what the policy can do for the client. You'll come across, as caring, respectful, and honest. Your client will appreciate this, increasing the likelihood that you will get the sale.
Watch for verbal cues from your client that show how interested he or she is in the services you are offering. Obviously, your client is going to ask a few questions. He or she might ask if it will be easy to add a family member or they might even criticize his or her previous or current policies. The client might tell you that he or she is glad you offer such a service or that it had never been offered to them before. Or the client might be more hesitant. Read the verbal cues and act accordingly.
3. Be An Expert
Nothing will send your potential client running faster than if you don't know the details of the services you offer. If you're forced to constantly look things up or if you simply don't appear authoritative, the client will notice and likely get discouraged. Part of what you're selling when you sell this policy is yourself and your expertise. Let it shine through, and your customer will trust you more.
4. Ask Questions to Answer Questions
While you should be careful not to overuse this technique, it is an excellent marketing strategy that increases the close rate significantly. Why? It leads the client to choose your service without even realizing it. Answer a question by asking a question, and you lead them into building the policy for themselves. For instance, if a client asks if it is easy to add a family member to their policy, you could answer, "Would you like to add your children now?" But be cautious. Getting a client into a game of 20 questions could come off as pushy.
5. Give Your Client Options
An effective agent always tailors specific insurance plans to what the client wants. It can and should change at any moment during a conversation, which is where you should take clues for what the policy needs to be. When you suggest insurance policies that are based on the client's needs and wants, they know you care about improving the quality of their lives. So, don't just ram one product down their throat. Give them options and show them different ways of utilizing the same policy.
6. Give Them Time To Think
You should always give your clients time to digest what you have shown and told them. You can subtly push them in a direction - with a question or a suggestion - but you never want overload them with minutiae or get too aggressive. Your potential client is going to need time to think about their budget, their needs, their family, and so forth. If you try to close the sale too fast, you stand to lose them and the people they talk to about your agency as customers permanently. It's not worth it.
