Excuse Me, Were You Listening?

One of the most important skills of an insurance agent is to listen and pay attention to what the client wants and needs, not selling them your favorite product. After over 25 years of training agents with product knowledge, sales techniques, networking, properly using listening skills, focus on listening is by far the toughest for most to learn. The average insurance agent says they listen but do they really listen. My experience is they don’t listen thoroughly.

Here is a great exercise I have used with GEICO and Assurant agents in the past. Watch this short video of young people passing a basketball.  Count how many times the team in white shirts passes the basketball.  Go ahead, watch the video. Did you get it right? Or did you miss an important component? Listening takes a lot of practice, focus and most of all not following the daily distractions. In our high tech world of cell phones, emails, text messages, computers, flat screen TVs, music blasting and digital images, it has become more difficult than ever to sit in a public place and really listen to a client’s wants and needs, but it has to happen.

Here is a little exercise I have used to train call center insurance agents and improve their listening skills. I would have them go to a crowded coffee shop or restaurant. Make sure there are plenty of distractions. Loud conversations, background music, TVs playing, cell phone conversations, the works. Then have the insurance agent to sit and focus on some one’s conversation. Not staring, don’t be a stalker or a creeper, but really listening to their conversation that is not directed at them personally. The more they can pick up, the better listener the agent will become. If you can focus on a single conversation in the middle of numerous distractions, then next time the insurance agent is on the phone or has an opportunity to sit down with a client with hardly any distractions the agent will pay closer attention to detail.

Any insurance agent that masters the skill of listening will always be a top producer. The agent makes more sales, gets more referrals and has better persistency than an average or below average insurance agent. Don’t spend all of your time working on sales skills and closing techniques, work on your listening skills to improve your insurance sales.

Infographic: Cheap auto insurance? Just ask!

Word of mouth...

The cheapest and most effective marketing tool available to an Insurance Agent.

In general, people would rather do business with people they know or that have been recommended to them. A happy customer should be seen as an opportunity. When a customer compliments you, do more than just thank them. In turn, ask them if they have any friends or family members that might need your help - let them know you’d be honored if they’d refer you.

The WHY

The end of the first quarter is near, are YOU still laser focused on your goals or have you lost some of your drive?

It is during this time that it’s critically important to clearly understand the “WHY” in what we do.  This is a significant factor in knowing where you want to go and culminate this year.

I recently had the opportunity to view a video about the “WHY”. It was a video that has caused daily reflection for some time. In fact, so powerful, we felt it would be unfair not to share it with each of you.

The focus is WHY we do what we do, whether it be in business or in life. Below are some of the key points of the talk. We hope these simple, yet important thoughts truly make a difference for you, your family and your business this year:

Why - Why we do what we do – It is our purpose, our cause, our belief system. Why do we get out of bed in the morning or why does an organization exist?

How - How people do it - your differentiating proposition. The processes by which we do what we do. Does our make “all the difference” for others?

What - What is it that we do? Do we have clarity on our mission?

People aren’t in it because of what you do, they are in it because of why you do it; when the opportunity to connect with people who believe what you believe arises, a common why occurs. It is our hope that everyone will consider the WHY in everything you do and that your true belief will reflect in your efforts, whether it be business or pleasure, family or friend. Every relationship matters.

There is so much to be thankful for–our families and friends, our health, our homes, our daily lives. And there is incredible opportunity going forward in 2013.

Thank you for your support, confidence, your hard-work and friendship!

All the best,

P.S. What's your WHY - The “WHY” (video)

Business Card Strategy that Works

I’ve got an incredibly effective marketing idea for you. It’s called handing out business cards. I know – it’s new, it’s different, it’s unique. Well, it’s actually none of those things, but, I have a strategy for you that I know will greatly enhance the results that you want as a result of handing out a business card to a prospective patient, client or customer. There are TWO parts to the strategic process of handing out a business card.

Let me explain:

When you meet a prospect, it is likely that you are so focused on “selling” them on our products or services that you simply hand out your business card with the instruction to call you. This is really the 2nd half of the process.

The part that most agents miss is the 1st half of the process – which is when you willingly let the prospect know that “I’m not sure if I can help you.” And, that in order to find out more about their unique, special, different problem or situation, you should really talk to them for an extended period of time in the office (for what could be a free consultation).

Asking you to tell this person that you’re not sure if you are able to help them (when you know you can) probably feels VERY uncomfortable or unnatural. I absolutely understand why you feel this way. Keep reading, as there IS a method to the madness.

When you take the business card out, and you hand it to a prospect, make sure you write on the back of that card: “free consult.” (Every professional – doctor, financial professional, attorney, business owner, etc., can talk to anyone for free. I am not aware of any compliance laws that prevent you from speaking to someone for free.) Again, I want to stress the importance of the first part of that process. Most of us get so caught up in talking to AND selling someone on our product/service, that we forget about credentializing ourselves, and qualifying them.

In other words, maybe they’re not qualified to be your client or customer. And, in the process of you qualifying this prospect, an amazing psychological event happens; THEY start to want to be your new client/customer. Why? The truth is, we all have this need – a desire – to qualify… for anything! I want you to tap into that desire/emotion.

When you’re talking to a prospect and you’re sharing your solutions for their particular problem, you must include that 1st part: “I’m not sure whether I can help you. You should really come into the office first so we can discuss your problem in greater detail so that I can provide you with more information, and all available solutions to your problem. Then, you can make an educated decision about whether we’re right for each other.”

2nd Step – Then you can give them the business card with “free consult” written on the back, as well as the name of a person to ask for when they call your office.

I would say, “My team associate’s name is Katie. When you call, ask for Katie. I’m going to let her know that I spoke with you today. She’ll be expecting your call and will schedule your free consultation as soon as possible. I look forward to seeing you in the office.”

I hope you see how different this approach is as compared to everyone else they meet. This is not the typical hard-sell approach, but an ethical take-away that enables you both to see whether you are right for each other WITHOUT any pressure.

That’s the new, unique, slightly tweaked and perfected incredibly strategic twist that you want to put on handing out business cards to prospects.

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Life Insurance Selling by Brian Kay

How To Use The Secret Art Of Consultative Selling To Sell Up To 10 Out Of Every 10 Prospects You Meet With

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I'd like to talk about one of the most misunderstood methods of how to sell life insurance - it's called "consultative selling", and although many of you may have heard this term used before, I guarantee that very few of you are using this method to its full capacity.

You've all heard the saying that "Telling is NOT life insurance selling!" Unfortunately, this is what 95% of the salespeople I come into contact with are doing with life insurance sales.

The old mentality of "If you throw enough stuff against the wall, some of it is bound to stick," does not apply to life insurance sales.

The only thing your prospect cares about is "What's in it for me?" So, all of you guys who keep asking me why I don't use a flip chart in my sales presentation, I want you to listen up.

No 0ne cares one bit what YOU think
they should like about your product!!

The only thing the prospect cares about when they agree to meet with you is that you can provide the solution to their problem. Pretty simple, huh?

The only catch is "How do you find out what their problem or emotional hot button really is?" The answer is, "You shut your mouth after a brief introduction and ice breaker, and let them tell you what they're looking for you to do for them."

A lot of salespeople start by pitching right away. Boy is this wrong!!!

What you should be doing instead is saying something like this, "Mr. & Mrs. Prospect, I'll tell you anything and everything you want to know about my services, but before I do that I'd like to find out some more information about you. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you some questions, is that O.K.?"

Did you catch that? You have just learned how to create instant rapport with your prospects, and how to get them to immediately open up to you without any hesitation.

O.K. So what do you do next? You take out your handy dandy yellow lined pad, and you start asking your prospects questions. Not just any questions of course, but questions that are related to you solving their problem.

By the way, I suggest that you start by asking the easy, non-threatening questions first, and then, once they feel comfortable with you, you can start asking the sticky questions like, "Can I see your tax return?", or "Have you been saving for your child's college education?", or "Have you put anything away for retirement?"

Do you see what I am doing here? I am asking emotionally charged, leading questions that will switch my prospect over from the logical side of the brain to the emotional side of the brain, which is a lot easier to sell to.

The logical side of the brain makes decisions very slowly,
while the emotional side of the brain makes impulsive decisions based on
feelings rather than pure logic!!!

Now, since we want Mr. & Mrs. Prospect to sign up for our program that day, it is essential that our life insurance selling is geared to their emotions as well as their logic. "Stop right there Brian, you just told us that we are supposed to be selling to the emotional side of the brain, and now you're telling us we're supposed to sell to both the logic and the emotions, which one is it?"

I'm glad you asked that question because this is a very important point that few salespeople understand.

People buy based on emotions, but they want to back up their
emotional decisions with logical reasons for their purchase...

If you don't mix facts and figures in with your emotional sales presentation, your prospects will end up with "Buyers Remorse". Buyers remorse will set in a day or two after you leave, when your prospect has a chance to cool off and think about their decision. If they don't have logical reasons to back up their emotional decision, they will regret buying from you, and will probably ask for a refund.

Therefore, you must give them enough factual ammunition to ward off any life insurance selling killers, like their family or friends who don't understand what you do, and decide to tell your prospect that they think they wasted their money on your service, or that they heard these types of services were scams.

All of these things are untrue, of course, but you better make sure that you have given your prospect enough cold hard facts and benefits to deflect this criticism, and still feel good about their purchase. In fact, if you do this...

Many of the friends and relatives who were originally skeptics will end up
giving you a call to schedule an appointment since
you did such a good job educating your prospect!!!

Anyway, let's get back to what we were talking about earlier. You were at the point where you were asking the prospect emotional, leading questions that, if done properly, will let you know exactly what problem the prospect is looking for you to solve.

One other thing, while you are asking these questions, it is absolutely essential that you take notes on your yellow pad about the answers your prospect gives you. This shows your prospect that you really do care about what they're saying, and that you're not just asking these questions for the hell of it. Also, make sure you are giving your prospects good eye contact throughout the entire question asking phase, or they will think you are shifty.

Now, after you are finished asking all of your questions, it's time for you to make a transition into the presentation part of the interview. This is where, like a doctor, you have listened emphatically to all of their "symptoms", and now it is time to "prescribe" a solution to their problem.

To make this transition seem natural, I suggest that you say something like this, "Has anyone ever discussed your financial situation with you before?", or "How much do you know about financial planning?" They will probably say something like, "We know very little about financial planning".

At this point, you say, "Well, what I'd like to do is explain to you how financial planning works, what I do, and then we'll decide whether or not it makes sense for you to become a client, O.K.?"

What you have now done is the following - you have made the meeting very non-threatening by offering to educate them on a topic they know very little or nothing about, and you have also, in a non-threatening manner, set them up to understand that they will be asked to make a decision at the end of the meeting, but only if it makes sense for them to get involved.

Now, at this point, you whip out your good old yellow pad, and you give them a simple down-to-earth presentation of the benefits of using your services.

Oh, I almost forgot, there is one more thing that I always do during a sales presentation. I sit next to my prospects. I never sit on the other side of my desk. I want my prospects to feel comfortable with me, like I'm on their side, and you cannot accomplish this feeling by sitting across from your prospects. So, if possible...

ALWAYS SIT NEXT TO YOUR PROSPECTS!!!

As you go through the presentation, I want you to weave in what you learned during the question and answer part of the interview. Spend a lot of time focusing on the benefits and solutions that they told you they were looking for. Send less time on the features and benefits that didn't seem to be as important to them.

If you do this properly, you will make them feel like your service is customized especially for them, which is exactly the way you want them to feel.

Everyone wants personalized services,
no one wants the "one size fits all" mentality.

I also want you to make sure that your prospect understands each and every feature and benefit that you describe to them. A lot of people will nod their head politely, even if they don't understand what the heck you're talking about. You don't want this to happen because if you lose your prospect's concentration, you will also lose the sale.

The way to make sure that this doesn't happen is that, every now and then, you say something like, "Do you understand what I'm saying here, if not, please let me know?". This simple statement should make your prospect feel comfortable enough to tell you that they are confused about something you are saying. It will also make them feel like you really do care about them.

Anyway, towards the end of the presentation, you will be getting ready for your final transition into the close. A lot of salespeople do beautifully up to this point, and then get nervous, and give off strange vibes to the prospect, who responds by stalling, and saying something like "I want to think this over." Now, I know most of you have never been stalled before, and you always close on your first appointment (Yeah, right), but for those of you who would still like to know how to close up to 10 out of 10 prospects, I want you to say something like this at the end of your presentation, "Well, that's basically what I do, do you have any questions on anything that I didn't cover here?"

If you did my presentation properly, most prospects will say something like, "No, you pretty much covered everything, the only thing you didn't tell us is how much you charge?"

Now you got them exactly where you want them, they are so anxious to use your services that they are actually...

Closing YOU!!!

Here's what you say when they ask that question, "Mr. & Mrs. Prospect, did I explain to you what my fee structure is, or how my guarantee works?" They will say, "No, you never explained it to us."

Then you say, "Well here's the way I work, I give you a written guarantee that you must be absolutely thrilled with my financial advice or you can ask for and get a full refund of my entire fee anytime within your first 3 months of working with me. This almost never happens, but if for some strange reason it happens in your case, we will be happy to refund your fee in full."

And then comes the clincher, you use a non-threatening trial close like, "So, Mr. & Mrs. Prospect, does this sound like something you would be interested in?"

If they say "Yes", which in my case about 9 out of every 10 do, then you follow up by saying, "Great, then all I need to do to get your started is to fill out this financial questionnaire, which shouldn't take us very long, O.K., Mr. Prospect?", and then you fill out the questionnaire so you can get started.

If you would like more information on how to get qualified leads and referrals for your business along with proven strategies on how to sell life insurance, CLICK HERE to get a copy of our FREE Report "How Any Insurance Agent Or Financial Advisor Can Add An Extra $5,000 - $25,000 Per Month To Their Existing Business With No Cold-Call Prospecting."

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For more FREE articles, tips, newsletters and expert opinions on how to get more qualified leads, sales, and referrals for your business, you can visit the leads4Insurance website at http://www.leads4insurance.com. Or, you can sign up for Brian Kay's FREE Marketing Tips Newsletter which contains dozens of proprietary marketing secrets and strategies on how to skyrocket your sales and profits. To subscribe, simply send a blank email message to: leads4insure2@aweber.com.

Brian J. Kay, Executive Director, Leads4Insurance
921 Port Washington Blvd., Suite # 3 Port Washington, NY 11050
tel:(516)944-6700 fax:(516)944-5275 email:info@leads4insurance.com

This article is copyright © by Leads4Insurance.com All Rights Reserved

Explaining Medicare supplement products

Seniors’ top concerns tend to be outliving their assets, maintaining their independence, as well as their own health and safety issues. For seniors over age 75, their worries center on family and friends, leaving a legacy and their reputation.

If you have been selling for very long, you have heard about the concept of “features versus benefits.”

• Features are what the product has or does.
• Benefits are why your prospect would want those features.
• In other words, features are about the product, benefits are about the user: What will the product do for them?

For example, if you have something that is metal instead of plastic, metal might be a feature. But the benefit might be that it is more durable, longer-lasting, or unbreakable.

Features are the language of logic. Even people who insist they buy logically or based on features do so because that’s what makes them “feel” better.

Benefits are the language of emotion. Focus on emotions, not intellect. People buy on emotion but are moved to action by logic.

An easy presentation
A good and easy presentation would be the outline of coverage for the Medicare supplement product provided by an insurance company. You start by showing them the chart of the standardized Medicare Supplement plans. Let them know that all insurance companies now offer the same plans. Plan F with one company has the same benefits as Plan F with another company. The main difference is the premium that each company charges. You’d then go to the outline of coverage where it shows the services that are covered, such as hospitalization, skilled nursing home care, medical expenses, foreign travel and the like.

The outline shows what Medicare pays, what Plan F pays and then what the client would pay. If you’re showing Plan F you’d go over the outline for Plan F. By showing them this information it lets them know what the gaps are in Medicare and how the Medicare Supplement will pick up those gaps.

You will want to let them know that you’re an independent agent. Tell them that you’re licensed with the top carrier in their state, yet if any new plans come out you’ll let them know about it. This is very important, because if you don’t tell them about the new plans when they become available, another agent will.

Also, use the brochure that your carrier provides. Go over the fact that the plan is guaranteed renewable (meaning as long as they pay their premium they can keep their coverage regardless of claims or health issues), there is no waiting period for pre-existing conditions, and any other benefits that the brochure shows. These are the things you’ll be leaving with the client.

Highlights

• First day coverage, no waiting period for pre-existing conditions.
• Guaranteed coverage with no health questions (open enrollment).
• Medical coverage that can be used with any doctor or hospital throughout the U.S. that accepts Medicare assignment.
• Automatic claims filing, no paperwork or claims to submit.

Reasons seniors buy senior products

• NEED – They feel a need for protection.
• WANT – They want to transfer risk from themselves to an insurance company.

Your key to success: Establish the need and determine an affordable way to pay for the coverage. Seniors tend to focus on how a situation makes them feel. Their responses are based on their total life experiences.