Setting the Rules of the Insurance Agent’s Road to Success…but how?
Perhaps the most important and most overlooked piece of an inbound sales opportunity for insurance agents is immediately after the first introduction to a new client and before the point where you start to gather information needed to obtain a quote.
While the greeting and first impressions are extremely important, many people fail to establish what the prospect is looking for before moving on to data collection. As we all know, the majority of callers think that they are just looking for a better price. While this is always partially true, there is always another element to the reason they are calling. If they were happy with every other aspect of their policy and relationship with their existing agent or company, they would just contact them for assistance.
Before moving on to the mundane quote information gathering component of the call, take a moment to establish why the caller is really looking to move. Often times the caller is upset that their agent hasn’t been in touch or they’ve had a bad claims or billing experience.
Asking a simple question such as “What is most important to you, price, coverage, or service?” will help you when it comes down to closing the deal. Most people will answer with some combination of price and coverage. When presented this way, not many people will opt for “price” as their only concern. The information gathered at this stage will allow you to set the Rules of the Road.
When you get the typical response, “I really want to lower my cost but I want to make sure that I have the right coverage”, you’ve set yourself up to be able to respond to the traditional “price only” objection at the point of sale. You have now established that price is not their only concern. As long as you are able to present a good price with coverage that they have agreed with during the sales process, you have increased the chances for a sale.
There is also a relationship building component to this question. Most other agents are simply going to dive into the data gathering aspect of a quote. Asking the client what they want will make you stand out from the crowd and will be appreciated by the caller.
The point of setting this expectation up front is not to get you more quotes. It is to establish what the client is looking to solve and give you a better chance at overcoming any objection at the end of the call thereby increasing your close ratio and your overall sales.
Combined with the previous blog, we’ve now covered the two first parts to an inbound sales call.
Keep an eye out for my next vlog, Gathering Data which continues the theme of building a relationship and setting up the chance for a successful sale which are all components of our AppX Sales Insurance training module. Please contact me using the Contact button above or just call me directly.
Does anyone ask the caller what it will take to get their business at the beginning of the call?
Let me know in the comments below.
