How To Sell Life Insurance – The First Step
There are a lot of sales books out there that place emphasis on what great one liner to say to a prospect that is sitting across from you. Some type of guidance like statement that gives them the feeling that they are in control when you are really leading them down an avenue that they really may not want to go down. Is not that sort of a form of lying? Think about that for a second, how would you feel if you were mislead into doing something that would only benefit the other party?
The truth on how to sell life insurance successfully does not stem from some sales pitch. The real mechanisms and where the sales process actually starts is from good marketing. Marketing is severely undervalued in the life insurance sales industry. It is undervalued by the life insurance companies themselves, and then that trickles down to the field marketing organizations, which in turn trickles down again to affect the agents directly.
So what exactly is good marketing? Would you agree that good marketing would get you leads that you can contact and get in front of to do your presentation, and then they may or may not buy from you? Well I do not think that this is a form of good marketing at all. I believe that good marketing would sell the prospect on your idea, service, or product before even getting in front of them to begin with. So why is it that most companies out there are still doing the same old marketing tactics of buying life insurance lead lists, and making cold calls, and not to mention bugging their family and friends? The reason why most companies do just that is because they believe in the old "they are either going to sink, or they are going to swim" motto.
Sounds pretty counter productive if you ask me. Remember that trickle down affect that I mentioned earlier? Well if the companies teach their agents that motto, then the new agents who are going to be underneath those existing agents are going to learn the same motto. Its a very destructive and uncaring motto, that is the reason why so many people have a strong negativity at the very mention of the words "multi-level marketing". I am sure that you know at least one person who would flip out if you had mentioned those words to them. Marketing properly is a very important step on how to sell life insurance. Without proper marketing you are just a drop of water in the ocean.
How To Sell Life Insurance – What To Look For
OK! So you are finally in front of your prospect and you really do not know much about the individual that is sitting in front of you. Well how in the heck are you supposed to sell them on your idea, product, or service? The very first thing you should do is get to know the individual who you are talking to. What exactly do i mean by that? I mean do not be interesting, instead be interested. Have you ever gone to a party or gathering and had someone who is a complete chatterbox there?
People tend to avoid that person like the plague. Have you ever dodged someone like that? Do not worry, the secret stays amongst us. Do not become that person during your meeting with your prospects. That is definitely one way to completely lose your prospects attention. Think about it this way, the more you talk about yourself the more of a reason they have to say no to you and your idea. Now this does not mean that you should be a deaf mute. I am trying to say that you should be doing 80% listening, and 20% talking.
A very interesting thing happens when you listen more than you talk. It actually has a reverse affect, and your prospect will feel that they know you a lot better. They will feel that you are truly there for their best intentions, and you better be. The second you start to pitch them, you are doing them a disservice and they will notice it. There are no need for sales pitches if you just follow this simple rule of listening more than talking.
Knowing what to look for will help you on selling life insurance. Look for the emotion that your client is feeling, look deep and hard. Find out what their ruin is. What exactly do I mean by that? If they have a fear of passing away because they have a child then that is their ruin, and the emotion is fear of death. If they have a concern of losing money in the stock market, because they just lost 20 thousand dollars then acknowledge that concern and work them into a product that protects them to never have that ruin happen again. They will come back to you for advice, which brings you more business. They will refer you to a friend, colleague, or family member. You must acknowledge their concerns, emotions, and fix their ruin.
How To Sell Life Insurance – NEVER Hype Sell
Hype selling … This concept is implemented everywhere you go. Car dealerships, retail stores, MLM recruitment, insurance sales, etc. What the heck is a hype sale? Its a false promise. If you are going to see a prospect and you start talking about all the benefits of your product, idea, or service you are hype selling. I will use MLM recruitment as an example to this, because hyping people up is the most abused tactic in MLM recruitment. The promises of millions of dollars, the saying "help your family and friends, and in tern you will help yourself", and not to mention "the product sells itself".
The problem with this picture is reality. You are not being real with the person you are talking to. Instead of listening to the issue that they are having and focusing on how to fix that issue, you are just hyping them up with all of these benefits. The bottom line is they have a problem, and no matter how much you hype up your product if it does not fix their problem, or address their wants and needs then they will not buy from you.
Think about the MLM opportunities that you were approached by and how hyped up they tried to get you. Did it work? Yea, probably. Now, did you make millions like they said you would? Most likely not. Now what did you do right after the hype was over? Did you not tell anyone about your experience or did you go to everyone you knew and their mothers and said how it was a scam, its all fake, and they just want your money.
The same process works in sales. If you hype something up, your prospect will not buy, and they will tell everyone about their experience. Just remember the old rule, if you do something positive for someone, they will tell 2-3 of their friends about you, but if you do something negative or harmful to someone they will tell at least 10 people about you.
How To Sell Life Insurance – Taking Action
You can read all of the books, articles, and e-books in the world, but unless you take action nothing is going to change. By applying what you have read in this article you will get better results in your life insurance sales. Remember, it is not just about selling life insurance to your prospect, it is about acknowledging their concerns and fixing their ruins. Proper marketing is where it all starts, do not follow the herd on the same old marketing tactics that will get you the same old results. The sales process should begin with your marketing, and should already pre-sell your prospect on your idea, service, or product.
Look for the emotions that your client is feeling, and be sure to address them by incorporating your product into your prospects life so that they do not have to have that burden anymore. Finally, "hype selling" is out, never do it. It will come back to bite you, if you have marketed properly, and you have really listened to your client then they should buy from you because they trust you. Hype selling as a recruitment tactic for your MLM business will only cause negativity. Instead, be real with the person you are talking to. Tell them how it is, and they will respect you much more.