Considering the fact that insurance agents and brokers offer products that every consumer needs, you would think that they wouldn’t have too hard of a time selling insurance. After all, shouldn’t everyone jump at the chance to get extra protection for all the things that matter in their lives?
Unfortunately, it’s not that easy or straightforward. Insurance companies need to market their products heavily in order to get their messages across with promises of competitive rates, responsive agents and comprehensive coverage.
What are some ways that might make the selling process easier and produce better results? The article “How to sell insurance even if you’re not a salesperson” looks at just this topic.
Sell the results, not the product
If you look at the way other companies sell their products, you’ll notice a vast difference between their method and the method of most insurance agents. Most companies sell their results, not the product itself.
Take a wrinkle cream commercial, for example. The commercial focuses on the resulting smooth, wrinkle-free skin if the woman uses the cream. Hardly ever do they mention the cream itself.
You can see the same things with many products. Men’s shaving cream focuses on smooth skin, bedding commercials focus on the satisfying night of sleep that can be had with luxury sheets, and car commercials focus on how others will perceive you when you’re driving a new auto.
For insurance sales, it might help to focus on the life your customer can lead after they use the insurance, instead of the process of having the insurance or using the insurance. For instance, for homeowners’ insurance, have the customer focus on the image of living in their new or rebuilt house, not on the house fire itself.
Or for health insurance, evoke the image of being fully recovered and financially stable after a serious illness, not images of lying in a hospital trying to figure out how to pay for the hospital bills.
These more positive images will likely influence your customer’s choice to buy insurance in a positive way.
Dress it up and put a bow on it
Selling insurance isn’t like selling a pretty dress or a diamond ring. Insurance is an intangible product that is similar to radio ad space. It’s invisible and not exciting in the least.
To make the insurance product more exciting, try dressing it up and putting a bow on it. Marketing materials should be colorful and graphic-rich. Use pie charts instead of words to convey statistics. Give free token gifts to customers just for listening to your sales presentation. The more fun and animated you make your sales pitch, the better odds you’ll have of walking away with a closed deal.
If you want to be a successful insurance salesperson, you need to be empathetic. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and imagine what you would want from your insurance sales pitch. Chances are you’ll be able to pinpoint many other ways to improve your selling technique for better results.
About the Author: Kate Supino writes extensively about best business practices.
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