Our Job as insurance Agents is to be knowledgeable and inform clients of all of their options and then of course to make a recommendation based on their needs. However just like with any sales job either the customer can come in with a preconceived idea of what they need or want to pay. A successful sales person can easily navigate these objections once they know their products and have built up enough rapport with a client to be able to push back.
I would like to give you a simple cheat code to being able to more easily navigate these preconceived notions the client comes in with. This cheat code is the art of “finding common ground”. You may have heard of “the customer is always right” or “always agree with the client”. In insurance the customer isn't always right and we can get in big trouble if we don't offer them the correct solutions but ultimately the customer does always get to choose and that technically makes them right. However I want to open your eyes to always “finding common ground” with the client instead of pointing out how they are wrong. By creating common ground we create a validation bridge for a client to walk across from their preconceived notion to our professional opinion so they don't have to jump across the “your wrong '' chasm.
This can usually be achieved in 3 steps.
- Validate their point of view with “agreement” statements.
- Repeat their viewpoint back but with the evidence they used to qualify their feelings. Give an example of how what they said would be true.
- Introduce new contradictory evidence or points that could lead to them doubting they were correct to make that assessment. Give an example of how their circumstances are different than the first example.
Once you have gone over these steps you are in a position to show them that your solution is the only correct solution.
Example 1:100k is way too much coverage for liability on my auto insurance. I am not trying to make someone else rich.
- Your right people are way too sue happy these days.
- It seems like every time someone gets in a fender bender they can't work for life and want huge sums of money.
- Though I have had 2 incidents this year where my client hit someone and they had more than one person in the car and it involved more than one car. They were glad to have the extra coverage because now each person in the car was coming after them. Not to mention replacing the car too.
I start all of my quotes at 100k because just like you said people are ruthless and its us who have to pay out of pocket the difference when insurance isn't enough as well the price is only $12 more a month.
Example 2:Whoa! That is way more than I pay on my current house. That is too expensive. $700 more than my current house and its almost the same size.
- I totally agree with you. The cost of insurance has gone way up.
- On my current home it went up $150 last year and it seems to go up every year with nothing changing at all.
- However they house you buying now is way nicer wouldn't you agree. This causes the replacement cost to be a little higher. Also your new house is closer to the coast. And since you wanted to keep the deductibles low it can increase the price a little because you are a lot more likely to need to use the policy in this area.
Each house has a different set of parameters that determines price and from what I can tell on homes that I insure near you this price and coverage is very competitive.
Closing:I promise if you can find ways to find common ground with your clients before you disagree with them or overcome an objection they are a lot more likely to hear what you have to say because you are showing that you listened to what they have to say. Work on finding creative ways to agree and as always “Get after it”.
