Selling Insurance From Home - The Top 10 Do's and Don'ts [Updated]
Your client base is in another state, your country is dealing with a pandemic, or you simply like to work from home. You wish to start running your insurance company remotely for any reason.
You may feel overwhelmed by this new reality if the decision is out of your control. How can you obtain enrollments and build connections with clients if you don’t meet them face to face?
It’s conceivable, which is excellent news!
Shortcuts:
Ten Do’s you should always consider while selling insurance remotely
- Always be prepared, ask questions, and pay attention
- Be confident about the product
- Create a need-payoff strategy
- Create a personal bond
- Be a human, not a machine
- On the phone, listen to yourself
- Use insurance lingo sparingly
- Value your prospect’s time
- Don’t forget about the younger prospects
- Brush-up sales fundamentals
Ten Dont’s you should consider while selling insurance remotely
- Poor phone etiquette
- Making snap judgments or trying to read people’s minds
- Pessimism
- Mentioning something unsuitable
- Professing to know the answer when you really don’t
- Relying solely on the telephone to generate leads
- Asking stupid questions
- Taking the defensive stance
- Allowing yourself to become too relaxed
- Never wing it. Never just go with the flow
Do you believe it’s tough to market everyday items? Consider selling intangibles such as insurance. It’s not the same as selling handbags, shoes, or automobiles.
You can’t persuade future buyers by demonstrating how useful the product has been to you. People would never wish for misfortune to reap the advantages of their investments, and insurance is a shield against adversity.
As a result, there is always a unique strategy to selling insurance coverage, particularly during pandemics, when remote employment becomes the standard.
We’ve put together a list of the essentials for selling insurance from the comfort of your own home and being productive.
Techniques for selling insurance (pre-requisites)
Insurance lead generation can come from a variety of places. Agents and sales professionals must work together to close deals online or offline. For example, independent agents sold 51% of all life insurance contracts in the United States in 2018, while associated agents sold 38%.
The situation is the same all across the planet. In India, almost 3.200.000 agents were employed by insurance companies to offer life and general policies through agency distribution channels.
It implies that human agents continue to play a role in selling insurance coverage.
The essential skills for insurance salespeople:
- A company’s success is dependent on its ability to communicate effectively. Many people believe they have excellent communication abilities. However, the real-world experience will show that they need to learn more, especially in a product as emotionally charged and complex as insurance.
- Onboarding training ensures that everyone on the team is up to date on the latest technology. Today, getting by without sales tools is nearly impossible. Nonetheless, only a few staff know how these technological tools work.
- For anyone in the sales industry, interpersonal skills are a must-have. It aids in determining potential clients’ interests and needs. It allows agents and sales professionals to prescribe the optimal solution fast and efficiently.
The following paragraph will discuss the applicably “Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts of selling insurance remotely” to win more customers.
Ten Do’s you should always consider while selling insurance remotely
1. Always be prepared, ask questions, and pay attention
Before your first meeting, do a quick Google search for the prospect, look at his website, or check him up on LinkedIn.
Always be ready to present fascinating client tales, replete with specifics on the beginning situation, challenges faced, a quick synopsis of what you did, and, most importantly, the outcomes you achieved.
A decent question may get a response, but a great question entices the other person to look inward, which may be where your most significant competitor resides.
There are far too many salespeople that talk excessively. It is recommended that you adhere to the 80/20 rule. The salesperson should spend 20% of their time talking and 80% of their time listening to the prospect.
2. Be confident about the product
This is something that a lot of people overlook. Even if you provide your sales force with the proper training, you may still struggle to get the desired results. They don’t believe in the product, therefore yes.
If you don’t think what you’re offering is valuable, convincing others to buy it will be difficult. It’s all logical. Negotiating a price will be difficult because you are unsure whether the goods are worthwhile. As a result, get your staff to believe in the product and services.
3. Create a need-payoff strategy
Some people are unaware that they require insurance coverage. Consider travel insurance. This is something that most people overlook, especially while traveling within the United States.
As a result, agents must delve into the customer’s issues to determine the necessity for insurance coverage. When selling travel insurance coverage, agents can discuss the risks of losing valuable items such as a camera or missing a flight, among other things. As a result, one of the best insurance sales ideas anyone can give you is to build a need!
4. Create a personal bond
Keep in mind that the consumer is a human being as well. Make an effort to establish an emotional bond with the possibility.
It will also assist you in obtaining further referral purchasers from the prospect’s network. It’s a no-no to sell policies that pay you a more significant commission! Agents must sell insurance that meets the needs of their customers.
5. Be a human, not a machine
Do not get it wrong, and customers frequently make decisions based on their emotions. On the other hand, buyers are curious about who is behind the scenes.
They want to trust you with their money; thus, they want to connect with you. You should avoid the robotic approach if you’re going to succeed. Make an effort to form bonds with your customers.
6. On the phone, listen to yourself
Every good customer service worker has a distinct personality. They have beautiful vocals, as you may have predicted. If you’re wondering, this has been meticulously prepared.
Competent salespeople recognize the importance of assisting the outside world in trusting your company. Building trust by sounding confident is a fantastic way to start. As a result, you should listen to your phone’s voice from time to time.
7. Use insurance lingo sparingly
You may be conversant with industry jargon, but your clients may not be. Many people mistakenly believe that understanding jargon equals knowledge of the subject. Furthermore, you are not selling insurance to brag about your knowledge or experience.
On the other hand, you assist them in selecting the best coverage for their needs. As a result, eliminate jargon and convey the program benefits most straightforwardly feasible.
8. Value your prospect’s time
Agents must respect customers’ time. Do not press the customer to extend the call or set up a face-to-face encounter. Also, even if the consumer is cordial when you meet in person, don’t be lured away and make the meeting last longer than it needs to.
In either scenario, be considerate of both your time and the time of your customers.
9. Don’t forget about the younger prospects
Young people account for a sizable portion of the global client base. It is even more critical for insurance agents because the consumer base of tomorrow will be made up of young people. As a result, keep in mind that the younger generation is equally vital as the elder ones.
Young folks purchase expensive items such as mansions and automobiles. In addition, you can start a business. The point is that you should not evaluate prospects solely based on their age. Millennials and Generation Z will become the critical customers of insurance businesses in the following years.
10. Brush-up sales fundamentals
Like those in any other sector, insurance salespeople must understand the foundations of selling. It will assist students in learning the dos and don’ts of effective selling. People from different regions, for example, have varied speaking accents.
Because of this disconnect, agents may struggle to explain their thoughts to consumers and, on the other side, may be unable to comprehend the customer’s needs. Furthermore, even if the person did not intend to offend, some speech accents might come across as unpleasant or disrespectful to clients.
Building up sales fundamentals and developing effective communication tactics are two evergreen insurance sales tips that will always help in how to close more insurance sales.
The ten Dont’s you should consider while selling insurance remotely
1. Poor phone etiquette
Gum chewing, eating, having music or television on in the background, talking to other people while selling insurance over the phone, not getting to the point, mumbling, or not speaking are all significant turn-offs that are simply rude. If you do any of these things, your prospects of closing the deal will be seriously harmed.
It’s also a big no-no to look at your phone during a zoom or skype conference.
Treat your clients or prospects with respect and use common sense.
2. Making snap judgments or trying to read people’s minds
The phrase “the prospect is in a meeting” does not mean “the prospect is aware that you are calling and does not wish to speak with you.”
“I’m busy and can’t chat right now” does not imply “I don’t want to talk to you or am not interested.” Too many prospectors interpret words made by gatekeepers or prospects adversely.”
3. Pessimism
Don’t let the word “failure” creep into your vocabulary.
Reframe everything as a ‘learning experience,’ and then concentrate on determining how to get alternative outcomes.”
Don’t assume a situation is a complete failure if it isn’t perfect, and don’t overgeneralize. You shouldn’t say, “Cold calling never works for me,” or “Prospects constantly reject me,” just because you had one terrible cold call or one rejection.
“Never treat ‘no’ as if it were a slammed door that would never open again. Consider ‘no’ to mean ‘not right now.’ Keep the door open and encourage the prospect to think of you as a future resource.”
4. Mentioning something unsuitable
Never discuss politics with a prospect or customer unless you’re pretty sure you’re on the same page. “Even then, it’s not a good idea,” says one expert, “since other members of the decision team may have different feelings.”
Salespeople are encouraged to ask inquiries, but they must remain on the right side of the line. It’s essential to get to know your prospect, but don’t ask them too many personal questions or anything that would make them feel uneasy.
5. Professing to know the answer when you really don’t
There’s no shame in admitting you don’t know the answer but will get back to them as soon as possible. “This is the first time I’ve done something like this and had someone respond, ‘How could you?’”
They will value your sincerity. And if they don’t, that’s a good sign they’re not a good match.
6. Relying solely on the telephone to generate leads
Everyone has a favorite contact method, so employ a well-balanced mix of phone, e-mail, snail mail, social networking, traditional networking, and other creative techniques.
Otherwise, we limit our results.
7. Asking stupid questions
You should ask inquiries, but not about readily available things on a company’s website. If you inquire about it, you will lose credibility.
8. Taking the defensive stance
Some salesmen feel compelled to defend (or be ashamed of), but this might be a red flag for the prospect.
Remind the potential of the value and benefits if the price is more than they are comfortable with.
9. Allowing yourself to become too relaxed
Even if you have a large client base, you should never stop prospecting. Prospecting for insurance agents is like sunshine and water is for plants. You should always be focused on bringing in new business, keeping it and developing it by learning new prospecting tips for insurance agents all the time.
Keep a healthy balance of those things and don’t become too comfy.
10. Never wing it. Never just go with the flow
According to research, salespeople will never achieve their full potential unless they have a well-defined sales call procedure that they can follow and learn from.
On sales calls, “winging it” has dire consequences: lost sales, longer sell cycles, margin erosion, and no obvious road to improvement.
When salespeople follow a consistent game plan for their sales calls, their performance improves by 50%.
Bottom line: If you “wing it,” your entire sales career will be average.
The insurance sales team and their roles
Insurance Agents
Agents are responsible for bringing new business to the insurance company. They frequently meet with prospects and sell insurance plans in person. Human-to-human selling is primarily the responsibility of agents.
Agents build good ties with consumers as part of their sales strategy. They also try to market insurance to people in their customers’ social circles (referrals).
Insurance Brokers
Brokers represent consumers, whereas agents represent insurers. A broker can recommend products from various insurance firms to a client. Furthermore, agents can tie coverage (complete insurance sales). Brokers are essential for insurance sales because of their extensive network of customers.
Customer service representatives or call center agents
Large insurance companies use call centers to handle their calls. Insurers delegate this responsibility to call center agents whenever they receive a query on their website and advise clients about policy updates/renewal.
In addition, every insurance company requires a functioning customer care department.
This group is in charge of preserving long-term client relationships. This department serves as a link between the company and its customers. Customers must be pleased and satisfied for them to succeed.
In-house sales team
Controlling the sales funnel to purchase is the responsibility of the sales team. Agents and brokers typically bring leads into the sales funnel, handled by the sales staff. The sales team is in charge of following up with information until they become customers.
Field sales teams
Field sales teams are in charge of closing deals outside of the office. They interact with prospects in person and persuade them to purchase insurance plans.
Bonus tip: Stay realistic in any expectations you give your clients
While it is desirable to be in front of the client, this is not always possible. The next best thing is selling insurance from your own house, using the right technology that enables you to present visuals seamlessly.
CrankWheel is one of the best screen-sharing software for insurance agents.
Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of what you’ll need to feel comfortable working from home and prepared to succeed.
Whether you’re forced to work from home due to unforeseen circumstances, or you choose to work from home, know that your business will thrive regardless of where you work.
Learn more in our guide on how to sell health insurance from home.
About the author
Milica Lukić is a junior copywriter who specializes in social media marketing. She is representing Morph Networks on social media platforms, creating graphic and text content centered around the company, and is passionate about garnering experience in social media art design and copywriting. Join Morph if you want to learn more about outsourcing services they provide, or if you want to keep up with the latest IT developments.