Selling Life Insurance: Science or art?
Life Insurance selling requires through knowledge of various plans of life insurance as well as its superiority over competitive products like bank deposits, mutual funds, stocks etc. In addition details of competitors’ should also be known. Hence it is considered as science. Selling life insurance involves prospecting , interviewing, counseling, and building relationship with the buyers. Therefore it is considered as an art.
Life Insurance selling requires through knowledge of various plans of life insurance as well as its superiority over competitive products like bank deposits, mutual funds, stocks etc. In addition details of competitors’ should also be known. Hence it is considered as science. Selling life insurance involves prospecting , interviewing, counseling, and building relationship with the buyers. Therefore it is considered as an art.
Anyone can learn the science. But many insurance Agents fall in their job because they cannt master the art of prospecting, interviewing the prospects and building relationship with the prospects.
A through understanding of the selling and buying process will help the Agents achieve success in their job particularly in a competitive enviroment.
A through understanding of the selling and buying process will help the Agents achieve success in their job particularly in a competitive enviroment.
Understanding the Buying Cycle
The buying cycle is universal to all buying decisions. Everybody uses these steps when they buy something including life insurance. Hence an Agent should understand the following steps in the buying cycle.
1. Recognise the problem or need. The buyer must recognize that there is a problem, an unfulfiled need or want, and the nature and extent of it must be identified and understood.
2. Desire a solution. Buyer must have a strong desire to solve the recognized problem. There must be a compelling reason to act now rather than later if a sale is to be made.
3. Decide on the best available choice. Buyer must believe that the solution proposed is the most appropriate one for solving the problem now. This should not depend on price alone. An intelligent purchase should be based on value. Many factors affect the choice including price, product performance, expected service, the company’s ratings and the salesperson. In many cases the salesperson is the deciding factor in favour of the purchase. Personal interaction and the value the agent brings to the customer are very important.
4. Make The purchase. Buyer must be able to and willing to exchange money in order to solve the problem. People always like to buy; They don’t like to be ‘sold’.
5. Take Delivery. The purchase is completed when it is received in hand. This is a phychologically sensitive moment in the purchase. The buyermay experience regret because he or she may feel that for whatever reason, this is not the best solution to the problem. The product may be returned and the sale lost. At this point satisfaction with the purchase is critical. Customer satisfaction is the agent’s continuing challenge because retention of customer is important for long term success.
Selling process
The following selling process should be followed by Agents in order to fulfil the needs and wants of the prospective buyer with appropriate Life Insurance products service solution.
1. Identify the prospect: The first step of effective selling begins with identifying persons to whom a particular life insurance plan is to be sold. This requires detailed knowledge of various human needs and wants and the problem of life and living.
2. Approach the prospect: The second step of successful selling is that the Agent should contact the prospect and ask for appointment stating the reasons why you are interested in meeting. This can be done by telephone, post or email or face to face.
3. Meet the prospect: The third step is to meet the prospect and establish rapport and explain your business purpose. Agent should make positive statements about himself, about the organization which he represents and the various solutions it offers. Agent should impress upon the prospect by telling what makes our organization different from other new insurance companies. Also explain about the many added values you are offering.
4. Gather information and establish Prospect’s goals: Acting as fact finder is the fourth step in selling Learn more about the prospect’s situation. Collect information about the personal habits and financial position of the Prospects. Also gatherinformation about the objective, Attitudes, and priorities of wants of the prospect. Knowing about the current situation of the prospect as well as the desired future situation of the prospect as well as the desired future situation of the prospects is very important.
5. Analyze the information about the prospect: After collecting all the relevant information accurately about the prospect, agent should analyze the prospect’s present financial situation. This will help you to identify where the prospect is now as compared to his or her future goals. Monetary strengths and weakness of the prospect should be identified. The agent should help the prospect in establishing rights right goals after analyzing all these information.
6. Develop and present the appropriate plan of Life Insurance to the Prospect: The Agent should devise a good and realistic plan reflecting the prospect’s needs and goals. The Agent should get expert advise if required to devise such a plan. The presentation should provide an answer to the problems and needs of the prospects. The Agent must ask the prospects approve the plan.
7. Implement the plan: The seventh step in selling is to motivate the prospect to acquire the appropriate Life Insurance plans required to make the plan into action to achieve future goals. Complete the Proposal form and all other required forms, explain the process to the prospect and verify that everything that is being done is understood by the prospect. Finally First premium Collection is very important in implementing the plan.
8. Service the plan: This may be the most important step in preserving your hard work and expanding on it. Arrange for delivery of the Life Insurance Policy and reaffim the decision to buy and the problems that can be solved by having this policy from the customer. Provide periodical service and cement your relationship with the client. The relationship should be an ongoing one.
Thus life insurance selling is both an art and a science. Knowing the plans of Life Insurance inside out is essential. More essential is to identify the need, create the desire to fulfill the need, build acceptance of your solution as the best way to solve it and encourage the prospect to make the purchase of the life insurance policy immediately. Because, considering the possible deterioration of health or untimely death, the cost of waiting could be serious and detrimental to the dependents of the prospective buyer of a life insurance policy.
The buying cycle is universal to all buying decisions. Everybody uses these steps when they buy something including life insurance. Hence an Agent should understand the following steps in the buying cycle.
1. Recognise the problem or need. The buyer must recognize that there is a problem, an unfulfiled need or want, and the nature and extent of it must be identified and understood.
2. Desire a solution. Buyer must have a strong desire to solve the recognized problem. There must be a compelling reason to act now rather than later if a sale is to be made.
3. Decide on the best available choice. Buyer must believe that the solution proposed is the most appropriate one for solving the problem now. This should not depend on price alone. An intelligent purchase should be based on value. Many factors affect the choice including price, product performance, expected service, the company’s ratings and the salesperson. In many cases the salesperson is the deciding factor in favour of the purchase. Personal interaction and the value the agent brings to the customer are very important.
4. Make The purchase. Buyer must be able to and willing to exchange money in order to solve the problem. People always like to buy; They don’t like to be ‘sold’.
5. Take Delivery. The purchase is completed when it is received in hand. This is a phychologically sensitive moment in the purchase. The buyermay experience regret because he or she may feel that for whatever reason, this is not the best solution to the problem. The product may be returned and the sale lost. At this point satisfaction with the purchase is critical. Customer satisfaction is the agent’s continuing challenge because retention of customer is important for long term success.
Selling process
The following selling process should be followed by Agents in order to fulfil the needs and wants of the prospective buyer with appropriate Life Insurance products service solution.
1. Identify the prospect: The first step of effective selling begins with identifying persons to whom a particular life insurance plan is to be sold. This requires detailed knowledge of various human needs and wants and the problem of life and living.
2. Approach the prospect: The second step of successful selling is that the Agent should contact the prospect and ask for appointment stating the reasons why you are interested in meeting. This can be done by telephone, post or email or face to face.
3. Meet the prospect: The third step is to meet the prospect and establish rapport and explain your business purpose. Agent should make positive statements about himself, about the organization which he represents and the various solutions it offers. Agent should impress upon the prospect by telling what makes our organization different from other new insurance companies. Also explain about the many added values you are offering.
4. Gather information and establish Prospect’s goals: Acting as fact finder is the fourth step in selling Learn more about the prospect’s situation. Collect information about the personal habits and financial position of the Prospects. Also gatherinformation about the objective, Attitudes, and priorities of wants of the prospect. Knowing about the current situation of the prospect as well as the desired future situation of the prospect as well as the desired future situation of the prospects is very important.
5. Analyze the information about the prospect: After collecting all the relevant information accurately about the prospect, agent should analyze the prospect’s present financial situation. This will help you to identify where the prospect is now as compared to his or her future goals. Monetary strengths and weakness of the prospect should be identified. The agent should help the prospect in establishing rights right goals after analyzing all these information.
6. Develop and present the appropriate plan of Life Insurance to the Prospect: The Agent should devise a good and realistic plan reflecting the prospect’s needs and goals. The Agent should get expert advise if required to devise such a plan. The presentation should provide an answer to the problems and needs of the prospects. The Agent must ask the prospects approve the plan.
7. Implement the plan: The seventh step in selling is to motivate the prospect to acquire the appropriate Life Insurance plans required to make the plan into action to achieve future goals. Complete the Proposal form and all other required forms, explain the process to the prospect and verify that everything that is being done is understood by the prospect. Finally First premium Collection is very important in implementing the plan.
8. Service the plan: This may be the most important step in preserving your hard work and expanding on it. Arrange for delivery of the Life Insurance Policy and reaffim the decision to buy and the problems that can be solved by having this policy from the customer. Provide periodical service and cement your relationship with the client. The relationship should be an ongoing one.
Thus life insurance selling is both an art and a science. Knowing the plans of Life Insurance inside out is essential. More essential is to identify the need, create the desire to fulfill the need, build acceptance of your solution as the best way to solve it and encourage the prospect to make the purchase of the life insurance policy immediately. Because, considering the possible deterioration of health or untimely death, the cost of waiting could be serious and detrimental to the dependents of the prospective buyer of a life insurance policy.
Each of the eight steps of selling process is critically important to the sale of Life Insurance policy. If a step is missed or not covered sufficiently, the sale will have a greater chance of failing. Therefore to be a successful Life Insurance Agent one should master the art of prospecting, Interviewing, and building relationship with the prospects by following the above selling process and understanding the buying cycle.
POST by Bijay Thapa. bijay-lifeinsurance.blogspotc.com
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