Insurance Sales Success: Reason 3 You Can’t Sell

You think you need a killer presentation and it’s killing your insurance sales success. Your insurance sales success is never about a “presentation”. The only person a presentation is helping is you. You may be using it as a crutch so you don’t forget anything, and so you have something to say. You think it helps you to move the prospect forward and gets them to buy into your line of thinking. These are all false premises and the sooner you change your thinking about your “presentation” the sooner you’ll start having greater success.

If you knew absolutely nothing about your products, but you went ahead and met with a few people you would have greater success than you probably are now. And here’s why: you wouldn’t be trying to sell them anything, you’d really have to listen to what they told you, you could relax and just act like a real person instead of a pushy sales person, and the people you met with would like you. If all you did when you met with them was to engage them in a conversation like you would any new person you’ve ever met, asked them about what they wanted, listened intently and asked more questions to make sure you had a full understanding, and then you told them they’d given you a lot to think about and you wanted to spend a few hours reviewing their needs to make sure you provided the best option for them, and scheduled a follow-up appointment for a couple days later you would make more sales. At the end if this meeting they would like you. Because they like you and you expressed concern for doing what was best for them they would trust you, and because they trust you when you meet for that follow-up appointment and you handle that even half-way right you will more than likely gain their business.

When you try to use a presentation to gain business it doesn’t work because it’s all about you and what you have to offer. That’s selling and people hate to be sold. The minute you open your Power Point, brochure, or presentation notebook your prospect withdraws and disengages because they perceive they’re being sold. Never just whip out your presentation and take off full tilt giving them your whole spiel. Instead, wait until there is an appropriate moment a pertinent question and then gain their permission to show them something you have that speaks to that question. Go directly to that item use it and leave your presentation material. Only go to points in your presentation material when there is a logical reason to do so in relation to the “conversation” you’re having, and always get their permission first. When you do this you’ll notice a big difference in your prospect’s body language. When you whipped out your presentation and launched into your spiel did you notice how your prospects physically leaned backward away from you, and perhaps at certain points they even folded their arms, and the longer you talked the more their eyes glazed over. But when you’ve gained permission to show them something they’re interested in notice how they lean forward, how they focus on what you’re showing them, how they’re engaged and actively listening, and how they ask you questions.

When you fall into the presentation trap you have limited logic. Here’s what I mean by limited logic. The presentation forces both you and your prospect into an artificial sales conversation. Plus this artificial conversation may have little to do with what is on the prospects mind. Because you’re focused on the presentation you’re missing important cues from the prospect; and the prospect feels like they’re being sold, manipulated, or maybe even coerced. These are all feelings you never ever want to evoke in a prospect. When you evoke those feeling you may get this one time sale because there are a lot of people who will go along with things they don’t agree with just to get you to leave. But you will never get a referral from this customer, and they will cancel their policy as soon as a better option comes up. They won’t like or trust you, and the word of mouth marketing they do for you will make others avoid you like the plague.

You don’t need this crutch and the sooner you get rid of it the sooner you will see your insurance sales success increase. Every sale begins with a simple conversation. It begins by you being able to get yourself introduced to your prospects and establishing rapport. When you actually hold the appointment you need to continue what you’ve started by continuing to be a genuine person who cares about other people and wants to help your customers get what they want. It’s a simple conversation where you want to be listening rather than talking, so you can understand and once you understand your objective is to help your prospects discover how your solution is the best option for them. Presentations put you in the talking position and you want to be in the listening position if you want to enjoy greater insurance sales success.