“You don’t chase money. You build clients.” — Ted Riker (Micheal Keaton’s character in The Last Time) on selling.
No, this is not a movie review, but Ted is a hot-shot salesman, and this is what he has to say about selling. I certainly feel that it applies to any kind of selling — including insurance. insurance marketing is an art — it has be learned over time, through blood, sweat and, sometimes, maybe tears.
While there are many qualities and skills one can acquire to become a successful insurance provider, the two I’d rank among the top would be confidence and professionalism. Other stuff such as communication and contacts stand just secondary, and more often than not, they are just ‘gifted’ to you as by-products of your confidence and energy.
By professionalism, I mean you just can’t afford to look like an amateur when you approach someone to sell insurance — perhaps the most difficult product to sell. Your customers will be constantly looking for opportunities to say ‘No’, and try to will shoot you down with questions and off-shoots of questions to get you garbled, so that they get on top. This is where your professional qualification comes into play. Instead of trying dodge any queries, you’ll be able to answer them with sound and latest information.
Now, when you answer your client, it’s also important to look them in the eye. In other words, your confidence has to permeate from your body and get into your customer — enough to make them feel confident that they’re taking the right decision.
This being the basic scenario, there are also a number of resources from where you can get leads, learn everything you possibly can about your customer as well as marketing yourself, i.e., building up your name in the industry. Getting some sound advice and know-how from established brokers and companies with tons of research would be a terrific move, too.
