It’s no secret that selling life insurance can feel like an uphill challenge. However, as prospects start families and build businesses, they begin to understand that life insurance is an essential component of having a solid financial strategy. The tricky part lies in getting prospects to that point.
As insurance brokers, we know that life insurance can be affordable depending on the sort of policy they choose, and there’s no good reason to wait. But how can we educate our clients of the peace of mind they’ll receive, knowing that money will be there to safeguard their loved ones in the case of their death? We’ve curated some of the best life insurance questions to ask clients to help them make the smart decision to financially protect their loved ones once they’re no longer around to do so.
How to Approach a Customer for Life Insurance
Selecting an insurance plan is a highly personal decision for most people, and it’s one of the most difficult for many brokers to execute. Nobody wants to talk about death, and there’s a lot of misunderstanding regarding life insurance among the general public. Over half of customers are confused about whether insurance benefits are tax-free, and many are unaware that the cash value of permanent life insurance may be used to help pay for college, supplement retirement income, or meet other financial requirements.
A life insurance agent must believe in and be passionate about their product, be tenacious while selling, and communicate well. In a “what’s in it for me” world, it can be tough to sell life insurance to someone who will never benefit from the money personally. It’s critical for agents to be able to communicate life insurance information in such a way that your prospects not only understand it, but also see the value in it.
However, before you start your sales pitch, you need to build a personal connection with the prospect. After all, one of the most crucial things you can develop in life is learning how to build rapport. It improves your clients’ perceptions of you and your service, increasing your chances of making a sale and their chances of finding the perfect policy for their needs. When we can establish a connection with the individuals we serve, service becomes simpler. It aids in forming a bond and developing a shared kinship. Once you’ve established a connection, you can then take steps toward educating them on the benefits of life insurance.
The Best Insurance Sales Techniques
Selling life insurance can be challenging, particularly if you’re a new or inexperienced agent. Life insurance isn’t a product that customers ever get to use themselves, making it hard for people to envision the benefits. But with the right life insurance sales techniques, you can help them see the advantages clearly. Here are some great strategies for people that are just starting out or wish to advance in their careers.
- Automate processes whenever possible.
Welcome to the twenty-first century, when technology reigns supreme. You can now automate nearly every aspect of a sales interaction (aside from the face-to-face meeting). Just imagine how much productivity your agents are losing every day if they are still dealing with Excel sheets, and how much that is directly influencing your sales. As a result, any modern insurance agent must invest in automation to relieve themselves of manual, time-consuming tasks.
The most straightforward option could be to use Insurance CRM. You can assign leads to agents automatically, vet prospects, track leads, track agents’ actions, establish task reminders, and more. After you’ve set up a CRM, you’ll simply need to provide some training to get your agents up to speed on the system.
- Have faith in the product.
Believing in a product is something that a lot of people overlook. Even if you provide your sales force with all of the essential abilities, tools, and leads, you can still struggle to get the desired results. Once you’ve analyzed all of the factors, it frequently boils down to the fact that they simply don’t believe in the product.
If you don’t believe what you’re offering is valuable, your customers will see right through you. You won’t know which insurance agent questions to ask and convincing prospects to buy won’t be easy. Subsequently, negotiating a price will be difficult if you don’t genuinely believe the services are worthwhile. As a result, persuade your staff (or yourself if you’re just starting out as an independent agent) to believe in the product and services you’re selling.
- Take the time to learn about your clients’ pain points.
This may be the most important strategy you need to learn: figure out what your prospect wants. Agents can explain their policies in depth without fully understanding their prospect’s needs, and many sales don’t close because the buyer doesn’t find value in the interaction. As a result, agents must also be skilled listeners. Instead of straight pitches, suggesting a solution after listening to the consumers’ issues carries greater weight in building relationships and closing sales.
- Create a personal bond.
Keep in mind that your prospect is a human being as well, and the fact is that customers are curious about the people who work behind the scenes. They need to feel like they can trust you with their money, especially with life insurance. Make an effort to connect with the prospect on a personal level. One of the first things you learn about selling is that the majority of sales are made based on emotions rather than logic. Understanding your client and why they want what they want will also assist you in meeting their needs and increasing your chances of a sale.
Sales Questions to Ask Potential Clients
Knowing which sales questions to ask clients is critical to success in selling life insurance . Asking the wrong questions will show that you haven’t been listening to their needs or, worse, show that you’re just looking for a commission. Here are some of the best life insurance questions to ask clients to ensure they feel comfortable and heard.
- Ask them if they’re aware of how affordable life insurance can be.
When it comes to younger, healthier people, life insurance is actually relatively affordable when compared to the possible payment. So your initial sales questions to ask clients should center around its affordability. Make sure your prospects are aware of the low cost of life insurance. To highlight the necessity of purchasing life insurance at a young age, compare the cost of a perfectly healthy young adult to the cost of an average middle-aged adult.
- Ask whether there is anyone who is currently reliant on their income.
Other insurance questions to ask clients deal with whether or not someone presently relies on their income. This question is typically asked of married couples, but you may be surprised by how many different situations lead people to care for dependents. If they answered yes, the next logical question is whether they have a plan in place to replace that income after they’re gone. Remind them that obtaining a life insurance policy should be on their mind if the client has no income replacement plan and they wish to take care of their loved ones.
- Ask them about their children.
Everyone enjoys talking about their children, and it’s a terrific way to establish a connection and subconsciously reinforce the need for life insurance in their minds. You might not realize that the more you chat with a prospect about their children, the more you’re triggering the synapses in their brain related to family care. This type of dialogue will play a larger part in the decision-making process because, naturally, they’ll want their children to be taken care of after they’ve passed.
- Ask them about what they do for their family.
People crave recognition for the sacrifices they make for their families. They pick them up, drop them off, wash their laundry, clean up after them, help them with schoolwork, coach the club, repair their bike, and so on. A discussion regarding what your prospect does for their children fulfills several goals:
- It stimulates the region of their brain known as the “parental protector,” which makes judgments based on the safety of their family.
- It demonstrates to potential customers all of the things their children would miss out on if they were not present.
- It reminds prospects that doing unpleasant things for their family members (like paying for insurance they’ll never use personally) gives them pleasure.
- Ask about the most recent funeral they attended.
We know, this one feels weird — but bear with us! As far as questions to ask clients, this can be one of the more difficult to broach. Our brains are programmed to overlook the risk of death, which is one of the reasons why individuals don’t perceive the benefit of life insurance. That’s our brain ignoring the stuff that won’t help us live longer or reproduce more. When you question someone about the last funeral they attended, it stimulates the part of their brain that acknowledges and accepts that death is inevitable, and it may come sooner than we think. Questions you could try include:
- When was the last time you went to a funeral?
- What effect did it have on you?
- Would you want a funeral like this?
- Ask if they’re holding onto outstanding debt.
One of the easiest life insurance questions to ask when selling is one that gets them thinking about the future and their current debt. Although outstanding debts are less prevalent among the elderly, it’s still a common stressor. Insurers seldom offer term life insurance to anyone over the age of 60, but a term policy is ideal if a customer has a mortgage or another obligation with a deadline. Ask whether they have any unpaid loans, such as a mortgage or a vehicle loan? If they do, inquire as to who would be accountable for the bills if they died. Matching the term life insurance death benefit to their existing debt might provide a strategy for that customer.
Conclusion
In addition to knowing the right life insurance questions to ask clients, it’s important to have the right resources on your side as well. Consider subscribing to iLife’s Content Library which boasts tons of phone call scripts you can use to close more business. You can find all the tools you need to build a prosperous business with the support of the iLife platform. Our life insurance CRM software transforms you into a respected, professional, and trustworthy brand in minutes. Compare over 670,000 insurance options with personalized prices without wasting time with a broker. The program also has options to help you manage your business and assign leads to your employees.
Take your life insurance business to the next level with the comprehensive iLife CRM software. Contact iLife today to learn more.
