Life Insurance objections are as common in this business as turning on the lights and powering up your computer. Preparing yourself and your team for how to properly respond to these objections will set you up for success, establish greater confidence with your team and cause your customers to trust you and act on your guidance and advice.
Although it’s impossible to cover every objection that you will face, let us take time to talk about some of the most common objections and a solid approach to respond as they come up.
First let me explain the process, then we will break it down. When confronted with objections the first thing you must do is listen with the intent to understand–not just listen with the intent to respond. You must express empathy, keep asking questions and then tell a story. This is the process, now let us break it down:
Let me emphasize that the importance of always showing empathy and listening carefully to the customer and letting them know you understand. The customer needs to feel that what they say matters to you. An appropriate response sounds like – “I understand” or “Oh yes, I get you” or “I use to think the same thing” It should always be the first thing that comes out of your mouth.
Next, asking questions that cause doubt or discomfort causes the customer to push pause and consider what you are saying and what you are about to say.(what, why, where, how much etc.) Then your follow up question begins to strip away the objection and get to the real root of what the customer’s reasoning is. We have five or six questions you find we will use over and over again when dealing with objections.
Third, you tell a story. This is always an excellent way to follow your expression of understanding with clarification on why what you want to say matters to your customer.
Let me show you what it might sound like. One of the most common objections that we hear is “Oh, I have it at work” – This is what our response might sound like,
“I am glad to hear that, beside what you have at work what else do you have in place?” Would you agree that most people do not stay at the same job for thirty years like they use to thirty years ago? If you had a company car or company lap top and you no longer worked at that job would they let you keep them? Well, your group benefits work the same way. You have to turn them back in. (tell a story here about how someone you know had benefits and then lost them and then didn’t have them when they needed it most) If you had a choice would you prefer to be in control of your benefits or have your employer be the ones making those decisions? You’re a smart person, let me run some numbers and show you how you can take control and insure you and your family have the right coverage in place regardless of where you work!”
Learning to listen intently, ask questions, and telling stories is at the root of dealing with objections and helping your clients move forward.
Put this to practice in April and let us know how it’s going. Good luck!
