All the time in our sales effort we try to look at selling an insurance policy in terms of the product, our company, our service and so on. To do so we put in great thought at how we should conduct our sales process, how we should handle objections that arise, etc. Rarely do we think on the subject of what the customer thinks and what he or she wants from an agent. How does the customer come to decide that he or she wants to buy a particular life insurance product? It will be worth our while to understand the customer’s thinking process in a buying decision.

What the Gurus Say

Jack and Gary Kinder, legendary life insurance agents and the finest life insurance coaches in the world, offer a wonderful insight into this aspect. (Check up their Webiste: kinderbrothers.com for more gems). They state that every customer goes through 4 decision making stages before actually buying. The four stages are:

• I like you
• I trust you
• I want to see the owner benefit
• I want you to assist me to buy

What does I like you mean?

The customer must come to a decision that he or she “likes” the agent, before proceeding forward in the sales process. Which is why most successful agents spend a lot of their time and energy to get the customer to like them. It could be through simple acts such as gifting a toffee to a child in the house or appreciating something in the house, or getting the customer to talk about his or her dreams for his or her family. Unless the customer likes the agent it is unlikely that the sales process will move forward. And this is a conscious realization that the customer should make: Yes I like this agent!

What does I Trust You mean?

The next stage a customer goes through is I trust you. Trust is at three levels: Personal trust, Professional trust and Emotional trust. Personal trust is what gives you the opportunity to set up a sales meeting. Professional trust is what gives you the window to talk about life insurance products. Emotional trust is what gets the customer to sign the cheque and buy a policy. The customer must feel at home with the agent and must consciously decide that he or she trusts the customer. This decision includes all three stages of trust – personal, professional and emotional.

What does Show me my Owner Benefit mean?

The third stage is the customer feeling the need to take a look at the solutions you have to offer to the customer. Remember the important thing here is the customer feeling the need to take a look at your solutions, NOT you feeling that the customer should be told about your products. The decision of the customer to ask for (either expressly or implicitly) the benefits he or she will get as policy owners, is an important stage. If you are able to cross this stage successfully, the number of stalling objections will greatly reduce and your sales process will be relatively smooth.

What does an Assistant Buyer mean?

After the customer has decided that he or she wants to see the owner benefit, as in the third stage, the final stage is when the customer is actually evaluating the benefits and the affordability of the policy; his or her needs and other investment options. During this stage the customer wants to deal with a person who will help him or her come to knowledgeable decision. If at this stage the agent puts pressure on the customer to buy, the chances are that all the gains made in earning the trust so far will backfire, and the sale may not close. It is therefore important to become the customer’s assistant and help him or her to arrive at a knowledgeable decision.

Stop Selling Products – Instead Earn Trust

It should be noted that in the customer’s decision making process, he or she is willing to look at products only in the third stage (Show me my benefit stage). In practice most agents start their sales process by discussing the products they offer.This premature introduction of the products results in a number of stalling objections. Objections such as

• I do not have money
• I will talk to my financial advisor and let you know
• I already have life insurance policies
• Etc

Are all objections that do not have any real basis. Premature introduction of products leads to such objections.

The Trust Molecule – Oxytocin

While good sales persons have known all this, all the while, now the science of neurology has also established the scientific basis of how and why people buy from a particular sales person. Paul Zak, (The Neuroscience of Trust, Harvard Business Review Jan/Feb 2017), identifies Oxytocin as the molecule in the brain that actually informs the brain that the sales person one is dealing with is trustworthy. If trust of the customer is to be earned, the sales person should work to increase the level of oxytocin in the brain. This can be done by following an appropriate sales process. This was found out by Paul Zak in a 10-year research study. All successful agents achieve precisely this – the increase the levels of oxytocin by following an appropriate sales process.

Build trust and be treated as trustworthy

According to Paul Zak, to conclude business deals, the aim of the sales process should be to increase the levels of oxytocin in the customer’s brain. In this sense, he mentions, that it is not sufficient to merely “knowing the person”. It is important to build trust and in return be treated as a trustworthy person.

Exactly what IIST’s Training achieves

IIST’s trains you on the sales process that helps you to earn the professional and emotional trust of the customer. Do not start your sales process with products. Start by trying to earn the professional and emotional trust of customers. If you know how to earn the trust of the customer and not simply try to sell products, you are likely to close more sales, and also increase your ticket size many times over. Establishing your own professional credibility and making an emotional connect with your customer is more important than just explaining products. Explaining products is important, but not before yo earn the professional and emotional trust of customers

Attention all Managers/SBAs/Development Officers/CLIAs train your agents this week on the subject of this article. Keep them ahead of the market and equip them to meet customer objections.

Write to iist@iistpune.in or contact N. Ashok Kumar on 98600593097 to know more about the training programs of The Institute of Insurance Sales Training. World class training at an affordable cost at Vadodara, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur and Agra.
Visit www.iistpune.in for more details of our training programs

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