Husband and Wife - Coffee Debate Over Insurance

[somarco]

It reminds me of Churchill's advice for a successful marriage:

I believe Newby interviewed him and has that on tape, posted on his website.

 

[Yagents]

You can read a brochure, but it doesn't mean you know how to sell.

You can have product in your bag, but it better be lower priced than the competitors.

Learn as you go, as you can't prepare yourself for the clients questions.

Marketing, marketing, marketing..........

Find a niche, and run with it.

 

[funeraldirector]

Easy for him to say. I don't think he ever had breakfast in his life.

That may be true, huh?

 

[Ron Van D]

I just pilferred this from DHK's signature line:

"Knowledge of the product never was and never will be worth more than 5% of your sale. Knowledge of people... 95%. If you ain't got that straight... you've got nothin straight." - John Savage

 

[carol369]

Carol, over the years, I've found this to be one of the prime sources of failure for new agents (ex-school teachers are particularly at risk here). It's really a self-confidence issue. They feel that they "need to know everything about everything" before they proceed - and end up spending too much time "getting ready to get ready".

Successful agents have a bias for action. They want to get in front of prospects, and will figure out what they need to know as they go along. "Product knowledge" is a given - but it's the least important part of the equation.

No matter how little you know about a product, it's a hundred times more than the prospect!

ok, got your point. It might be I feel that way because I had a bad experience. My manager couldn't come with me on an appointment when I was new at selling PDPs. I ended up selling the wrong product because I was never told to check the formulary first. Hard lesson learned.

 

[stuy119]

It's a mixture of both, but you'll never have 100% of the answers to 100% of the questions that you won't get asked if you don't have a stream of leads coming your way.

 

[djs]

You can't sell with no product knowledge. You don't need it all.

You also can't sell without any prospects to sell to, but again, you don't need them all.

Its a balance. You have to have a decent understanding of the products and a marketing program to start.

As you sell more, you learn more which helps you sell even more.

Dan

 

[rousemark]

You can have product in your bag, but it better be lower priced than the competitors.

I agree with your other points but you don't have to always be the cheapest on the block.

 

[Yagents]

I agree with your other points but you don't have to always be the cheapest on the block.

True, but you don't want to lose the business based solely on price when we all have access to the same prices. You got to be real close on price, or another agent will undercut you. Plus, if you broker products, you should try to do whats' best for the client. Both are the advantages of being independent (vs captive). I'd love to see all the captive agents faces when they get notice that I replaced their policy. Chargebacks suck.

 

[letmeinplz]

I'm afraid I agree with your husband on this one. I feel that product knowledge is the first thing I need to learn before I can present it. How would you explain a product if you don't how it works? Sounds like an e&o claim to me.

If a prospect asks questions, what would you do-say something like "I'll get back to you on that?" if you don't know the answer.