Need a Good Rebuttal

Indiana_Adam

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I was on the phone today with a current AAA Memember that I'd helped in the past. I asked her if I could give her an auto quote, since her AAA membership would give her a discount. She answered with, "I doubt you could beat my rates with my current company." I counter with, "Well, who are you currently insured with?" She answers State Farm. I tell her we've been quoting a lot of state farm clients and have been beating their prices. She says OH!

I think I've got this one..WRONG! She says, "Well, let me think about it." At which point, I sniffeled a little and sold her a secondary membership, but no auto/home quote!

How do you respond to the, "Let me think about it." especially when genuinely seem interested. Schiffman didn't cover that one, or I can't read real good and missed it!
 
She says "I'll think about it."

"Sure, no problem...you know I think I can beat State Farm for you, but I don't know if you will even qualify. If you do it's a good deal but you may be stuck with what you ave now. I've got one really super company who is looking for business from good drivers and can make you an offer you won't refuse... assuming you qualify. Real quick... what is your driving history look like?"

That's how I would handle the "I'll think on it" thing... but I don't sell P & C so...

YMMV.

Al
 
I think she meant Let me think about your offer to quote aka I don't want to think about it right now and will forget when I hand up. I'm calling her back in two weeks to make sure she has gotten her new cards. 3rd time is a charm right?

I realize I didn't quote her, but her comment stumped me and I couldn't quickly come up with a response to push through the barrier. What would you have done if they said let me think about it, before you had quoted them?

"Well, let me give you a quote so you have something to think about and compare to your current insurance." ?????

Mark, do you have a direct line to the forums via your brain? :-p Thank you. Also, have you slowed enough from the Holiday Season to field a call from a greenie?
 
I think she meant Let me think about your offer to quote aka I don't want to think about it right now and will forget when I hand up. I'm calling her back in two weeks to make sure she has gotten her new cards. 3rd time is a charm right?

I realize I didn't quote her, but her comment stumped me and I couldn't quickly come up with a response to push through the barrier. What would you have done if they said let me think about it, before you had quoted them?

"Well, let me give you a quote so you have something to think about and compare to your current insurance." ?????

Mark, do you have a direct line to the forums via your brain? :-p Thank you. Also, have you slowed enough from the Holiday Season to field a call from a greenie?


Yes, you can call me and I will see what I can do to help you.
 
There are several ways to handle this. Each situation can be different, but here are some lines I'd have handy:

Great, how much would I have to save you for you to be willing to switch?

Great, let's run a quote real quick so that you have something to compare it to.

Great, running a quote will only take (x) minutes and you can compare it to what you have now.

Another point worth considering, is how interested could she have really been if she couldn't even take the time to run a quote? What's her real objection to the quote, that's what you need to figure out. Maybe she's getting ready to apply for a loan and thinks if they run a credit check it could hurt her rate. Maybe she can't remember her vehicles history and doesn't want to think about it. Maybe she just didn't have the 10 minutes.

Here is another point to consider: It's entirely possible that there are folks waiting for you to call them up and save them money on their auto and homeowners. You're a bright guy with a great attitude about cold calling, you'll figure out a lot of this as you're making your calls and replaying what you think your mistakes were. Part of learning to telemarket is just making enough calls to talk to enough people to get a feel for how the respond to you. Perfect example, Al has a specific approach he uses that works great for Al. Adam may or may not be able to sell using that same approach, but I'm willing to bet that Al didn't know what his approach was until he had been calling for a while. I also think Al's approach has most likely changed a bit. My point here is that you're going to figure some of this stuff out on your own to. Maybe when you call her back in two weeks she won't stand a chance because you've been disciplined in your approach and have learned how to turn a flat out no into a yes, let alone an "I want to think about it."

On an ending note, my favorite response to "I want to think about it" is "great, that's why I'm here. What can I help you with?"
 
I think she meant Let me think about your offer to quote aka I don't want to think about it right now and will forget when I hand up. I'm calling her back in two weeks to make sure she has gotten her new cards. 3rd time is a charm right?

I realize I didn't quote her, but her comment stumped me and I couldn't quickly come up with a response to push through the barrier. What would you have done if they said let me think about it, before you had quoted them?

"Well, let me give you a quote so you have something to think about and compare to your current insurance." ?????

Mark, do you have a direct line to the forums via your brain? :-p Thank you. Also, have you slowed enough from the Holiday Season to field a call from a greenie?

I think, I THINK, I THINK?!?!? No one cares what you think! :no:

All kidding aside, stop thinking. It just gets in the way. Also, you don't get paid to think, you get paid to ask questions. My favorite is, monthly or annual payment?

Feel, felt, found. Repeat those three words to yourself until its second nature. Remember my answer to you in the other thread. Great advice I was given, and it works is, ask for what you want. You didn't ask for what you wanted, so she got what she wanted, you off the phone.
 
I think she meant Let me think about your offer to quote aka I don't want to think about it right now and will forget when I hand up. I'm calling her back in two weeks to make sure she has gotten her new cards. 3rd time is a charm right?

I realize I didn't quote her, but her comment stumped me and I couldn't quickly come up with a response to push through the barrier. What would you have done if they said let me think about it, before you had quoted them?

"Well, let me give you a quote so you have something to think about and compare to your current insurance." ?????

Mark, do you have a direct line to the forums via your brain? :-p Thank you. Also, have you slowed enough from the Holiday Season to field a call from a greenie?

You lost control of the call and allowed her to assume control when you said "let me give you a quote". You made it too easy for her to say "NO". Even saying "May I give you a quote". Words do make a difference in eliciting the response you are looking for.

Before I asked her if she would let you give her a quote I would have gotten the amount she is currently paying. It's easy if you ask for it in the correct way.

If you ask, "Do you recall how much you are currently paying" she may give you the answer. The operative word is "recall". Much better than saying "what" are you paying.

When you say "recall" they really hear you ask if they "remember" how much they are paying. She is mostly likely not going to want to admit to you that she doesn't "remember" and may just tell you without thinking about it. Then you have a figure to begin with.

Works for Med Supps.
 
Bottom line, you are not going to replace her current policy. Don't beat yourself up and don't harass her about it.

I just say that's fine, I'll call you back in a month. All I need to run a quote is what cars you have and who drives in the house. It will take 5 minutes to see if you can save some money.

Many, many, many people don't want to bother getting quotes. These people will waste your time if you try to overcome the objections. Move on.

Always ask, always respect their answer.

Dan
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The other way to approach this is to find out why she is getting a AAA membership when she has state farm. There is a need not being met there.

Also, get the car information as part of the membership process so you can run a 'clean' quote for them. While they are in the process of wanting something, its easy to ask questions. Once you've solved the 'need', its harder to approach your 'want', when they don't want.

Dan
 
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To keep the convo going next time ask what are her coverage limits. People will shop price but if they are only looking at min. coverage they are exposing themselves to a potential world of hurt.
 
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