Interactive websites, online advertising, direct email and
social media can certainly be effective in raising brand awareness. However,
face-to-face selling is often the most effective way to increase sales and
build customer loyalty.
Perhaps for some types of
insurance, you may never meet with a client in person but with life insurance,
this is often times very necessary.
Here is a list of reasons
why it’s best to meet face-to-face with your customer when selling life
insurance:
1. You want to Build Life
Long Relationships
Regardless of what you
are selling, achieving success is all about developing a relationship with the
buyer. It may be possible to do this over the phone, to a certain extent, but
when you meet in person it is so much easier.
Who wouldn’t prefer
working with people that we trust and with whom we share something in common?
An insurance sales agent
greeting prospects at their home or office with a friendly smile and handshake
sets a positive tone. It will beat any internet pop-up.
Before getting down to
business, engaging in light conversation will highlight things you have in
common. Be this a business connection or even a shared neighbourhood.
By meeting face-to-face
you will have the opportunity to ask relevant questions about the person’s
situation. And take their responses into account, before explaining how
the product or service can offer benefits.
When contact is limited
solely to the phone or virtual realm, these kinds of interactions are more
difficult and less personal. Once your relationship is established with a
prospect, email and/or phone calls can then be used.
2. It’s An Education
Face-to-face meetings
provides a prospect with more than just product
information. Especially for your mid-market income consumers. These
consumers have a number of risk factors to consider when buying
life-insurance.
This market of customers
are working, have families to be taken care of and also have to start thinking
about retirement. By meeting face-to-face with them and gathering information
you will be able to provide them with information on risk products like life
and illness protection.
Face-to-face selling
simplifies the complexity of it all. And will lead your client to gain clarity
and comfortably make their decision to purchase the right product.
Clearly articulate to
them the benefits of them coming to you as opposed to getting cover online.
3. Direct Referrals Will
Come From It
65% of a company’s new
business is from referrals, says the New York Times. And (great) personal
service leads to additional direct referrals. Which may result in increased
sales.
By meeting a prospect
face-to-face and once they become a satisfied client, a good business practice
is to ask him or her for referrals. They will lead you to people who they
believe could also benefit from life insurance.
If your customers feel
satisfied, i.e.:
·
you listen attentively to their concerns
·
honestly answer their questions
·
provide high-quality products, and
·
assist them with a high level of integrity and support
They will be more than
happy to share referrals from within their network.
This can prove to be
invaluable in increasing your sales volumes and growing a thriving customer
base for your agency.
4. It’s all about
Planning
As customers get older, they begin to worry more about
their retirement funding. And whether their current products are adequate to
get them through their ageing years.
This is exactly the type
of scenario which demonstrates how technology cannot replace human interaction.
Especially when it comes to life insurance. Life insurance covers a large range
of product options. And each needs to be tailored specifically to an
individual’s or family’s needs.
The sales process is thus
more complex than, say, automobile insurance. Typical short-term
insurance can be easily selected on a website or over the phone.
By providing little information such as the amount of cover
required. But this is not the case for long-term insurance.
Insurance agents can
apply their experience, expertise and powers of persuasion when in a
face-to-face situation. An agent can help each customer better navigate through
the available choices to arrive at an optimal solution. This helps the
customer meet their needs in line with their budget. It also helps
further prevent any misguidance when the customers comes to claim.
If the prospect is willing to talk to you, then you know
that they appreciate the comfort of meeting an insurance agent face-to-face.
One of the reasons for this, is that they are looking for that personal service
which insurance agents are typically known for.
If they weren’t looking
for it, they wouldn’t have given you the time of day and would have just gone
online to find what they were looking for.
Insurance needs change as
life happens and circumstances change. Give customers the comfort that by
working with the same agent over time. It will enable you to suggest insurance
products that will ensure that their family and possessions are protected. And
that they are covered throughout their life journey.