Most of us would agree that selling is both a science and an art. I can’t help you on the art side of the formula, but here are the main points on the science side:
- Telling is NOT selling! By asking the right questions, not only do you control the conversation but you are also able to uncover the prospects needs, wants, objections and dominant buying motives. Open ended questions are best. Please don’t get me wrong. You want to educate your prospect on your product’s features and benefits, but do so by answering their questions, not by “throwing up” on them with a bunch of facts. News Flash: People buy emotionally, NOT factually! When you are talking, your prospect is still dialed into radio station WIFM (what’s in it for me) and thinking “So what!?”
- Whenever you are talking, make sure you’re answering their WIFM questions, and are giving them the answers to their unspoken “So what!?” questions.
- Always use at least three trial closes before moving ahead to close the sale. Remember a trial close is defined as a question used to determine if your prospect agrees that there is value for a specific feature or benefit of your product. On the other hand a closing question is asking the prospect to buy your product. If the prospect agrees on three or more features or benefits, the odds are now in your favor for a successful closing of the sale. In fact successful use of multiple trial closes makes the process of closing the sale easy. If during the trail close process the prospect disagrees on a specific feature or benefit, the sale is NOT dead, because you still have many more product features and benefits to ask them about. Probably the most important function of the trail close is to uncover objections.
- When you are asking your trial close questions, never ask a prospect what they “think.” Why not? People DON’T like to think. It’s too hard and requires time right!? If you ask them what they think, they’ll tell you they must go home to do so and then get back to you!! Of course they seldom do, so that ends your sale right!? Always ask for their OPINION about your product’s feature or benefit. People love to tell you their opinions, because that’s easy to do!! An easy way to phrase that is, “In your opinion do you feel that….fill in the blank.”
- When dealing with objections, never ask why!! If you’ve ever been a parent, you can remember your child’s “why” years? In retrospect, they were cute, but at times aggravating. Asking why also puts your prospect in a defensive posture to justify his opinion about your trial close question. Instead of asking “why,” it’s better to complement your prospect on their thoughtfulness and keep the sales process going by simply stating the following: “Obviously you have a reason for saying that, do you mind if I ask what that is?” Whatever their answer you can bet that it is probably the real objection.
- Finally, the best way to address the objection is to repeat it back to the prospect in the form of a question, and then ask them, “Is that your question?” You need to do this so that the sale process continues, because questions can always be answered. Example: Ok Mr. prospect I understand price is the issue. Are you asking me is this policy the best value for your money? Is that your question? If they say NO! Then it’s OK to ask them, “Then what is your question?” Even if they come back with, “I didn’t ask you a question, I just said your price is too high!” You are now ready to ask them questions about value verse price and even get into questions about coverage limits and deductibles. Notice that you the trained professional are still in control of the conversation for the benefit of the prospect.
There is plenty of expert sales training material available for the insurance and financial services professional. I would recommend material from Zig Ziggler, Lee DuBois and Brian Tracey to name a few. The key is implementing quality sales training within your agency on an ongoing basis.
