Practice Makes Perfect

Sales presentations should be in mental modules and we should be able to pull out the module we need to suit the prospect. We must be comfortable with the concept before putting it to the test.

An objection would be a reason for not doing something. The prospects are not saying “No” and they are telling us, as best as they can, that they need more information, challenging us to tell them more. “I want to think it over” really means “I am not yet convinced”. We have to probe beneath the objection to find the true question, which the prospect may not even know themselves. Once we have exposed the prospect’s real question or fear, we can then move on to a logical conclusion.

Look into the prospect’s wants and leave the needs behind. Needs are basic, enough for the mortgage, food, schooling, the essentials of life. Wants are about much more than these. They are about a standard of living, a way of life. What is needed are the essentials of living. What is wanted is the maintainence of a world created by the breadwinner. If a prospect cares for their family, what they want for them will be far more than their basic needs. If we talk more about our client’s wants and less about their needs, we will find the sums assured will be bigger.

It does not cost the prospect to buy the premium, it only costs the prospect the use of the premium. The cost is only the interest the prospect would have earned on the premium. That is the proper way to buy insurance. Nobody ever wants a cheap alternative, not when they can do something properly. Everything has a correct price and buying a cheap, temporary alternative does not solve the problem, other than temporarily. No one does not believe in life insuracne, it is paying premiums that people do not believe in.

If a prospect needs to discuss with their spouse, we still have to remind them of reality. They cannot expect their spouse, or anybody else for that matter, to make the decision for them. It is their own liefe insurance. If we say it with a smile, they will understand the point and accept it.

If prospect can not afford the premiums, we need to emphasised that we understand that money is not easy to find, the problem is not the prospect finding the money needed a month out of their salary. The problem is the prospect’s family having to find the extra money a month when they do not have the prospect’s salary. The premium is not the problem, the premium is the solution to the problem. Life insurance is not some luxury to be taken when they can afford it. Life insurance is a necessity to be taken because the prospect’s family cannot afford to be without it.

(Adapted from “It Can Only Get Better – Tony Gordon’s Route to Sale Success”, Chapter 9: Practice Makes Perfect by Tony Gordon)