Guest post by Kelsey Rosauer, AgencyBloc
3 Pieces to the "Good Agent" Puzzle
Your relationship with your clients is the single most important thing in order to have a successful insurance agency. New research has surfaced that will help you be sure you and the rest of your agents are selling to your clients or prospects the way they want to be sold to. Basically, there are 3 pieces that make up someone who is a successful insurance agent.
Hubspot points out these 3 traits in their article, "The 3 Salesperson Behavioral Traits Buyers Value Above All Others":
1. Knowledge
This does not mean knowledge about your own products or service. This means knowledge about your prospect's or client's current situation. In the article, it urges salespeople to understand their buyers' business, and the same goes for insurance agents. You should understand your prospect's or client's specific situation and have feasible solutions ready to share with them.
You can get to know their situation better by sending an initial email out before your first call or meeting asking questions like:
- What are you most concerned about covering with insurance?
- Do you have an estimate of how much you'll need to cover? (this is an important calculation with Life Insurance, for example)
Obviously this may not always be necessary depending on the way the prospect or client contacted you. They may have already filled out a form explaining their situation, for example. In that case, draw up some different questions you'd like them to think through before the meeting or call and send them over.
Asking questions shows that you truly care about their situation and that you want to provide the best service possible.
2. Empathy
We hosted an entire webinar about empathy in insurance sales because we find it to be so important: check it out to see why.
In fact, an insurance industry research study revealed that producers high in emotional intelligence generated 53% more in sales than producers who were low in emotional intelligence. The saying "people buy from people, not companies" couldn't be any truer today, especially in the insurance industry.
Wondering if you're empathetic enough? Take this quiz to find out.
3. Transparency
I would argue that, in insurance sales, transparency is one of the single most important traits to look for in an agent. You're buying products that protect the most important things in your life, so it's crucial that there is trust between you and your agent. That being said, agents must always be transparent with the products and services they sell. Otherwise, you could lose your credibility quickly if your clients ask their friends or find information online that doesn't line up with what you're telling them. That's like window shopping and going in to buy the awesome sunglasses you saw only to find out they're not at all like what you thought.
We wrote a blog about how to market yourself as an insurance agent, and it talks a lot about honesty. Take a look.
Check out our book to learn more.
We believe in the importance of the relationship between you and your clients and prospects so much that we wrote a book about it. It's probably best described as the guide you need as an agent to understand the tools and tactics to use to begin and maintain successful relationships with the modern insurance consumer. It's a quick read and it provides you actionable tips you can begin using immediately. Check it out:
For more information about AgencyBloc, visit agencybloc.com or call Kelsey at 866-338-7075.
