Questions, questions, questions

This is the greatest time ever to be an insurance and financial professional, because we are the only professionals who can solicit business. Accountants, attorneys, bankers and trust officers have to wait for people to request their advice. We do not. Wherever we are, whoever we are with, we have unlimited opportunities because we can ask questions.

When we ask relevant questions and truly listen, people will share the information we need to help them achieve financial security. Asking questions seems easy. Why don’t we, as an industry, do it more often? Why don’t we ask more questions? There are several answers.

First, our industry has become driven more by compliance than by salesmanship. However, our industry would actually be more compliant if we had better salespeople. Learning to ask questions, recording the answers and assisting in prioritizing solutions would benefit the American public greatly.

Why the resistance?
Another reason for resistance? It takes too long to ask all those questions. Agents focus on short-term sales rather than long-term relationships. They think that time is better spent looking for a new prospect than building a client. However, questions build relationships. And building a client relationship could lead to additional referrals.