How to Sell More by Finding What Your Clients Need

Here’s an in important reason why so many agents and advisors struggle with closing life insurance sales: People just don’t have any “extra” money!

“Well, if I could show you how to get the insurance you need to protect your family, without taking any additional money out of your pocket and sacrificing your life style, would you like to know how?”

Are you interested? Would you like to know more?

How much easier would it be to close the sale, if you could show your prospects how to get what they need to protect their family, without them spending any additional money or changing their current lifestyle?

Think about it: What’s the biggest obstacle to you selling life insurance? Isn’t it; “I just can’t afford the premiums right now?”

When prospects give you the “I can’t afford it.” objection, do you now apply pressure to try and persuade them it’s worth the sacrifice? Do you try three or four of the 100s of closing techniques you’ve learned, until you get three or more No’s?

Does applying pressure, or using those closing techniques, generally result in you making the sale?

Isn’t our job as sales people, to help people to recognize they have a problem and then get them to agree they want to solve the problem? Unfortunately, that’s where most agents and advisers stop.

If you want to close more sales for life insurance to people who are not billionaires, then you must go a step further.

You Must Help Your Prospects Find The Money!

In most cases, you can help them ‘find the money’ by reviewing their current situation (in other words: doing a thorough fact-find) and then helping them to make some smart money management decisions. (re-position their spending).

Here are just a few questions to ask to help your prospects find the money.

Can they reduce the premiums on their existing insurance policies?

Do they have low deductibles on their health, auto or homeowners insurance? Can they increase their deductibles to free up some money?
Do they have an opportunity to receive a discount on their auto, homeowners and liability policies by putting them with the same company?
Do they qualify for health insurance through their employer at a reduced cost? Can they use that to replace the expensive health coverage they now have from another source?
Do they have expensive, low-priority riders on any of the above policies? Could you free up money by removing these riders?
Do they have cash-value polices that can be paid-up with dividends?
Can you recommend a lower priced, quality company to provide alternatives for their current insurance? Make sure any recommendations for a replacement product is truly in your prospects best interests.

Can they reduce their retirement plan funding costs?

Are they putting money into a Roth IRA? If they need more life insurance to protect their family, couldn’t they use a cash-value policy for their retirement savings, instead of a Roth IRA? Doesn’t cash-value life insurance build value tax-deferred and generate tax-free income, just like the Roth IRA?

Are they putting more money into a 401(k) plan, or the equivalent, than is matched by their company? Or, are they are using a traditional IRA, SEP, etc.? Again, if they need more life insurance to protect their family, couldn’t they instead use some of the money they are putting away for retirement to fund a cash-value policy that could provide both a death benefit and a vehicle for saving for the future?

Can they reduce or eliminate their debt?

Do they have multiple credit cards and charge accounts with large balances and high interest rates? Could they consolidate all that debt onto one credit card with a lower interest rate and reduce their total payments?
Do they have cash value in their life insurance policies that they could use to pay off their debts? Aren’t they better off borrowing from themselves and paying themselves back, instead of paying someone else the interest? They can become their own bank, as in the ‘Infinite Banking’ system. Of course, they must pay themselves back, with interest.
Can they borrow from their 401(k) plans? In some cases, you can borrow from a 401(k) plan to pay off debt and then pay the loan to yourself back over 5 years.
Do they have untapped equity in their homes that they can use to reduce or eliminate their debts? Or, could they refinance their mortgage for a lower monthly payment to free up income? Mortgage interest is tax deductible. So, they save on income taxes, while reducing or eliminating their debt. That’s the idea behind the ‘Missed Fortune’ concept.

These are just some of the creative ways you can help your prospect to ‘find the money.’

Of course, compliance is critical. You must always recommend that your clients consult with their other advisors when considering these kinds of changes.

But, by asking questions to get your prospects emotionally involved, so they want to take action, and then using these find-the-money techniques, you’ll close more sales. And, you’ll close significantly larger sales.

Here, by the way, is how I apply this strategy to building my own practice. Here’s an example of a call to action I use when helping financial professionals “find the money” in their own practices.

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— Read The Top Secret to Closing Life Sales (or Any Sales) on ThinkAdvisor.

Jeremy Nason, RFC is the co-founder of the Insurance Pro Shop ,-an insurance marketing and sales resource center. He has worked as a regional general agent and as a recruiter as well as an author, coach and consultant.