Insurance Sales Training 101: A 5-Minute Class On The Art Of Active Listening
One of the basic tenets of a good insurance sales training program is understanding a prospect's needs. This is paramount to the producer's ability to make the sale and if that producer is not equipped with active listening skills, his or her chances of success are diminished greatly. Active listening is an art, a skill, a learned behavior. As insurance professionals, we have to listen. That's what we're trained to do. It's one of the things we get paid to do. But it's something that takes a lot of time and practice to master.
In this article, we'll look at why active listening is so important. We'll discuss the barriers to active listening that help explain why it is so difficult to do. And lastly, we'll talk about five things that can help you listen better and communicate more effectively.
As salespeople, most of us love to talk. But we talk too much. That's why our prospects ignore so much of what we have to say. They are selective listeners. They only hear what's important to them. But here's the thing. When prospects hear something that is important to them, you get their attention and that's when they begin to engage in the conversation. Sales training experts call this a "resonance point". That's why it's so important to listen to what a prospect has to say and determine early on what their needs are, what's important to them, what makes them tick. Genuine understanding helps to fuel those resonance points. Customers want to buy what they want to buy. They don't want to buy what you're selling, unless what you're selling happens to match with what they want to buy. Only by listening to them can you prescribe the right products or services that match their needs
If you asked a dozen insurance sales producers why the prospect on their last appointment call actually bought their product, most of them would say that is was because they did a good job making the presentation. The truth of the matter is, they made the sale because they were able to find something that the prospect wanted to buy to resolve some need or want in their financial life. They bought the product because somewhere along the line, the producer was able to talk to them about something they were really interested in talking about. Those producers that didn't make the sale probably didn't make it because they spent all their time trying to convince the prospect what a great product it was they were selling and not nearly enough time listening to and finding out what that prospect was looking for and why the prospect thought he or she needed it in the first place.
So, what are some of the barriers that keep us from being an active listener? Here's my top ten list:
Thinking about what we're going to say to our prospect when we first arrive.
Thinking about everything we hope to tell them about our products and services.
Thinking about all the questions we want to ask.
Second-guessing what our prospect will say about what we've said to him or her.
Trying to figure out what it is the prospect is saying.
Trying to figure out what the prospect isn't saying.
Second-guessing the prospect's objections to what we've said.
Crafting and rehearsing all of our responses.
Finding ourselves preoccupied with something other than the sales call -- like all the errands we want to run on our lunch hour, or what we're going to make for dinner or the phone call we just received from an unhappy customer.
Boredom, disinterest and/or discomfort. We're bored with ourselves or the job, we're disinterested in the prospect and/or we're uncomfortable on the call.
As insurance sales professionals and trainers, we have to listen and train others to do the same. Our job is to do whatever it takes to remove the barriers that work against us and our ability to listen effectively. When you take a look at the list, you can see that listening is an active mode of communication, not a passive one. That's why so many sales trainers skilled in communications advocate active listening as the approach we need to foster. When you look at the list a little closer, here's what's also apparent. We are listening only to ourselves, not our prospects. It's all about us. We're our own worst enemy.
Here are a few good tips that should help break down the barriers we face trying to listen more effectively to our prospects. Hopefully, they can help us manage our tendencies to listen passively or not listen at all. They can also help us adopt new habits and patterns of behavior leading to improved communications between us and our prospects.
Be attentive to the problem. Admit to yourself just how challenging listening can be and take the adage, "forewarned is forearmed". Work to remove at least one barrier to active listening that you encounter on every sales call you make.
Take good notes. When a prospect gives you an idea, answers a question, expresses a need or raises an objection, write it down.
"Double click" on key words or phrases spoken by a prospect. If he or she says, "This conversation in making me feel anxious", ask "What is it that's making you anxious?" Asking prospects to speak their mind provides you the opportunity to hear and understand what it is they're really saying. By double clicking on the word "anxious", you will hear more and listen more effectively.
Paraphrase. Confirm with the client what you heard and understood them to say. Reiterate the needs you've just uncovered and always restate or reframe the prospect's objections.
Be present. Stay focused on the dynamics of the conversation. Actively work to remove those barriers impacting your ability to listen. If you find yourself getting distracted, get yourself right back to the topic at hand. If you get preoccupied with something, force yourself back into the conversation.
Active listening is an art, a skill, a learned behavior and any good insurance sales training program would be incomplete without a lesson or two addressing its importance to the agent who wants to be a sales success. Knowing the barriers that stand in his or her way and working to remove them on each and every sales call virtually ensures that success. Lessons like these are what make a good insurance sales training program a great one.