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Selling insurance is important but challenging work. In a competitive industry that’s changing rapidly, the obstacles are many. But knowledge is power, as they say, so in Retirement Advisor’s recent Advisor Survey we asked your peers to name these obstacles directly. The answers ran the gamut from specific product concerns to looming legislation worries to straightforward sales hurdles that would resonate equally with those who sell houses or medical equipment or tax planning advice.

Following are the five obstacles that independent insurance agents say are the most significant they’ll face this year, along with suggestions for how to meet them head-on.

1. Lead generation (50.59%)
2. The economy (44.71%)
3. Health care reform (35.29%)
4. Industry legislation (20.0%)
5. Cap rates on indexed annuities (20.0%)

Source: lifehealthpro.com

• Hot Plan G rates – who is best in your area?
  

Years ago, when I had just launched my speaking career, a friend shared the concept of the sold (and thereafter abused) customer with me. Now, the word abused may be a bit strong, but his point was well taken. For many customers, the pre-purchase experience is vastly superior to the post-purchase experience.

My belief is that customer service starts the moment the customer even thinks about doing business with you. Customer service isn’t just what happens after the sale, it’s also what happens leading up to the sale. And once it starts, it should continue through the entire life of your relationship with the customer.

Recently I had the pleasure of experiencing sales expert Joey Coleman present a speech on the “first 100 days.” This refers to the first 100 days after a customer pays for whatever you sell. The period of time between when the customer decides to buy from you and when he receives your product or service is when he is most likely to question his purchase. During this period, the customer may come to feel abused or neglected.

For example, you may have bought something on a website which took take several days or longer to arrive. Or you may have signed a contract to build a home but been forced to wait months before construction began. Coleman posits that your best opportunity for customer loyalty comes during these first 100 days. Of course, you need to manage the long-term experience, but this initial period is crucial.

The idea of the first 100 days is to create as many touch points as possible, which will enhance the experience for your customer. This is known as proactive customer service and it is the best recipe for customer loyalty.

So take your already-great customer service up a level by adding intentional customer interactions which will confirm in your customer’s mind that she has made the right decision to do business with you.

Source: lifehealthpro.com

• Hot Plan G rates – who is best in your area?
  

Ok. This is false advertising. There is no secret to "overcoming” the price objection. The truth is that the price objection cannot be overcome. That is because it isn’t intended to be overcome. It is meant to be resolved through thought facilitation by a sales person. The sales person’s role is to help the prospect work through the price concern as opposed to attempting to overcome it.

First, can we agree that it isn’t really an objection? It is a concern. I know that many sales books call it an objection, but it is not. It is an attempt by the prospect to resolve financial questions in their mind. People want to feel good about decisions they make and that is why concerns are brought up.

The mistake many sales people make is that they think they understand the prospect’s concern when the price issue is initially raised. A fatal flaw, indeed! The truth is that the cause for this concern isn’t initially known. A myriad of possibilities could be causing this to come up now such as:

• Is it a question of how much use they will get of the product?
• Is it whether or not they can afford it?
• Is it that they saw a similar product at a cheaper price?
• Or is it a sales person being hyper-sensitive to the mere mention of price?

There are others, but you get the point. The bottom line is that without knowing what is causing the price concern, you can’t possibly help the prospect work it through. To share a personal example, I live in Minnesota where owning a boat is commonplace. To me, however, it is expensive. It isn’t the price of the boat, or the cost of maintenance, or even the price of the slip. It is the fact that the season for boating is so short that I don’t feel I would get enough usage out of it to make it worth the financial investment.

On the other hand, I bought Peg Perego, motorized cars for my three kids. Each one had a $300 price tag on it. Expensive to some, but cheap to me. Why? Because I’m rich? Hardly. No, it is because my kids use them, a lot! From my perspective, it’s worth every penny! If I get significant utility out of something, I can justify the price in my mind. At the other end of the spectrum, like most parents, I have also bought tons of toys in the $20 price range that have been used once, maybe twice. After that, the toys are never touched again. To me, that is expensive.

Some other price concerns center on whether or not the prospect can financially afford the product. A good sales person will facilitate the conversation that helps the prospect to recognize the options available to them for financing the purchase.

In other scenarios, the prospect has seen the same product, or a similar one, at a lower price. The human mind tries to make everything into an easy to understand commodity. When I worked in employment background screening, prospects would compare a $9.95 database search with a comprehensive courthouse search. The comparison of the two was apples and oranges. The strong salespeople were able to explain the difference in a way that led prospects to see that they needed the comprehensive search. The $9.95 search can be perceived as very expensive since you rarely catch any bad guys with it.

The worst case is when the salesperson does not believe that his product is worth its price tag. If this hits home for you, I highly encourage you to look to be somewhere else. If you don’t believe in your price, I guarantee you that no one else will either. If you believe that all sales ultimately come down to price, help me to understand this:

Why doesn’t everyone buy generic drugs?

Why do people buy bottled water when they can get it for free from the tap?

Why doesn’t everyone drive a Yugo?

Why are people buying satellite radio when there are plenty of good stations available for free?

How come most people have cable or satellite television when they can get a dozen tv stations for free?

Why isn’t everyone shaving with a single-blade disposable razor?

Why isn’t everyone drinking generic coffee?

Why isn’t everyone fighting to sit in the last row at the ballgame?

Why do people even go to a ballgame when they can watch it comfortably for free in their living room?

How did your company get any clients at all...unless you are the low price provider?

I think you get my point. Thus, you really do believe that someone will pay more if they feel the purchase is worth the price. Maybe you can’t afford the product you are selling. That is a completely different issue. There is a great expression that goes along with that. "Don’t spend the prospect’s money.” You don’t belong in their shoes, so don’t put yourself there. You never truly know a person’s financial situation.

Look, no one wants to get ripped off. And everyone wants to brag that they got a good deal. So, if you can master the discussion around the pricing concern, you will inherently have more sales.

Source: eyesonsales.com

• Hot Plan G rates – who is best in your area?
  

As you start looking for new business in 2015, you need fresh ideas for generating leads. LifeHealthPro.com has compiled the 50 best lead generation tips from submissions by readers and industry leaders, that can help you have your most successful year yet.

• Pick a niche. Pick a niche and focus on it 100 percent. It can be a health issue like multiple sclerosis or an occupational risk like helping pilots. Lots of agents are taking this approach and seeing fantastic results.
• Find 25-year-old health insurance prospects. Chasing the elusive Millennials as they are about to age off their parents' health plan at age 26? This is a highly desirable insurance risk, and a competitive market segment.
• Use Facebook to generate leads. Create a group targeting a very specific audience. Since Facebook has so much data on its users, you can access that data as an advertiser. Take this a step further and create a niche website targeting that audience, too.
• Stop asking CPAs for referrals. You want leads from CPAs? Then stop asking them for referrals and instead focus on helping them deliver more value to their clients by allowing them to offer proactive and holistic advice.
• Network strategically. Networking should be limited to two types of groups and events: (1) Where you can interact with prospective clients and, (2) Where you can interact with professionals who work with your prospective clients.

Source: lifehealthpro.com

• New Medico Corp states effective 4/1/2015 – AL, IA, NE, SC, SD and WI
  
• Mutual of Omaha Sales Leaders – 2016 Rome, Italy