24 Dec
When performing outbound calling to people in order to sell insurance, often times you will find yourself hung up on over and over and over again. One of the biggest mistakes made by those who sell insurance over the phone is that they are too boring or bland once they’ve gotten into a conversation with one of the people they plan on selling insurance to. Luckily, we’re here to give you insurance cold calling scripts to follow the next time you are trying to sell insurance over the phone. These can easily be used whether you’re performing call center campaigns with multiple agents or simply an independent agent doing his own thing.
How to sell Insurance over the phone
Making insurance sales over the phone can be intimidating, but you can make the process much easier by following these tips on how to sell over the phone:
- Before you pick up the phone, make sure you understand your pitch. What does your company have to offer that others don’t? Do you have a certain customer persona in mind? What kind of objections could someone have?
- You don’t have to make the entire call off the top of your head. Create an outline or write exactly what you want to say. But, remember that you can’t rely on it for the entire call.
- Make sure to use terms your customer will understand — no jargon. Feel free to be personable, yet professional. During your conversation, try to understand their wants and needs and shape your pitch around them.
- If they begin to be rude to you, or immediately hang up on you, don’t become upset. You want to keep a calm demeanor throughout or it will affect your next call.
- Ask questions. People like talking about themselves, and you’re sure to keep them on the phone longer if you ask them questions.
- While asking questions, you also want to keep things short. Not many people want to sit on the phone all day and listen to someone try to sell them insurance.
- How to handle objections in sales calls. You’re going to be rejected a few times in a row. This is no reason to become distraught, and is also no reason to begin to think about giving up.
- Keep a happy tone, no one likes talking to someone who sounds miserable or upset in any way.
This list has just a few ideas to enhance your telephone sales. You can consider other resources like TelephoneLists.biz to make the process even easier!
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9 Tips to Closing the Deal when Selling Insurance Over the Phone
While the tips provided above will help you be more successful with cold calling, employing some best practices will also help you succeed. Here are some best practices that can help you when you’re calling health insurance telemarketing leads or when consumers have an interest in another insurance product you sell:
1. Stay Focused
If you’re trying to learn how to sell health insurance over the phone or you’re going to call prospects about another kind of insurance, it’s critical that you get and remain focused whenever you’re interacting with a prospect. While this may seem like common sense, it’s not unusual for insurance agents to not be fully engaged in the sales calls they make, especially if they don’t like cold calling or they’re afraid of being rejected. You can help your insurance agents keep their focus by creating a weeklong calendar of one-hour blocks of time that are exclusively for cold calling. During each block of time, the goal for every agent should be to attempt between 30 and 40 cold calls. Your team should view each assigned block of time as a business appointment they simply cannot miss.
2. Get the Information You Need
The most effective telemarketing scripts are the ones that let insurance agents get to know the people on the other end of the telephone line. Since they don’t know anything about the person who just answered their call, you have to give your agents the freedom to ask probing questions about the individual’s current situation. This will achieve two things – it will make prospects feel like your agents genuinely care about their needs and it will give your agents the chance to identify additional areas where your products may benefit your prospects. When cold calling scripts for insurance are too restrictive, they can lead to lost sales. Remember that just because your original goal was to sell someone a health insurance policy, it doesn’t mean the person couldn’t use life insurance instead of or in addition to health insurance.
3. Use Effective Telemarketing Scripts
While some insurance businesses and agents rally against using cold calling script samples when they’re reaching out to prospects they don’t know, using scripts can be beneficial in several ways. First, they provide a common approach that all your agents can use to talk to prospects. This can prevent your agents from being at a loss for words, and it can ensure they cover all of the points they need to make with ease. Sales scripts can also drive every conversation your agents have with prospects in the direction that will increase the likelihood that they’ll close a sale.
4. Listen carefully and engage them
You should be doing just ask much listening, as you are talking. Since your conversation with prospects is over the phone, it can be difficult to show that you are listening other than the fact that you aren’t talking, so practice ‘active listening’. Say things like ‘okay’ ‘yes, I understand’ and try to summarize what they said after they finish talking. For instance, if they explained what they are looking for in a product, repeat back what features they want most in a product and assure them you will find the best solutions for them based off of their criteria. This helps the customer feel heard and engaged.
5. Avoid jargon and slang
As a telemarketing agent you’re expected to be professional and represent the company well. This includes how you communicate with customers. Although some clients may speak casually with you, it is best to stick with business appropriate language. It will add credibility to the professionalism of the agent, as well of the company being represented.
6. Be prepared for the call
Always have your note pad and CRM pulled up. Having information about previous calls or information about the prospect will help you immensely in knowing which stage of the sales pipeline they are in. It will also help you in your word choices and methods of moving them further into the sales pipeline.
7. Establish yourself as an expert
Its easier said than done, however, knowing as much as you can about the product, industry, and market trends is vital to established yourself as an expert. It would be frustrating calling a Honda motorcycle dealership and asking about which motorcycle has the best gas mileage and have the employee say ‘I don’t know, I drive a Harley”. Likewise, it would be frustrating to speak with a sales agent who doesn’t know what they are talking about. If possible, test the products/services for yourself and find ways to keep up with recent events/trends in your industry, so people come to you for answers, not the competitors.
8. Build rapport with your prospect
Being honest and doing what you said you were going to do will go a long way. It all comes down to trust. If you prove yourself to be unreliable or dishonest, then the customer will leave for the competitors.
9. Don’t give up
Keep calling, unless the prospect ask you not to. Eighty of the sales made are after the 5th call, so keep calling. It takes persistent and building trust to make that sale!
General Insurance Cold Calling Scripts
Just like you’ve come to the right place if you’re looking for high-quality calling lists, you’ve also come to the right place if you’re looking for insurance sales script samples that can elevate your team’s performance.
Let’s begin with the general insurance cold calling scripts. We’re going to keep it short and sweet.
“Hello! How are you? I work for –insert company name- Do you have a moment to discuss insurance with me?”
Now if you are prompted with no, you may thank them for their time, and continue on to the next person. If prompted with yes, you may say…
“Wonderful! Are you currently insured?”
No matter what they say here, you want to respond with…“Have you considered –insert company name-?”
Again, no matter what they say, respond with…
“Well we’re a company that offers the best deals with the most coverage, and –insert more details here- and if you’re looking for better insurance, we can promise that we’re the best around. Would you be interested in purchasing insurance with us?”
If they answer no, try to sell them on it again. If they continue to respond negatively, thank them for their time, and move on to the next customer. However, if the response is yes…
“That’s great! I can patch you through to one of our insurance workers, would you like that? Or would you prefer I take your information and have them call you at another time?”
If they want to be patched through, thank them for their time and send them through to someone who can take their order, if they want to be called at a later time, get their number and again, thank them for their time.
Craft Your Own Cold Calling Script for Insurance Sales
As an insurance agent focusing on cold calling potential leads, your script should include three very clear talking points:
- A strong introduction: Introduce yourself and your company and quickly express the benefits the customer will receive by working with your company over your competitors. Highlight what makes you unique.
- The reason for your call: In your second sentence, state the particular reason for your call, and be specific. If you’re trying to convince them to change insurance or purchase insurance for the first time, be sure to explain why this would benefit them.
- Concrete examples: Give the person a real-world example that illustrates the benefits of your service to their specific problem.
After you’ve addressed these three things, ask the person if they’re ready to talk to someone who can take their order or if they’d like to schedule an appointment to talk more at later or more convenient time.
It’s as simple as that! Following those insurance cold calling scripts is a sure-fire way to get a few people every day to not only listen to you but also possibly purchase insurance.
10 Tips on How to Use Cold Calling Scripts for Insurance
Now that you’ve crafted your script, you’re ready to get calling. Following these 10 cold calling tips will help you take advantage of your phone time and maximize your cold calling success:
Rehearse your script
When you’re reading your cold calling script, you want to sound confident and comfortable — not like you’re reading from a script. The key to this is to practice your script in the posture and location where you’ll be doing your cold calling, most likely at your desk. Keep your energy up and be prepared to face a few rejections. Stay upbeat, as this will translate to helping the person on the other end of the line stay upbeat, as well, which will make them more receptive to what you’re trying to sell them. Smile while you’re talking to them, and have confidence in your products.
Know when to call
According to research, the best time for cold calling is between 8 and 9 a.m. and 4 and 5 p.m. The worst time is right after lunch — from 1 to 2 p.m. Limiting calling during these more effective times will help you curb the number of calls — and the potential number of rejections — you’ll get each day, which will help you stay upbeat.
Do your research
The beauty of cold calling in the modern age is that you can easily learn about your prospect by peaking at their social media profiles. Check out their LinkedIn or website to learn more about them and find ways you can relate to them during your conversation. Insurance is usually targeted towards consumers, but we also have b2b telemarketing lists for business contacts as well.
Keep your introduction short
You will likely have precious few seconds to convince the person on the other side of the phone not to hang up, so use that time wisely! Make your intro short and sweet and get to the point quickly.
Ask questions — and listen
As we mentioned before, asking questions — more specifically, open-ended questions, can allow you to keep your prospect on the phone longer. If you listen and hear them out, you’ll make them feel like you’re connecting to their problems. This, in turn, will allow you to understand their position better and adjust your pitch to meet their specific needs.
Leave a voicemail
If you can’t get the person to pick up the phone, take this opportunity to leave a voicemail. Have a separate script just for this purpose so you don’t forget to provide all the necessary details — including your contact information.
Be flexible with your script
As you’re talking to someone, you may learn a lot about them in the course of just a few minutes. This can be intimidating, and your script won’t always cover things like what to say if they reveal that their spouse just left them or their child has a serious illness. Be ready to go off script if you feel it’s warranted.
Be prepared with your talking points
Get ready to address the caller’s objections, especially if they have specific reasons for saying “no.” Also, have a list of “what’s in it for me” talking points that will help convince them to buy.
Always follow up
If you end up transferring the caller to a member of the sales team, follow up to see how things went. If they weren’t quite ready to buy or make an appointment just yet, call or send a follow-up email. The more often you can get the person to engage, the more likely they are to convert.
Track your conversion rates
Are you curious if your cold-calling strategy is working? One great way to find out is to track your calls versus your conversions, so you have specific data to back up your information.
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