It’s a relatively well-known fact that most people decide within the first 20 seconds if they are going to do business with your or not. That means your first conversation with them needs to engage them right away and pull them along into talking about what they need.
People love to talk about themselves, to be heard, to have their needs met and have someone truly make the effort to listen to what they have to say. Calling a potential customer and immediately saying something like, “Hi, it’s Joe Agent and I’m following up on your online request for quotes” is pushy to begin with and extremely redundant. The contact knows they asked for information on insurance policies and expects an agent to be calling them.
Instead, try for something like, “Hi, it’s Agent Joe, from Joe’s Insurance Agency, and I see you are interested in one of our top selling insurance policies. It’s actually on sale right now. Let me fill you in on the details once we talk about what you need.”
If you want someone to do business with you, you need to make a good impression within that first 20 seconds on the phone. It’s difficult to do that when you are not talking in person, but if you have a quick and engaging quality to your opening gambit, you get the attention you need to make a sale and the customer gets the attention they need to make an informed decision.
Talking on the phone also means having a script, but also being willing to vary it as you go. If you stick to the script only, you come off sounding awkward and ill prepared, not to mention the fact that if they ask a question you do not have covered in your script, what do you do?
In reality, the best script you could possibly have would be just asking questions about what the contact needs, sees for the future, wants to take care of now and who they want to protect. Family questions, pet questions, questions about children and their needs — in other words, you are having a conversation one-on-one as though you were having a cup of coffee in a restaurant. Make it personable. Make it genuine. Make it probing but not invasive, and make it a conversation about what would ideally suit that customer’s needs.
Always remember that once you ask a question, shut up and intently listen to the answer. There are always nuggets of valuable information in those answers. If you are quick and smart enough to filter out those answers, your sale may be just around the corner.
When asked a question by your prospect, answer that question. Do not throw in the whole kitchen sink and then some. It is far too confusing for the lead, and all they want to know is the answer to their question that pertains directly to them. You get the idea.
Be on your toes. Be prepared. Be personable. Be you. It’s the personal touch that sells these days.
