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Not hitting your quota for life insurance phone sales? Maybe it’s not what you’re doing right, but what you’re doing wrong.

You’re in the business of life insurance phone sales. Maybe you’ve gone to business school or taken other classes on effective phone sales techniques. You’re surely an expert on the insurance policies you have on offer. You do everything that you’re supposed to, but you’re still not hitting your numbers. What else can you do?

Sometimes success comes not from knowing what you’re doing right, but knowing what you’re doing wrong. Just like there are plenty of life insurance phone sales techniques that will help you close deals, there are also some behaviors and actions that can dramatically lower your chances of making that sale. Identifying those behaviors will help you to keep them in check so that all of the useful strategies you’re putting to work can thoroughly do their job.

life insurance phone sales

How to turn life insurance phone sales into a steady paycheck

Build relationships to last

If you want someone who doesn’t know you to give you their money, they have to trust you. And forging last relationships with people is the key to that trust. In life insurance phone sales, you’re not selling at first; you’re making a connection. Then when the time comes to sell, your prospect will at least be receptive if not responsive.

In other words, relationships are the central component of sales, even if those relationships are only established over the phone. If you’re not building relationships, you’re probably missing out on a significant number of sales — probably more than from any other thing you might do that can turn a customer off. Like the old movie says, if you build it, they will come.


Build stronger relationships with your customers through Call Logic’s outbound phone technology. Sign up for our free trial now!


Listening and language

So how do you build relationships with someone in a short phone call? To start with, you have to listen. Too many salespeople get so caught up in the pitch that they forget to find out how their policies might be attractive to the prospect. After you state your name and the purpose of your call, ask a specific question, preferably one that’s open-ended. Get the prospect talking. Find out what drives them, what’s important to them. As with any sales, you should be listening more than talking.

Another way to build relationships is to speak the prospect’s language. Don’t get caught up with industry lingo, which will probably only serve to confuse and disengage someone over the phone. Use words and phrases that make sense for your audience, not just a cookie-cutter listing of product features. Mastering the customer’s language makes them feel understood, which makes them more likely to trust you and eventually buy from you.

Sales pressure and organization

Another surefire way to botch life insurance phone sales is to be too pushy or aggressive with your pitch. Now more than ever before, people don’t want to feel pressured into buying, and most are on their guard about it. If a prospect suspects you of pressuring them, they’re likely to disengage. Instead, demonstrate ambition and drive, but make it clear to the customer that you want to help them solve a problem rather than help yourself make a sale.

Of course, it’s going to be difficult to make any sales if you don’t have yourself organized. CRM software for telephone sales streamlines all your contacts and where they stand in the sales process. This is a great way to not only stay in touch, but also to follow up, which is crucial in closing most sales. An autodialer also can help you keep your calls in order, which can contribute to closing more deals.

Social media and phone sales

It may seem counterintuitive, but social media can play a pivotal role in landing new leads, who you can then pursue through a phone call. Connect with prospects over sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, then ask if you can make a phone introduction. While life insurance telephone sales aren’t in any particular danger of succumbing solely to social media, it makes sense to leverage the new technology to work to your advantage on the phone side of things.

Granted, life insurance may not be the easiest thing to promote on social media, but particularly for the more professional sites, you might be surprised at the number of people you pick up from scanning through profiles and getting introductions through friends and colleagues. Promote your business through social, and you just might find yourself on the phone more often than ever.


Build stronger relationships with your customers through Call Logic’s outbound phone technology. Sign up for our free trial now!


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