Sometimes, it’s not about what you tell a prospect – it’s about what you ask. Sales strategies that involve asking questions can be highly effective at boosting your close rate.
Asking Questions to Improve Your Sales Rates
No matter how good you are, you won’t close every potential sale. According to HubSpot, the average close rate in the finance industry is only 19%. This means that for every sale you close, you can expect four more to fizzle out.
That’s a lot of hard work going down the drain. However, it also means that even a small improvement in your close rate can be a major win.
When insurance sales professionals try to improve their close rates, they often focus on sharing stats, facts, and cautionary tales with their clients or providing client handouts and catchy visuals. These tactics can be successful, but another sales strategy that’s often overlooked can be easier. That strategy is to ask the right questions.
Questions Can Be More Persuasive Than Statements
When you’re pitching insurance to your leads, you’re not just selling to them – you’re also educating them. To do so, you need to provide leads with information. However, this doesn’t mean staying in lecture mode throughout your entire sales meeting. If you think back to your schooldays, you may recall that some of the most effective teachers didn’t just spout facts and figures at the class: they also asked questions.
Asking questions can be an effective way to educate people and influence their opinions and attitudes. Questions:
- Force the other person to engage. Let’s face it – insurance isn’t always the most exciting topic. When somebody starts spouting a ton of facts, it can be hard to focus. Questions allow the other person to engage, which draws the lead into the conversation.
- Allow people to draw their own conclusions. According to Psychology Today, people don’t generally like being told what to do. As a consequence, they may rebel and do the opposite. If you tell people they need to buy disability insurance, they may be unreceptive. However, if you ask them questions that lead them to conclude that disability insurance is a good investment, you’ve probably made a sale.
Three Types of Powerful Questions
Questions can help you close more sales, but not every question is beneficial. Don’t turn your sales meetings into a round of 20 Questions – ask the right questions to steer the pitch in the desired direction.
There are three types of questions you should be asking. Those that:
- Disarm the lead. According to HubSpot, only 3% of people think salespeople are trustworthy. When you’re making your pitch, many of your leads will be on guard. Ask a question to get them to lower their defenses and start thinking about what you’re saying.
- Pique the lead’s curiosity. If your leads are uninterested in what you’re saying, they probably won’t pay much attention or be motivated to move to the next step. You need to ask questions that capture their attention and make them want to know more.
- Naturally lead to the sales point you’re making. Trial lawyers are warned to never ask question they don’t know the answer to. If they do, the trial can go off track quickly. The same applies to your sales meetings: when you ask questions, you should have an idea of what the answer will be. Sometimes, more than one answer may be possible. You should have a plan for either response.
Do You Know What Questions to Ask?
If you’re still unsure about which questions to ask, don’t worry. The Disability Insurance Business Bonus Pack features three questions that unlock sales. One opens the door to coverage discussions when people say they’re already covered, another creates the need for supplemental coverage for people who have employer-sponsored coverage, and the last overcomes price objections.
Are you ready to add these questions to your disability insurance sales strategies? Download the bonus pack.
Looking for more insurance sales strategies? Read these articles:
- Insurance Sales Strategies: Overcoming Indecisiveness
- Drip Marketing is Key to Insurance Sales Success
- Insurance Sales Psychology: Why a Waiver Works
- Insurance Sales Strategies: Should You Add DI to Your Practice?
