Even the most disciplined person can be guilty of procrastination now and then. It’s human nature, especially when it comes to necessary but boring or unpleasant tasks. And let’s face it – although disability insurance offers important coverage for anyone who depends on a paycheck, most people don’t get excited about buying coverage the same way they might get excited about buying a car or planning a vacation. As a result, you could be losing sales to procrastination.
Playing the Odds
The Social Security Administration says that more one in four of today’s 20-year-olds will become disabled before reaching retirement age.
This is a good reason to buy disability insurance, and your prospects may recognize this. They may not, however, see it as a reason to purchase disability insurance TODAY. They may figure that it’s safe to wait a while. After all, what are the odds that they will become disabled tomorrow? Not very high, probably.
But a day can become a week, which can become a month and then a year. Eventually, you’re finely crafted presentation will be forgotten, and your prospects may still lack coverage.
Losing Sales to “No Decision”
According to the Very Well Mind, people procrastinate for many different reasons. Joseph Ferrari, a professor of psychology, estimates that about 20 percent of people are chronic procrastinators.
For insurance salespeople, procrastination creates one more obstacle. In fact, it might be the biggest obstacle. According to HubSpot, getting people to buy now versus later ranked as the number one challenge to successful selling.
Many sales aren’t lost to rejection. They’re lost to “no decision.”
Whether you get a “no” or a “no decision,” the result is the same – you lose a sale. How you’ll deal with the problem is different, however, and there are things you can do to keep procrastination from costing you sales. For example:
- Simplify things. Are your clients confused by their options? A confused mind never buys. Some people procrastinate when they are not sure what they should do. Make the next step very simple and clear so your prospect knows exactly how to proceed.
- Create urgency. Procrastination is often the result of a lack of urgency. To counter this trend, you need to show why now is the best time to buy.
- Don’t give into procrastination yourself. You know you need to follow up with your prospects – but do you put it off sometimes? If so, this double whammy of procrastination could be costing you even more sales.
These are just a few possible ideas. As you know, closing the deal is difficult. To succeed, you need the right sales strategies.
That’s why DIS has put together resources to help you.
In the DI industry, only 10 percent of quotes become policies. With DIS, 25 percent of quotes become policies. Want to learn how we do it? Get the DIS Traction Kit.
