Need help "closing deals"

[moonlightandmargaritas]

"Sell a bunch by lunch, be a winner by dinner."

I love it.

 

[fostever]

K.I.S.S. What's the absolute worst that can happen, they can say no. Everyone has heard it before, usually about 2500 times before we even turn 2 yrs old. But give them a CHANCE to say yes.

While on the topic, this is one of my favorites. How do you folks handle "I want to think about It". I have seen a number of different approaches. There are times when people really do need to think about things.

To me it breaks down to 2 things. I did not do an accurate job of explaining things, i.e. they still have questions and are too embarassed to ask. Or the price point was nowhere near what they were expecting.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions.

Hi Phillip Hudgins. or they weren't listening because they were looking at birth mark and they were to embarassed to ask or they thought it was free and they are flat broke with no bank account.

 

[Guest]

I checked it out too with Firefox 3. It worked OK for me. Rob, you may need to upgrade your "Commodore 64"? Maybe take a ride to Radio Shack over the long weekend?

I have a Macbook Pro ya knucklehead!! LOL.

And thanks for the help with that Florida lead I sent ya!

 

[Guest]

I'd love to have "proper eye contact" but I sell on the phone, what to do?

 

[yodibactum]

SMILE!!! They hear it in your voice...

 

[yodibactum]

I couldn't agree more. As I've said before on the forum: a great presentation is a defined order of a events that lead to a predetermined conclusion.

However, if your presentation is "closing" throughout, with trial closes, assumptive closes, right angle closes, etc. then you are closing the sale. The fact that you don't have to pressure someone to buy and hit them over the head doesn't mean you aren't closing.

Maybe I'm just confused.

Even if you simply ask, "Would you like to go ahead with this?" "Does this sound good to you so far?"

That's a close.

Let's try this. Since so many people on never have to close a sale, well how do you get the sale?

It's been implied that you're not asking for it, so does everyone roll over with no objections? Please share with us on the forum:

How do you not close and sell most or all of the time?

As you can see, I am a very assumptive person.
So yes, there would be hidden closes throughout my presentation. However, I very seldom "ask" for the sale.

The first assumption, is that there are no more than 10 miserable people in the whole world so the chances that I am going to meet one is next to nil. Of course you must keep in mind that they do move around alot and there is always the possibility of meeting them all in the same week.

My next assumption is that everyone has an insurance need of some sort. My job is to make the "correct" assumption as to that need. If I pre-qualified my prospect properly, I pretty much made the correct assumption.

I always had two sales books. One for the senior market and the catch-all for everyone else. Each sales book consisted of predesigned sales presentations covering about every need you could think of. Final expense, med-sup, long term care, annuities, mortgage, college expense, retirement, cancer, disability, etc. Each presentation consisted of pictures capable of directing my prospects mind to that general situation. They actually would see themselves in that situation. For example, a picture of an ambulance with para-medics bringing a person on a stretcher to the ambulance. Each picture would be addressed by one or more positive-agreeable statements followed by (what you might call a close) an affirmative question. (Socrates Method) i.e. A disability could cause the income to stop, however, the obligations still come in, isn't that true?

It starts with a constant sincere smile that leads to building rapport through all the standard things such as admiring pictures or home. There is always something positive in every situation. This could take 2 minutes and upward. I never sell anyone short during this time. Jumping into a presentation before the prospect is comfortable with me puts me at a disadvantage that is very hard to overcome.

Many a times I had agents comment to me afterwards that I spent 2+ hours with that prospect. My reply would always be the same. These people are paying me ($800 or so) why should I not trade them 2 hours of my time?

My point on closing was, if I had to close more than once I was lost. Naturally you have to ask for the sale to get it. My pen was in my hand from the opening of my presentation until I handed it to them for signatures. My application was always on the table throughout the presentation. When my presentation was over my pen went to the application and I would ask, "how do you spell Smith?"

Most replies were, s m i t h. Sometimes I would be asked a question that for whatever reason wasn't covered in the presentation. If it was a pertinent question I would later try to incorporate that into my presentation so I didn't have it come up again in the future. Most people would feel obligated to buy. If they didn't buy on that first and only close than most likely I would never see them again. My time was valuable and I liked giving it to buyers.

So again, I say. A "good" presentation is always being refined and will address any concern a potential buyer has therefore leading to a positive response by the prospect. If not, thank them for their time and bid them farewell with never expecting to hear from them again. Of course if you do hear from them again it is going to be them calling you and you making money...

Simple things to follow:

Use good stories...If you don't have one, borrow one. If you can't borrow one, make one up. Don't get hung up on the fact that your story may be slightly exaggerated. It it closes the deal and later saves some family from depending on the governent, was it really so bad?

Use humor! A short good, clean joke works. A wise man once said, "open their mouths with laughter and cram wisdom down their throats".

Once you ask someone to spell their name or give their date of birth, shut up. Silence during those moments are unbearable for most. You just have to be the one that bears it the best.

Get referrals. The most common mistake made by agents is to get the sale and run. When asking for referrals, don't ask, "Who do you know who needs insurance?" You have all done it and most get the same results. No one. Try asking, (as stupid as it may sound) Tell me everyone you know who doesn't need insurance. Guess what happens. You get the same answer. Only now, they opened theirselves up to naming everybody they know. Have your pen ready and take names. Do not waste time with addresses or telephone numbers. When they are throwing out names just write the names. When there are no more to be gotten, go back to name 1 and start getting all additional info.

I know this is a lot of rambling on, but keep in mind, I have 30 years of it bottled up and I'm not the most gifted at passing it on in a paragraph or two.

As always,

Sell a bunch by lunch, be a winner by dinner!

Rick

P.S. website is down at the moment for some updating. I'm not the quickest so bear with me...

 

[padthaiforlunch]

tell that to Neil Peart

 

[somarco]

My "pitch".

Readers Digest version.

I will show you plans based on what you have told me is important to you. You will see plans that fit your budget while covering everything that needs to be insured.

Feel free to stop me at any time and ask questions. That is how we both learn.

If I am going too fast, let me know. Sometimes I forget that my clients don't buy insurance every day.

Whatever your decision, you need to feel comfortable. If you like the plan you have vs. the ones I will recommend, but you feel I bring value to the table, I will ask to be your agent of record.

If you prefer the plans I suggest, and are comfortable in making a change, then I will help you apply for the new coverage. Before making application we will make a "dry run" where I review your application in detail to make sure there are no surprises. I can tell you with 95% accuracy what your final offer will be from the selected carriers.

Once I submit your application, I will keep you posted along the way of the progress. Many times an underwriter will make an offer that I do not feel is justified and I will let them know. Many times the offer you see is not the initial offer but one that was improved based on my request for a review.

No matter what I recommend, remember this is your plan and your money. You need to feel confident in any decision you make.

We will move at your timetable, not mine.

I should say that before we get to this point, there are 3 questions asked of everyone before I ever make a presentation.

What do you dislike about your current plan?

What is the minimum you have in your budget for health insurance?

How soon would you like to make a change?

This tells me most of what I need to "close" the sale. As long as I address their concerns about their current plan, show them what they will get for the minimum premium, and give them a deadline to apply (according to their timetable) that is really all I need.

The rest is superfluous.

I (almost) never close, but I do get a lot of requests to buy.

 

[Labman]

Excellent post! As a newbie I hope you guys keep throwing ideas out!

 

[mickeyma]

Most reasons people don't buy life insurance is because of their concerns. So, create a presentation that answers every objection. Start by telling prospect about yourself. If you represent several companies, then you are able to do their shopping. Then, go into details about insurance companies ratings, financial condition and claims-paying ability. Now, the client has trust in you. I represent companies that no one has heard of. I show a full page of written material about the company. No one questions the company. If they do, I refer to the written material. Now, the only thing left is the price. If they can't afford what you propose, say: "half a loaf is better than nothing. Let's start with life insurance on just one of you. A year from now, when you paid off some bills or got a pay raise, we'll get together and put insurance on your spouse." Or, "take half the insurance now and we'll add the remaining half next year." Always show 2-3 plans and then ask, "Which one fits your situation and budget the best? All right, then do you want to start the paperwork for that plan?" If you like you, trust you and believe they need the plan, they will tell you to go ahead and start the paperwork a high percentage of the time.

Good luck.