Quality Vs. Price?

Indiana_Adam

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With the economy what it is today, most consumers are focusing on getting what they want or need as cheaply as possible. So, all the insurance advertising I see and calls made by agents seems to be pushing the "get what you can for as cheap as you can" agenda. If you sell your product on it being cheaper, won't the same client jump ship when a different agent quotes them a cheaper price? Are any of you selling your products based on quality and having any luck selling policies that way, especially when the price is the same or more expensive than what a client already has? I'm just curious if it's possible to sell insurance without the main focus being on price. Sure, there are people who are going to purchase based on price alone, but are they the majority or minority? I'm sure it also depends on the product as well, would like input from the different areas.

If you are selling them on quality and decreasing the focus on price, how are you doing it? Any specific 'techniques' that you would be willing to share?
 
It's going to depend on what they are interested in. Term? price sells. Permanent? the quality of the company sells. You should try and have both types in your toolbox. The people looking at term are worried about the right now price. They haven't thought far enough ahead to think if they will still need insurance 20-30 years from now (or they go GUL). the permanent shoppers are looking into the future and want to be sure if they buck up now, there's something there later for them.
 
Why not offer both? High price does not always equate to high quality.

Sell quality products an great service at the lowest price. Not rocket science.
 
True that. I am indeed captive, so I don't have a smorgasbord of companies to quote from. We do have quality P&C products and we are competitive, but not always the cheapest. Then again, auto and home policies are usually more alike than different from company to company.

When a client reacts negatively to your higher quoted price, do you point out the strengths of your product and why it's worth a higher price? Or do you chalk it up to the client being concerned too much about price and put in the back of the file for requote at later date or just move on and forget about it?

 
True that. I am indeed captive, so I don't have a smorgasbord of companies to quote from. We do have quality P&C products and we are competitive, but not always the cheapest. Then again, auto and home policies are usually more alike than different from company to company.

When a client reacts negatively to your higher quoted price, do you point out the strengths of your product and why it's worth a higher price? Or do you chalk it up to the client being concerned too much about price and put in the back of the file for requote at later date or just move on and forget about it?


I don't do P & C, so, no knowledge of how that works. Except when shopping it for myself. I use and independent agent for my P & C. For my home, we are on the 3 rd company in 5 years. He moves me because of companies taking huge rate increases. I was with Grange for several years. They shot thir prices up, supposedly because of the Fl. hurricanes, and he moved me to Allsate. I was iwht them for 3 years and they took a huge price increase last year, supposedly because of the ice storm, and he moved me to Ky National. I just wrote the check to them for my second year. Their premium went down $20 from last year.

That's how I do my life insurance work for my clients. I don't get much balking at the higher price because I don't show them the higher prices. Pricing is the last thing I do in my presentation. By the time I get there, I know what they are looking for.

If it's determined that they want term, I use Compulife to find the best rates for them with A rated companies. I don't ever sell a company for life that's not A rated. I do explain that to clients during the presentation.

For FE, I will only sell whole life and I explain to them why during the presentation. With all the companies I have at my disposal, I'm going to show them the best rates available with the exception of Oxford. For older people, they are most likely going to be lower priced, but, they are not an A rated company, so, I won't use them.

That would be the only case where my price might be higher is if they have been quoted Oxford. I have yet to find a person that wanted to go that route once explained. I have run into people that already had Oxford and wouldn't switch.

For med sups, all plans are the same by law. It is strictly about price and service from the agent. Same when I was doing MA plans. The plans were the same priced and service from the company. Agent service was difference in why I was doing more than the other agents selling the same product.

You need to learn. There is nothing wrong with being caprtive while learning. But, you can't drink all the kool-aid about how the product is superior just because it's part of the propaganda campaign of the captive company.
 
Problem is that p&c is a commodity. During the one short year I did it, the only way I found to combat coming back at a higher price was to make sure I discussed their coverages with them and why they needed higher liability limits and higher bodily injury. Some clients only care about price, but if you educate them about what their limits are in the event of, let's say a hit and run accident. So they were innocently minding their own business when someone hit's them and takes off. They end up in the hospital for a week or two and can't work for 4 months. Do they really think $25k is enough or do they want to have $300k available to them? Some prospects simply won't care, but you will win some customers by explaining how they weren't covered before, even if apples to apples your rates are higher, now you turned a logical sale into an emotional sale and that's how you make money.

If you're captive with a carrier that isn't very competitive in a commodity industry, that's a tough spot to be in.
 
Jdeasy, you leave my captive propaganda koolaide alone! It came with a hand-made, one of a kind mug that just happens to resemble everyone elses mugs!

I'm trying real hard to buy into everything my company says to see if it works, because I don't usually partake in the company mindset. BUT AAA has been around longer than me and they're making money. Plus, I can learn...stumble a whole lot I'm sure....and not worry about getting a pay check due to the salary setup.

Thank you Medicare for the logical to emotional. That makes a lot of sense.
 
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