Monday, November 8, 2010

Insurance Sales Training Tips That Will Improve Your Performance

I believe that selling life insurance is a specialised skill which embraces all of the functions of every type of sale but with particular emphasis upon the emotional content of your presentation.
You need to overcome not only the normal resistance that the prospect has to any attempt to part him from his money when being offered any product or service but there are two additional factors which the life insurance representative has to take into account and overcome.
1) You are selling an intangible product.
Owning an Insurance policy is not like owning a car or some other visible asset that you can see and use on a daily basis. All the client receives is a paper document which is stored away for safety until a tragedy occurs which gives rise to a claim on the policy or remains in storage for a long period until it matures.
2) The prospects do not want to face their own mortality.
It is a fact of life that 99% of people do not voluntarily purchase Life Insurance, it has to be sold even though the logistics of the everyday risks to life and limb and general health hazards indicate that protection is a sensible and affordable option. It is strange that people will insure their assets such as their cars, their homes and their jewellery but never even consider protecting the one asset that helps create and maintain all the others, which are their most important assets their life and their health.
This is why the life insurance salesperson has to magnify the emotional content in their presentation. A phrase that conjures up a mental picture of this point is one I learned many years ago when I was going through my own insurance sales training, "When you are selling life insurance you have to drag up the hearse and make them smell the flowers."
How do you do this, not by relying upon statistics and other product features but by painting similar word pictures that confront the prospect with the pain caused by his death or injury. The best way I have found to create such a situation is to ask the prospect a question that assumes the worst has already happened and then ask the prospect to visualize the results of his death or incapacity, upon himself, his business and his family. In fact I would go even further if I were talking to a business person or entrepreneur who may never have imagined the consequences to a business of the death of the owner. I would paint the picture for him. For example:
"Mr Prospect, just imagine you had died last night. What do you think would happen to your business today? Sadly I have witnessed this scene too many times. As soon as your bank gets news of your death they will close your trading account, no more money is to go out. If you have a loan account or mortgage on the business they will want their money back. Most businesses do not have that kind of capital to hand, but the bank want their cash, they do not want your stock,machinery or buildings they want cash, so they will have a sale, - a forced sale. I have seen a number of these and they are not a pretty sight. This is why contrary to public opinion, the more value you have in your business the more protection you need. Since it is the business that needs cash in such an event it is sensible to let the business pay for the protection you need rather than pay for it from your own pocket.
People are naturally motivated to move away from pain, so the more pain you can cause; the more the prospect will want relief from it and highly charged emotional word pictures are the life insurance representative's way to disturb the prospect into taking action.



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Thursday, October 21, 2010

Selling to 4 Personality Types - A Lesson in Sales Psychology

I once read a great book by Florence Littauer, titled "Your Personality Tree", which taught me a great deal about how to approach many different types of customers. In this book, I learned about the theory of Humorism and the four humors, also known as "temperamentum" or temperament, which represent a way of thinking, behaving and reacting.
The Humorism theory suggests that each person is born of a basic temperament, as determined by which of the four humors is more evident within them. The four temperament types are: Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy and Phlegmatic. They are associated with the following personality characteristics:
"Sanguine" - Cheerful, optimistic, the "Life of the Party" who is comfortable to be around and gets along with everyone (extroverted).
"Choleric" - "I'm in charge", "It's my way or the highway" type, characterized by a quick, hot temper and aggressive nature (extroverted).
"Melancholy"- A thinker, everything is well-planned and thought-out, no decision is made hastily. This type of person tends to take a pessimistic view of the world and can be sad or depressed (introverted).
"Phelgmatic" - A "worry wart", can be lazy or slow to make a any decision, even something as simple as "will that be cream or milk in your coffee?" (introverted).
An effective sales approach using these theories would be: #1 - Assess your customer's temperament type. Is he or she dominant? Introverted? Cautious? Optimistic? #2 - Adjust your sales presentation to accommodate your customer's assessed personality type. Here are a few tips that do just that:
When Selling to a "Choleric" Customer: Let them know they're in charge and compliment them on good decisions.
When Selling to a "Sanguine" Customer: You don't need to do much except get along with them and work on closing the sale quickly (assuming there isn't another decision maker behind the scenes, like a spouse or business partner with a different personality type).
When Selling to a "Melancholy" Customer: Be prepared to answer a list of questions he or she will have for you. These types are true researchers and detail oriented. Be prepared to settle in and entertain questions about your product or service that will test your expertise. You probably won't close this sale in the first sitting, but that's okay. If you follow up properly and are prepared for more questions after you leave, you will put yourself in the best position possible to close this sale. Just stay patient!
When Selling to a "Phlegmatic" Customer: You are typically going dealing with a person who has difficulty with making decisions, especially a perceived "large" financial decision. After reassuring this person that everything will be handled professionally and with great care, be prepared with some third party proof. Referral letters stating how professional and careful your company is, certificate of insurance, any awards you've received and/or articles written about your company. In the end you have to take charge of the sale and just close it. If you are not strong in your close you may allow this customer to slip away with all their uncertainty and worry. Help make the decision for the customer and then compliment them on making such a great decision in your post close.
These personality or temperament theories have a very practical application in sales and business. Sales professionals, managers, business owners and any professional who works with people can use this basic knowledge of personality to enhance their dealings with people. By understanding the underlying reasons why people behave and relate the way they do helps us as professionals to work through challenging business dealings and help our customers make better decisions.
Well known in the residential services industry for his high-volume tickets, record-breaking, tenacious, self-disciplined, and self-motivated selling and sales training style, Michael O'Grady is an accomplished Sales Manager, Sales Trainer, Business Owner, aspiring Sales Coach and Entrepreneur. During his 20-year sales career, he has set and achieved many industry and personal records. He is inspired to teach others to do the same.



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Monday, October 18, 2010

How to Deliver Training Seminars & Courses

Assuming that you have already decided on the content of your training seminar or course and have fully prepared your session plan including: timings, resources needed, introductions, types of exercises, break times, refreshments etc, then the question still remains of how to deliver the training? What will you do in the time you have with the participants, to make sure they have a memorable and interesting learning experience?
From my own experience of designing and delivering training one of the most important factors that will decide the success of the training session is how flexible you are to the needs of the individuals in your group. Ideally, the group need to feel some sense of ownership over the session. At the beginning of a seminar, I will outline my objectives for the training and I will also ask the group to outline theirs. If there is something really important that the group has identified that I have missed off of my plan I will build it into the session as I go along.
Another important element of delivering successful training is about listening to your group and helping them listen to each other. If you can build in from the very beginning an atmosphere of equality and shared learning it will be an enriching experience for everyone, including you. Of course, as well as participating in and listening to discussion you will need to actively and gently facilitate the group by making sure that no one dominates, quieter people get to speak and that discussion does not eat into the time you have set for tasks. 
Lastly, be open and honest. You may have been hired as the expert on the topic that you are delivering, but that does not mean you know everything, that others cannot challenge you or that you are in some way superior to your group. Challnges from group members can really open up discussion and learning opportunities so welcome them. Thank people for their contributions and help participants feel that the whole group has had a learning journey together.

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Monday, October 11, 2010

Sales Training Seminars - Sharpening the Saw

If you want your sales force to be at the top of the game and be fit in terms of selling prowess, then you will have to make use of innovative means of imparting training to them. We live in a world of an extremely dynamic and fast changing business landscape, where the rules of the game change rapidly, and almost every day.
If your sales force is not looking sharp and is unable to keep up with the changes, your company will soon be left behind in the never ending quest for market share and greater revenues. It is a war out there, and if sales training through classroom training, experiential learning coupled with sales training seminars are missing, you can be sure that something significant is missing from your sales improvement strategy.
Sales training seminars serve the purpose of helping your sales force gain vital information about the market as well as he latest trends that are defining and re-defining how the market is shaping up. New technologies, product specifics and service parameters are all shared through sales training seminars. These seminars give an opportunity for your sales force members to interact with industry leaders and experts, who bring their knowledge as well as unique insights to the fore, to train and enlighten sales team members.
There are a large number of industry specific sales improvement seminars that are conducted around the world quite frequently. Most HR managers as well as sales team leaders state that these seminars have a great deal of utility in helping the sales workforce ' sharpen the saw' as it were in terms of building knowledge, skills and attitudes which define the key competencies required for selling to an increasingly aware and enlightened customer base. In these days of awareness and consumer activism, one cannot take the customer for granted and hence initiatives like sales training seminars prove to be of great use.


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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Sales Training and Confidence

Imagine increasing your sales figures with 7% and gaining lifelong customers.
The best way to achieve a great sales force is to train your salespeople in all of the methods of great sales techniques.
Most sales people jeopardise their sales due to subconscious limiting beliefs and a lack of proven sales techniques. You don't lose a sale, you lose a customer.
With so many sales and corporate training seminars on offer, it's hard to sift your way through the mire. It can help to first decide what it is that you really need in order to achieve the outcomes you want. Do you need more product knowledge or more confidence? Better communication skills or more confidence? Improved closing skills or more confidence? Better dress sense or more confidence? Get rid of your fear of public speaking?
Lack of confidence is the number one stumbling block to sales success. Of course all the other things are important too, but without confidence, you can be the best dressed man on the block with great product knowledge and an ability to communicate clearly and having read all the books on closing the deal and still struggle to make sales targets. We all know people who seem to have it all and yet aren't quite making it.
Genuine confidence is at the core of it. I'm not talking about that surface only confidence that's all about appearances, but a real authentic confidence that just exudes from its owner. We all know those who seem to just attract others to them, creating in others a desire to do business with them without them even needing to think about it or put in any effort. This is genuine confidence and it comes from being certain about who you are, what you're good at and what you stand for.
It comes from being completely relaxed about the message you have to deliver and an honest faith in your own integrity and ability. Genuine faith and confidence can sell anything to anyone. So go for training that's not just another workshop on catch phrases that sell, but that offers a more complete personal growth opportunity that once begun, will have you stepping forward in leaps and bounds with authentic success building confidence.


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