High Gas Price Rebuttal

[rousemark]

"Mr. Jones if you and your family are having a hard time dealing with paying $3.75 out of pocket for gas, how in the world are you going going to be able to pay $10,000 out of pocket for a funeral bill and final expenses? "

Other suggestions?

 

[0b1kanobee]

"Mr. Jones if you and your family are having a hard time dealing with paying $3.75 out of pocket for gas, how in the world are you going going to be able to pay $10,000 out of pocket for a funeral bill and final expenses? "

That response never worked well for me.

What about:

Mr. Jones when gas is $3.75 a gallon, it has never stopped me from loving and caring about my family. If gas costs $5.00 per gallon, the way I care about my family doesn't change. If anything I would feel more comfortable and my family would as well, knowing I have decisions for our final expenses. Wouldn't you agree Mr. Jones, whether the price of a gallon of gas costs a buck and a half or $3.50 it has no effect on how much more or less we love our wife and kids?

If you want to get a little crazy you can add: "Mr. Jones, don't be that man who looks back (or down from heaven....wherever) and regrets his decision on the things that matter to us most, our loved ones, all because of the price of a gallon of gas."

P.S. I'm sure there are other rebuttals but this is what I came up with on the fly. I know you'll never win an argument or debate over gas prices. You can't make any guarantees about them. They have nothing to do with love for family. "The premium is not the problem, it's the solution" ( quote from WinoBlues). You have to paint a picture for them.

P.S. #2 This is a good objection to think about with gas prices where they are and the fact they are just now on the rise. Looking to see what some others come up with.

 

[briko3]

P.S. #2 This is a good objection to think about with gas prices where they are and the fact they are just now on the rise. Looking to see what some others come up with.

They were higher in 2008.

 

[Guest]

OK. I guess these kind of closes work for you guys.

I'm not good at 'arguing" with clients. I'm never "quick" enough to come up with a clever "answer" to objections. My memory is not strong enough to remember all of them.

For those of you who are gifted with the ability to "convince" then I think you will do well with these kinds of presentation.

Me?

I never argue with clients. I don't debate them. I don't try to outsmart them or out-maneuver them. My take is they are smarter than I am about their own lives and concerns.

For less-gifted salesmen/women like me, I find it best to let the client close himself.

I just ask questions.

"Is it important that your family members remember you at your funeral?"

"Why do you say you can't afford $70 a month to save your family $15,000 funeral costs?"

"What do you mean you don't have the money now? When do you expect you will have it?"

"What will you do if you wreck the car and rack up $50,000 in medical bills?"

"How will BK help you get a new house or a new job?"

"Will it be OK if your family puts you in a cardboard box and has you cremated for $500 since that is all they may have?"

"Would leaving $10,000 behind to give your family a sense of closure and fond rememberance for the rest of their lives be worth two bucks a day?"

You guys like to convince clients that you know what is best for them. I'm glad you folks an do it because I'm not that talented. Hell, half the time I see the client's POV... but I know that their POV is not based on a lack of understanding of the problem, but fear of it.

I find that by asking questions I flush-out the fear. I never answer objections, I just ask more questions about why they feel the way they do.

That works better for me, but if you are a talented "debater" by all means keep on keeping on. For those less skilled, try letting the client "close" himself by letting "the light" eventually come on in his/her mind that "Yeah, this is something I should do because it's going to really be "good" for me." That usually does not happen until THEY can overcome all THEIR fear. Some of you can wipe it away for them, but I've never been good at it.

For me, an elementary knowledge of psychology has been more valuable than all the sales books I've read and all the courses I've taken over the years. I'm a poor salesman but I have a good understanding of what motivates people to take (or NOT take) action and I find that over half the time is is simple fear. I wish I were talented enough to answer all their objections like most of you can, but I'm not that quick-minded. So for me, asking endless questions works.

Al
I am at this site.

 

[0b1kanobee]

They were higher in 2008.

I know. The point being that this same objection occurred in 2008. We are now in a time period when this objection is going to come alive again. What's a good way to handle it?

Now if you ask me, this question will come up more often during prospecting than during presentations.

For instance, random door knocking. "Hi, I'm Ted and I'm here......"

PROSPECT: "Ted, I can't afford anything with gas going up like it is." SO WHAT DO YOU SAY? Do you say ok, thanks and move on? Not if you ever plan on doing anything. The correct response is "I'M NOT SELLING ANYTHING." Then proceed. "Oh why are you here?" response "I'M HERE WITH YOUR FREE LIVING WILL" OR survey or free accident plan, ect. YOU COULD JUST BE THERE TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF. Be creative :-)

If you did an entire presentation and in the end the prospect says "I like everything and I like the program but gas is too high" and you take that over to your closer, you would probably be yelled at or worse.

 

[briko3]

I know. The point being that this same objection occurred in 2008. We are now in a time period when this objection is going to come alive again. What's a good way to handle it?

Now if you ask me, this question will come up more often during prospecting than during presentations.

For instance, random door knocking. "Hi, I'm Ted and I'm here......"

PROSPECT: "Ted, I can't afford anything with gas going up like it is." SO WHAT DO YOU SAY? Do you say ok, thanks and move on? Not if you ever plan on doing anything. The correct response is "I'M NOT SELLING ANYTHING." Then proceed. "Oh why are you here?" response "I'M HERE WITH YOUR FREE LIVING WILL" OR survey or free accident plan, ect. YOU COULD JUST BE THERE TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF. Be creative :-)

If you did an entire presentation and in the end the prospect says "I like everything and I like the program but gas is too high" and you take that over to your closer, you would probably be yelled at or worse.

I would probably say along the lines of, "Gas prices are always going to go up and down and most prices are going to go up over time....including insurance prices. The good news is that we can lock in a low rate on this today so at least that isn't something you need to worry about going up."

 

[rousemark]

OK. I guess these kind of closes work for you guys.

I'm not good at 'arguing" with clients. I'm never "quick" enough to come up with a clever "answer" to objections. My memory is not strong enough to remember all of them.

For those of you who are gifted with the ability to "convince" then I think you will do well with these kinds of presentation.

Me?

I never argue with clients. I don't debate them. I don't try to outsmart them or out-maneuver them. My take is they are smarter than I am about their own lives and concerns.

For less-gifted salesmen/women like me, I find it best to let the client close himself.

I just ask questions.

"Is it important that your family members remember you at your funeral?"

"Why do you say you can't afford $70 a month to save your family $15,000 funeral costs?"

"What do you mean you don't have the money now? When do you expect you will have it?"

"What will you do if you wreck the car and rack up $50,000 in medical bills?"

"How will BK help you get a new house or a new job?"

"Will it be OK if your family puts you in a cardboard box and has you cremated for $500 since that is all they may have?"

"Would leaving $10,000 behind to give your family a sense of closure and fond rememberance for the rest of their lives be worth two bucks a day?"

You guys like to convince clients that you know what is best for them. I'm glad you folks an do it because I'm not that talented. Hell, half the time I see the client's POV... but I know that their POV is not based on a lack of understanding of the problem, but fear of it.

I find that by asking questions I flush-out the fear. I never answer objections, I just ask more questions about why they feel the way they do.

That works better for me, but if you are a talented "debater" by all means keep on keeping on. For those less skilled, try letting the client "close" himself by letting "the light" eventually come on in his/her mind that "Yeah, this is something I should do because it's going to really be "good" for me." That usually does not happen until THEY can overcome all THEIR fear. Some of you can wipe it away for them, but I've never been good at it.

For me, an elementary knowledge of psychology has been more valuable than all the sales books I've read and all the courses I've taken over the years. I'm a poor salesman but I have a good understanding of what motivates people to take (or NOT take) action and I find that over half the time is is simple fear. I wish I were talented enough to answer all their objections like most of you can, but I'm not that quick-minded. So for me, asking endless questions works.

Al
I am at this site.

I never debate with a prospect.. You can't win. And, notice I pit it in the form of question the same as you. My question is essentially the same as your, "Why do you say you can't afford $70 a month to save your family $15,000 funeral costs?"". I don't consider my statement a "clever" answer but I don't have a hard time remembering it because it is based on fact.

If what you are doing works for you, then by all means keep doing it.. But poor mouth yourself by saying, ""quick" enough to come up with a clever "answer" to objections. My memory is not strong enough to remember all of them.".. because if you just gave 7 examples of "questions" you use to handle certain objections.. You just proved you are pretty good at remembering what to say and that you run on a track whether you realize it or not.

One of the best salesmen I ever know would rant and rave, "I hate canned spiels... they sound phoney and don't work.".. I observed him making hundreds of presentations.. His presentation varied by very few words form one to the other. He never thought of himself using a "canned spiel " because he had never written it down on paper..

 

[0b1kanobee]

I would probably say along the lines of, "Gas prices are always going to go up and down and most prices are going to go up over time....including insurance prices. The good news is that we can lock in a low rate on this today so at least that isn't something you need to worry about going up."

I wouldn't be afraid to say that either or at least convey the idea.

As Al points out, asking questions and letting the prospect do the sale works too.

 

[Rearden]

Al -- that's how I operate, too.

As I say, let the client hang himself.

Sure -- you can hard-close them, but the voluntarily keep the policy into perpetuity, thus, they need to be convinced themselves to keep it.

 

[pcbinsurance]

AL:

I love and agree with your self deprecating style. Asking those types of open ended questions are what works best for me as well.

Nothing is more irritating to a potential client than someone debating them and coming across as a used car salesman.

Thanks for posting that and many should cut and paste it and store it for future use.