If You Don't Know Your Products,then Don't Try and Sell Them!

That's a pro tip.

"due to the recent changes/regulations" (of these applications, health insurance, plan documents, plan administrations, IRS, accounting practices, suitability............anything that fits what you don't know.....then say I wouldn't want to give you information that isn't 100% correct.
THEN "let me find out and get back to you"
 
In addition to that line, you should ask additional clarifying questions:

"I'll find that out for you. What is it that you are hoping to hear?"

"And how would that affect your decision to move forward?"

"And if it's not the answer you're hoping for, how would that affect your decision?"

"In addition to that, is there anything else in the back of your mind that you need to know to help you make a good decision?"


Our job in sales is to GET information, not just GIVE information, or do free research for people. Find out what the answer would MEAN to your prospect and what it would mean to the overall decision-making process.
 
All good responses above.

If you have a really good FMO and/or you have some good relationships with your principal carriers, you should be able to have your important numbers at hand. You can then tell a client, in addition to the "Good question" thing, "Let's get an expert involved..." and then call while your client is there.

I did this with a Roth issue once that made the sale on the spot.

Some carriers, Allianz for example, assign a "Go-to" person for good producers. A CPA or lawyer with whom you have a good relationship (will take your call right away) are also good sources.

I have to admit that I do this sometimes when I already know the answer. It generates a degree of commitment once you have other people involved in solving the problem.
 
With all of the frequent changes in product and underwriting, it's important to have "experts" to work with who can assist with questions and even in presenting to clients. DI can be extremely complex, that's why we are here to help!
 
Spend the time to know how the products work and deliver as solutions to your prospects problem. The specifics and mastery comes with experience and there is no better experience than the passage of time.
 
I agree with you but only to a certain extent. I spent the first several months in insurance trying to become an 'expert' and when I finally became an expert, a few things happened.

1) Several of the products I was becoming an 'expert' in changed. For somebody as analytical as myself, I felt I had to become an expert all over again.

2) I was getting discouraged because new agents as well as old agents that I was working with or along with (maybe associated with is better) were making sales and I was not, YET I knew the products better than they did even though I did not consider myself an 'expert' yet.

3) I was running out of money that I saved in order to get into this field and running out fast.

Agents and RR in this business that I consider experts can do this with their eyes closed. They can do it half asleep. They can do it because they have been doing it for quit sometime. However, every successful agent I have meet in this business was never an expert when they first started 'selling'. They just went out and did it. They learned enough (some more than others) to go out and talk to people about what they do.

I have found that a lot of this business is sort of learning as you go. Everyday I learn something new. I learn the most when I am actually prospecting and producing. No doubt what you read in books and from watching webinars is very informative and educational, it can't replace field experience. If you wait until you are an 'expert', you will never get out into the field based on my experience.

As one guy in the business told me once, "it's not how much you know sometimes but how much you care". When I'm out in the field prospecting or reviewing policies and I come about something I don't understand, I have been trained how to not look like I'm incompetent using one sentence and it works every time. This allows me to make a note of it and get back to the prospect on it. Sometimes I can just make a phone call to upline.

You are gonna fall in this business, it is how you get back up that matters. There is always gonna be another agent who can outsell you, outsmart you and has more experience than you. However, you can always care more than the next guy and sometimes that is just enough to earn the business.

So while I'm not disagreeing with you, I would advise new agents especially, to be careful just how far they take being an 'expert' into consideration. If you are a new agent or even a seasoned agent going into another area of insurance, I think the best thing one can do is find a mentor but that can be extremely challenging.

There is a saying, "if you haven't fallen, you haven't been riding". I would advise to become an expert at recovery or getting back up on your horse. Expert or not, in this business you will fall at times.

I agree with most of what you're saying.
 
I would make one slight adjustment to that. "If you don't understand a product, don't sell it."

I have that issue with some of the IUL products. Even though I understand the basics and how they work, I'm not confident enough in the details.

It's like my pappy always said. "Don't hire an electrician to fix your plumbing."
 
Hmm... show me the agent that knew everything about the product before they sold any and I'll show you an agent that didn't sale any...

Our legal designation reads... "Insurance Producer" not "Insurance Professor"

We need to be learning as we go... but if your not producing why are we here?

...as to not knowing... a stand by that I use before the questions come is

"I don't know all the answers... but I do know where to find the answers." ... and it's a lot more about how you say that then what is actually being said...

New agents and old alike need to remember that product knowledge helps to understand placement and usage of a product... when it comes to sales though... it's all about people knowledge.
 
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