What protects us from nasty customers?

[xrac]

.....I actually had a near-REPEAT of this ugly experience two days ago. This other client apparently "knew everything," then got nasty on me when I was doing a needs analysis worksheet. I asked him about current coverage, savings, mortgage, etc. and he got real ugly.

The funny thing though is that this person and the other one had nearly IDENTICAL characteristics:

1) Both born in the same south east asian country and then emigrated to the USA
2) Both doing fairly well-paying jobs, but got them via starting at the extreme bottom of their companies doing menial/janitorial duties
3) No college degrees, in fact no education at all past high school
4) Both roughly the same age
5) Both claim to know more than myself and my assistant, when neither of them have any kind of insurance background, experience, or licensing
6) Both are non-qualified medically for a standard rating
7) Both have crap AD&D policies with a very low monthly premium, and tried to argue with me that their $11 AD&D is the same thing as a $200/mo Life insurance policy
8) Both refused to hear my comments on their AD&D coverage
9) Both, being that they are horribly underinsured and can barely afford their huge mortgages, may foreclose their house, whereupon I will buy them out and convert their former family compounds into strip clubs for the top life premium producers of my new FMO.

Here is a way to avoid this problem. Avoid people with these characteristics. Some people just aren't worth it!

 

[saieddie]

Kill them with kindness. If you don't want to deal with them, have them call the company directly. Don't worry about others opinions, if your clients are being assholes, everyone already knows they're assholes. Sometimes assholishness is cultural trait and you can't do anything about it.

 

[LGilmore]

What you're really having is a false arguement with these people. The real arguement is simply "money" or the lack there of. If their finances were different, would you be having these kind of arguements? I don't think so.

Usually a person's real reason for disagreement is based in something that isn't out on the table.

If you did an FNA and found them to be in bad financial straights.. the first disagreement would have been the perfect opportunity to bow out gracefully....

Because even if you win the arguement, they haven't the reasources to follow your suggestions.

These are the kind of situations where the old school "overcoming objections" is just plain stupid. Even if you get them to buy, 90/10 probability it will be a chargeback in a couple months.

Early on in this business I learned that overcoming objections is often another name for chargeback. If they aren't onboard early on, they aren't going to stick in most cases.

I like to keep my commissions, not hold them for 4 months.

 

[BiggitySwat]

Sounds like winner to me!

Where are you finding these guys, or are they finding you?

Moonlight, they are finding me through my old NAA mail-in leads.

And yes, I'd love to take the advice to "fire them" or "shove it up their starfish" but because I don't have a large referral base or book of business yet, I treat every lead I get as if it were a potential golden client.

A *few* of the assholes on the phone I eventually converted to lifelong clients. It's just that 99% of them so far are proving to be not only a waste of time, but also a source of continuous irritation to me and my secretary. My problem is, I have difficulty predicting if they will turn hostile on me early in the game, else I would dump their asses to the Foreclosure machine on the get-go and turn their old bedroom into my own harem for insurance agents.

 

[SFTICA]

I have a procedure in my office where when something like this happens we kill with kindness, keep asking him to come in to discuss it in person (so you can sell him something else and ask for referrals).

He won't want to buy anything else so he will stop calling you.

 

[BiggitySwat]

I have a procedure in my office where when something like this happens we kill with kindness, keep asking him to come in to discuss it in person (so you can sell him something else and ask for referrals).

He won't want to buy anything else so he will stop calling you.

Like a good neighbor....State Farm is there!

That's a good idea. I think I will turn their asshole-ness into a source of income by merely trying to sell them more insurance, as the solution to all of their life's problems. Since they don't want me to try and sell them more insurance, they just might stop calling me if they know they'll get hit with a sales pitch every time.

 

[bluemarlin08]

How did you not know about his travel overseas? It's a question on most apps. When I get an answer about travel to a questionable company, I check the state dept travel list and then call the UW at the company before I submit. Maybe this would have halted your problem. Pru is more flexible than most companies I have dealt. However, we all learn from our experience, good and bad. See that he gets his check then move on.