This story is the third in a five-part series to help agents develop a personal brand. We are all “branded” by those around us based on their experiences with us. While simple on the surface, developing a personal brand is a multi-step process that starts with defining who you are. The second step is defining what business you’re in. The third step is defining your target customer’s special needs. We hope you enjoy the series and would love to hear your comments.
Reading time: 8 minutes
I love this concept: “People don’t want quarter-inch drills… they want quarter-inch holes.”
Genius.
But there’s a trick. You have to ask the right questions in the right way.
As Steve Jobs told us 30-odd years ago, clients have no idea what they want. What he meant to say was most people are simply unable to clearly articulate their most pressing and compelling product or service requirements.
Not so for my grandmother.
She recently moved back to Northwest Arkansas, her childhood home. Once she had made the decision to move we peppered her with questions, trying to help.
- Did she want a house or a condo?
- What about a yard?
- How many bedrooms?
We had a thousand questions. We stalked Zillow every day looking for the perfect home.
But, it wasn’t about the home at all…she wanted a hole and we were asking about the drill.
Thankfully, she was way ahead of us and was able to tell us exactly what she wanted.
Insurance marketing is all about asking the right questions
“I want to be near Wal-Mart and a hospital.” She loves Wal-Mart (she still has her first 100 shares from 45 years ago) and while she’s a very spry, healthy and edgy 78, she’s a planner and a realist and knows hospitals are looming somewhere out there on the horizon.
Luckily, she’s our grandma and won’t pitch us into the street because we tried to sell her a drill.
A critical part of your insurance marketing efforts is asking the right questions to identify clients’ special needs for financial services is all about the right questions. Questions should be open-ended and thought-provoking.
You want to draw them in so they will tell you about what’s happening in their lives; about what’s working and what’s not. Let’s use selling final expense as an example.
- What are the three things that most concern you about your current burial plan?
- What has kept you from solving your final expense issues?
- What have you done to try to solve these issues and how well did it work?
- What outcome must come from your decision?
- Have friends or other family members planned a funeral? And, how did they handle it?
- What final expense companies have you evaluated that you don’t like?
- What would be an unacceptable burial plan for you?
At this point you’ve asked enough probing questions that the discussion should be moving well and getting you to the point of pitching solutions their way.
Very important: don’t ask leading questions:
- Wouldn’t you agree it’s important to have a burial in place?
- If I could show you a way to save money wouldn’t you be interested?
- Haven’t you had problems with your ____?
And, don’t be satisfied with throw-away answers like “I want to protect my family” or “I need to better prepare for my funeral”.
These don’t provide enough detail for you to recommend a thoughtful solution to their problem.
Don’t be afraid to push. If the questions are good the client will open up.
If you want to talk more about this please call 866-547-8780 and talk to me on extension 102.
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Product of the week: Baltimore Life’s Secure Solutions Single Premium Whole Life
This is a great tool for clients to reallocate assets. Its guaranteed cash value feature makes funds available for emergencies and the living benefits offer clients nearly 100% if they are diagnosed with a terminal condition or confined to a nursing home. Other benefits include:
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Call 866-547-8780 and talk to Drew Gurley, ext. 102.
Redbird Chirps
- Social media: more influential than we thought. Nearly one-half of respondents to a global research study said they would consider comments on social media in making their decisions on insurance. Holy cow. If you’re not thinking about jumping into social media for your business then you’re about 62 steps behind.
- On-line obits… newspapers take notice. And we thought the news couldn’t get any worse for newspapers. Obits are a huge draw and now a potentially better idea is up and running.
- Business: stay focused and direct with marketing. One of our favorite sources, Entrepreneur, provides some excellent reminders for small business people for how to improve their marketing. First thing to remember: you’re not Apple or Starbucks.
- Fact Finder: end of year means planning. Get prepared to help your clients get prepared. Our Fact Finder provides an excellent platform to better understand client needs, plans and concerns. Click here to download the Redbird Fact Finder.
