Insurance Sales Tips: Getting Past the Small Stuff

In an uncertain world, life insurance is something that everyone eventually needs. Unfortunately, recognizing the benefits doesn’t necessarily make selling life insurance any easier for the businessman or woman who sets out to create a career in the field.

There are moments when the pressures of meeting quotas, retaining clients and professional networking may seem like too much to handle. Disappointments can add up and policies can fall through. In all the chaos, how do you get past the small stuff and focus on the big picture?

A successful insurance agent will understand that when things get out of hand, it’s time to step back and re-evaluate their goals. An effective sales agent will be able to implement the following guidelines:

1. Designate a clear target goal
2. Recognize that the unexpected should be expected
3. Move forward despite setbacks

Aim for the target

It’s important to have an idea of what you want to ultimately achieve in your career. Long-term goals will give you direction in the short-term. Setting goals and establishing a plan to reach them is essential for any successful salesperson and will help keep your eye on the prize.

When setting goals for yourself at work, be practical and prioritize. Nobody knows what you are capable of better than you. Use that knowledge to your advantage. Decide what you hope to gain from selling, and then set up a realistic plan of action that you can utilize daily.

Expect the Unexpected

When things just don’t go your way, it’s easy to fall into a trap of defeat. You’ve put your goals in place, you’re following a plan to achieve them and things still aren’t going according to plan 100% of the time. How do you deal with the disappointment? You learn to expect it!

In sales, as in life, multiple variables are part of the game. Outside forces you didn’t factor into the equation can throw you off balance. The difference between a successful life insurance sales agent and an unsuccessful sales agent lies in their ability to ‘go with the flow.’ There are countless reasons why things could go wrong:

1. A major client cancels their appointment
2. You have to deal with a frustrating ‘no show’
3. A policy falls through
4. A client gets underwritten at a higher rate

When you keep these events in perspective, you’ll begin to see that what goes wrong is only a small part of the bigger picture. If you want to be successful, you are going to have to deal with some pitfalls along the way. How you deal with it will define your level of success.

Reevaluate and Reformulate your strategy

Every successful life insurance agent has one character trait in common: flexibility. You now know that it’s important to have a goal and expect the unexpected; but what happens when you’re just stuck?

Too often, agents find themselves stalled in their careers. They have a goal in mind, but the difficulties and setbacks have them stumped on how to move forward. When you find yourself in professional limbo, it’s time to reevaluate your situation, in order to reformulate your strategy.

Don’t let the everyday aspects of business slow you down. If something isn’t working or moving forward as quickly as you would like, be proactive and make a positive change. Take the time to step back and re-strategize on what needs to be done in order to hit your goals and quotas. It’s not a failure to find yourself in the proverbial ‘ditch,’ but a successful life insurance sales agent will refuse to stay there for long.