(“Strictly Sales” is written by the faculty of the Dynamics ofSelling Program. This month's column is from David Connolly,ARM.)

INSURANCE sales are about as dry and boring as it gets, right?If you are like me, at least once or twice a month at the typicalbanquet, social event or dinner party you get the predictablequestion or comment from a friend, client or John Q. Public. “Howcan you make a living doing that? Insurance puts me to sleep.”That's when we find out that the questioner is in the fascinatingfield of public accounting or bottled water sales. I don't mean toboast, but if you sell the way I do, insurance is anything butboring. Insurance is exciting!

How can you be bored when you are selling a product thatprotects people's lives, health and businesses? Our productsprotect people's ability to make a living, provide for theirfamilies and pay for their children's education. How many vocationsare that important? Every time my company pays a significant claim,I know that in the eyes of my client and his or her family, I'vemade a difference. When I look at how selling insurance affects somany lives, I am truly humbled.

It's an emotional sale

When it comes to clients' lives, homes, businesses and health,no sales are ordinary. No two families or businesses are alike.Each prospect has his or her own personality and buying style,which often is influenced by life experiences. This translates intoa complex sales process that requires a patient, concerned andprofessional approach.

Much like a physician or an attorney, we have the responsibilityto ask the right questions, listen to our client's responses anddevelop a strategy that solves a problem or cures a pain. Theproducts we sell and the companies we represent must be chosencarefully to ensure the right solution.

This is a serious sale with potentially serious consequences.It's also one of the few situations I know of in which a salesmanwill walk away from a commission if he can't sell enough of theproduct. I will never underinsure a client's business or home. Yetwe often are compared with used-car salesmen. Can you imagine aused-car salesman walking away because a prospect doesn't want airbags or antilock brakes? Never. A good insurance agent will walkaway every time a client or prospect wants him to undervalue orunderinsure.

No pain, no gain

People are driven by two basic instincts: the avoidance of painand the desire for pleasure. The stronger of these two motivatorsis the avoidance of pain. Pain is behind most decisions to make aninsurance change. But because the change itself is painful for mostpeople, they will do anything to avoid change.

When we sell to prospects, we ask them to fire their currentagent. For most people, this requires a great deal of intestinalfortitude and must be fueled by a great deal of dissatisfaction.Prospects will make a change only if they view their currentsituation as painful and see a chance to relieve that pain by doingbusiness with us. Agents and brokers must help prospects realizetheir pain enough to make difficult choices. This requires sellingwith emotion.

Use emotion professionally

How do we walk the fine line that separates communicating theneed for better coverage and service from using scare tactics toget our point across? We walk that line by using the art of thequestion.

We use questions to ascertain what our clients have now. We asktheir opinion on the importance of service, coverage, relationshipsand price. We ask them to evaluate their current situation. Bystarting questions with “I don't suppose…” or “Has there ever beena time…,” we get them to review their experiences. We get prospectsto think about their concerns for the future by asking “what if”questions. We use word pictures, as well as our own personalexperiences, to describe what could happen without properrepresentation or adequate coverage. More important, we ask ourprospects to list past pains and future concerns in order ofimportance, and then to place a value on each one of them.

By using this process, we help our prospect re-live pastproblems with their current insurance program so we may assist themin making a proper fix, and we help them communicate their concernsfor the future so we can make plans now to avoid costly and painfulproblems in the future. Last, we must develop an action plan withour prospect to develop a program that addresses all of their painsand concerns.

It is important for us to maintain our empathy and compassionduring this process, which is often painful for a prospect whorealizes that he/she has made a poor buying decision, or worse, haslived with it for years. It is not our place to judge. As agentsand professionals, we must remember that our actions truly affectpeople, their families, their businesses, and their futures.

Pretty boring stuff, huh?

Since 1981, David Connolly, ARM, has worked in almost everyaspect of the insurance industry, including loss control, riskmanagement, production, agency consulting, and sales nichemarketing. Today, he works as a producer and sales manager forIndiana Lumbermens Insurance Co. and is a member of the Dynamics ofSelling faculty. For more information on the Dynamics of Sellingprogram, contact The National Alliance for Insurance Education& Research at (800) 633-2165 or visitwww.TheNationalAlliance.com.