Editor's note: This article is the sixth and final in a series on how to "Bake the cake: The 6 P's to insurance sales excellence."

All of my previous articles speak about the sales process for an individual sales professional and guides you through some of the best sales habits and practices to cultivate. In this final segment, we will bring it all together.

Last 2 steps

All the previous steps are the ingredients. If you want to bake a cake properly, you need the proper temperature and the proper time. These last two steps represent the customer’s buying process and their decision process.

I had a great relationship with a former sales manager that led to both of us meeting and exceeding our monthly number on a regular basis. A big part of that success was our open discussions about my sales pipeline.

She would frequently ask me “what will you sell this month?” That questions was usually followed by “what about this deal you have for next month? Can we bring that in this month instead?” Most of the time, my answer to her was “The cake’s not baked yet boss.”

Every sales requires the appropriate time and the appropriate temperature. If the box says “350 degree for 45 minutes” you cannot crank the oven up to 450 and hope to cook it in 30 minutes. On the other side, you cannot turn the oven down to 250 degrees and let it cook for an hour. You need to collect some fundamental information.

The buying process

The buying process includes three main points of information:

Who is the point of contact, or POC? (Notice, not necessarily the decision maker)
What is their budget for this need?
What is their time frame to implement? (And why that time frame matters to the customer)

These are three very basic components and are critical to the sale. What role your POC plays, will fall under the decision process.

The budget, is a simple but often omitted question. Why is it omitted? Because salespeople are afraid to bring up difficult questions. I say, find out early. If they have “X” amount of dollars to spend and your product costs 3 or 4 times times that, you have little opportunity to persuade them.

When does the customer want this to happen and why? The more you can connect the decision to a significant customer event the more likely they will buy. If you ask them and they have no time frame, you probably have no sale.

Spend 5-10 minutes in your first meeting getting the necessary information for their buying process. If they are not a qualified candidate for your services. Find that out now, and not 2-3 meetings later.

The decision process

The decision process is a bit more subtle and it's often overlooked. Which means most sales people end up burning a perfectly good cake.

Your POC, will always tell you they are the decision maker. They do that, usually because the salesperson will ask them. You are better off asking “who else will you involve in this decision?”

Once you understand who is involved you need to understand their influence in the decision. When you read, The Challenger Customer, you will learn that the average decision has 5.4 people involved. Depending on what you are selling and its cost, these factors will dictate the number of people and the person in that group who will lead the decision.

Now, here is the question: Who is your POC? Are they an influencer? An advocate? A skeptic? Are they simply someone that likes to feel important? Are they someone that likes to share valuable information in order to get valuable information?

The answer to which one’s best serve you, may shock you. As is often the case, a salesperson will often take the path of least resistance. That path usually leads to no sale and a bewildered salesperson.

That is the series, what did you think? I would love feedback on the process. What steps would you add, that have worked for you?

Part 1: Bake the cake: The 6 P's to insurance sales excellence

Part 2: 4 keys to sale meeting preparation for insurance agents

Part 3: Your 'presence' is critical to the insurance sales process

Part 4: Why is your insurance sales presentation terrible?

Part 5: Insurance sales isn't just about customer pain. Discover the 'why'

Mike Shelah is the founder of Mike Shelah Consulting. An admitted “LinkedIn geek” Mike loves talking: LinkedIn, sales & emotional intelligence to anyone who will listen. You can contact him at 443-808-1670 or mike@mikeshelah.com.

Special Reports /

Insurance sales: The customer's buying & decision process

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