To be successful in the insurance industry you have to be part sales advisor, part doctor, and part coach. A doctor understands how to identify your clients’ needs and problems, and a coach to understand how to guide your clients and help solve their problems.

Let’s take look at what it takes to be a top sales advisor in the insurance industry.

The best salespeople aren’t “salesy”, they are:

• Honest
• Empathetic
• Storytellers
• Experts
• Active Listeners
• Emotionally intelligent
• Great at handling objections
• Unique

11 Tips to Boost Your Sales Success

1. You’re not ‘selling’, you’re advising

You’re not just selling, but advising / facilitating. Your job is to help your clients make the best choice for them. You are guiding them based on their individual needs, not simply offering a few products for sale. This idea should guide everything you do.

 2. Do a needs analysis

You should be able to quickly do a needs analysis and describe your client’s problems better than they can. Let your client do the talking until you’re ready to clarify their problem, and how you can solve it.

3. Trust is everything

Trust is very important in this process. Build trust and build rapport by being authentic, by honestly helping your clients, and showing them you really care about their needs.

4. Be a subject matter expert

You have to commit to acquiring the knowledge required to be an expert in your field. When many advisors are selling the same products, the only differentiator is you.

So differentiate yourself by being a useful expert in your industry, and understand your products in and out.

5. Social Media is a must

Engaging your clients on Social Platforms is not an option anymore. Provide ongoing helpful information via social media to remain relevant.

Build your brand and stay top of mind or your competitors will.

6. Become a storyteller

Tell a story that hooks your clients with emotion. The days of salespeople presenting products and taking orders is over.

Those sales people will not be in business for long. The average attention span is 8 seconds. Engage your customers with stories if you want to hold their attention.

7. Explain your value

To be successful you will need to prove your value. Your stories you tell should prove that the ROI you can provide as an advisor is worth their time and trust.

8. Don’t waste time on the wrong client

If you feel a client is a wrong fit, don’t waste your time, or theirs. Make the decision quickly to part ways. The wrong client won’t benefit you in the long run, so don’t pursue the wrong customers.

9. Let your clients sell themselves

Once you’ve provided intelligent guidance and provided a true solution to their needs, and communicated that effectively, it should be obvious what option is best for them.

So let them tell you what the best choice is, and then reinforce the fact that they made a good choice.

10. Follow up is important

Don’t disappear after making a sale. This throws doubt on your integrity. When following up don’t call for stupid reasons, like “Just checking in”, or “Circling back to make sure everything’s ok”.

That doesn’t really mean anything. Come up with a good reason to call. Relay important information and have a real, human conversation. – You’re building a relationship here.

11. Referrals are gold

Gold takes effort to mine. Maximize referrals by having a process in place to methodically encourage your existing client base to refer their friends and family to you.

There are software programs that are built to do exactly this, and should be considered if you don’t currently have a process in place. Use them as social proof everywhere!