Cold calling is a fact of business life for many insurance sales representatives. While it can be daunting at first, it becomes easier with practice -- and easier still once you have made your first few sales. Rather than approach it haphazardly, having a well-thought-out strategy can often mean the difference between cold-calling success and failure.
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Prepare in advance to ensure you're ready for whatever response you get. Expect to receive questions from prospects, and be ready with the answers. Have a detailed understanding of the insurance products you are selling, including their features, benefits and any special conditions, like the back-end loads typically associated with annuities. You should also have a clear understanding of suitability issues that might make one product more or less advantageous for one consumer versus another. Check with both federal agencies and the appropriate authority in your state to gain an understanding of what's permitted and what's prohibited with telemarketing.
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Source the leads. If your agency does not provide you with leads, you might want to consider purchasing them from one of the numerous companies that supply sales leads to insurance professionals. Exercise caution, however, to try and ensure the leads are as current and targeted as possible. Ask the provider for references of other insurance sales professionals that have used their leads -- then call those references to verify the provider's claims.
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Check "do not call" lists before picking up the phone. By definition, cold calls are made to individuals that have no prior relationship with the soliciting company. Once you obtain the leads, verify that they have not registered their phone numbers with either the federal or state do not call registry.
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Write your script. To help you sound as professional as possible, develop a script that begins with a greeting and introduction -- “Hello, Ms. Jones, my name is Dave Smith and I'm calling from ABC Insurance Company." Always ask the prospect if you are calling at a convenient time and, if so, state the purpose of the call. Your script should also include common objections that insurance representatives are likely to receive, as well as several possible statements to help you overcome them.
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Practice, practice, practice. Before making the first call, ask someone to role-play with you. This will give you the opportunity to practice your sales pitch, as well as overcoming the objections you are likely to receive. After that, you're ready to pick up the phone and start soliciting business.
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