855-729-8178

855-729-8178

Sales Objections or Lame Excuses?

Sales Objections or Lame Excuses?

I have been selling and training sales professionals to sell for over a quarter of a century. I am always amazed at the obstacles the sales person or insurance agent has to overcome with a prospect. Prospects come up with some great sales objections or I call lame excuses. I understand not having the money but other than that why not buy if it solves an issue?  Take life insurance for an example, it is the only insurance policy sold that is guaranteed to have a claim. Yet some people act as if it they won’t need it. There are only two guarantees in this world, death and taxes. I promise you, you will die someday. Why not leave your loved ones something? People buy car insurance and never have an accident. They buy home owners insurance and never have storm damage or a fire. They buy health insurance and never get sick. They buy cancer insurance but never get cancer. Why not own life insurance, you are going to die? It certainly solves a known issue.

According to Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association or LIMRA, 7 out of 10 American households would be in financial difficulty if the primary earner were to die today. Another disturbing number is 35 million households or 30% of Americans don’t have life insurance. And another 50% of households admit they don’t have enough. The fact is YOU WILL DIE someday. Yet, we life insurance agents still hear objections. Let’s take a look.

Here are some of my all time favorite sales objections to not buying life insurance in any particular order.

 

  1. “I take good care of myself, I won’t die until I’m really old”
  2. “I have to take a urine test? How do you study for that?”
  3. “I don’t care how my family gets by without me, I’ll be dead.”
  4. “I am too young to buy life insurance”
  5. “I can’t afford $.50 cents per day I am barely affording my shoes as it is.”
  6. “I have other priorities right now I need more games for my Xbox.”
  7. “Can I buy it now and take the premiums out of the proceeds after I die?” “Why not?”
  8. “Why so expensive?” “The doctor said’ I won’t live to see 50 years old’.”

These are just some of the more humorous and pathetic sales objections we have heard through the years. The bottom line for the sales professional or life insurance agent is to be sincere and help the prospect through this process. Don’t sell your favorite life insurance policy, let them purchase the policy they need to solve their unique situation. Be honest, trustworthy, and use your good communication skills. Good listening skills will never go out of style. You must find the need in order to be relevant enough to make the sale today. If you treat every prospect the same way you want to be treated in every sales situation, you should not have many sales objections to overcome.

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”John C. Maxwell

Image by Jesadaphorn at www.freedigitalphotos.net

yourfriend4life.com

Tim Wilhoit is owner/principal of Your Friend 4 Life Insurance Agency in Nashville, TN. He is a family man, father of 3, entrepreneur, insurance agent, life insurance broker, salesman, sales trainer, recruiter, public speaker, blogger and team leader with over 26 years of experience in sales and marketing in the insurance and beverage industries.

19 Responses to Sales Objections or Lame Excuses?

  • Good information….and unfortunately Tim most do not think about it until it’s too late. A client that we talked to last year about life Insurance for his young children (we insure his business and car insurance) may have just been diagnosed with cancer, the results will be in soon.

    He had an opportunity to get life coverage last year, but now it might be too late.

  • Jack, that is so sad and true. Most people just don’t get that we are all just one doctor’s visit away from being uninsurable. Nobody ever thinks it will happen to them. Thank you for sharing that story.

  • This is so true. Yet by developing trust and understanding the needs of your clients, you certainly can have a win win situation.

  • Vinayak, you make an excellent point. We as advisors should not be selling but advising the client on what solutions are available to them. Every situation should be win-win or the client is lost. Thank you for sharing that.

  • Interesting article and thanks for sharing.

  • Hey Tim. We can write for a thousand years, yet there will be agents that DIE under the weight of objections. 95% of the time if you are getting an “objection” in the end, you the agent did a poor job in your discovery phase. Most “objections” can be headed off up front with the right questions. Such as the dreaded, “I want to think about it.” uh… I don’t get that objection (anymore). We train on two/three different phraseologies & a presentation technique that will stop that dead. Now… can I always crack the code of the that persons mind…No. That usually means they are being dishonest about their situation (or possibly embarrassed). Sometimes you will have to walk away. Just keep them in your follow up system and hope they think of you when the time is right. THANKS TIM for bringing up a much discussed topic

  • Thank you Joseph, that is an excellent point. Caring about the client and their needs will never go out of style.

  • In my experience, knowing your presentation like the back of your hand and the market you serve are the keys to objections. Knowledge of your presentation and and the clients in your market segment allows you to control the direction of your process and lead your client. I know what objections are common and address these issues before they become objections. I also only ask questions that I already know the answer to which allows me control the answers that my clients have the option of giving. This makes for a much smoother presentation and very few, if any objections to overcome. Usually if something you missed has become an objection its too late!

  • Colby all excellent points. The funny thing that most agents still don’t understand is “we” create every objection with “our” presentation. product knowledge along with great listening skills is imperative to be a successful sales person or agent.

  • Thanks Tim & Joseph – We have always looked at objections as a willingness of a prospect to discuss their situation. When faced with an objection, we always repeat what they said, ask them if that is correct and then ask, “if we can overcome their concern, would they consider moving forward?”. Generally, the prospect answers with additional concerns and may uncover their real objection/concern!

  • There is a saying in sales training. The Sale starts when you get your first objection.

  • Phil, that is a great way of looking at. The “cone of silence” is only good when they are writing a check. Thanks again for sharing.

  • I’ll have to add that one to the list. 🙂 Thanks for sharing John.

  • every objection is a piece of information to use in the next presentation

  • Very true Minor, thank you for sharing.

  • ooohh. Good point Minor. It should be come somethig that you can hedge in the beginning of your presentation then…

  • believe it or not had a rep lose a lady yesterday who would pay 30 cents every 6 months!!! I need to talk to my husband…about 5 cents a month???? Really? I know the spousal objection is the hardest to overcome, but seriously?

  • Pete lets chalk that one up to lame excuse.

Leave a Reply