Asking Questions Archives

Don’t Wait For Things To Get Better… Make Them Better!

April 5, 2018 Jeremy Nason Leave a comment

Do you know what most small businesses do when times are bad? They hunker down and hope things will just get better. Even when the economy was thriving and banks were throwing money at people and businesses, there were companies going broke every day, because they just carried on doing what didn’t work and hoped that things would magically, just get better.

Things didn’t just get better back then and they certainly won’t today…

Many of the agents, advisors, and planners we work with have just finished their best year ever. They have achieved this through combining great products, with highly effective marketing and being focused on really helping people.

And, you can do it too!

Don’t wait for things to just get better. Make them better!

Take the next step and download our free report now! How To Close ‘9 Out Of 10’™ Sales By Asking The ‘Right’ Questions! and learn a skill to make this business really fun and easy!

Jeremy Nason, RFC is the co-founder of the Insurance Pro Shop™ -“The first affordable, full-service insurance marketing and sales resource center for today’s Financial Pro, and Found Money Management™, a system dedicated to helping Middle-Income Families to ‘Live Debt Free and Truly Wealthy!’ For more articles visit his blog!

Are You Making The Most Expensive Mistake of Your Career?

January 18, 2018January 18, 2018 Jeremy Nason Leave a comment

Why is it that most insurance agents, financial advisors, and financial planners will spend huge amounts of their time, and thousands of their hard-earned dollars on learning about a hot new sales idea or a hot new product, buying and learning the latest software, or earning the latest industry designation? But, when it comes to learning and mastering the two extremely critical success functions of their business, that will make their career a whole lot easier, more fun and extremely profitable, they can’t seem to find the time or the money?

If having the latest sales ideas, products, software and designations were the actual keys to success in this industry, then why are 90% of the people who enter the industry failing and leaving the industry within the first four or five years? Why are the majority of the surviving people earning less than $50,000 per year?

Do you want to do more than just survive in this industry?

Do you want to be earning a significant six-figure income and be enjoying your career?

Then isn’t it time for you to learn and master the two critical keys to success in this industry?

What’s the first critical function for success in the financial services industry?

What I hear most from people is that they are struggling to find qualified prospects. Is that one of your main problems? How much easier and more profitable would your business be if you had a consistent flow of the ‘RIGHT’ qualified prospects? Well you can, if you’ll spend more of your time and money learning how to identify and consistently attract the right prospects to you. The people you have the best chance of selling. And, that’s about learning all you can about Marketing Your Services!

What’s the second critical function for success in the financial services industry?

What I hear second most from people, is they are having trouble getting their prospects to take action. Whether it’s setting an appointment or closing the sale, most people are only getting a small portion of their prospects to take action right now. Be honest with yourself, are you having the same problem? You can be setting many more appointments and be closing many more (and larger) sales, if you’ll spend the time and money to Improve Your Questioning, Fact-finding & Selling Skills.

Summary

Let face it, you can have the all the latest sales ideas, the most innovative products, the latest software and a list of designations after your name, but if you aren’t able to attract the RIGHT prospects to you and then get them to take action, you’ll continue to struggle in this business.

The unfortunate part is that your companies, marketing organizations, managers, and recruiters are providing very little if any intensive training on these two very critical success functions. And, why should they spend their time and money training you? Aren’t there plenty of people for them to choose from, who want a career in the financial services industry?

If you want to succeed short-term and long-term in this industry, then it’s up to you to get the marketing and sales skills training you need and want… right now!

The question is where do you find the marketing and sales skills training you need?

Unfortunately, there are very few people in our industry who are actually offering this in-depth marketing and sales skills training.

There are lots people offering great sales ideas and product information, like LEAP, Missed Fortune, Infinite Banking, Circle of Wealth, The Wealth Preservation Institute, Annuity Selling Systems, Pension Concepts, College Funding Solutions and others. The problem is that they are primarily just offering sales concepts with very little if any real marketing or sales skills training.

Then there are all of the marketing companies that will tell you they have a great foolproof lead system that will put you in front of a ton of people, like the Broich Approach, Million Dollar Leads, Bank On Yourself and others that are either just recruiters in disguise, or are selling expensive ongoing services that empty your wallets.

Finally, there are the FMOs, IMOs, and other recruiting organizations that will promise you the world, just to get you to contract with their companies.

There are very few people that are actually providing comprehensive marketing and sales skills training, specifically for this industry.

And, there are fewer yet that have the proven industry credentials and experience, with industry leader endorsements and testimonials from successful agents, advisors, and planners.

Marketing and sales skills training is not sexy or exciting. It’s just what makes your business easier, more rewarding, more fun and extremely profitable!

Take the next step and download our free report now! How To Close ‘9 Out Of 10’™ Sales By Asking The ‘Right’ Questions! and learn a skill to make this business really fun and easy!

How To Get Past The Prospect’s “Salesperson Filter.”

January 11, 2018January 11, 2018 Jeremy Nason Leave a comment

Believe it or not, closing sales is simply a matter of asking the right questions. If you don’t ask the right questions, you won’t uncover the needs of your prospects… and what your prospect actually wants! And, if you don’t uncover what the prospects needs and wants, you won’t understand what problems to solve for them.

Unfortunately, most agents spend most of their time during sales appointments giving a lecture about their products and services and how great they are. If you are using that presentation/sales style…

…it is costing you a lot of sales!

Priceless Life/Sales Advice From My DAD!

January 4, 2018January 9, 2018 Jeremy Nason Leave a comment

When I first entered sales, I asked my father for some sales advice and what the best selling technique was to be successful.

He replied, “The two most important parts of the sales process are your ability to:

Ask The Right Questions!
Shut-up and Listen To The Client!”

Asking the right questions is the number one sales technique that you can use and it makes all the difference in the world. Your ability to provide your clients with the right solution to their problems is the key to your sales success. And to find the right solution, you need to ask the right questions. When you ask the right questions, your client will tell you exactly what you need to do to make the sale.

Unfortunately, when I talk to a struggling agent or advisor, I find they are making the mistake of telling their clients about the features and benefits of their products before they understand what the client is looking for. Your clients buy for their own reasons, and you won’t learn what those reasons are, unless you first ask questions and listen to them.

A successful sales call should be about 30% asking questions and talking, and roughly 70% listening. Remember, you have two ears and one mouth. That means you listen twice as much as you speak.

Why is it important to learn how to structure your sales questions:

You use questions to gain or maintain control during the sales call. If you use questions properly, you can lead your clients to where you want them to go. The proper use of questions also helps you to isolate areas of interest. Ask the right sales questions to help you find the right solution.

By asking questions, you will find out what the prospect is interested in. If you know what they are interested in or need. You can then provide the solution they are looking for and better position them to buy.

You use questions in sales to help acknowledge a fact. When you state a fact in the form of a question, and the response is positive, you have an agreement.

Use sales questions to receive minor agreements. Selling is the sum total of a series of yeses, that lead to the final decision to own or use your service. A minor agreement will also define the area(s) in which they have the most interest. Not everyone buys your products or services for the same reasons. By asking questions, you will find out why they will want what you have to offer.

Use sales questions to arouse and control emotions. Emotions are the thinking that you must arouse in the prospect. If they can’t get excited about what you have to offer, they will not buy. They have to feel that they must own the product.

Use sales questions to isolate objections. You must isolate their objections to understand the real stumbling blocks to the sale. A skilled salesperson knows the prospect will have objections to buying their product or service. But, they also know that most objections are just a reaction and not real. You need to find the objections that are important to the buying decision and focus on what is most important to the prospect. To do that, you have to use questions.

You don’t answer objections by telling. You answer objections by asking questions. The key to handling objections is best done when you ask the right questions that allow the prospect to positively answer their own objection.

The truly amazing part is that if you want to take his sales advice, learning to ask the right questions is one of the easiest skills you can learn and master, to immediately increase your sales and income.

Take the next step and download our free report now! How To Close ‘9 Out Of 10’™ Sales By Asking The ‘Right’ Questions! and learn a skill to make this business really fun and easy!

Need More and/or Better Insurance Leads?

December 21, 2017January 17, 2018 Jeremy Nason Leave a comment

One of the main challenges, we face every day as trainers and coaches, is getting agents and advisors to understand the real reasons why they are not as successful as they want to be. Example: Most agents and advisors come to us believing that their main problem is they need more and/or better insurance leads. While that is basically true, is it only a symptom of their real problem?

Is the real problem that they don’t know what to do and say to set an appointment with the people they know and meet?

Would you agree that almost everyone you know and meet has a problem, and would significantly benefit from your products and services? Do they need your help to ‘find the money’ to save more money for retirement or to fund their children’s education? Or, do they need more life insurance to protect their family? Or, maybe they need more safety and guarantees on the money they have already saved? Etc.!

If almost everyone you know and meet needs your products and services, doesn’t that mean there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of people (leads) in your immediate area that would benefit from your help? So, do you really need more and/or better leads?

Or, do you need to learn what to do and say to get these people to want to meet with you?

Or, is the real problem that you are uncomfortable and don’t want to approach and talk to these people?

Is that because you lack confidence in your ability to help these people?

Or, is it because you only see yourself as just another insurance salesperson?

What are you going to do today to improve your sales?

The truly amazing part is this critical sales skill is one of the easiest skills you can learn and master, to immediately increase your sales and income!

Take step one and download our free report now! How To Close ‘9 Out Of 10’™ Sales By Asking The ‘Right’ Questions! and learn a skill to make this business really fun and easy!

How Can You Consistently Close Sales With ‘9 Out Of 10’ People You Meet?

December 18, 2017January 17, 2018 Alex Villa Leave a comment

While most agents and advisors seem to think that closing sales with ‘9 Out Of 10’ people you see is impossible… if you know the ‘insider secrets’ it’s actually very easy! During my 7 years as a personal producer I was able to consistently close ‘9 Out of 10’ people I met with. That is one of the reasons my son Jeremy and I are being called the ‘9 Out Of 10 Guys’. (My Media Consultant, the legendary Forrest Wallace Cato came up with that phase when we first started the Insurance Pro Shop in 2000) And, ‘No’, I wasn’t a pushy salesperson. I didn’t use any of the 101 closing techniques. My lapse rate was below 5%. And, I didn’t replace other insurance policies in the home.

By the way, if you talk to most of the leading producers in our industry you’ll find that they are closing ‘9 out of 10’ people they meet with. It’s because they know and practice these 3 ‘insider secrets’ I’m about to reveal to you. So, what I did wasn’t really anything special.

However, the fact that my sons and I have been able to help ‘9 Out Of 10’ agents and advisors to become significantly better at identifying, attracting and setting appointments with their ‘IDEAL’ prospects, and those agents and advisors are now closing a much higher percentage of their sales calls, is what makes our training unique and very special. Read More

Hamburgers & Hotdogs

December 15, 2017December 15, 2017 Jeremy Nason Leave a comment

Working with agents on their cases is one of the many services you receive with our one on one coaching! In doing these cases (well over 1,000 cases a year!) I have found most agents are trying to hard! Trying to do too much and flat out not giving the prospect what they want!

We try to hard sometimes to fit the square peg in the round hole.

What we do or should be doing is two different things.

If the client wants a Hamburger, give them a hamburger! Don’t try to talk them into wanting a hot dog.

Here is an example of what I mean…

I was working with an agent and 2 senior clients. The clients wanted income from one of their IRA’s. Easily the agent could have just put them into an Annuity with Income Rider or SPIA. Instead, of doing just that, the agent, wanted to sell them on Life Insurance to maximize their pension (one the right track, just the wrong time) and leaving money to their heirs. The agent lost the case because he was trying to sell the hotdog!

Bottom Line… Give the client want they want first, Make them a client! Then through reviews educate, prove and show them there is a better way!

Find out what your client really wants and watch your sales soar! It all starts today and right here! Download my free report.

Prospecting… There has to be a better, much easier and more cost-effective approach…

December 11, 2017January 17, 2018 Alex Villa Leave a comment

Most agents in this industry are going about lead generation the wrong way! They think prospecting is talking to anyone and everyone, knowing the more people they talk to the more they will sell. This is true. However there is a much easier way! The approach we take (in all of our systems and training) is making sure that agents spend their time attracting, contacting and meeting with the right people! Instead of playing the numbers game, we want the agent to focus on identifying the prospects that they have the best chance of selling. Our strategy is based on 5-4-3! If you talk to five (5) of the ‘Right Prospects’, you’ll set four (4) appointments and close three (3) sales.

The logic is that if you focus on finding and contacting the ‘right prospects’ it’s much easier to set appointments, close sales and make larger sales. Plus, when you are working with the right prospects… you’ll have fewer cancelled appointments, fewer not-taken policies, fewer declined applications, fewer lapsed policies, etc.

Do you want to sell life insurance the easy way? Do you want to spend less money, generating leads? Do you want to earn $100,000 or more per year, without working 50, 60 or more hour per week?

Then Quit prospecting in the hardest way possible and ask the following questions…

Who Are Your Ideal Prospects Life Insurance?
Where Do You Find Them?
What are the most cost effective ways to get them to contact you?
What do you say to get the appointment?
How do you get them emotionally involved in the sales process?
Where do you find the money?
How do I sell cash-value life insurance instead of cheap term?

Are You Making This Critical Mistake When You’re With Your Prospects?

December 4, 2017January 23, 2018 Alex Villa Leave a comment

Are you guilty of this critical mistake when it comes to closing sales? Are you talking too much, trying to be ‘interesting’, instead of being ‘interested?’

People think closing sales is all about fancy presentations, impressing people, and utilizing ‘closing techniques’, it’s not! Most of the agents I talk to are trying to impress their prospects with what they know, what they’ve accomplished, the great companies they represent and the competitive products they offer. However, as the TOP Sales Professionals know, closing sales (especially higher value ones) is all about you being interested, and not about being interesting.

Being Interested Closes More Sales
During your sales calls, are you asking probing questions? Are you interested in and really listening to what your prospect is saying? Or, are you thinking about what you’ll say next while the prospect is talking to you?

If you ask enough probing questions and really listen to what your prospect says, you’ll discover what it is they really want and they will tell you exactly what you must do to close them. Most agents tend to do all the talking and never listen long enough or carefully enough to find out what the prospect truly wants. Consequently they miss the real sale. Read More

The #1 Skill All Insurance Agents and Advisors Must Learn!

November 30, 2017 Jeremy Nason Leave a comment

Listening Is A skill!

Studies consistently show that our customers believe that salespeople talk too much. Even more embarrassing, polls of salespeople show that we know we talk too much.

But how can we sell more while talking less?

One reason we talk too much is we don’t want to miss a detail, feature or benefit the customer might find important, so we overload them with information. And we tend to confuse them. If they are confused they’ll generally give you a response like… “I need to think about it.”

If you want to be more effective, the answer lies in letting the customer speak first. If we probe effectively, asking the who, what, where, when and how questions, then they’ll tell us everything we need to know about their problems, and how to solve them. Then, when it’s our time to talk, we can focus our remarks on what we know to be important to the customer, instead of what we think they might want to know.

Ask more questions, listen more, and the odds are you’ll speak less while significantly increasing your sales.

Download our free report now! How To Close ‘9 Out Of 10’™ Sales By Asking The ‘Right’ Questions!

Jeremy Nason, RFC is the co-founder of the famous Insurance Pro Shop™ -“The first affordable, full-service insurance marketing and sales resource center for today’s Financial Pro, and Found Money Management™, a system dedicated to helping Middle-Income Families to ‘Live Debt Free and Truly Wealthy!’ For more articles visit his blog!