Framing the Sales Process

More and more often prospects and clients in any sales cycle and sector want to know the steps of the buying process as well where they are in the buying process. This is why Amazon is so much more enjoyable to buy from than just about any other retailer. Not only can you buy it now but you can see what date it will be delivered. You can see what warehouse it is coming from and once its been handed off to the local mail facility. You know from start to finish where your favorite sequence puppy pillow is at all times and can follow its path to your loving arms.

In insurance sales this will be mandatory soon enough. Certainly Mortgage companies are working towards letting a client know where they are in the process. Even though you don't readily have an Amazon platform for your declaration pages you can still inform your prospect of what to expect when buying from you. And you should.

Framing the Process this needs to be done in the opening of your first call. Whether you are working on a 1 call close or a 2 call close you need to give them how the process works and what to expect right up front. I would start with a greeting, so they know your name. Next I would try to discover their pain point by asking what has them shopping. Once I know why they are shopping I would give them my value proposition (Why working with me is the only option). Finally, I would close my opening statement with framing how the rest of the call will go and of course how the rest of the process will follow.

The reason to do this early instead of later is to get their guard down on whatever questions you may have and of course how long the call will take. When someone believes the call will take a long time they are a lot more likely to be closed off because they fear additional questions and the call taking even longer. Framing the call is not asking for permission to ask more questions, it's letting them know that I have a few questions I need to get answered, so I can start and that it will only take a couple of minutes.

Example 1: You have all the information you need

Mrs. Johnson, your lender sent me you and your husband's name, DOB and address as well I have pulled up the house on Google Maps, so I have most of the information I will need.
Next I will take that information and plug it into a comparative rater that will shop your insurance with 20 or so carriers and get them competing for your business. This might only take 5 minutes or so. Once we have narrowed down what carriers you are interested in and depending on how many there are I may let you go, so I can run the needed reports and plug in some different options.
Within 20min to an hour I will give you a call back so that together we can maximize all the discounts and finalize what options you are interested in.
Once you’ve picked a carrier and a price, it’s easy from here. I simply contact your bank and set up the payment for you. All you have to do is sit back, and we will do all the work. Essentially this is the last call you need to make.

Example 2: You don't have the information you need

Mrs. Johnson, how this works is I will need to get a few pieces of your personal information, so I can get the quotes as accurate as possible. As well since the home you are buying is new construction I can't find anything for it online, so I will need to ask you some questions about the home. This will take less than 10 minutes
Next I will take that information and plug it into a comparative rater that will shop your insurance with 20 or so carriers and get them competing for your business. This might only take 5 minutes or so. Once we have narrowed down what carriers you are interested in and depending on how many there are I may let you go, so I can run the needed reports and plug in some different options.
Within 20min to an hour I will give you a call back so that together we can maximize all the discounts and finalize what options you are interested in.
Once you’ve picked a carrier and a price, it’s easy from here. I simply contact your bank and set up the payment for you. All you have to do is sit back, and we will do all the work. Essentially this is the last call you need to make.

Example 3: Lots of work needed

Mrs. Johnson, getting coverage on vacant properties can sometimes be difficult so what I will do next is get the information needed on the house and let you go.
I want to get the best price and coverage I can, so I am going to take the rest of afternoon and fill out several applications and run the quotes I can myself.
If the application is has to be reviewed by an underwriter this may not come back today.
Once I have all the options I will give you a call back, and we can go over all the coverage and discount options and finalize it together.
From their my team will set up the policy, take the payments and send you the paperwork. I will make this as easy as possible.

Closing:

We often rush through the steps because we know the process is easy but the client may not know that. They could be dealing with different brokers, and they may have now had to answer 50 questions between all of them. Letting them know early that this will not be the case and that I can meet the need right away will take their guard down. Once the prospects guard is down you can start to have fun and talk about non insurance related topics and get to know them better. The aim is to build life long relationships and framing the process and the call is the first step to doing that. Get after it.