The Protector Press

Winter 2009

$ales Tips: Elementary rules for success

Steven L. Brady RHU
Second Vice President, Individual Disability Insurance Sales

Many of the lessons learned in elementary school come in the form of children's tales. These same, enduring lessons can help you to sell disability insurance today.

Stone Soup

This tale is about a small group of travelers who come upon a starving village. The travelers are hungry, but the villagers are hoarding their precious food and do not trust strangers, so they do not share. (Sounds like insurance agents trying to find the premium.) The travelers are undaunted and meekly state they will make some stone soup for everyone to enjoy. As the townspeople gather to watch the making of this miraculous stone soup, they start to bring vegetables and such to add to the soup. And sure enough, at the end, the trust level is high and all are enjoying a feast.

I have found prospects for IDI very much the same, except that the ingredients they bring to my soup are their life experiences. These give my soup all the needed elements to close the sale. They bring their reasons and motivations as I ladle out their 'soup' to them. They start cold and will not share their precious memories, thoughts or fears until they see and smell my stone soup of facts and stories of others like themselves.

The Little Engine That Could

This story is explained by the title. The precious cargo needed to get to the other side of the mountain. Other, larger engines said 'No', but the littlest engine was eager and wanted to try. As the hill got tough, the little engine kept reminding itself with thoughts of hope, "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can." until it reached the top and an exuberant "I thought I could! I thought I could!" rang out across the countryside.

We are all engines with a trainload of responsibilities to carry over this large mountain called life. The engine represents the income earned during the working years. The coal that feeds the engine needs to be constant, especially during the most difficult part of the climb. Consistent fuel is disability insurance if your source of fuel from work is unable to make that long hill. Unable or disabled. The fuel fed to the engine will keep you on track and keep you believing in yourself.

Jack and the Bean Stalk

This famous tale is not about the magic beans or the stalk or the giant or Jack's wisdom in selling a cow for beans. This tale is about the age-old question of value. You are Jack and hold the goose that lays golden eggs in your hands. Which do you insure, the goose or the eggs? Most people insure the eggs, possessions like the house and car. Most forget the source of the golden eggs as the more valuable source of future eggs, so disability insurance insures the goose.

Green Eggs and Ham

This book by Dr. Seuss is not about green eggs or ham. It is not about different places to try them. It is about belief and tenacity. Sam-I-Am is the insurance agent. Your customers are the intended victims of the eggs and ham — or in our industry — disability insurance. At first the customer is annoyed with Sam-I-Am as a peddler of something unfamiliar. The annoyance turns to anger and the anger to avoidance. Finally, in desperation, your customers try the unfamiliar and to their shock, like it.

The same is true for Sam-I-Am. At first the customers don't like him. Then they really don't like him. Then at the end they are best of friends. How does that happen? It is simple. Sam-I-Am really cares about his customers and really believes in what he is selling. In fact, he knows his customers will like it if they will only try it. He believes in it so much and cares for them so much, that he does not give up. Try as they may to say 'No', he will keep giving them chances to say 'Yes.' Even if all they do is try the strange item, Sam-I-Am knows that just saying 'Yes' and going through the process of owning disability insurance will make the customers very happy and that they will become his best friends.

Green eggs and ham is disability insurance that must be tried to be understood and appreciated. So, someone needs to sell customers on it and all the Sams-I-Am need to believe and be tenacious.

Ping

Ping is a duck in the yellow waters of the Yangtze river. Ping lives on a boat with many ducks. They roam freely during the day but when the sun sets, they must return. The last one in gets whacked on the back with a stick. One day Ping is too late to join the others. Because Ping does not want to be whacked, he hides and watches the boat sail away. His fears crippled his decision and now he has to fend for himself in a cruel and scary world. Fortunately, on a later day he finds his boat and gladly takes the whack for being late.

So it is with disability insurance. If all it takes to stay in a safe world during a disability is the welcomed whack of a small premium, wouldn't you choose it? Isn't it better than wandering in the cruel, scary world of trying to invent income and sell assets during disability?

Usually children's stories have similar elements: a problem and a solution. Hansel and Gretel. Little Red Riding Hood. All the Disney stories. Think about your childhood favorites. Problem. Solution. Selling disability insurance is elementary. Since the problem is not self evident, the story becomes your creative way to bring the problem home to your customer. The best DI sales people are the best story tellers.

These are just five simple stories I have chosen to try to change your paradigm regarding children's stories and disability insurance. One of these might resonate with you. Maybe you have one of your own. Stories can be parables and metaphors. They can allow the participants to stand at a safe distance and see themselves through the story.

The emotions that might normally conflict with the buying process are abated. The listener is brought into receiving mode, the story stays and is retained along with its metaphor.

I tell my prospects that I will try to accomplish two things with them: one is to disturb them and the other is to calm that disturbance. I ask permission to disturb them and to get their heart rate (and engagement) up a bit.

I use stories because they paint pictures that are hard to erase. You may be surprised how time does not dissolve the pictures, so your customers end up wanting resolution — the solution of disability insurance.