Wholesale insurance brokers often play an important role in helping insurance agents and brokers close sales with clients who have very specific insurance needs. This is a big part of the value many wholesale brokers provide. Here are a few tips for sharpening your skills in this area.
Be the expert resource. At times, the selling insurance agent/broker will bring wholesale brokers in on their sales meetings when they need more specialized expertise in a certain line of coverage than they can offer themselves. Your role is to answer the insured’s questions in a way that gives them confidence in the coverage. To that end, it’s important to be prepared.
Bring documentation. Sales tools such as case studies or information packets—tailored to the type of client your insurance agent/broker is meeting with—can be enormously helpful in making a sale. If it’s right for the meeting, bring documentation that highlights specific case studies and loss scenarios, coverage structures and comparisons, and other information that will give the customer the information they need to make a decision.
Know the barriers to sale. If the insurance agent/broker is bringing you in on a sale to serve as an expert resource on a new line of insurance, you may have a better understanding of the reasons why decision-makers don’t buy this type of insurance. Be prepared to provide the information needed to address these barriers and counter the objections the decision-maker may have.
Listen carefully. No matter how prepared you are with the right documentation, the right information, and an in-depth knowledge of the usual barriers to purchase, the prospect may have concerns that you haven’t anticipated. Sometimes, the best thing to do is slow down the sales process and take time to ask questions that demonstrate you understand the prospect’s business—and the pressures they’re faced with. Often, this can make a huge difference.
Wholesale insurance brokers are often an important partner for insurance agents/brokers in making sales. The more you contribute to the sales process, the more you demonstrate your value to your insurance partners. Come prepared with documentation that provides information the prospect needs in a concise, easy-to-digest format. Be aware of your place in the sales process as an expert resource, and know the barriers to purchase so you can address them. Take the time to listen to the prospects concerns, and you’re likely to be a very effective sales partner.
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