Page 14 - Life Insurance Today March 2018

benefits to the user. We build a rapport, which can later
lead to further business. We acquire testimonial stories
about how the service is used. We gain confidence and
inspiration.

Buying Motives: Financial Product
Hit and miss does not work in selling because we don't
have the time we have in social relationships. We have to
ask precise questions that lead us in the direction of the
answer we need in order to identify our clients need and
then stress the corresponding benefits. We are supposed
to know the buying motives for planning our selling
Gaining product and service expertise activities.
Gaining product and service expertise is indispensable for
selling success. Learn 40 times as much as you will use'. Such question could be:

Why 40 times? Its because our store of information is like Y What would you be expecting from a supplier
a fully charged battery. It shows in our enthusiasm, our
Y What benefit would you be hoping for?
self- confidence and most of all in our competence.
Certainly that is true of selling too. Let's stop for a moment Y What one thing could we offer to convince you to
and think of our customers. How do they view us? Aren't change suppliers?
we the only link between the manufactured product or
service and themselves? They have to rely on us to tell Those are three precise and very directive questions. They
them each and every thing that they might need to know. lead you in the direction of finding out the needs and
motives of your client. Now think of more questions.
It makes sense, then, to have a 40 - fold store of Create your own list. Think of yourself as a yachtsman with
knowledge in reserve for every eventuality, over and above the rudder of your sailboat in the grip of your hand. As
what we might use in a single sales discussion with a single your boat goes slightly off- course, your motive the rudder
customer. Therefore, we need to focus on getting as much to bring it back on - course.
knowledge as we can as, quickly as possible. The customer
doesn't want to know that the fax machine has "group, To become a powerful and directive questioner we need
high speed, digital transmission technology. They only want only think of ourselves as yachtsmen. When the
to know that their document can reach their colleague in conversation starts to go off - course, when it starts to
Australia in seconds because of this group 3, high-speed wander aimlessly in this direction or that, we need to bring
technology. it back on course. Practice, practice, practice bringing the
conversation back to ascertaining the customer's need and
Interviewing current customers is one of the most valuable motives. The person who asks the questions sets the
yet exploiting options for sales people. Customers give us direction. We must make sure we know what direction we
the information from the user's point of view, which is want to go in. Another aspect of importance is the
invaluable. Why else are we so bullish on visiting or talking checking the assumptions.
to current customers? Because they are a bottomless pit
of testimonials, references, new business, add- on Sales are lost because people assume they know what the
business, referrals, inspiration, enthusiasm, and customer wants. The best method of checking our
information and about competitors. assumptions is to call our customers and ask if our
assumptions are right. Then we must listen to their
Thus one can see that the benefits of interviews with answers and reshape our presentation or proposals
current customers are endless. Through interviews we gain accordingly. If it's a team- sell, we need to convince our
confidence in our product and company. We learn the colleagues to avoid these costly assumptions also.

"Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career."

14 March 2018 Life Insurance Today