Know Your Competition – Then Outsell Them

You know what products are competitive in your state. So do all the other agents working the same market. With so many competitors trying to win prospects with the same prices and name-brand companies alone, what can you do to stand out?

If you want to be the agent that successfully and consistently converts the most prospects, you have to offer something different. Easier said than done? Not necessarily. Here’s how to separate yourself from the others, and win more sales while doing it.

Investigate the competition

You have to play sleuth if you want to pull past your competitors. Roll up your sleeves and gather up their websites, ads and any marketing materials you can get your hands on.

Get started by cracking open the yellow pages. Here’s a quick, eye-opening test: Find your ad. Now cover up your agency’s name. Did it instantly disappear in a page crowded with look-alikes? Are you all “proudly serving” your area, do you each “represent the best insurance companies available” and is every one of you the “local agent for Health Insurance?”

Chances are your ad is filled with the exact same tired expressions as every other agent’s. So how on earth could a prospect conclude that your agency should be chosen over all the rest?

You need to give your prospects something different, something valuable. And you can do that by being the only agent who offers to solve their biggest insurance-buying frustrations.

To do that you’re going to have to discover what REALLY sets you apart. Dig deeper, past what your competitors’ want prospects to believe about them, and into their true weaknesses.

• Consider calling up a client or friendly acquaintance you know has worked with the agent in the past. Find out if they were satisfied with their service, and try to learn a little about the agent’s sales process.

For example:

• What was their follow up process like?
• How (and how fast) did they get the proposal into the individual’s hands?
• How easy was it to apply for a policy?
• What did they like best about working with that agent

• Don’t hesitate to contact everyone from former employees to their regional reps for more information. To distinguish yourself from your competition it’s important to get a full picture of them.

Determine how you are different

Now that you’ve evaluated the competition fully, what are the aspects of your process that are unique, or stronger than your competitors’? What do you give prospects that they don’t?

For example, do you:

• Have an interactive website that lets prospects shop insurance 24 hours a day?
• Can you quote a prospect competitive plans from multiple carriers in 60 seconds or less?
• Do you offer any incentives for prospects who receive your free quote?
• Can your customers apply for their policy entirely over the Internet?
• Can you guarantee faster underwriting for healthy individuals?

Add your advantages to your sales pitch…and sell more policies

You’ve determined what the advantages of doing business with you are. Now you need to get that across to your prospects in your sales pitch.

Be careful here: it’s tempting to rattle off all the benefits you offer in that first conversation. But there’s only one subject that interests your prospects the most, and it’s not you.

You’ll get better results by carefully delivering your advantages as solutions to your prospects’ deepest concerns and problems with buying insurance. Consider this sample pitch:

“I know you don’t have a lot of time, so I will pull together 5 of the most competitive plans and email them to you right now. It only takes 60 seconds, and since I know insurance can be confusing, you’ll see my proposal lets you compare all the benefits and rates side-by-side. I don’t want to waste your time by having you drive around trying to find my office, so if you like we can review these plans right now, and you can apply online today or whenever is convenient for you.”

Now you’ve addressed your prospect’s concerns (lack of time, confusing, inconvenient) and you’ve shown them that by working with you, all those frustrations will be addressed.

Add your advantages to your advertising

And don’t forget about that lackluster yellow pages ad. Use your newfound advantages to stand out from all the look-alikes and catch the prospect’s eye.

Instead of “Proudly serving” and “Representing the best companies available,” your ad says:

Need To Buy Health Insurance But Are Too Busy For Confusing Plans And Inconvenient Service?

Compare Health plans and rates from the state’s top-rated companies instantly
Apply online 24 hours a day
Same-day approval on select plans
Visit us on the web or call our office for a free consultation

You don’t win the most business by looking the same as everyone else. By promoting the unique ways you make buying insurance easier, you will attract and convert more prospects.