Every October my family medical insurance comes due for renewal and since the premium is not small, I usually look around to check what other options are available before invariably staying with my existing insurer. This year was no different. As if by total coincidence, during the month of my renewal I received an unsolicited email from (apparently) one of the largest online insurance brokers. Given the timing, I replied and asked for some quotations..
I have always used a tier 1 provider that pools insurance claims. This means that renewal premiums are calculated based on the whole insured pool claim history rather than calculating renewals based on individual policy claim histories. With the latter type, if God-forbid you have a large claim one year, your insurance premium can rocket up, potentially pricing you out of renewal. Clearly the pooled insurance policy type demands a higher premium.
When I replied to the broker, I stated that I wanted a pooled insurance only. The quotations she sent me were very attractive; similar cover to my existing policy but significantly lower premiums. I had never heard of the insurer however, so this could mean only one thing; that the renewal was based on individual claim histories.
I replied to the email, reiterating that I wanted only a pooled insurance policy and could she confirm that these quotes were from a pooled policy. She called me directly explaining that the policy she’d suggested was the best value, and despite being based on individual claims she could “help negotiate with the provider” if I made significant claim during a policy year. I again repeated what I required, and she said she would send me a new proposal.
The final email (because this is where I stopped wasting my time), while finally including tier 1 providers, was heavily biased towards the original cheaper ‘individual claim’ provider that she had now proposed three times and unless she was totally ignoring me, knew that I categorically did not want.
There are two primary mistakes this insurance sales person made which we can learn from:
First, listen to what your client wants and address their need. Do not do what this lady did which was ignore what I wanted and try to sell what suited her best. Rightly or wrongly, the message to me was that in some way, selling the cheaper policy was better for her and therefore she cared more about herself than me.
There are few things more likely to annoy potential clients than having their requests ignored and being forced something they didn’t ask for. Such an approach rapidly destroys trust. This does not mean that you cannot make suggestions; most clients will welcome proposals that add value. However, first ask questions and listen before making suggestions and carefully observe the client’s response. If they are not responsive to the change you suggest, switch back to what they originally requested.
Secondly, don’t make commitments you cannot keep. When the salesperson said she could negotiate renewals on my behalf in the event of a large claim, that was the final nail in the coffin for me. I know that the renewal is based on claims histories which feed into future predicted claims algorithms – not the request of someone I’ve never met! It is a much better policy to be honest and state what you can do, and what’s out of your control. While the response may not be what the client wants to hear, it demonstrates that you can be trusted which is a far more important variable in winning the deal – remember your competitors will often have the same product or service limitations that you are experiencing.
This story may read that I am a difficult client to sell to but I’m not. Actually, I’m very easy to sell to if you first listen to me. In the scenario above, I showed the path to closing the deal when I communicated what I wanted. A client may not be as explicitly clear as I was, however, very often by focusing on a specific issue, the client is telling us what they want implicitly, without mentioning it directly. If we are too preoccupied with that we want to sell, then we miss the buying signal and as a result, a perfectly attainable piece of business is lost to a competitor that doesn’t necessarily have a better product or service, but knows how to listen.
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