As an insurance agent, it’s your job to help clients get the right coverage to protect themselves, their families, and their assets. But your chances of delivering the right product are slim without a thorough understanding of their goals, lifestyles, and needs.
So in this guide, you’ll learn the most compelling questions for understanding your clients in-depth. By the end, you’ll know the best questions to ask to maximize outcomes for any new prospect.
“1. What are the biggest challenges you face?”
When insurance agents ask their clients what their biggest challenges are, they’ll better understand what they’re dealing with. Using this information, they can create more effective, tailored products and services.
This empowers insurance agents to provide better customer service and build stronger client relationships. In turn, this leads to higher sales, revenue, and customer loyalty.
2. “What are your short and long-term goals?”
There are two main reasons to ask clients about their short and long-term goals.
First, it lets you know what kind of financial help they’ll need from you. Knowing what they’re trying to accomplish will help you tailor your offer to suit them.
Second, you’ll know more about your client’s personal situation. By knowing their goals, you can give them more specific and actionable advice.
By understanding what motivates your prospective clients, you’ll be able to make better sales pitches. It’s all about figuring out if you’re talking to the right person or providing the right policy.
3. “What do you wish you had more time to do?”
Understanding your client’s personal priorities helps you understand their long-term goals and how they value their time.
Knowing this information can help you determine the right product to offer. Plus, understanding your clients’ priorities will help you provide them with the best possible service.
There are several ways to ask your clients about their time priorities:
- Ask them outright what they would like more time for
- ask them about their hobbies and day-to-day activities
- Check if there’s anything you can do to help them manage difficult or time-consuming tasks
Whatever method you choose, be respectful of your client’s time, and don’t press them for more information than they’re comfortable sharing. Again, it’s all about understanding what your clients value and what they don’t.
4. “What do you care about the most right now?”
Asking clients what they care about helps agents build a deeper understanding of their priorities and values. Plus, agents can tailor the right product based on what they care about.
It’s okay to ask open-ended questions when speaking to a client. Listen to your customers and let them explain why they care so much about their priorities.
This helps you discover more information leading to better long-term solutions.
5. “What defines success for you?”
When you ask clients how they measure success, you get a better idea of their goals, values, and motivations. Knowing what they consider a success helps you create better products and services that meet their needs.
As well as revealing your client’s current state, this question lets you gauge whether they’re ready for advice. This can help you give them the best advice in the proper context.
You can also paint the client’s future with this question, making it easier for your customer to imagine getting a policy from you.
6. “Do you currently have any existing coverage? If so, why are you considering switching or adding a new policy?”
Often, customers come to an insurance agent if they’re unhappy with their current coverage or need additional coverage. Agents can determine what product is right for them by asking why they’re switching or adding new coverage.
It’s also essential to understand the context of their situation. For example, if they’re looking to switch because their current coverage isn’t meeting their needs, you can help them a better plan for them.
On the other hand, if the customer already has the coverage they need but is looking to add on a new policy, you explain the pros and cons of pursuing that route.
7. “How can I make this process easier for you?”
When it comes to insurance, “no” doesn’t always mean “no” Sometimes, the client knows what they want but doesn’t want to pursue the application because the process is too tedious for them.
As an insurance agent, it’s your job to make the process as easy and painless as possible for your clients.
This question lets you do just that. You’ll be able to tailor the process to the client’s preferences and make it hassle-free.
8. “Which of our services are you most interested in?”
Knowing what a client is interested in isn’t just about selling them something. It’s about understanding what they need and the impact that product can have on their lives.
This goes hand in hand with understanding their goals and priorities. By asking this question, you’ll be able to tailor your services to meet the client’s needs—guaranteeing higher satisfaction.
Asking this question also helps you give effective advice. Instead of just trying to sell them something, you can suggest products and services that will help them reach their goals.
This differentiates you from every other salesperson. Instead of someone just trying to collect a check, you’re a friend trying to help someone in need.
9. “How can our services help you in the future?”
Asking this question helps understand how clients perceive the long-term utility of your products and services.
It also helps you stay one step ahead of your clients. You can anticipate what your clients will need in the future and provide them with the right solutions.
Finally, this question helps uncover any additional services or products your client may not have considered. It’s possible they’ll discover benefits they hadn’t considered before.
10. “What’s keeping you from making a decision today?”
Sometimes, a customer may not be ready to commit to a product or policy. Asking them why they aren’t ready to make a decision helps you better understand their needs and goals.
This question also helps uncover their hesitations before signing the dotted line. Agents can then address those hesitations to help steer the client in the right direction.
Why do prospects hesitate to purchase insurance?
Prospects may hesitate to purchase insurance for a variety of reasons:
- A lack of understanding of the product or policy.
- Too many choices.
- Fear or hesitation about unexpected costs.
- They feel that the policy is not a good fit for their needs.
Your job as an agent is to alleviate these fears wherever possible, dynamically shifting your talking points to address their most pressing concerns.
11. “What’s the best way to communicate with you?”
Establishing a communication channel between you and your clients will help you stay on top of messages, updates, and deadlines. It also helps you ensure that your customer is always in the loop, helping to build trust and keep them engaged throughout the sales process.
Finally, this question helps you gauge how tech-savvy your customer is. Knowing which channels they prefer and which they avoid helps you know which methods of communication are most effective.
Not convinced? Here are a few more reasons why effective communication is crucial:
Everyone has different communication preferences and styles
It’s crucial for an insurance agent to adapt to the way clients communicate to eliminate confusion. Being conscious of clients’ communication preferences also helps develop a more personalized experience, leading to higher customer satisfaction.
For example, some clients prefer email communication, while others prefer a text message for quick updates. Recognizing and respecting these differences results in smoother communication, happy customers, and greater success for your business.
Prevents miscommunications and frustrations
Insurance policies are complicated and filled with technical terms and legal jargon. If customers don’t understand the language used to explain a policy, they may become frustrated or misunderstand the coverage details.
The insurance agent’s job is to ensure that customers are well-informed and comfortable with their policy. Establishing a communication channel allows agents to ensure that customers are kept up to date on their policy details.
You can reach out to clients at their preferred time
Having a variety of communication channels available allows insurance agent to reach out to clients at their preferred times. Some people might prefer receiving a call in the morning, while others prefer a text or email.
This ensures that agents have a better chance of getting in touch with their clients when they’re available. It also allows them to provide quicker and more efficient customer service.
Tips to Asking Customers the Right Questions
Here’s how to ask your clients pointed questions without coming across the wrong way:
Be clear about what you’re asking for
Agents need to be transparent when asking clients questions so that they understand the questions and can give accurate answers.
If you’re unclear about what the information you need need, the client may give inaccurate information. Inaccurate data resultis in higher premiums, non-payment of claims, or other problems.
On top of that, clients might not do business with you again if they feel misled.
Ask open-ended questions
The best way to ensure that customers provide complete and detailed answers to your questions is to ask open-ended questions. These questions give customers the freedom to answer in their own words.
Closed questions can lead to a “yes” or “no” answer without the customer providing the details necessary to create the right product or policy for them. On the other hand, open-ended questions let the customer explain their needs and goals in detail, providing more tailored advice.
For example:
- Closed: Do you need life insurance?
- Open-ended: What type of life insurance would best suit your needs?
Listen more than you talk
In any sales situation, it’s essential to spend more time listening than talking. Pay attention to what the customer says and ask follow-up questions as needed.
This allows you better to understand their needs, aspirations, and values. Your ability to create an ideal policy or product for them depends on knowing how they think.
It’s also crucial to be patient and let your client complete their answer. Rushing a customer’s response can leave them feeling like their opinion isn’t heard or valued.
Ask follow-up questions
Having asked a question, it is important to follow up with more questions and find out what the customer wants in detail.
For example, if the customer tells you they’re interested in a specific insurance product, ask questions about why they’re interested, how they will use it, how often, and how much coverage they need.
These follow-up questions ensure that the customer isn’t just signing up for a product that doesn’t perfectly fit their needs.
Take notes
One of the most important parts of the sales process is taking notes as the customer talks. This helps you remember what was said so you can create a perfect product.
It also helps to provide a written record of the conversation if any details need to be clarified—or if the customer has any questions after the sale.
Want to Know More Secrets?
Being an insurance agent can be exciting, but it also comes with many challenges. Agents new to the field and struggling to find the best way to communicate should sign up for our free Insurance Bob course.
This course offers a wealth of knowledge and tips to help you maximize your connections with customers and give them the best possible experience. Over 20 days, you’ll learn the ins and outs of insurance from a veteran agent.
