Were not that unhappy with our current arrangements.

Our current agent fixed what you told us was broken.

I dont like you very much.

The coverage youre offering is too expensive.

Just send me your homeowners quote; I dont have time to see you.

An appointment? Hows never, does that work for you?

My brother, son, daughter, mother, father, etc. handles the insurance.

Whats your sign?

Can you please give me another alternative quote? Five is not enough.

Keep in mind that your prospect has lots of skills, but hiring you is not one of them. Objections are the natural order.

Is there a formula to deal with these issues? The quick answer is yes and it comes under the heading of: “Engage in a dialogue with your prospect”.

As consultants, we are not advocates of scripting out the exact words you will use. We do, however, strongly suggest that you rehearse your responses. But first, relax. And then, when organizing your response, use your own words, words that you would normally exercise. Your responses will become automatic after a short time.

Here is a suggested step-by-step formula for an agent:

Listen to the whole objection. Over the years weve seen mistakes made when a producer begins responding to the objection before they understand exactly what it is. Who knows? It could be a compliment.

Pause, take a breath, think great thoughts and consider your response. The mind is incredibly fast, let it work for you.

What did you see? What is the prospect doing as they are offering objections? What clues are in front of you?

Your first statement should be a thoughtful response. Get across the points that you are interested in, and maybe you will find you actually are able to relate to the objection.

The producer should look to diffuse the negative emotions that may be behind the objection. There is no selling here, just acknowledgment of the situation before moving on to the next step in the process.

A producer recently related an objection where the prospect actually said: “I dont have a clue as to what you are talking about.” The producer responded: “Im sorry that Ive not been clear with my explanation,” corrected the misunderstanding, and went on with the discussion.

Drill down with questions about the objection. What is the underlying driver behind your prospects objection? Is there a hidden objection? What is the real objection? Two or three questions should be all that is needed to come to an understanding.

With the questions answered, its time to respond on the basis of your insurance products and services.

How do the agencys products, benefits, and services respond to the objection and the personal needs of the prospect?

Has the objection been responded to? This is the time for another question–specifically aimed at the objection and the response: “Has my explanation helped?”

Identify, with the prospect, the next steps.

When additional objections that are likely to come up do, go back to step one and work with the prospect on instructing them in the art of hiring you as their personal lines agent and advisor.

Keep in mind that the objection is a natural part of the sales process only 100 percent of the time.

Tom Redmond is president of Redmond Group, Inc. in Red Bank, NJ., an agency consulting firm. He can be reached at [email protected] or call 732-224-9444.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, June 24, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.