TL;DR
Asking the right questions is the key to understanding your prospects and their needs. In the competitive world of personal lines insurance, it’s not enough to simply provide a quote; you need to dig deeper. By asking thoughtful, probing questions, you show your prospects that you care about their unique situation and are committed to finding the best solutions for them.
We’re going to take a look at some of the custom discovery questions that RiskAdvisor agencies have added to their accounts to help their team ask better questions. These questions will not only help you gather the information you need but also demonstrate your expertise and dedication to providing exceptional service. Let’s dive in and see how the right questions can transform your sales process.
Establishing Trust and Building Rapport
- We use technology (text & client center) – Are you okay with that?
- We maximize your discounts; I’ll find all discounts available – Are you okay with that?
- We educate, whether you buy the coverage or not, we’ll present it to you – Are you okay with that?
I love these questions at the top of the conversation for two reasons. First, they do a great job of subtly telling the prospect who they are as an agency.
As an agency we use technology for seamless communication, we find all available discounts to maximize your savings, and educate you on your coverage options.
Second, very subtly this agency has received buy in from an ideal prospect.
Getting a yes on all three of these tells the agency that the prospect is willing to use technology, will let the agency look for companion discounts (cross-sell!), and they will accept education on what they don’t have and what they need.
A “Yes” to these three questions will lead to a much smoother conversation for this agency.
These great questions come from Heritage Insurance ↗️
Michael is the Chief Educational Officer at Heritage Insurance ↗️ based in Arizona.
Understanding Their Current Coverage
4. How did you end up with your current carrier/agent?
All personal lines agents are either asking or figuring out at some point (the earlier, the better) who the current carrier is.
I love this question and I want to focus on the agent piece of the question more so than the carrier.
By asking this question you’re going to find a couple of things out very quickly. Do they have an agent or are they working with a carrier direct? Were they referred over to their current agent by a friend or family member who has a personal relationship? Do they have an agent but have no clue who that agent is? All across the board this question is gold.
This great question comes from DeWitt Insurance Group ↗️
Kali is an Insurance Advisor for DeWitt Insurance Group ↗️
5. Have you worked with an independent broker in the past?
6. How long have you been with them?
By asking these two questions you’re going to know quickly if the prospect has ever worked with an Independent Agent before. This gives you an easy win early to be able to explain the benefits of working with an Independent Agent. I might add a follow up question on this to ask if anyone has ever explained the benefits of working with an Independent Agent.
These great questions come from My Insurance Group (TX) ↗️
Eric is the Principal Owner of My Insurance Group (TX) ↗️
Expectations
7. If you had to pick one, what is more important to you: Price or Coverage?
8. How soon do you need your quote completed?
These two questions are very straight forward but extremely useful. Right away you are going to know if you’re talking to a Price Shopper or someone who is willing to be educated on their current coverage. These are also helpful to refer back to when that answer changes when you put a proposal in front of them. You know what you need to do to win.
I also like knowing when I need to deliver a proposal. Is it a same day turnaround? Is that even feasible? This allows you to prioritize your workload and gives you the ability to define the expectation. You will be surprised how often people are okay with a quote taking longer if you set that expectation up front and stick to it.
These great questions come from Yakima Valley Insurance ↗️
Casey is the Owner of Yakima Valley Insurance ↗️
I want to thank each of the Agents and their Agencies for allowing us to use their Custom Discovery Questions from RiskAdvisor for this post.
If you’re not a RiskAdvisor customer, custom Discovery Questions is just one of the many great features available to you. Using these and your own will allow you to define the beginning process for your prospects and it will allow you to decide what you want to ask.
To learn more about Custom Discovery Questions and the other great features of RiskAdvisor Book a Demo ↗️ today. We would love to walk you through it.