Customer service is a top priority for insurance agents, and your first impression can make or break your relationship with a potential client/member. To help you make the best initial impression possible and demonstrate your knowledge about the insurance industry, we’ve put together our top tips to help you hit the ground running with new prospects. These steps will help you improve the insurance customer experience and show potential client/members that you’re a professional insurance agent they can trust.
1. Be Confident
Insurance can be intimidating and complicated to a potential client/member, so demonstrating that you’re certain of your skills can be reassuring. It’s your job to show your prospects that you’ve gone through the necessary training to guide them in their insurance decisions. Your confidence in yourself and your abilities will lead client/members to believe in you, too. Review this list of 12 proven confidence-boosting habits before your next client meeting.
2. Present Your Best Self
As you grow your business, it’s important to look professional when meeting with client/members, especially at your first meeting. Presenting your best self isn’t just about looking the part, though. You should also have a positive attitude. Our agents have an amazing job — they get the opportunity to help people protect what matters most to them. Remember the positive impact you have on your community as you showcase yourself.
3. Explain Your Intentions
Making a good first impression on client/members helps them understand from the beginning that you’re focused on protecting their livelihood and providing them value. After all, you know that you’re not just in this business to sell insurance, but to make sure your community is protected. Be transparent about your intentions so they’ll understand that you’re selling them insurance for the right reasons.
4. Be Relatable
Asking about the person’s family, work and interests will help jump-start the conversation, and you’ll find out how much you have in common. Whether you have kids that are about the same age or are involved in similar community activities, getting to know your client/member will put you both at ease during the initial client meeting. This also helps you understand what’s important to them and gives you the opportunity to form a stronger relationship, elevating the insurance customer experience. You’ll then be able to provide insurance solutions that fit their life.
5. Listen
You made a solid first impression. You communicated confidence and connected with your client/members. Next, it’s time to listen to their needs and encourage them to ask questions. Why did they set up a meeting with you today? By listening to them and answering their tough questions clearly, you show that you’re focused on finding the right fit for them and can work well under pressure.
6. Do Your Homework
One of the best takeaways is to take the time to learn about each potential client’s unique situation and find solutions that meet their needs. Maybe they need an insurance agent because they just had a baby and want to make sure their future is protected, or maybe there was a recent illness in their family. Whatever the reason, taking the information you learned from listening to them and applying that to your recommendation for Farm Bureau insurance options that meet their needs will show your client/members that they are your priority.
7. Follow Up
Your comprehensive knowledge of insurance products and how those products fit into specific life situations show the breadth of client solutions you can provide. It’s a lot for new client/members to take in. Leave them with links to review and resources to learn more on their time. Be sure to end each client meeting by providing clear expectations for next steps, including when you will be in touch to answer their follow-up questions and continue the conversation.
Let’s Make a Great First Impression Together
At Farm Bureau, agents never have to go at it on their own. Working with other agents, district managers, marketing coaches, underwriters and many more support people, means you have a whole team of professionals available to help. Farm Bureau’s Developing Agent Program will get you started on the right foot with hands-on experience and helpful training sessions to improve the customer experience and take client meetings to new heights.