The art of selling final expense insurance

Final expense insurance has been around for a long time and will continue to be sold long into the future. Although the product itself is simplistic and easy to learn and operate, there is definitely an art to selling final expense insurance.

Selling burial insurance is a process that requires an agent to create a need, a want, and a desire for the product. Like any life insurance, everyone needs it, but no one really wants to buy and pay for it. As with other things in life that we should have, if it were free, everyone would definitely have it. The problem is…it’s not free, so we need to create that need that they can’t live without. So how do you do that?

First, the customer needs to see the value of having a policy and protecting the people they care about. Any life insurance I have I view as an asset and not as a monthly expense each time I pay a premium. It is important that you speak in terms of the client creating an instant asset for his family and not an expense.

The second thing that is very important to help your client is not to tell them that they need final expense insurance, but to tell you. This is one of the biggest mistakes agents make when selling absolutely everything. A successful agent doesn’t tell a customer that he needs the product, a successful agent has the customer tell him why she needs and wants it.

It is very important to ask probing questions so that the client tells you. This is where most agents fail. Agents generally tend to be the ones that count in the sales process and by telling the customer instead of them telling you, in the end the customer doesn’t take ownership of the sale and the sale is lost.

“Ms. Jones, do you consider planning your final expenses your responsibility or do you consider it your children’s responsibility?” The follow-up question after Mrs. Jones answers that it is her responsibility would be “Why? Why do you think it is your responsibility and why would you not want to put this on your children?” Sit back and listen to her tell you why you need to buy your final expense product. These types of questions make the customer take ownership and make the sale for you.

To be successful at final expense selling, you need to create a need for your product, since not many customers actually want to buy what you have. The way to create that need is by asking questions that get your customer to sell and take ownership. Don’t make the mistake that 99% of all agents make and that is to tell your client why they need final expense insurance.