Learning How to Say No
Great post over at Landing the Deal today about breaking bad news. I think this can be especially applicable to the insurance industry, namely for health, life and long-term care insurance agents. As we all know, situations arise where, because of a health condition, a prospect becomes uninsurable. And telling a prospect, "Sorry pal, that heart attack screwed up more than your internal interstate" isn't exactly advisable.
Which is why I really liked the post at Landing the Deal, which borrowed a quote from Richard Branson's interview in Business 2.0 magazine:
I turn people down with extreme difficulty sometimes, because the people I'm saying no to are people I don't want to discourage. And it should be difficult. Saying no shouldn't be an easy thing to do, and you have to be good at it. I often used to dodge doing it myself, and hide behind other people and delegate it, but if you're the boss, that isn't the right thing to do.
I pulled a couple of important points out of that quote. When it comes to saying no:
- Be respectful
- Be supportive and encouraging
- Don't delegate the task to someone else
Being respectful and encouraging are pretty darn important I think, when it comes to telling someone "No, we can't insure you" or "We have to reject your claim." If you can give a rejected prospect some guidance—shift their emotions from hurt and embarrassed to a more positive, "Let's find a solution" attitude—you have a better chance at earning that sale (if possible) at a later date, or at the very least, earning some positive word of mouth...maybe even a referral or two.
Comments
Breaking bad news is really hard in any scenario and definitely in the insurance industry. The points raised in this article about being respectful and positive, even if the situation is less than desirable are all reflective of sound customer service skills. In the life insurance industry, a good experience lies not only with the customer service teams, but also the policy holders. Being upfront and truthful when applying for cover is absolutely crucial, to ensure things go smoothly for the policy holder and their families. By adopting a positive, can-do attitude, sales reps will definitely convert more insurance leads, and that will lead to referrals and good things like that!
Posted by: Michaela Roberts | January 4, 2007 10:12 PM
Great feedback here, Michaela.
Recently a close friend of mine had to submit a home insurance claim (more on this later today), and was quite put off with the claims adjuster who, "like a robot," repeated the same "mantra" over and over—which was that there was no solution for the problem and the claim was denied.
Even if the insurer couldn't cover the damages, the least the adjuster could have done was speak to my friend like an actual person, offer up some support, and maybe some resources to try and cushion the blow.
This is just one of the reasons my friend will be shopping for new home insurance.
Posted by: Megan Mahan | January 5, 2007 09:31 AM
Hi Megan,
That's not good at all to hear about your friend who had that experience talking with a claims adjuster. Unfortunately though, I think this mantra approach is happening in many industries, not just in life insurance and home insurance. Personally, it isn't at all hard to talk to people like real people. I hate the idea of just repeating a mantra over and over. Like that's going to do any good??!! Hopefully companies will employ more people who share the same approach we no doubt have! I hope your friend finds a good company to do business with!
Posted by: Michaela Roberts | January 11, 2007 09:38 PM