Maximising Protection Sales
Paul Walkinshaw
This document is directed at professional financial advisers only and should
not be distributed to, or relied upon by retail customers
The information is based on our interpretation of current HM Revenue & Customs
practise, which can change
Module Objectives
By the end of this training module you will:
 Understand the importance of Knowing Your Customer;
 Describe the sales process and sales cycle
 Demonstrate an understanding of effective communication;
 Demonstrate an understanding of the A to B questioning technique.
 Demonstrate an understanding of 3 level questioning
 Understand how to link products to client’s needs
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Today's Agenda
Part 1 = Housekeeping, Introductions & Objectives;
Part 2 = Know Your Customer and the Sales Process
Part 3 = Effective Communication;
Part 4 = Questioning Techniques;
Part 5 = Presenting the solution
Close
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Introductions
 Full name
 How long have you worked in Financial Services and
your role
 Why are you here?
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Know Your Customer
“Where advisers did not sufficiently assess customer needs, for
example by failing to adequately establish their customer's attitude to
risk or to explain the implications of limiting their advice to the
customer's objectives, the advice process was deemed to be
inadequate. This is because an inadequate assessment of client
needs poses a significant risk to the provision of a suitable
recommendation.”
Source: FSA:
Consumer Research 52 ‘Quality of advice process in firms offering financial advice: findings of mystery shopping research’
Aug 06
Link: http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/consumer-research/crpr52.pdf
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The sales process
7. AFTER
SALES
FOLLOWUP
1. PLAN
AND
PREPARE
6.
CONCLUDE
THE SALE
2. OPENING
and
OBJECTIVE
5.
OBJECTION
HANDLING
3. IDENTIFY
THE NEEDS
4. PRESENT
THE
SOLUTIONS
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The sales process
7. AFTER
SALES
FOLLOWUP
1. PLAN
AND
PREPARE
6.
CONCLUDE
THE SALE
2. OPENING
and
OBJECTIVE
5.
OBJECTION
HANDLING
3. IDENTIFY
THE NEEDS
4. PRESENT
THE
SOLUTIONS
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



Life Protection
Critical Illness
Income Protection
Mortgage Protection
Behavioural Traits of customers





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Major General - be brief be bright be gone
Socialiser
- involve me and make it fun
Carer
- show me you care, listen to me
Detective
- be right , be detailed, be patient
Collaborator - works with you to the right outcome
Selling the service/ full review






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Building rapport
Moving to purpose
Stating process and benefit
Seeking customer confirmation to proceed
Sign-posting generally
Keeping the customer involved
Factfinding Information
Hard Facts:
Name;
Date of Birth;
Marital Status;
Children;
Address;
Sex;
Etc.
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Soft Facts:
Plans;
Feelings;
Thoughts;
Aspirations;
Preferences;
Dreams;
Etc.
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The egg timer model
 Clien
t
Views and
opinions
Current
Need
s
Feature
s
 Solution
How it works
What are the benefits
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Hearing or Listening?
Hear:
• verb (past and past part. heard) 1 perceive (a sound) with
the ear.
Listen:
• verb 1 give one’s attention to a sound. 2 make an effort to
hear something.
SOURCE: Compact Oxford English Dictionary
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Active Listening
You can show that you are listening by:
SUMMARISING:
“So what you are saying is….”
“As I understand it….”
Benefits of summarising are:
Checks your understanding
Show’s you’ve been listening
Show’s interest
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Active Listening
You can show that you are listening by:
REFLECTING:
“That must have really upset you”
“You felt that…”
“That must of been nice”
Benefits of reflecting are:
Brings out speakers feelings
Shows empathy
Shows you understand
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Dealing with Objections
Six typical techniques used in dealing with objections:
1. Park it;
2. Answer it and confirm;
3. Accept it and balance it with a benefit;
4. Offer extra information;
5. Reduce it to zero
6. Question it through to agreement.
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Handling Objective
Pace Technique
Probe the initial point raised by the customer;
Identify the REAL reason – often the first objection raised is a smoke screen!
“Apart from that, is there anything else that concerns you”
Acknowledge you understand their point of view;
Let the customer know that you have heard their concern!
“Yes, I can see that is an important issue”
Confirm that there is a solution;
Having identified one or more areas, you can now answer the objections!
“You will be pleased to know that I can offer you…”
Engage in conversation about the customers options
Now is the time to ensure the customer is happy with your answers!
“Are you happy with how this will work for you”
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Handling Objectives
Feel, Felt, Found
FEEL;
Show empathy to the customers query & you understand their concern!
“I can understand how you feel”
FELT;
Next, reassure them that they are not alone!
“Many of my customers have felt the same. However”
FOUND;
Show the benefits. Customers often object if they haven’t seen them!
“They have found that…”
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A to B Questioning Technique
SALES TIP: You need to know 3 things before moving on to the next stage:
Identify current standard of living / Annual Household Income / Term of Years Cover Required
A
What position
financially would
you want your
family to be in?
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“A” Type Questioning
If you had died yesterday…………”
 What position financially, would you want your
Spouse/Partner/Family to be in?
 What impact would it have on the standard of living for
your family?
 How long would you want your current level of income to
continue for?
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A to B Questioning Technique
SALES TIP: Keep this high level, this is not flicking through each of their policies at
this stage, I mean getting a basic level of understanding as to what the customer has in place
A
What position
financially would
you want your
family to be in?
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B
What cover do
you Currently
have in place?
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“B” Type Questioning
 What cover do you currently have in place and what will
they provide?
 What cover is provided through your employer?
At this stage it often appears that the customer may not want their family to
face financial hardship in the event of loss of income or early demise but based
on what is currently in place it is quite obvious to them that this is what is
facing them in the event of anything happening!
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A to B Questioning Technique
How big is the Gap?
“The Gap”
A
What position
financially would
you want your
family to be in?
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B
What cover do
you Currently
have in place?
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“The Gap” Type Questions
 How do you feel about this?
 How would this affect the family and your plans?
 Does it concern you enough to want to talk about it
further today?
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The onion model
Personality
Values
Attitudes
Personality
Behaviours
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3 level questioning
 Understanding the gap between the ideal and what
arrangements are already in place
 Linking to currents arrangements ask why those
arrangements? ( list reasons)
 Replay reasons and seek customer view as to the most
important
 Replay most important and ask “ why” is this most
important to you.
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Consequences
 Reiterate what the client would want in the event of
death etc
 Illustrate the gap
 Ask client to explain consequences of taking no
action
 Follow up with “is that what you want”
 Repeat until client concludes what needs to be done
 Then return to second need
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Concept of Benefit Selling
“The concept of benefit selling is a straightforward one. It
is based on the fact that people buy your products and
services not so much for what they are, but for what they
do for them. Benefit selling is an approach which should
be the basis for any sales presentation. It is an approach
which concentrates on highlighting to potential buyers
the benefits to them of the product or service being sold”
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Features, Advantage and Benefit
FEATURE
“Which means that….”
BENEFIT
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The egg timer model
 Clien
t
Views and
opinions
Current
Need
s
Feature
s
 Solution
How it works
What are the benefits
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What we have covered
Know Your Customer;
Sales Process /Sales Cycle
Effective Communication;
Questioning Techniques
Presenting solutions
close
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Maximising Protection Sales
ANY QUESTIONS?
This document is directed at professional financial advisers only and should
not be distributed to, or relied upon by retail customers
The information is based on our interpretation of current HM Revenue & Customs
practise, which can change
Axa Sun Life Services plc distributes and administers financial products and services. It is authorised and regulated by the Financial
Services Authority and is a company limited by shares, registered in England No. 3424940, registered office: 5 Old Broad Street, London,
EC2N
1AD.
As
part
of
our
commitment
to
quality
service,
telephone
calls
may
be
recorded.
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