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Good Pressure Sales Part 1

As I mention in my book, "You're Going To Be Great At This!", my early years in the insurance business were full of high pressure sales. We had a large 3-ring binder full of rebuttals for a variety of objections and were supposed to memorize them. I figured early on to learn a handful and stick with what would work.

The selling in that environment was brutal. Real guerrilla warfare. We were making unannounced house calls on people in very rural areas, many of whom owned guns. There was no fact finding or trying to get to know the client, just get in, get a check and get the hell out. We had no plans to come back at a later time, it was either sell it now or never.

And as I relate in my book, we had one coworker who's mentality was "my income is in their wallet and my job is to get it out of there." Several of these people would omit some of the vital information about the product. And the mandated sales school we all attended taught us some questionable tactics in a classroom setting.

The sales that resulted from that approach rarely stayed on the books. In the world of insurance, that sucks. Persistency is important for everyone.

Of course there are other industries that have that reputation as well. Car sales is brutal. As a customer, one of my least favorite things to do is car shop. I feel like I'm getting screwed no matter what I do.

Image may contain: 1 person, meme, possible text that says 'You're another high pressure sales person. "We don't do that here"'

At a local dealership, my wife test drove an SUV she had her eye on. The auto maker's website advertised a deal taking $4000 off the price for that model. When I mentioned it to the salesman, he balked, saying that he knew nothing about it. Then his manager denied it as well, saying that I must have looked at the wrong website. They basically called me a liar.

I offered to pull it up on my phone but he declined, but said I better get in on his offer and fast! What a numb nuts. We didn't buy.

There is a reason behind this insanity though. Some buyers need a nudge. In the world of car sales, tire kickers don't pay the bills. And when it comes to something like non-mandated insurance (life or disability) an intangible item that ultimately, no one really wants to buy, the sale is a matter of creating a sense of urgency.  And we'll get to that in the next post.


Chris Castanes is a speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states

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