Sales confidence is the ability to meet with customers, knowing that employees have the skills and information needed to present products and close deals. In short, it’s the difference between hoping to make the sale and knowing how the benefits of each product matches customer needs.
When insurance teams lack confidence, they can take a haphazard approach of offering up multiple products, prioritizing products over customer needs. Confident sellers listen and learn so they can put the customer’s needs first. Only by understanding the customer’s needs and goals can insurance professionals craft custom solutions that are just right for each customer. Once the customer recognizes an insurance professional has their best interests at heart and are confident they are getting the help they need to make the right decisions, they are more likely to remain loyal.
Confidence can also impact agent turnover. If salespeople are questioning whether they have what it takes to sell, or if they feel a lack of progress in their growth (or earnings), confidence suffers and they may decide to move on.
Without effective training to boost their confidence and arm them with the information and skills they need to succeed, new hires may lose some potential superstar sellers before they even get started on the path from learning to earning.
Confidence, at its core, boils down to two things: knowledge and belief. If insurance professionals know their organization;s products inside and out, and they believe strongly in how those products can help their clients, they will gain confidence and improve their sales success. If they are lacking in either of these areas, it’s extremely challenging to sell.
Effective training is the best way to help insurance professionals foster confidence through understanding. The better they understand their products, the better able they are to match products they offer to what the client needs. Creating custom solutions that address every need is one of the most effective ways to build trust and establish a lasting relationship with each client.
In short, confidence builds trust. When employees are confident that what they are proposing is the right fit, and they are putting the client’s needs first, clients will trust them. And trust is the foundation of building relationships for the long-term. If people don’t feel like they can trust someone, they rarely buy. If a client suspects an insurance professional doesn’t believe in what they're selling, why buy?
Harvard Business Review researchers examined deals that did not close to find out what happened. In 56% of deals that did not close, losses stemmed from customer indecision. They concluded that customers are worried more about making a mistake than missing out on an opportunity. In short, a failure by the seller to articulate how product benefits address customer needs.
The only person a customer can turn to about addressing their needs are insurance professionals. If a salesperson fails to highlight how these products directly address customer needs, the customer won’t fully grasp why these products are being recommended. And, often, they turn elsewhere for that assurance they are making the best decision for them.
How to Build Confidence in New Hires
While some suggest on the job training is the best way to learn the ropes, if an insurance professional does not have the requisite knowledge, and if they fail to make sales, they may begin to think the job is not a good fit. Without the knowledge that helps establish confidence, it’s unlikely they will be prepared. In fact, 74% of Gen Z and millennial employees have contemplated leaving their jobs due to a lack of professional development and career advancement opportunities. This training matters for many reasons.
What if they are given proper support? And what, exactly, is “proper support”?
Proper support begins with onboarding. Onboarding helps new hires get acquainted with the company, its products, and its customers. The typical onboarding program lasts around three months, but Gallup reports employees typically take about a year to reach their full performance potential. The stronger and more comprehensive the onboarding, the sooner an employee is likely to reach their potential.
One of the best ways to enhance an onboarding program is through real world examples that go beyond academic definitions and dive into scenarios and questions they may face out in the field. Academic learning—that is, learning the basics of products and the industry—are vitally important, but without applying them to real world examples they are not nearly as effective.
Training new hires with real world scenarios adds crucially important context and depth to the lesson by applying those concepts and products to actual situations an insurance professional may face. This context helps new hires see the practical application of what they are leaning. It also allows them to connect abstract concepts to tangible situations they may face. In other words, the best way to prepare them for work out in the field, is to show them what they are learning actually looks like in practice.
How to Enhance Employee Training
As we’ve seen, bolstering an onboarding program and professional development opportunities can drastically increase an organization’s success at attracting, developing, and retaining talent. This support is one of the primary elements young professionals look for when surveying open positions, meaning this investment pays off. Not to mention the cost of employee turnover, which can be as high as twice that role’s annual salary.
Attracting and retaining talent begins by implementing a structured onboarding program that focuses on specific product knowledge and applies that knowledge to real world scenarios for a greater depth of understanding. Our experts at WebCE have noticed a gap when it comes to onboarding—this lack of real-world application for new hires—which is why we created EXCEED®.
WebCE’s EXCEED® offers several powerful tools to help new hires onboard faster with greater consistency, giving them the early support they need to bolster their confidence and find early success. EXCEED® allows organizations to create a customizable training program—or enhance their current program—to meet their team's unique needs. Interactive content condensed into short episodes break down core concepts and products in an engaging and effective way.
EXCEED® reinforcements, short microlearning videos emailed twice per week, also offer vital knowledge checks to keep a team focused and confident. Plus, these reinforcements can be combined with our trusted insurance exam prep for a comprehensive solution that can help green team members pass their licensing exam the first time.
For assistance building a world-class onboarding program, our experts can help create a ready-to-use plan complete with tests and questions to keep everyone on the team progressing. Visit our EXCEED® catalog or call our award-winning Support Services team at 877-488-9308 today!