Insurance Agent: Need Base Approach vs Commision Base Approach?
How can we distinguish that a process of interaction between
the prospect or the customer with an insurance agent has been referring to the
NBA or is it still very strong CBA practice?
There are a few practical guidelines below that can help you
decide whether to continue the interaction or not up to the transaction stage.
When the insurance agent is commercially oriented, the following points will be
easy to read:
1. Product first, assessment later. In various talks always
put the promotion and the ins and outs of the product. In fact, even worse if
from the beginning had been very intent to sell one particular product.
Roughly, when you find your name in yellow pages too he has set you will be
offered a certain product.
Of course there is no priority at all to know what you
actually need is not it? Especially to understand your character in conducting
financial product transactions, as well as your plans in the life that
underlies your actions to buy insurance policies.
2. If there are several products offered , you will always
be encouraged to buy the product with the highest commission rate, and or the
easiest to acquire. There is no short-term insurance product. Even if there is
a product such as Term Life with an annual term, the underlying financial
planning horizon is a long span of time.
On the other hand, there are products that have investments
and are very popular these days: Unit Link. In addition to being easily
acquired because the illustrations are made very interesting, this product
commission also doubled. If your personal needs and characteristics are
ignored, and for any questions the answer is a particular product, then the
agent is definitely a realtor's mentality. He does not think you are important.
His commission is important.
3. In explaining the benefits of products and features , the
answer is brief, solid, straightforward and convincing: always refers to the
yield (profit rate / growth) and refers to the ease of premium payments (both
quantity and frequency). Referring always to the quantitative aspect should be
suspected as a reference to the value of the commission to be obtained.
There is a rigid insurance product, inflexible payment, and
a conservative growth rate. But that is the way products are made for different
purposes and characteristics of different customers' needs. Generalizing the
needs of customers with only one product that is said to be
"superior" and answering all customers' needs, is definitely a big lie.
There is no cure for all diseases.
4. In promotions , with language that is again short, solid,
straightforward and sure to say the insurance company is number one or the
best, without being able to explain the basic statement, it is certain to cover
something that is not right on how to sell, or problems in the company
insurance, or shortcomings in response to customer needs.
Even if you want to promote the benefits of his company, as
an insurance company, there is a standard measure to determine the level of
health. You can ask the agent to provide an overview of the company's financial
statements and explain critical points by point.
Among others: Risk Based Capital, Claim Ratio, Paid Capital,
Market Share, and many more more legitimate financial scale used as a basis to
declare an insurance company is indeed strong and superior.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side, when an insurance agent
practices a customer's needs and satisfaction approach, the following points
will also be easy to read:
1. Assessment first, scheme later; the needs of prospective
customers and the characteristics of prospective customers into the initial
discussion and assessment (needs assessment). Then a basic description of your
needs, your life cycle, the points of your financial planning and your family,
and your characteristics in relation to financial products will be obtained. It
will then be proposed a scheme (not a product!)
That can answer your needs. From the scheme then the agent
will provide product recommendations in accordance with the scheme agreed
earlier. So, offering the product is at the very back of a series of
interactions between agents and prospects.
2. Can provide a concise, easy to understand and simple
description of three things: the need for protection, client life cycle, and
basic financial planning. Then, succinctly and simply can summarize the
correlations of those three things, and guide you as a prospect to understand
your own needs, align your financial planning with your life cycle, and direct
you to the appropriate scheme.
The whole process requires the agent to act as a consultant.
Thus, there is no talk of products, premiums, features, medical checks,
illustrations and so on. The discussion's orientation is to provide an
understanding ground for prospects why insurance is needed in the context of
financial planning.
3. In explaining the product profile and illustration of the
product (if it has arrived at this stage), the insurance agent emphasizes the
product design that emphasizes the product philosophy and relates reasonably to
the discussion of customer needs and financial planning.
Common references such as yields, premium payment
flexibility and quantitative quantities, are not the focus because the ones
discussed are insurance products, not investments, focus should be on how
product and product design can address specific customer needs. When providing
information about insurance companies, there is a tendency to be reluctant to
promote, but provide the due diligence information on the insurance company.
Good agents and customer-oriented satisfaction will be
reluctant to say the insurance company is number one especially if it is unable
to provide the basis of the statement. It will tend to help you by providing
financial information and insurance measures of insurance, then explaining in
depth and succinct the purpose of the measurement and how to interpret it. Not
the same not between realtor with advisor? What about your insurance agent?
