Overall, companies that continue to rely on outdated sales methods are finding it increasingly difficult to stay competitive. Simultaneously, the insurance industry presents mounting challenges for sellers. Employing a disruptive legacy sales approach only amplifies these difficulties.
As the insurance industry becomes more challenging to navigate, it is important to recognize that many insurance carriers have implemented policies restricting access to senior executives. This means that cold calling is likely ineffective even if you have a relationship with them. If you manage to get through, you risk damaging your reputation with an uninterested buyer and vendor management.
Inbound sales is an approach that focuses on providing valuable and informative content to potential buyers rather than simply pushing a product or service. It centers around understanding the readiness of buyers to engage and providing them with the necessary information and resources until they are ready to make a decision.
Although Inbound Sales may not be a silver bullet, it has proven to be highly effective in the insurance industry. Based on our client's experiences, here are four compelling reasons why Inbound Sales work well in this challenging sector.
#1 – The Buyer Becomes Familiar with your Company
If your brand isn't widely recognized in the insurance industry, potential buyers may not be acquainted with your company. With inbound marketing, you can generate awareness about your company, its products, and solutions through engaging blog posts, website visits, and active social media presence.
Legacy Sales: When you reach out to someone unfamiliar with your company, it becomes necessary to clearly explain your company's offerings and tell the buyer why they should invest their time in listening to how you can address their specific problem.
Inbound Sales: Buyers who are already acquainted with your company will likely schedule time to learn how you can effectively address their problem or help them pursue a new opportunity.
#2 – The Buyer is Ready to Engage
Everyone has a never-ending to-do list and never enough hours in the day. While a potential buyer may be intrigued by your company's offerings, they may have other pressing projects or looming deadlines that need their attention before they can fully engage.
When the buyer is finally prepared to collaborate, they are more inclined to make time for you. This is because they have been actively engaging with your content and are eager to learn how you can assist them.
Legacy Sales: The key is to contact the buyer at the perfect moment, or at least close to it. However, your timing is often off, and your cold call disrupts the buyer who may have been interested in the future.
Inbound Sales: While it's not an exact science, centering your attention on warm leads significantly boosts the likelihood of connecting with them at the perfect moment or at least very close to it.
#3 – Your Focus is "How can we help you?" Rather than "What are you interested in buying from us?"
People are not interested in being sold to; instead, they seek solutions to their problems or opportunities to capitalize on.
Legacy Sales: Legacy sales often fall into the trap of immediately launching into a presentation mode, overwhelming the buyer with information without taking the time to understand their specific needs. Unless thorough research has been conducted beforehand, this generic approach can leave the buyer unsure of how your product can address their problem effectively.
Inbound Sales: Once a potential buyer shows interest, the inbound sales approach seamlessly shifts into an investigative mode, aiming to uncover their specific needs rather than overwhelming them with information about everything your company offers.
#4 – Your Solution is Tailored to the Buyer's Needs
Our client had a wise saying: "One size does not fit all." Insurers are looking for a clear understanding of how your product or solution can address their needs and solve their problems. They are interested in something other than a generic solution. Also, buyers want to know what you can offer them and what you cannot provide.
Insurers don’t expect any solution provider to be able to solve 100% of their needs and are suspect of those who claim they can.
Legacy Sales: Legacy sales often prioritize promoting solutions based on their strengths rather than focusing on the buyer's specific needs. Without a deep understanding of the buyer's requirements, this approach may not effectively address their unique problem or opportunity.
Inbound Sales: After conducting a thorough exploration, inbound sales can offer guidance on how to tailor your solution to meet the buyer's specific needs, including what you can and cannot provide.
Conclusion:
Selling into the insurance industry has become increasingly challenging, and organizations that persist with a disruptive legacy sales approach only exacerbate the difficulty.
Insurance companies understand that no solution provider can meet all of their needs and are wary of those who make such claims.
By adopting an inbound sales approach, you have the power to guide interested buyers in solving their challenges and enlighten them on how you can support them. This proven method outshines the ineffective strategy of overwhelming potential buyers with information.
Schedule a no-cost consultation below to learn more about why Inbound Sales works in the insurance industry.
