How Important Are Customer Service Skills in the Insurance Industry?


 

Every successful insurance agent is different, and each of them has found their own path to success by putting their own particular set of abilities to use selling insurance and dealing with customers. Even taking into account that there’s no one “right way” to sell insurance, however, it can still be said that customer service skills are something that every insurance agent needs to have.

After all, sales is the art of talking to people, whether you’re convincing a new customer to buy coverage or speaking with a current client to reassure them that the plan they’ve chosen is the right one for them. The insurance licensing exam can teach you the basics of insurance regulation, but the customer service skills you’ll need to deal with customers day in and day out are something else entirely.

Learn to Adapt

One of the most important customer service skills an insurance agent can have is the ability to adapt his or her pitch to each individual customer. While the basics of your pitch should always be the same – explaining the value of the service you offer and why you’re the one to bring that service to them – good insurance agents know how to read the people they’re talking to and to make small adjustments to their pitch accordingly. If a customer seems confused or timid, it’s time to dial back the aggressiveness. If they’re the impatient, no nonsense type, then they’re more likely to respond to a salesperson who is more forward and direct.

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Communicate Clearly

Something every insurance agent should learn to do is be more concise. Clarity of communication is an incredibly important skill for insurance agents to have. When an insurance agent is able to explain the details of a policy clearly and in as few words as possible, it’s much less likely that the customer will become confused about what they are being sold.

Insurance agents who can communicate clearly have happier customers, because their customers know exactly what it is they’re getting, and they aren’t calling their agent back later demanding to know why the details of the plan aren’t like they remember.

Be Patient

As with any sales job, insurance agents need to be patient with their customers. Being a salesperson means learning to take rejection from prospects, explaining the same things again many times, and, occasionally, dealing with members of the public who are less than polite.

In a situation like that, the one thing an insurance agent can’t do is lose their temper or let their frustration show. Customers can hear it in your voice when you’re annoyed, even if it’s just residual anger from someone you dealt with earlier in the day.

Follow Through

When you sell someone insurance coverage, that sale comes with the promise that you will follow through on your end of the transaction and be there when the customer needs you. Good insurance agents are good at their job because they have a good work ethic. They predict what their customers will need from them, and they make sure they can provide it when the time comes.

Insurance Agent Customer Service

Learn more about America’s Professor’s online insurance pre-licensing courses today by calling 1-800-870-3130.

 

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Rebecca Gardner
3 years ago

It was helpful when you explained that insurance agents need to be patient and be able to deal with any situation professionally. I want to help my mom choose a good insurance agent so she can discuss her upcoming eligibility for medicare supplement coverage. I’m glad I read your article and learned what qualities and skills the best insurance agents should have!