Author: Floriano Alencar, Vice President Operation and Sales - Pan-American Private Client 

Read time: 2 minutes, 59 seconds 

Chances are, you’ve already moved your sales activities onto the digital platform in the wake of worldwide COVID-19 shutdowns. I hope you’ve taken your sales training online, too. Because this is the perfect time to hone your sales skills and advance your product and industry knowledge.

When it comes to advising families and businesses on life, accident and health insurance, there is no substitute for expertise. In my experience, the most successful salespeople aren’t the most extraverted or charming, but those who train the hardest and most passionately.

With more flexibility on time managements, you can now incorporate training to your weekly routine. The training will help you advance your knowledge on new electronic tools, new products and new sales tips that will help you hit the ground running. In addition, sales training will help you keep your motivation high at a time when we all can use an occasional boost. There are opportunities all around you—you just need to look.

Take Advantage of Online Training Opportunities

Start your training regimen close to home. Pan-American Life also launched a series of online trainings, Webinar Wednesday. Our hope is that you attend. Regional VPs will be offering targeted courses on everything from product training, to using our systems, to advanced sales techniques. Watch your emails for opportunities. Training represents our investment in you; your part is to take advantage of it.

Furthermore, visit some of your favorite life and health insurance resources, and you may find a number of worthwhile online presentations and courses. For example, LIMRA is sponsoring several webinars now, and other insurance associations may be doing so as well. 

Don’t underestimate the direct impact training has on your sales production. For example, Pan-American Life provided mandatory Global Assets IUL training when we launched our indexed universal life product last February. Well, by December 31, 2019, Global Assets sales surpassed NexGen’s, becoming our top-selling product.   

 

Conduct Your Own Independent Learning

In addition to formal webinars, there are a number of ways to enhance your sales skills and knowledge from home. For example, you might:

• Take this time to get to know your local market inside and out: examining your competition, understanding local demographics, researching and building your list of qualified target prospects.  
• Use Pan-American Life’s illustration system. Familiarize yourself with all the ins and outs you’ve overlooked…see how various factors interact…test it to see how small tweaks reduce/increase premiums, etc.
• Advance your understanding of overall financial planning and the role that life insurance plays. The more knowledgeable you are on the larger subject of investing and planning, the more equipped you’ll be to pursue high-net-worth clients.
• Review your successes and failures—what can you learn from them? Identify the most effective questions to ask prospects and how to use that information to suggest the best solution.

Create Successful Routines and Habits

Given the current situation, isolation poses a very real threat for everyone, but especially sales professionals who thrive on making connections. If your MGA is holding weekly conference calls or check-ins, participate fully. Listen to how other agents are spending their time and try to pick up new ideas. 

If you don’t already, set daily or weekly goals and agendas for yourself. As you know, ours is a volume driven business, so the more calls you make, the more cases you’ll close—even now.

In short, continually challenge yourself to keep learning more and aiming higher. Someone is going to write our highest-selling case next month and the month after that, etc. Keep training, striving, and sharpening your sales skills, and at some point, you’ll be the one.