Handling Objections in Life Insurance Sales: I Thought it was Free!?

They didn't fill out a request for a gift car, they didn't fill out a request for a new car, they filled out a request because they wanted more information on protecting their family for final expenses or end of life planning. They're not saying I don't need coverage, they're not saying I don't love my family, they're not saying any of that. Right. They're not saying any of that. So I can't assume when they say, I thought it was free, means I don't want insurance, I don't need it, I'm already protected, my family's taken care of and passed away. Like an agent makes the mistake and assume that all of that is answering yes in that. And it's not. Hey fam, welcome back to another episode of Life Insurance Academy. You're laughing because you've never said it that way. I've never said it. Ever. What's up kids? What's up peeps? Is that what the kids say? Welcome back to another episode of the Life Insurance Academy podcast. I'm sitting here with the Grand Poobahs. You just gave me a random thought, by the way. Exactly. Oh man. Roger Short. Opens are always random. Roger Short, Esquire. I bet Chris was phenomenal at the roller skating rinks up in Michigan. I mean, I could just backwards and everything. Hips don't lie. White pants. He was in the roller derbies, dude. Oh my gosh. Dude. Elbow pad. Listen, was it a couple skate? Bell bottoms. You guys ever do couple skate? Bell bottoms. You did a couple skate? Chris, I would love to see you in a pair of bell bottoms. I can make it happen. And a striped turtleneck shirt with big wide bands of color across this way. Yes. With long hair and bangs. Mustache on the jeans. I don't see that. Seventies. Seventies, Chris. You know the bangs. Yeah, the seventies, Chris. Roller derbies. Doing the crisscross. We just... I want to keep going with this. Good. So yeah, did you do a couple skate? We didn't have a roller rink in my little town. There was always a moment where you were like... We talked about your experiences as a child and mine. And I think they were very different. Yeah. Nobody, none of the girls. My hands were so sweaty. It was awful. We didn't have roller skates in my town or a roller rink. When you'd fall down, they'd bring a towel out. You're hoping that girl is available and you can couple skate to journey. We did that at ice skating. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And we had gloves on. But you had mittens though, right? Gloves and mittens. But at least it was a start. I bet you gave them the adage. It was so awful. Did you guys couple skate? Would love to know. What does this have to do with objections? Right. So we're talking about objections. Welcome to Life Insurance Skating Podcast. Did you get rejected with those couple skates? That's where I got started in sales, right? So welcome back, guys. We are talking about objections. And we are talking about one that typically happens on the very front side. And it can shut you down. And it is specifically, in most cases, in the final expense conversation. So if you're looking in final expense, you're getting started. You're doing this. You've experienced it. We're here to help you. So this is the objection. You guys ready for it? Senior market life insurance sales. Final expense. Yeah. This is where it is. Is there a different market? I don't know. I mean, is there children? I think Adam said. I don't think you said it right. Senior pet final expense coverage. Adam said that he was in the business for two weeks. By the way, Adam was in the business for two weeks. Congratulations. Adam, you get your two-week certificate for succeeding for two weeks. Full disclosure, he did not find Life Insurance Academy. But he is probably the most well-trained Life Insurance Academy person. He said, had he started here, things would have been different. But he got into the business. He lasted two weeks. And the pitch was, we get into people's homes by offering them free accidental life insurance. And then we pivot. It's a bait and switch. And then we move into the selling them $100 a month. So. Or they fill out a lead. Yes. Final expense lead. Yeah. Whether it's online, direct mail, however. Supplement your government benefit of $255. Yeah. And it may be an unclear lead, but guys, I've had this from very clear final expense, a certain amount benefit where people would say, I thought it was free. I thought it was free. That's what we're talking about. I thought it was free. Is that what we're talking about? Yeah. We alluded to it just a little bit. But I think that a good place to start before we jump into this, because a lot of our objection handling comes from a principled sales process that we're working through and it addresses all the objections. This one is kind of unique because it's kind of like a major smokescreen where they're, they have all control. It feels like in the, in this moment. Right. So I would like to know why in the heck would they say that? Why are they saying that? Near the front? Yes. Cause they're not saying it at the back. No, no, no, no. They get this at the front. Have you ever heard this objection? You typically get it at the very initial contact or whenever you begin and you're probably a few minutes into building trust or sitting down with them. But is this, is this, is this a cost? I didn't, I didn't realize. Yeah. If you get it later on, like there's, there's an issue in your presentation for sure. Yeah. But a lot of, I think a lot of people are missing opportunities because they're getting that objection. Cause the clients say, well, I thought this was free. Right. So they're shut down. Like, well, obviously it's not, or they'll say something like that. This is the most common objection or the most common response. Well, there ain't nothing in life free. I know that goes nowhere. Yeah. You might as well just hang up on them. Yeah. You might as well just hang up on them. You're right. That's a new, that's the new, how you handle objections. You're right. And then hang up. And hang up. And next, just work more leads. So that's the answer. Let's talk through, I think, help our agent friends out there. Why is this happening? Why are they saying that? I think people, initially people, um, they have their guard up, um, different reasons, different financial situations in their life. They've could have been taken advantage of. They may not have understand how things work. They probably didn't read things all the way through. Uh, so a lot of it is a defensive mechanism, not necessarily that they can't afford it. It's just the same thing was when you're, you and you're at the door or on the, you know, I can't afford it. Like they don't even have an idea how much it is. It could be 2 cents a day, but like, they can't, they can't tell you that. So, you know, it's a big smokescreen. I'm not selling the 2 cents a day policy, by the way, typically. Is that what you say to them? You never wrote a kid's hat before? Yeah, you wouldn't want it if it was free. That's what I tell them. That's probably true. Honestly, you could probably get away with that. But, um, you're right. There are these, uh, there's, there's a thousand reasons. And one of them could be, uh, I don't want to be sold something. That's probably the first one. The other one could be a misunderstanding of the information. The most common one that I find is they had a preconceived notion of it. Of the cost. But they aren't going to tell you that. Yeah. And they don't, I would, do you, let me, well, let me ask the both of you. Do you think they're, they're actually believing their own statement or they have truth in their statement when they said, I thought this was free? No, that's what I'm trying to get to. What do you think it is? I think. Are they lying to you? Is that a lie? Yeah, it's a lie. But what are they actually saying? Would we call it a bias? A bias. Yeah, no, they're, they're trying to do a hard stop. Yes. Cause they don't want to be sold. And it's the master one. And they don't have any value point yet. Right. Do you think they're telling you the truth? I thought it was free. Um, no, I don't, I don't think it matters. I don't care. So I never really thought about it, honestly. Like it, but the new agent doesn't know. Yeah. The new agent goes correct. Oh, well, um, uh, well, let me tell you how these work. They're really affordable. Right. And they don't know what to do with it. And the reason I think they don't understand what the client is actually saying. Yes. I think the reason behind that is Roger is the agents looking to make a sale. They're looking to make a commission. They're looking to get on a leaderboard. Um, they don't understand that that's a by-product after you put the client first and actually serve and understand your market and what your purpose is to be there. I think there's a disconnect there because when an agent. In their mind is thinking, transactional stinking commission is thinking I need this money or fast money. Look at life insurance and all of these things. They don't have a good perspective of it. When a client tells you that they're going to believe it because all they're doing is thinking about money. So it's like a, like a preconditioned bias from, from the agent, from the agent and, and the person not wanting to be sold is it's yeah. I remember when I first started selling advertising. Okay. Prior to the prior to the insurance business. And I went out with, with this guy, Mike and Mike had like, he was an old dude, drove this old car Malibu. He had to like lift the doors to shut them because they dropped because they got so heavy. You know, it was a two door Malibu back in the day with a vinyl roof. It was like yellow color and you got in it and it smelled like smoke, the entire car smelled like smoke and he would roll down the window, his arm out. He had like the old tweed jackets with the patches. I know they're back and they're popular now, but back then when he was wearing them, they were like as far from popular as, you know, as anything. And he had this, this product in his hair. It was slick back smoking. Like, have I described this guy? Well, yes. And we went out and he sold like a $23,000 advertising package that afternoon. And he collected, he collected, um, like collected like eight grand as a deposit, like one third of it almost like as a, I was just shocked. I was like, he just sold $23,000 and I was struggling to make 50 for the year, you know? And I'm like, this guy just sold in one appointment. Like it was blowing my mind that a client would pay and commit to $27,000 or whatever it was in one meeting. We were only there an hour and the guy wrote him a check for eight grand. And my bias was that's six months of earnings for me. So I had a bias that they would never buy that because it was too much. So my own bias was a, was a shield, was like a block. Right. And I had to get over it. Right. I did that for like two weeks. And I was in this shock culture of what people were committing to as businesses. And then you bought the jacket and you started smoking the hair product. Exactly. But which one's going to work for you, Mrs. Jones? As a new agent who needs to make money now, yeah, they see it as transactional. So when the client says, oh, I thought this was free. Now they're like trying to rebut it from that position. And it's a preconditioned bias that we have and it hurts us. But when a genuine agent, a genuine agent, like I think like we've got so many that work with us. I could think of so many beautiful souls who just want to do good in the world. Even sometimes when they get, well, I thought this was free. It's almost jarring to them. What's the response? Well, and I thought, you know, maybe our clients are getting training videos. Do you want to end all salespeople's careers? Our seven course video series will teach you how to stop them in their tracks. I got the best tip about that. Then they call in and then they say, is it free? What's your tip? You walk into any store like a Costco or Sam's Club and you always got the people up front by the TVs trying to get you that package and come direct TV or whoever it is inside or whatever. I'm like, perfect. I already have you guys. Oh, perfect. They shut it off immediately instead of chasing you down the aisle. Exactly. You just agree with them and that's what you get. So that also goes to an objection, which I'm sure we'll get to is already have coverage, right? Right. It's that same aspect. But what do you say? What do you say? So I thought it was free. Yes. So let's get to it. We'll say at the door side, Mrs. Jones, I'm guessing you were checking into this because you care about your family. I'm going to go get your stuff. I'll be right back. I mean, it's that simple as far as our go. That's as easy as it is, Chris. I don't think it has to be that much harder now. Now, a person who doesn't have the confidence to do that, they're going to struggle there. Right. I'm going to call you. I'm going to call BS on that for most new people. Okay. I'm saying at the very front, if this is at the door. Yeah. That you have to have a confident piece. So your door not going to lead. There's no preset appointment. Now, if it's a phone, then it's something different because I'm already kind of it's not at door situation where I have to sit down with this person. So on the phone, I'm going to say, Mrs. Jones, if it were free, if it was a free benefit of, let's say 5,000 or $10,000, who would you want to receive that benefit? So is it free? And why? I've never gotten that, Roger. I'm asking you. So is it free? I'm Mrs. Jones. No, it's not free, Mrs. Jones. But if it were free, if it was a free benefit, who would receive that benefit? And what would you want them to do with it? So you're still trying to get to that answer. That's what I'm looking for. Because for me, there was, this is my bias on this is they filled it out for a reason. They filled it out. There's a different bias. I believe there's a need that needs to be discovered. And I'm going to work towards that need. So Mrs. Jones, I want to make sure you get the information that you requested. What you do with it is completely up to you. But I know at some point you were thinking about somebody you care about. And if there were, let's say it's a $5,000 benefit and it were free, who would you want to receive it? And what would you want them to do with it? And I'm just lowering my tone so I can have a conversation. So she doesn't feel like I'm a salesperson. Are you saying all that at the door? No, that was on the phone. That's on the phone. At the door, that's what I'm saying. I'm guessing you were thinking about somebody. You care about somebody. Yeah. It's my job to get you the information. I'm going to go get it for you. I'll be right back. What you do with it is up to you. Yeah. So I come back and I sit down and then I can ask that question at the door. I can't stand at the door and say, Mrs. Jones, now who are you thinking about? And how, if there was a benefit, what would you want them to do with it? Because then I'm trying to sell at the door. What's your approach on that, Zach? It's very similar. It's, it's, again, going into this, the mindset, we have to understand our market and I don't care if it's free or not. If you know the demographic that we serve and you know their income, you know the way they live, the types of jobs they had, the opportunity, their health, and as a whole, not in any particular client, but as a whole, you understand that if Miss Betty passes away without any coverage, I don't even know her yet, what would happen to their family with somebody with this type of income and this, you know, this many grandkids that live in the house as well. Like what happens? Like we have to understand that as an agent. Once you do, you can easily say, I bet the neighbor's in the same situation. The lady down the street's also in the same situation. So it's a mindset shift in you. I don't care if they thought it was free. I don't care what color the car is. I don't care what anything is. We're going to back up now. You understand that you've got a concept of that. And you're Zach McElwain, 2023. You walk up to that door. Oh, I thought this was free. Oh yeah, Mr. Rogers. These are actually state regulated final expense programs. They're a little bit different, but I'm gonna get your stuff. I'll be right back. So both of you are what you're trying to do there. I guess what I'm, what I'm hearing from both of these guys is they're trying to address it, but not answer it. I can't answer it yet. So you can't answer it. So you're trying to address it, but by time, but not answer it. And then let them give you permission to take the next step. Create some curiosity to be able to get to the conversation. Regardless if they thought it was free or not, they still filled out a request for what? They didn't fill out a request for a gift card. They didn't fill out a request for a new car. They filled out a request because they wanted more information on protecting their family for final expenses or end of life planning. Because they're not saying I didn't fill it out. No, they're saying, I thought it was free. So they're acknowledging that they filled it out. They're not saying that's a win to me. That is a win. They're not saying I don't need coverage. They're not saying I don't love my family. They're not saying any of that, right? They're not saying any of that. So I can't assume when they say, I thought it was free, means I don't want insurance. I don't need it. I'm already protected. My family's taken care of and passed away. Like an agent makes the mistake and assume it, all of that is answering yes in that. And it's not. And we say it all the time, in the absence of value, no price is low enough, right? So what we're doing is we know they've responded. They had curiosity enough to respond to the card, whether it's online, whether it's through Facebook, whether it's a direct mail piece or it's a warm market referral, it doesn't matter. We know they responded because they were interested and curious. At the door there, we want to maintain that curiosity long enough to start establishing a relationship and a connection to then build value and understand their family dynamic. So the biggest mistake you can make is to answer the question right there in front of them. Because you can't answer it. You cannot answer it. Because if you try to answer it, it's like giving quotes at the door. It's the same. It's the same as giving quotes at the door. No one's buying that. If you attempt to answer it, you've already lost. But you have to address it. Right, correct. You both addressed it and you're creating curiosity to be able to take the next step. Most importantly, I'm reiterating the curiosity that they already had with the piece or the lead that was filled out. I'm sure the reason you filled this out is because there was someone you were thinking about, you wanted to know how maybe this could benefit your family, even if you thought it was free. Who is that person? So my job is just to get you the information. These work a little bit different. Let me go and grab that and I'll be right back. Another thing I've said is you say, oh, that's just true. Well, these are actually not based upon your income. They're based upon your age and your health. So the qualification for these programs are a little bit different. But let me go get yourself and I'll explain it to you. That's strong, yeah. These are not based on your income. They're actually based on your age and your health. And even on the front side of that conversation, and here, we need to be clear in all this objection talk. It won't work every time. Correct. Right. And everybody needs to know that because I tried that. We get that in the comments. The biggest thing is it's not the words that you say. I tried that once last week. It failed. I'm out. Because there's other pieces to this. There's a posture to this. Oh, man. And how you're communicating. It's how you say it. Posture. It's how you say the objection. Like we can all... Tonality, posture, all of that. 100%. Go ahead. You got a thought. Yeah. And on the phone, I can get to that point. So yes. So what we've done is we've shifted from their smoke screen to addressing there is a need. We can all agree that's... They filled it out for some reason. They filled it out. And now there's a name and they could use it. That's it. So then once I have that, so now I just need to confirm some information. Only then can you even begin to build value. Right. You're buying time. You're buying time to build a relationship and learn their story. Continue the conversation. And solve their problem. Now I can move through my scripting. I can get to the confirmation. Now I'm going to get you this information. I have you at this address. Boom, boom, boom. But we've agreed that there's somebody they care about. There's a need. It's like when you're in the middle of a formal presentation, a sales presentation in a business meeting or whatever, or you're moving through a leadership conversation and someone brings up something. That is a fantastic question. I really appreciate that. It's a good one. I'm going to be addressing that in just a few minutes. Yeah. Let me get this and I'll come back and we'll handle that question for you. They just need to know you're listening, right? Yeah. And you address it. So you have to address it. But then you have to get consensus to move forward, to take the next step, to talk about the value of why this is even happening. So for the, the, the, go ahead. Keep going. I want you to finish your thought, but I just wanted you to know I have something. It's for me, it's like, and Zach, you said this, right? Because you understand the client and you've done your homework and you've done your research and you are prepared and you are an authority because you've moved through that. You have a principled sales process. You understand the market you're serving. Your goal is to look beyond that thing that they're putting up, that smoke screen, and you're trying to see into their life. You're trying to see, you're trying to see, see into their life, see about what, what is really going on. And you just need permission to get past that. You already have it though. Yeah. Permission, you have it in a form that they filled out, but you have to call attention to that so you can have the conversation about why they really filled it out. And so you have to address it and get permission to move forward. That is the first step of establishing authority. If you're dealing with that objection and because they're, we all are expecting somebody to lead us, all of us. But in that specific market, they're especially looking for somebody to lead. Correct. And if like, it's almost a test for them. Like, can I trust you? Can I trust you? I thought it was free. Nope. Okay. The next guy. I thought it was free. I don't have any money. Shut the door. I thought it was free. My wife's not home. Then somebody's going to stand at the door and say, I'm guessing you were looking into this because you care about somebody and you just wanted the information. What'd you do with it? It's up for you. I'm going to go grab it. I'll be right back. Maybe. Now they're not, but it's part of it. It really is. And it may be their posture and how they deal with salespeople in general. And that's their conditioned response. Yes. Because they're trying to like never commit to something that's financial, but they, the last thing I'll say to this is that Chris and you are the one who really developed this in our training is from the time they felt that response online and you're having the phone call with them, unless it's a direct call transfer. Okay. And that phone call just started and they transferred it to you and you're picking up that phone call live and there's plenty of those options. But unless it's something different than that, it might've been a pre-qualified callback and you're calling them back the next day. It may have been a form they filled out in the mail and sent back in. And two weeks later you're at their door, or it might've been a form they filled out in the mail and a week later or two weeks later, they're calling a 1-800 number and giving their information and an agent's calling them the next day. There's a time gap that took place between the time they actually read that, filled it out, sent it back in. And there was an emotional funny bone. You talked about it. Everyone has this funny bone. There's this emotion that's going on when they filled it out. And now there's separation of time and life that happened between then and now. And that emotion is not up there anymore. That emotion is not front and center for them to acknowledge it. And you're trying to see it and get them to see it, that there was a reason they filled it out and you're trying to get to that. So you're not trying to answer it. You're trying to address it. You have another thought and then we got to wrap. Yeah, we'll wrap. You're the moderator and I'm trying to wrap. This is what I want people to know. Do you know what the most common responses when I've gone through the process and I've given them, we've gone through the options and we're writing the application. This is what they'll say. I thought it was going to be $100 to $200 a month. That's what they thought because they saw something on TV. They thought it was unaffordable. And so they went to the extreme opposite and said, I thought it was free. Yeah, that was the most common. And when I started getting it, I was surprised because I was writing applications that were $60 to $80 a month. Isn't that nuts? Yeah. Wow. It's a thing. Yeah. So hope this was helpful. We'd love to hear your questions and comments below. Again, we have courses that cover this stuff. We have a weekly coat. Hey, there you are. We have weekly coaching calls. We would love for you to be a part of, and we can break down some of these scenarios and be again, make a difference in your community. Share what we do if you see value in it. But thank you guys. Go out, write some applications, be a difference maker. We'll see on the next Life Insurance Academy podcast. Thanks.