Preferred personal lines prospects need to be pre-screened. This article concludes some additional ways to pre-qualify prospects to make sure you are doing business with people who will help your agency grow
profitably and quickly. Here are additional prospects that should be disqualified.
- Prospect is not willing to insure properly. If you think a prospect is not giving you accurate information or is willing to "cut too many corners" on their insurance program; there is a much higher likelihood this will be a "problem" client in the long run. Move on to the next prospect.
- Prospect is too knowledgeable. Most people know very little about insurance and how it works. If you have a prospect that knows too much of the "lingo" or procedures or has specific claims questions, this can be a definite warning sign to end the conversation.
- Prospect has wrong "attitude" toward insurance. To be efficient, you will want to pre-screen prospects over the phone before you spend additional time and resources on them. Think about a question or two that will give you information on how they view insurance and what it should be used for. If you don't like the answer and it cannot be corrected through education, steer clear! Insurance should not be expected to fix every problem or be considered a "maintenance" policy.
- Prospect has an unusual issue or coverage need. We all like helping people solve a problem. Sometimes, prospects have needs that can be time consuming to research and resolve. Be careful to weigh the cost benefit of working with folks where you or your carriers do not have expertise or appetite.
- Prospect does not want to follow your advise. Hopefully, you've been able to screen out folks early in the process that want low deductibles or low limits. You will occasionally learn later in the process that your prospect has an exposure that they were not forthcoming about. Maybe it's the pit bull that's just going to be visiting for a "few months." Whatever it is that leaves that "uneasy" feeling in your stomach-go with your gut and don't write the policy!
The insurance business today is very different than doing business even 10 years ago. Agents are still trying to figure out the best way to do it. The access to information where people can do research on what they want is more available than ever so we as agents have to be on top of our game to grow profitably. It's important to work "smarter" therefore because the number of hours in the day hasn't changed.
Sharon L. Graeter, CPCU is Co- Founder and Director of Development of West Connect Insurance Solutions. She has 30+ years experience in the insurance industry and is a contract expert. The agency provides an infrastructure for captive agents that would like to transition to becoming
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