04 Feb 4 Strategies To Create A Positive Relationship With Any Type Of Customer
Whether you’ve been in the insurance industry for a year or decades, you’ve likely encountered a challenging client or prospective customer. Often current or prospective clients that are demanding, anxious, indecisive or insistent can be deemed as challenging or even difficult. In many cases. clients like these require extra attention and effort. They may even make you feel like you need to work harder for their business. While that may sound exhausting, you might find that working with difficult clients also leads you to produce your best work. You may even elevate your sales strategy and customer relations skills.
You will likely find that sticking it out and converting difficult clients into happy customers requires strategy and consistency. Here are some effective ways you can create positive relationships and results for even the most difficult customers or prospects.
#1 Keep Conversations Solutions-Oriented
When engaging in interactions with difficult customers, remember to drive the conversation towards solutions. Often customers are coming to you in an effort to solve a problem they are experiencing. Even if an aspect of the customer experience went awry, there is still an opportunity to provide solutions to your client. Acknowledge your customer’s frustration and concern, while focusing on the solutions you can immediately provide to them.
#2 Practice Effective Listening
Consumers may feel as though sales professionals are not truly listening to them and understanding their desires. The best way to build an understanding of your customers’ needs and concerns is to practice effective listening. According to recent statistics on sales techniques, closing rates are often correlated with encouraging customers to talk for an extended period of time without interruption. By practicing effective listening techniques, you have the opportunity to ask more questions. This way you receive more clarity and confirmation that you understand your customers’ needs.
Click here to learn more benefits of effective listening.
#3 Express Empathy & Exhibit Patience
Whether you are engaging in phone, video, email, text or in-person communications with your clients or prospective customers, it is crucial to convey goodwill in your messaging. Your communications should be thoughtful and purposeful. Even if you have read, heard or received information that was unsettling or upsetting, it is important to respond with care. Step back and try to empathize with your client’s situation and concerns. Remember to address what they are describing as their negative experiences with empathy and be patient with them. A careless, reactionary response can create more difficulty and could hurt your relationship with your client or prospect. This may also negatively impact your conversion rate.
#4 Focus On Improving Your Own Emotional Intelligence
Emotions like energy can be transferred from one being to another. You might notice your mood change when you interact with a person who is expressing heightened emotions like joy, sadness or anger. The more control your exhibit over your emotions, the better your emotional intelligence will be. Sales professionals who lack emotional intelligence often get upset easily. These agents have difficulty being assertive, feel overwhelmed easily and often identify as misunderstood. According to data from Harvard, establishing emotional intelligence starts with self-awareness. Be mindful of your language, tone and volume when you speak. In written communications, read through your content out loud before sending it. Make sure your words are clear, but friendly in its delivery.
Remember, even if a customer displays challenging, troublesome or demanding qualities, their behavior is not a reflection of or personal attack on you. By leveraging communication strategies and focusing on the behaviors that can be effective in establishing trust between you and your client, you can deliver positive results in any scenario. When all else fails, remaining calm, patient, flexible and mindful of your emotions will keep you level-headed in your customer relations.
How Top Producers Propel Customer Acquisition & Retention Efforts
Customer acquisition and retention are key priorities for all top producers in the insurance industry. Developing the skills needed to effectively manage difficult clients and provide satisfaction during the sales process is essential to a robust customer retention strategy. Building rapport is often easier when you are working with high-intent prospects. Looking for more consumers to pursue for your outbound marketing strategy? Connect with the experienced team at ZipQuote today.
ZipQuote empowers insurance agents to select a series of target regions, demographics, and filters for customized insurance lead campaigns. Click here to learn more about how ZipQuote can help you grow your business.
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