MRL #116- The Insurance Sales Skill No One Teaches (But Everyone Remembers)

When I first got into the insurance business, I worked with a guy who prided himself on:

“Wow’ing prospects with how much I know…”

Say wha…?

“I like to talk way over their head, that way they’ll be like ‘man this guy knows his stuff’ and they hire me…”

Now…

His technical expertise was impressive, and he did write a lot of new business…

But, not because of this approach.

(Uncle Rick was secretly feeding him under the table)

We see a lot of Producers fall into the same trap:

Thinking flexing technical skill will win them more business.

While, it does in some cases, in our humble but correct opinion, it ends up doing more harm than good in most cases.

Why?

Because a confused mind never buys.

If your prospect is confused, you’re screwed.

Therefore…

Your expertise is only as good as your ability to distill it to insureds.

And that is where stories and analogies come in…

The Limits of Technical Language

As Producers, we often fall into the trap of thinking our role is to educate.

We believe that if we can just explain the nuances of CG2010 07/04 versus CG2037 10/01 well enough…

The insured will see the light.

But most business owners are not making decisions based on technical nuance.

They are overwhelmed…

They are busy…

And more often than not, they are making decisions based on trust, intuition, and gut feeling.

The problem isn’t that we know too much.

It’s that we fail to translate that knowledge into language our clients actually understand.

That’s where stories and analogies come in.

Because facts speak to the brain.

But stories give them meaning.

Why Stories and Analogies Work

Stories lower the drawbridge.

They disarm skepticism.

They invite the listener in rather than corner them with data.

Analogies do something equally important. They take the unfamiliar and make it familiar.

When we compare a Broker of Record Letter to choosing a real estate agent (see below)…

We bridge the gap between what we know and what the insured knows.

They aren’t just clever tricks.

Stories and analogies are how humans have relayed information for thousands of years.

We are literally hard-wired for storytelling.

5 Examples From the Trenches

Here are a few of our favorites:

1. Johnny the Excavator

→ Use a real case study from a current client when a prospect says they don’t need [insert coverage].

“Johnny hit a pipe. EPA showed up. $2 million fine. His insurance denied the claim because it was a pollution event. He only had $50K in cleanup coverage. Now he’s paying $1.95M out of pocket.”

2. The Real Estate Analogy

→ Use this when you’re positioning a BOR strategy.

“You wouldn’t hire three realtors to list your home. You pick one and trust them to bring the best offers. Insurance is the same. Pick one advisor to represent you to the market.”

3. Gas Station Sushi

→ Use this to explain why specialization matters.

“Working with a generalist is like buying sushi at a gas station. Technically, it’s sushi—but do you really trust what’s inside?”

4. Tom Brady Talk Track

→ Use this to fight market splitting.

“Think about it… Does [Insert favorite QB] hire three agents to negotiate with all 32 NFL teams? No. He picks one agent to represent him, thus, leveraging the entire market.”

5. COI at the Bar

→ Use this when explaining risk transfer and COI limitations.

“A COI is like showing your ID at a bar. You can buy a drink with it, but it doesn’t prove you’re responsible. That’s why just having a COI from your subs isn’t enough.”

Yes, some are silly or you might not relate to.

But that’s not the point.

Find your own way of explaining things that fit your personality and style.

Final Thought

The most effective producers aren’t necessarily the ones with the deepest technical knowledge.

They’re the ones who know how to transfer that knowledge to their prospects and insureds in easy to understand nuggets.

As Alberto Bindstein said:

“The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.”

If you’re looking to win more deals, increase your close rate, or simply become more memorable in your market…

Learn to tell stories.

Which we go more in depth on in the Producer Playbook.

(Micah’s step-by-step guide to building a book-o-biz from scratch)

Feelin’ froggy?

Link to Playbook here.

See you next week.

Kick ass take names,

Max