"I Don't Know" Selling

Every sales person has been asked a question that they don’t know the answer to. In a lot of cases the salesperson will make something up or give a best educated guess. I often use this to my advantage when buying a new car or a small electronic, I will ask an uncommon question that I already know the answer to; if the salesman doesn’t lie to me I will buy the product. I am even more impressed when I hear “I don’t know”, which show true colors of honesty.

            In the insurance business it’s less common to be lied to or deceived by a salesman because we all have state issued licenses and, in some cases, can land ourselves jail time for a lie. This is where “I don’t know” selling can come into play full force.

            Though there may be hundreds of different ways to use this “I don’t know” method in sales, I have discovered two that work for me, and after finding these skills I found they have worked ON me as well! The two ways are as follows.

            “I Don’t Know.” as an Answer: The most common application of this selling method is when you are asked a question by a client or prospect that you don’t know the answer to. In my experience, and since we’re talking insurance, the most common one is usually to the tune of some policy provision; it is usually asked in the form of a claim scenario. I have found the best way to answer such questions is by saying something like “I don’t know, but I can find out for you.” or “You know, I’m not sure, but I’m positive that my coworker knows the answer. Hold on a moment while I ask.” There are several other ways to words these but those are my two favorite.

            The least common method to “I don’t know.” selling is the pitch opener. I noticed that this method has been the most difficult for me to embed into my selling process, as it is kind of like walking into a wild-west saloon to a gun fight without any bullets in your gun. This is implemented in the very beginning of a sales pitch. It puts the customer in the driver’s seat of the conversation and lets them feel they have control over the entire sales pitch. It usually doesn’t even sound like a sales pitch. This method usually sounds something like this “Hi Tom, this is Bob with ABC Insurance Co. I was calling to see if you would be willing to hear about some of the products and services we offer. Let me tell you a few things about what we offer and you can tell me whether or not these make sense for you to hear more about. Is now a good time for you?” You may notice that this method leaves the prospect with a wide open range of responses. If they say No, simply ask a better time to call back. If they say yes, then go directly into another question “What types of insurance do you currently carry?” or “What do you like most and least about your current agent?”

            From here you can build a sturdy relationship in a manner of seconds with a prospect. These types of questions and answers make the prospect feel like a human and show that you acknowledge them as an individual with worries, dreams, likes, and dislikes. This will also get you referrals in the long run as they tell their friends how easy of an agent you are to talk to.