What You're Really Selling When You Sell Insurance

Some would say that the world sees every insurance agent as Ned Ryerson from Groundhog Day, but the truth is that insurance agents offer something much more important than information on coverage amounts and annual premiums. Anyone who thinks that selling insurance is simply quoting rates and writing policies is missing the big picture. What insurance agents are really selling is the American Dream.

The American Dream, or the ideal by which equality of opportunity is available to any American, allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved, is what we all strive for. When someone comes to an agent seeking to protect what they've earned in their life, what's theirs, they're the one providing them with the protection and the security that comes with it. 

​Everyone tries to achieve a level of happiness and comfort in their lives. They work tirelessly toward it from early adulthood and onward. No wants an unforeseen accident, a natural disaster or an illness to come along and take those things we've worked so hard for away - sometimes in the matter of minutes. When customers go to an insurance agent looking for answers and access to ways to help keep those things safe and the agent is able to give that to them, that's more than merely providing a service.

Most sales gurus talk about listening to what a client needs in order to really understand how to serve them. Selling insurance is no different, except for that, most agents already have an innate understanding of what their client is seeking,  because they're most likely seeking the same level of security for their own lives. Their homes, their health and the health of their families, their cars which provide them the freedom to go out and achieve their goals and enjoy them along the way.

Clients are coming to their agents looking to find that understanding. To know that they're concerns and precious belongings are going to be treated the way the agent would want theirs treated. They're seeking a level of humanity and respect that comes with providing them with the policy, not someone treating them like a number or a monthly goal needing to be reached. 

If all insurance agents were simply a Ned Ryerson, overly eager, just looking to get another name in their book of business, we doubt much insurance business would get done. Because if we think about someone handing over their most prized possessions for an agent to take care of, they're not going to hand it over to just anyone. They're going to trust that American Dream of theirs to someone who believes in it, who cares about it and who wants the same exact thing as they do.