A preneed and final expense insurance agent must be able to close the sale, there is no way around it. But so many are not meeting their full potential because they have not overcome that natural fear of rejection that so many of us face. These 3 strategies will put you on a path that will result in more closings, more easily.
#1. Understand Your Brain
When the human brain experiences rejection, anguish, and other painful emotions, the brain reacts in a very similar manner as when the human body experiences physical pain. “While the brain does not process emotional pain and physical pain identically, the reaction and cascading events are very similar, and a natural chemical (painkiller mu-opioid) is released during both events,” says Nicole F. Roberts for a Forbes article on rejection. “It is also important to remember that we recall emotional rejection more strongly than physical pain, and it can therefore cause longer-term sensitivity.”
By understanding that rejection can feel like pain and causes our brains to react similarly, we can better analyze why our psyche has built up such a resistance to the experience. It’s a natural response to traumatizing experiences of our past. It is instinctual for us to avoid pain, both emotional and physical. We fear it intuitively, subconsciously, but we don’t have to.
#2. Validate and Normalize
As a preneed or final expense insurance agent, you have probably had some negative past experiences related to rejection. It is helpful to validate that those situations were difficult and unpleasant. You should take some time to process the feelings you may still have about those memories. Think through them, talk them out or write them down, and let them go.
It is completely normal for salespeople of all types to experience rejection now and again. Rejection and sales falling through is just an expected and common part of the sales world. Everyone has had a tase of refusal, and everyone has felt dismissed and devalued in their career histories. This knowledge can help you shrink that huge fear of rejection down to a more manageable size: it’s going to happen to you and everyone else, and it’s not the end of the world.
#3. Figure Out the Fear
Often, we feel averse to something (like rejection), but that feeling is actually just masking a truer, deeper fear of something else. What do you think will happen if your client rejects your offer? Follow that thread a little to identify the underlying fears that are exacerbating this one. Do you think you will not make enough money this quarter? Do you think you will lose your job? Do you think you will lose your family if you lose your job? Do you feel that you’re a failure if someone doesn’t accept you? There are so many additional, deep-set fears that need to be addressed and dealt with if you are going to overcome your fear of failure and become a better life insurance agent.
