Top Tips for Selling Life Insurance: A Guide for Canadian Agents

Author:Shelden SmollanChief Experience Officer
Shawn Redford
Reviewed by:Shawn RedfordChief Business Development Officer
10 December 2024
14 Minute Read

Need sales tips for life insurance? Learn key strategies to build trust, close more deals, and grow your business in the competitive Canadian market

An insurance agent handing a clipboard to her smiling clients

Winning Strategies: Effective Sales Techniques for Life Insurance Agents

Starting a career as a life insurance agent in Canada can be exciting, but it also comes with challenges. Building relationships, closing deals, and standing out in the competitive life insurance industry takes more than knowing policies. It requires top-level sales techniques.

This article will guide you through effective insurance sales strategies, which will help you develop the skills needed to boost your sales performance and succeed in the life insurance business.

Whether you sell in person, over the phone, or online, these insurance agent tips can help new agents grow their business and build strong relationships with clients.

An insurance agent shaking hands with a client

Proven Tips to Boost Life Insurance Sales: A Must-Read for Canadian Agents

1. Understanding the Canadian Life Insurance Market

Knowing the market is the first step toward success for new independent life insurance agents launching their business in Canada. There are a variety of products and services in the life insurance business. Among its several offerings are term, whole, and universal life policies. Successful agents have to be familiar with these several products and be able to identify the needs and wants of their clients.

A grandfather sitting on a couch with his daughter while his grandkids play on the floor

Canada has an aging population, with many people looking for life insurance products to secure their family’s future. This presents a tremendous opportunity for new agents to sell life insurance online or over the phone. By understanding the Canadian market, you can adjust your sales techniques to meet the needs of potential clients. This will help you stay competitive in the field.

2. What Makes a Good Life Insurance Agent?

A new life insurance agent might wonder how they can set themselves apart. Soft skills, like the ability to communicate and empathize, are the key. The sale of life insurance requires a strong relationship with the customer. They need you to empathize with their problems and guide them to the most suitable policies.

Trustworthiness and friendliness go a long way, but knowing your stuff when it comes to life insurance policy is quite crucial. Simply making a sale is not as important as getting to know your customers and becoming their trusted agent. This approach will help you succeed as a new life insurance agent in Canada.

To succeed, agents must keep improving their sales skills. They also need to understand what makes clients feel confident in their insurance decisions, which involves thorough needs analysis, open communication and building trust.

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3. Building Trust with Clients: The Key to Selling Life Insurance

Selling life insurance comes mostly from trust. Clients invest in peace of mind, not only in policies. Your first concern as a new agent should be building that confidence with your clients. Whether you sell life insurance from home, over the phone, or online, rapport is crucial.

In a competitive market, you establish yourself as a dependable agent when consumers feel appreciated and understood. This link not only makes you stand out but also strengthens long-lasting relationships that can result in referrals and return business.

An agent sitting at a desk while using his phone to sell insurance online

4. How to Sell Life Insurance Over the Phone and Online

More people are working from home and doing business online. Because of this, selling life insurance over the phone or online is becoming more popular. But how do you make a connection when you can’t see the person you are talking to? The answer lies in tone, empathy, and follow-up.

For phone-based insurance sales, it is essential to be aware of tone perceptions and to sound confident, knowledgeable, and friendly. Establishing rapport early in the conversation can make all the difference in how the client perceives you.

Similarly, selling insurance online means mastering digital communication, ensuring that your emails and virtual meetings are both professional and personable. By providing flexibility and convenience to your clients, you will earn their trust. This will improve your chances of making a sale. While being able to sell life insurance over the phone and online could mean never meeting your client face-to-face, it is important to adhere to the regional laws and regulations of your license and be sure to only sell insurance to a client who lives in a region you are licensed to sell in. 

5. Personalizing Your Sales Pitch to Connect with Clients

No two clients are the same, which is why it is important to personalize your sales pitch for each one. Whether you sell life insurance from home, over the phone, or in person, you should adjust your message for each client and work hard to meet their unique needs and objectives.

This approach is a successful strategy. New life insurance agents in Canada should spend more time getting to know their clients. Understanding each client’s unique situation is important.

Take the time to ask about their goals, family, and financial concerns. At Experior Financial Group our Life Insurance Agents use our Expert Financial Analysis to help determine the needs and goals of each client before helping them to choose a suitable product. This ensures that our agents have a full picture and understanding when they are selecting policies to recommend to meet their clients needs and goals. 

The EFA helps agents provide specific products, such as term life insurance or whole life insurance, that meet their needs. When you show that you understand their needs and pain points, you can build better relationships. This also helps with opportunities to identify additional client needs, and opportunities to add riders or additional products that meet the clients and goals. 

6. How to Close More Life Insurance Sales: Tips for New Agents

Although closing a deal is the final aim, it is also among the most difficult stages of the process. This can seem especially intimidating to new life insurance agents. With the correct strategy, though, closing transactions gets more simple.

Always gently and sympathetically address any objections. Showing customers that you can appreciate and address their worries will help you to win them over.

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7. How Can New Life Insurance Agents Build a Client Base in Canada?

Building a client base can feel like one of the toughest hurdles when you are just starting out as a life insurance agent. In Canada, it is all about making connections – whether through word-of-mouth, networking, or lead-generating marketing campaigns.

Showing up at local events, joining professional organizations, or simply being an active part of your community can help spread the word about who you are and what you do.

Never underestimate the power of digital marketing! A well-put-together website, Google Business profile, an engaging blog, and some active social media profiles can make a world of difference in helping people find you.

And when you share practical, easy-to-understand tips on life insurance and tackle those common questions, you will start to build trust – and trust is everything in this business. You will become the go-to person clients feel comfortable turning to for advice.

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8. Common Challenges for New Life Insurance Agents 

Starting your career in life insurance is not a picnic. With handling rejection and finding fresh leads, it could feel as if you are fighting an uphill struggle. The good news is that you can most certainly overcome these obstacles with the right mindset and lots of effort.

Rejection is a typical part of selling life insurance (or anything, honestly), so you should not take it personally. Each lost or missed sale can be seen as an opportunity for reflection and opportunities to adjust strategies for continued growth. Staying dedicated, following up with new prospects, and honing your technique will help you to start seeing those “no’s” become “yes’s.” Remember that every “no” really advances you toward the next “yes!”

9. Why Following Up is Essential in Life Insurance Sales

Ignoring leads can be a common mistake for life insurance agents. They believe that lack of curiosity indicates the client will not make a purchase. Actually, a courteous follow-up call or email can make all the difference; many customers need time to consider their alternatives, reflect and discuss with their family, or even a reason to get to know you better.

Following up with customers shows them that you are more invested in their well-being than only in the sale. It offers you yet another chance to answer any questions or worries they might have. Whether you’re selling insurance online or over the phone, keeping it top-of-mind will ultimately help you close the transaction.

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10. Leveraging Technology to Grow Your Insurance Sales

For life insurance agents working in the digital age of today, technology is a necessary tool. Tracking leads is made easier with customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Virtual meeting systems enable you to interact with clients anywhere. 

Technology helps streamline your sales process. It also simplifies the management of your home-based insurance business.

Canadian insurance agents can take advantage of social media ads and automated email marketing, among other techniques. They can also reach more possible customers by means of Internet sales channels. Adopting technology will help you run your company faster and more effectively than it might have years ago.

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Join the Experior Financial Group – Where Your Success is Our Priority! Benefit from exclusive training, comprehensive support, and cutting-edge tools designed to help you thrive. Take the next step with Experior Financial Group today!”

Summary of Key Points:

  • Get a feel for the Canadian life insurance industry so you can adjust your strategy appropriately.
  • A prosperous life insurance business is built on the pillar of trust with potential customers.
  • While selling insurance via the Internet and phone is convenient, it requires self-assurance and excellent communication abilities.
  • Personalize your sales pitch to connect with each client’s specific needs.
  • Closing sales often requires addressing objections with empathy.
  • Building a client base is crucial – network locally and use digital marketing strategies.
  • Overcome challenges with persistence and always follow up with leads.
  • Leverage technology to manage and grow your home-based insurance business.

By using these strategies, new life insurance agents in Canada can create successful careers as insurance agents. They can grow their business and positively impact their clients’ lives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Relationship building, client knowledge, and specialized strategies are the keys to success for new life insurance agents. Your sales will skyrocket if you engage with clients by listening carefully, asking relevant questions, and providing individualized solutions. Never underestimate the value of a follow-up; your clients will be grateful for the additional effort!

 

Building someone’s confidence is difficult. Your first aim should be to be honest and open with your clients..

Try to grasp their issues and offer them personalized advice to demonstrate knowledge. Customers are more likely to feel connected and build trust if you talk about how you’ve dealt with insurance in the past.

Being honest about your path helps you gain greater confidence. Remember that in an insurance agreement, trust is absolutely crucial!

New life insurance agents sometimes struggle with lead generation, rejection, and understanding complex products. It is important to stay persistent and adaptable.

Create a comprehensive marketing plan that includes networking and internet advertising. If someone says “no,” you are one step closer to getting a “yes.” So, don’t worry about it; use it as a way to improve. To move up in your job, you will need to become more resilient.

More and more customers are opting for the convenience of digital communication, which has led to the rise in popularity of selling life insurance online. Engage prospective customers through the creation of useful information, using the potential of social media, and the setting up of online consultations. You may bring in customers and keep them around without ever having to set foot in their location if you have a solid web presence. While you can sell online, it is important to also adhere to the laws and regulations of your specific license(s). 

Very! After giving a client some time to think about their options, a polite follow-up will ensure that you remain top of mind.

It shows that you are concerned about their decision and willing to put effort into making it a positive one. The contract can be closed or any remaining questions can be answered with only a quick phone call or email. Maintaining a consistent follow-up schedule shows dedication and professionalism, which can boost your chances of success.

Your insurance business will definitely benefit greatly from technology. CRM systems can help to handle client communications and monitor prospects utilizing software to manage customer connections.

Email marketing will help you to increase your social media audience and send messages to clients automatically. Including technology can help you to significantly increase the simplicity and engagement with clients’ capacity of your operations.

Give offline and online networking primary attention if you want a strong clientele. Participate in community activities, network with nearby businesses, and use social media to get possible customers.

Providing instructional tools such as webinars or educational blogs can help you become a field expert. Because connections with other people are so important, always stress how important it is to build them and ask satisfied customers for referrals.

Two of the most crucial elements for reaching success in phone sales are practice and readiness. You should familiarize yourself with the usual objections and create answers that appropriately handle consumer issues.

Speaking in a friendly and confident manner always helps you to establish rapport when on the phone. If you would wish to improve your strategy, you could want to think about role-playing with some of your colleagues. Paying attention to client comments and modifying your presentation will help you to improve your phone sales performance.

Shelden Smollan
Shelden Smollan, Experior Financial Group's Chief Experience Officer, has spent more than 45 years working in the fields of Life Insurance and finance. He is an excellent insurance sales and management executive with exceptional strategic thinking, marketing, and leadership abilities. He has been Experior Financial Group Inc.'s Chief Experience Officer for the past six years, and his vision and expertise have been instrumental in the company's growth and development. By arranging meetings between agents and carriers so that our team of associates can learn from them and draw inspiration from them, he has assisted our IMO in expanding.