Dealing With Rejection in Insurance Sales: Tips for Success

Every salesperson has to deal with rejection—in fact, you’ll probably get rejected more often than not, even when you have a lot of success and experience. No matter how good you are at sales, there are just some clients who aren’t ready to buy and never will be. Still, dealing with rejection isn’t easy. Here are a few tips for handling it—and keeping your morale high.

It’s not about you. Rejection in sales is rarely personal. It’s just far easier for a prospect to say no than yes—and there are all kinds of reasons why they would say no to your offer, regardless of how well you frame it. Prospects may simply feel it’s not the right time, they’re not financially ready to commit to your insurance package, they haven’t had enough time to think about it, or they’re not sure what coverage they really need.

“No” isn’t always permanent. It’s entirely possible that the person who just turned you down could be ready to buy in a few months or more—and might come back looking for that great deal you offered. You just need to give them time—and continue to stay in front of them with targeted mailings, emailings, and social media.

Keep track of your success rate. Figure out how many “no’s” you get on average and how many “yes’s”. If your rate is one “yes” for every ten “no’s,” for example, you’ll have a more realistic sense of how many affirmative answers to expect—and you can work on improving that, but you’ll likely never get to a point where you never get a refusal. Think of every “no” you get as just another step on the way to the next “yes.”

You’re not the only one. People say no to salespeople all the time. No matter how successful someone is, that person probably gets told “no” on a daily basis. Rejection is simply part of the job, and something you’ve got to learn to expect if you want to have a profitable career.

Have a strategy for dealing with refusal. It’s not possible with every refusal—but with some, you can turn that “no” into a “yes” or at least a “maybe.” Find out the reason why the prospect has turned you down, and have a response ready to counter it. Most importantly, however, listen—pay attention to the prospect’s reasons. Some clients refuse because of misconceptions they don’t know enough to make a decision yet—and you can definitely help them with that.

Dealing with rejection isn’t easy—but the more you deal with it, the more used to it you’ll become. Don’t take it personally—it’s rarely about you when a prospect says no. But do take the time to listen to your prospect’s reasons for rejection and know how to counter them. It’s always possible you can turn that refusal into acceptance given time and patience.

For additional information about handling rejection in insurance sales, check out LifeHealthPro, Kansas City Business Journals, and Entrepreneur.com.