Building real rapport with a prospect boils down to one thing:
Creating a space where a conversation can happen between business equals.

Anyone who has been in sales for longer than 5 minutes can tell you this is not the easiest thing to do! Most salespeople severely limit their chances of creating this rapport by trying too hard to connect on humor, making overly generic compliments, or jumping into their presentation too quickly.

The best way to create this space is to slow down and take 5-10 minutes at the beginning of your meeting to lay out an agenda of where you’re going to take the conversation and then make the conversation all about your prospect. We already know everything about what we provide our clients, what we’re trying to figure out is: does this person truly need what I have?

Here’s a great example in audio and the outline to go with it:

First, we set the landscape for why so many people have opted to apply for our coverage:

The reason I have so many clients here in Austin is everyone has noticed it’s getting really expensive to get sick these days.

I talk to a lot of business owners and they tell me even though they’re paying out more for healthcare than ever before, it seems like insurance companies are paying out less and less. They have higher deductibles, higher copays, and smaller networks. I’m guessing you’ve seen the same thing, right?

My clients tell me even when you get a little sick – let’s say you go to the doctor for the flu – you’re going to come out of pocket a little bit. But when something catastrophic happens, the costs are astronomical.

Second, we let them off the hook and let them know we’re not going to try and sell them something they don’t need:

I don’t like to assume that this is going to be the right fit for you, and I’m not sure this is going to line up with what you need, but I’m not here to sell you everything I have. It’s my job to find out what your risk factors are, what coverage you currently have, if there are any gaps in that coverage and if anything I do might make sense for you.

So let me ask you a few questions and find out your health composition – then we’ll know if I have anything that could help you out:

From here, we begin the qualification process by asking these questions:

• How young are you? Married? Kids?
• What kind of health insurance do you have now?
• What’s your deductible?
  • Was it always that? Has it gone up?
  • Why is it going up?
• What’s your coinsurance? 80/20?
  • That’s in network – what about out of network?
  • Has your network grown over the years? How has your choice in doctors changed?
• Do you have Disability? Short-term / Long-term?
• How much Life Insurance do you have? Is that the total amount including work policies?
• Do you have a family history of diabetes, Alzheimer’s, MS, Parkinson’s, etc.?

So, I don’t handle a lot of things. I just handle the things that are most common and most catastrophic. So let me ask you specifically:

• What’s your family history with Cancer?
• What’s your family history with Heart Disease?
• Have you been hospitalized in the last 12 months?
• Do you drive a lot?
• Are you or your kids accident-prone?
• Do you work with tools on the job or on your hobbies?

After asking those questions, we have a good idea of  what policies we want to show that prospect. Next, we transition into our demo with this:

The thing I love about what we do is – it’s simple. Some insurance is complicated – this isn’t. You’re going to see the value and why I have all these clients in Austin.

My clients all have one thing in common: They understand there are some things that aren’t going to be covered and they’re going to have to pay for that. That money has to come from somewhere – their business, savings, retirement, etc.

At this point, we go over the Direct/Indirect costs and the #1 Cause of Bankruptcy in our presentation. Then ask:

Why do you think so many people who have good health insurance are filing for bankruptcy when they go through these catastrophic diseases?

Let’s say you or a member of your family were diagnosed with cancer and had to get treatment in Houston and it affected your work for an entire year. What things can you easily pay for today that would become difficult to manage?

After they identify those, we transition into showing the policy details like this:

I’m going to explain how we take care of our clients and how my process works. If you see the value in what we do and the premium lines up for you, I’ll see if you qualify.

I don’t take any money today; I just see how you want to be set up, send in the application, and let them check your background and decide if they want to cover you.

Do me a favor: It’s been really hard to sit down with all the people I’m getting referred to, so if you’re 85% sure this is something you want to consider, I’ll get your paperwork started and sent in for review. If it’s not your cup of tea, just let me know.

Sound fair?