There is a clear and simple reason prospects don't buy. They don't and won't buy when they feel buying is risky. Risk is a very real and valid concern. A wrong decision can leave them locked into a product that's completely wrong for them and too costly to walk away from. Your job is to help them to identify their risks and use the facts to make a good decision that's in their best interest. Many of their concerns are based on perceived risks and information rather than facts. They worry that the dollars they're spending today are less valuable than the investment they're making.

Projections help you to address their concerns fairly easily if you get the opportunity to present projections. Another concern they have is about their ability to pay for the investment you're asking them to make. The bigger underlying concern they have is whether they even need what you're trying to sell them.

This is probably your biggest trouble spot. If you get to the point of presenting your solution, and you haven't appeased their perceived risk in relation to need it's a clear indication that you didn't do a good job of understanding them and what they wanted. Your solution should clearly support the outcome they envisioned, and they should understand that to get that outcome they need the solution you're providing. If they aren't clear about their need and the relationship between the solution you have and what they want, don't continue trying to advance the sale. Back up and get the information and clarity you need so you can move forward together. Ask their permission to step back and clarify your understanding.

They can't move forward without this clarification because now they run the additional risk of looking foolish. Because they aren't convinced they even need it and they aren't sure it supports what they want, if they proceed they feel like they'll look like absolute fools. And then they begin to distrust you because they think you're trying to trick them or coerce them.

If you ignore their concerns and try to move forward anyway it will only reinforce in their minds that they shouldn't trust you. They will doubt you and your abilities and your credibility. The only way to save the deal and obtain insurance sales success is to go back and do the work you should have done in the first place. Once you've gotten the clarity and joint understanding you need you can address their perceived risks head on.

And the best way to do this is to get the prospect to do it for you. Get them to articulate all of their perceived risks in writing and then have them go back and articulate their perceived rewards in writing. At this point everyone has the same information at the same time and if it's a good decision everyone will come to the same conclusion.