They sell air, something that cannot be seen, that cannot be grasped. Your sale item is not a physical product like an apartment or a car. For this reason, in the opinion of the two certified insurance salesmen Matthias Forthuber and Ivan Jurisic from Zurich Insurance, it is more difficult to sell an insurance. In her opinion, you get the customers who look like you.
SALZBURG. Matthias Forthuber and Ivan Jurisic form the Forthuber team at Zurich Insurance. The two certified insurance salesmen are preparing for a consultation with a new customer. He wants to change insurance and hear what the two can offer him.
“There is a two-phase consultation for new customers: the current situation is discussed in the first conversation, we get to know the person, introduce ourselves and basically create a basis”,
explains Forthuber. Born in Mattseer, he continues: “On the basis of the first consultation, in the second phase we present the customer with a tailor-made concept and discuss the whole thing with him. Any questions that arise are also clarified from the first appointment.” A risk analysis must be carried out at every consultation on insurance matters. For this purpose, Zurich Insurance has its own tool called “Plus Advice”. For Jurisic, that is
“Getting to know the person is the most important part of the consultation.”
“There are a lot of black sheep in the industry”
What one shouldn’t do is for the customer to think “to believe that they know what their needs are without ever having said a word with that person,” says Jurisic, who has been in the insurance industry for eight years. For the 34-year-old, it is crucial not to pretend. “I have to stay ‘myself’. Coupled with honesty, this is the best prerequisite for being successful as a consultant.” According to the two, there are many black sheep in the industry who are just out for profit.
“But if a customer rejects our offer or wants something else, then we accept this decision and do not urge them to sign”,
emphasizes Forthuber, who has been an insurance salesman for three years. He learned a lot from his father Johannes Forthuber, who was an insurance salesman for over 25 years until his sudden death two years ago.
“He was a role model in our company and everyone wanted to talk to him. Matthias is 100 percent like his father”,
says Jurisic.