Discover how 10 simple questions can forever change how you pitch and sell insurance

Are you interested in cross-selling, but not sure how to go about it? You're definitely not alone.

A Client Needs Assessment, CNA for short, is a set of 10 psychologically-charged questions that will:

  • Help your prospects open up
  • Cause your prospects to really consider additional insurance coverage
  • Make your job of “pitching" much easier and much more natural

If you use the CNA, you're going to sell something. Even a bad salesmen will come up with something. You'd be amazed. –Tim Bennett, independent agent

When we first started using this questionnaire in our agency, our agents saw immediate results. After tweaking some of the questions based on what seemed to work better and what didn't, we saw sales skyrocket.

One agent who has been in the business for close to 30 years saw her sales increase by 88%.

It's not like she was a bad agent, either — quite the opposite is true. She has always been a top producer, and she has been in the Top 3 in our Agent of the Year contest for the last 10 years.

Even if you're a great, top-producing agent, you may be missing out on a ton of business by not using some type of questionnaire with your prospects.

I have to stress the importance of the CNA. After only a few months in the field, I sold a life with long-term care policy that earned me $21,000 in commission. A big reason behind my finding this case and eventually completing it was because of the Client Needs Assessment tool that we began incorporating that summer. –Laura Pecina, senior market insurance agent

We've seen similar questionnaires from other insurance carriers and FMOs, but they come with some problems. Some of them are product-centric – not relationship-centric, and others are 6 pages long. Your time is limited, and you want to be asking only the most valuable and necessary questions — nothing more and nothing less.

That's why our questionnaire is only 1 page long. It's less intimidating to both you and the client, and it covers all of the main topics in the shortest time frame possible.

When you download the CNA, you'll get a PDF of the questionnaire. We recommend printing out copies of this, and writing on them (by hand) during your appointments.

Clients appreciate it when they see you physically writing down notes, because it ensures that you're personalizing your service. You're not doing the same old insurance pitch for everyone.

When the appointment is over and you have your notes written down, we recommend scanning it into your computer and putting it in the correct place. Bonus points if you have a CRM set up (it makes this much more organized and accessible).

P.S: If you need pointers and a full walk-through of each question, Michael Sams has you covered. Read his breakdown here.