You presented to your customer and you closed the deal! Congratulations! Now you're done, right? Nope! After most agents complete the sale completely they stop working with the customer. What MOST agents don't realize is that there are a series of steps that should and must take place after every sale.

Most companies have them and we all hate them. The dreaded PHI or phone interview. It's about the most annoying 11 minutes you have in the entire sales process. It's uncomfortable because you have to give all of the clients information to somebody else over the phone and you never really know what your customer is thinking. What makes them even worse is when you expect it to go one way and it unfolds in the opposite direction. 

I can safely say that there is nothing more annoying than getting a rejection notification at the end of the phone interview. What makes those rejections even worse is that some of the time they are not even warranted. The customer was asked a question and they simply did not understand what was being asked. They answered in the affirmative and declined because they didn't listen to the interviewer and you didn't do your job. 

So what can be done about the dreaded phone interview that ends in an inaccurate and disappointing decline from the insurance company? The answer is.. you have to provide the customer with a little bit of coaching. 

Before everybody gets up in arms and says "wait a minute, you can't coach a customer. That's against the law." You have to understand what I'm trying to say. I am NOT saying coach the customer to provide false information that is inaccurate. I am simply saying make sure your customer understands all of the questions that will be asked on the phone interview BEFORE the phone interview is conducted. 

For example, if you have a customer who had a stroke 4 years ago and is taking circulation medication. Make sure your customer understands that on the phone interview they are going to ask about a stroke in the last 2 years. All you have to do is tell the customer to "listen carefully to the time frame." Explain that the interviewer is going to ask them about a stroke in the last 2 years. The customer's stroke was 4 years ago, therefor... the answer is "No." 

I instruct my customers to always ask for clarification if they think the answer should be answered in the affirmative. Here is the script I use. 

"If you think the answer is 'yes,' ask the interviewer to repeat the question and listen carefully before you answer 'yes'."