Many would say that the insurance industry is all about worst-case scenarios (and not always in a good way either). However, sometimes it’s when you’re driven into a corner that your best qualities surface. For both insurance marketers and their potential clients, this truth can apply (and simultaneously no less).

In insurance marketing and lead generation, the ideal is always to get in touch at the right time. Therefore, it seems counter-intuitive to pursue communication with a prospect that was touched when they’re about to hit all-time low.

Financial crisis. Major workplace accidents. Mass layoffs. Accidentally calling somebody on the verge of them is a worst-case scenario for yourself as well. Your instincts kick into flight gear and then make a silent promise to yourself to never get in touch again.

Normally, that’s what you would do and normally, you’d do it a lot.

What if you found an exception though? What if a crisis is in fact a challenge for your prospect and you can help them face it head-on?

Remember, there’s a reason people can choose between fight or flight when responding to threats. Yet more often, it’s often flight in the case of seemingly poor timing. You don’t have to make it the default option. Instead of automatically giving up on a prospect, try qualifying them this way:

• Make time stop – When trapped in a corner, it often feels like the whole universe stops to see you choose between fighting and fleeing. But in the case of down prospects, you can slowly back off and give them some air. Don’t push but neither should you go away forever. Allow them space so they can grasp what their only options are.

• Know those options – After that brief period, you need to know what they deem to be the only thing they can do. There are many ways you can acquire this information. You can make another brave, outbound attempt and ask them directly. Alternatively, you can quietly leave them something to get back to you with after the first contact.

• Ask what they’re prepared to do – Perhaps the most crucial step at this point is ask how badly do they want a solution. They believe they don’t have much choice left but at the same time, what are they prepared to do to have more, to get out of the mess.

In the face of a massive loss, not everyone just throws in the towel. There are those who may have reserved something deep inside that gets them pushing harder against the challenge. People like that though don’t always have to be alone. Offering yourself to assist creates an opportunity for you and gives a lot more hope for them.

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