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How To Talk With The People At Your Insurance Company (Make A Friend)

How To Make A Friend At The Insurance Company

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Making a friend with the person with whom you will be working in the insurance company is very important. Insurance companies are made up of people, and people can exercise discretion as to how things go. The more of an individual you can become to the person in the insurance company, the more likely you will get what you need, or at least fair treatment.

Get and use the person's name

Often when people at large companies are asked their name, they react negatively. To reduce the chances of a problem, consider saying something like:

"My name is Cathy Merritt. Would you mind telling me your name please?"

If you don't understand the name, or how to pronounce it, ask the person to spell it for you or to pronounce it again. If the name if the least bit unusual, it couldn't hurt to let the person know if you find the name interesting.

Speak in a friendly manner

The person you work with at the insurance company is a friend, not your enemy…..yet. Be friendly and expect friendliness back. You'll usually get it.

Being friendly doesn't mean you shouldn't be assertive. In fact, be as assertive as necessary to get what you want. After all, you are the customer.

Engage the person. Open yourself.

  • If you open yourself, the odds are she or he will do the same. For example, tell the person what condition you have. Let him or her know facts that probably apply to them as well such as "I'm a mother, or a dad…"
  • Empathize with the person at the first opportunity: such as, "Gee, I bet you have a hard job." or "You must be VERY busy. Thank you for being so patient with me."

Ask for help

It usually works to ask for help to get what you need, and in the shortest amount of time possible. A good approach could be to tell the person you are a novice at this, (you've never done this before), you don't understand insurance at all (they assume you don't, but it's refreshing to them to hear someone admit it), and you know the person with whom you are speaking is an expert. "Can you help me?" or "I need your help. I really don't understand what's going on. You're an expert. Can you explain it to me?"

Sympathize with the pressure the person is under.

Most employees are under pressure to get more done in less time. Work loads can be unbearable. Company rules can be difficult. It helps if you let the person know you understand the pressure and appreciate the time and consideration they are showing you.

Use anger sparingly

  • Don't be obnoxious or treat the person as an adversary.
  • There are times when controlled anger works, but use anger sparingly. Once anger is out of the bag, you can't take it back.
  • If, in reviewing your problem, you feel yourself getting upset all over again, make sure the person knows your anger isn't directed at her personally. "Please don't think I'm angry at you personally, Carla. I know you're trying to help me. It just gets me so frustrated sometimes."

Stay with your friend

  • Let the person know that whenever you have questions, you will call him or her. The odds are the person will be more responsible in her dealings with you.
  • Get the person's direct phone number or extension.
  • When you do make the repeat call, ask for your friend. If she's not available, find out when she will be and call back, even if it's not until the next day.
  • You won't always make a friend. Some companies time their employees' phone calls to push them to handle more, and some claims people just aren't that nice. You have to decide when making repeat calls whether it's worth asking for this person who already knows about your situation, or starting again with a stranger.

By following this procedure and making a friend, a claims person with whom she had become friendly recommended a procedure to Mary C that her doctor had not even mentioned. The procedure saved Mary's life.


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