In his best-selling 1896 novel, In His Steps, author Charles Sheldon, a Kansas preacher and Christian Socialism advocate in the late 19th century, addresses the moral choices relating to hunger and poverty by asking the question, "What would Jesus do?" Since then, Christians around the world have used this phrase as a reminder to act in a manner Jesus would approve of, believing He is the ultimate example to be followed in daily life. Nearly a hundred years after Sheldon's book was first published, WWJD bracelets became popular among young people in the United States, and today these letters can be found on a wide range of merchandise, including T-shirts, jewelry, bumper stickers, and more, all of which can be found at -- you guessed it -- WhatWouldJesusDo.com.
As someone who spends his days peddling insurance products, I can't help but wonder what Jesus would do if he were a health insurance agent. The idea isn't that far-fetched, is it? I mean, He hung out with tax-collectors and prostitutes -- surely we'd have been in the inner circle if insurance agents had been around in Biblical times.
To help us answer this question, we must first ask ourselves what agents spend the majority of their time doing. For most of us, the answer is teaching. Sure, we have a lot of other duties and responsibilities, but one of the most important and certainly one of the most challenging aspects of our job is educating our clients. And that, I believe, is where we can learn the most from Jesus -- arguably the best teacher in the history of the world.
So what made Jesus such a great teacher? Obviously the message had something to do with His success. But more than that, it was the way He relayed His message, by speaking in parables, that so resonated with people. A parable, of course, is a story -- an analogy of sorts. It's used to make a complex subject simple so that everyone can understand. Now there are all sorts of theories about why Jesus spoke in parables, but we won't get into that here. The point is that if Jesus were conducting an enrollment meeting, it's quite possible that the last thing He would do is talk about health insurance.
You see, health insurance is confusing. Most people don't get it. So why on earth do we keep talking about it? Wouldn't we have more success if we came up with a more interesting way to explain it -- if we gave our clients something they could relate to? It certainly couldn't hurt to try.
So what would an insurance parable look like? We could turn to the Bible for guidance, but let's take the lazy route and see what our favorite online resource has to say. According to Wikipedia, the parables of Jesus are "quite simple, memorable stories, often with humble imagery, each with a single message."
Based on this description, we want to make sure our insurance lessons tackle one subject at a time and use straightforward language. Incorporating metaphors will help our clients better understand complex or abstract information (like insurance), and explaining the material in story format will make it much more memorable.
That sounds simple enough, but if it really was that easy we'd probably already be doing it, right? Clearly, we need some strategies to help us put all the fancy insurance lingo that carriers are so fond of using into language that normal people can understand. Fortunately, I have a few tips for you, but unfortunately, I'm out of room this month. So in next month's column I'll share some ideas that should help you better communicate with your clients. Or, if you'd like to hear them in person, you can attend my session "Are your clients smarter than a fifth grader?" at the Benefits Selling Expo in Austin next month. As an added incentive to join me, every attendee will receive one free parable ... I hope to see you there.
Want more? Check out Eric Johnson's new blog, www.thebenefitsblog.com. Eric can be reached at 817-366-7536 or at eric.johnson@agentallies.com.
