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“Closing a sale” is an essential skill for any insurance agent. But, contrary to popular myth, you don’t have to use high-pressure sales techniques or manipulate your prospects into saying yes. Here are a few tips to closing the sale more consistently, without using tactics normally associated with the “smarmy salesperson” stereotype.

Try to sell the right prospects. You can dramatically raise your close rate by making sure you’re trying to close the right people. Many insurance agents will take sales meetings with anyone who asks; but if you’re selective about who you market to, you can make sure the people coming in are those with the budget for the type of insurance you sell, as well as a definite need. Develop marketing campaigns centered around resolving a single, pressing problem for a certain type of prospect with the right budget, and you can be sure most of the people you’re trying to close have an immediate need for the coverage you sell and can afford it.

Ask questions and listen to the answers. You won’t really know how to sell the prospect on the type of insurance you offer until you’ve gotten a clearer picture of their specific situation. Don’t go in thinking you’re going to close them on a certain line of coverage; go in planning to find out about their coverage needs and determine the right solution for them. People don’t like to be sold, but they do like to be listened to and assisted with solving a problem—and most can tell the difference.

Pick the easiest problem to solve. Your prospect might have several different issues they need help with. Pick the easiest one to solve, and it will most likely be the easiest to say yes to. Once they agree to buy one line of coverage, they will probably come back to you for their other needs.

Keep your supporting sales materials simple. If you’re going into sales meetings with documentation, keep it simple and easy to read at a glance. Make presentations short—only about two or three pages—and pick the data to showcase that will likely have the most impact on the prospect.

In general, bear in mind that you don’t have to be an outgoing salesperson or use manipulative tactics to close a sale. You don’t have to work against the prospect’s natural inclinations, either. Enter into each sales meeting with the goal of helping your prospect solve a problem, rather than trying to “sell” them on something—and both you and the prospect are likely to be much more comfortable with the process.