Take a minute to think ... what was (or will be) your most important disability income sale?
Has it happened to you yet?
What specific characteristic defines the most important sale? Is it premium size? Plan design? Number of lives? How about the potential of one sale to trigger future sales, successes, and earnings?
I believe the sale that opens the most doors to the future is the most important DI sale you'll ever make. But where do you find that sale?
You won't find it in your customer relationship management system. You won't find it at your Chamber of Commerce meeting. And you certainly won't find it networking with other parents in your child's t-ball league. That's because the most important DI sale you'll ever make is staring at you in the mirror every morning. The most important DI sale you'll ever make is to yourself. It is the only sale that can trigger an endless flow of sales, earnings, and professional success.
The secret to this sale is two-fold:
1. You will never be successful trying to sell something that you don't believe in. You've got to have a compelling story to tell. Belief, passion, and personal connection will close more sales than any technique, statistic, or lead generation program.
2. The only sure way to protect your ability to create earnings is solid DI coverage. Of course, your situation is just like that of most people: your work is sedentary; you are healthy; and the likelihood of disability is small, right? Think again.
One Man's Most Important Sale
Not long ago, it was hard to find a life agent who didn't have his or her own DI policy. After all, DI was presented as an integral part of nearly every client's insurance plan. Agents were thoroughly indoctrinated and wouldn't be caught without DI coverage. In fact, Ron Bennett, CLU, ChFC, principal of Disability Insurance Services, was just such a guy. "It never crossed my mind not to buy it," he says. "I lived it, breathed it, and believed in it."
And thank God he did. Thirty years and a few policy enhancements later, he was diagnosed with cancer at age 54. Even then, as a DI expert, he refused to accept that he was disabled. He didn't file a claim and struggled to keep working through the fog and exhaustion of chemotherapy. Eventually, he persevered, got better, and kept working, never collecting a dime of the DI benefits he'd paid premiums on for the past three decades. Then, a few months later, the disease struck again, more aggressively the second time around. His chemo dosage was quadrupled and there was no longer any denying the inevitable disability.
The rest of Ron's story will warm your heart and your clients' hearts, too. When his ability to work became even further impaired under the strain of his cancer treatment, he reluctantly filed a disability claim, not expecting any extraordinary outcomes. Ron's adjuster reviewed his medical file and discovered that in fact, his doctor considered him totally disabled months earlier during his first round of treatment. Despite the fact that Ron had continued in his responsibilities as a business owner, the disability insurance carrier paid full benefits retroactively for his first period of disability. Then, it continued paying the claim without the penalty of another elimination period for his second period of disability.
Residual Benefits Came Through
It gets even better. During Ron's two-year period of treatment, his income increased because his business was growing. However, because Ron was a business owner, the increased income was not clear-cut. The carrier opted for the "generous" interpretation and paid residual benefits, despite the increased income. The benefits Ron received exceeded the premiums he had paid over the preceding 30 years.
Today, Ron is a persuasive seller of DI because he has a story -- not just the words, but also the passion, emotion, and desire to make sure that others don't go without this crucial protection that safeguarded him and his family in their worst hour of need. He believes in the product and in the integrity of the industry. He explains, "So many people believe that the insurers will do everything possible to deny claims and minimize payments. Some carriers may be that way, but in my experience, the opposite is true. I think insurance companies are largely run by people just like you and me, who get up every day with the goal of doing the right thing."
Ron offers this advice for agents: "You don't have to be disabled to feel passionate about DI insurance. You just need to connect with people. We've all been sick, at least for short periods. We all know someone who has been disabled. Use their stories. Use my story. Log on to life-line.org, the Web site for the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE), and use its stories.
"Stories illustrate the need for DI better than any statistic. Statistics are good for grabbing attention, but they're forgettable. People don't forget stories. They ponder them, share them and ultimately act on them. Your job as an agent is to protect others from risk and exposure. The biggest risk and exposure your clients face is disability. So, why do most clients only have a life insurance policy? Get your story straight and then tell it. But make sure your story starts with you."
Ron also has this advice about product use: "Don't get caught up in the bells and whistles of policy design. Sure, everyone wants a Mercedes, but it's OK to start with any vehicle. Even a policy that just pays for two years is better than nothing at all. Keep it affordable and realistic for your clients."
Another Story to Live By
Lynn Johnson, CLU, ChFC, began her insurance career in the 1980s as a life agent. By 1984, she was selling DI and in 1988, she made her most important sale -- she bought her first DI policy. For Lynn, it was an obvious choice. "There wasn't any defining event or experience -- it just seemed apparent that if I lost my ability to earn a living, my choices would be severely limited," she says. "I didn't want to be in a position of relying on someone else to support me."
Less than 10 years later, that obvious choice paid off. In a waterskiing accident, Lynn suffered an injury to her lumbar spine. She endured three years of pain before finally undergoing an open lumbar micro discectomy. For months, Lynn could only lie down or stand. She could not sit down, which meant she couldn't drive a car. Could your income withstand months of no driving, no sitting, and enduring constant pain? Fortunately, Lynn didn't have to answer that question. Her disability policies provided the protection she needed to recover from her injury without the added stress of financial burdens.
"I have always recognized the fact that next to your health, your greatest asset is your ability to earn a living," Lynn says. "I am passionate about the responsibility you have to take care of yourself. It's nice to think you will always be provided for, but no one has a crystal ball. You owe it to yourself to protect that asset. We all have worked hard to be where we are and it is not practical to assume everything will just work out."
Lynn also stresses the importance of explaining residual benefits during the sales presentation. "In my interviews with clients, I emphasize that one can suffer a significant economic loss without being totally disabled," she says. "I ask clients to imagine something that sets you back but doesn't take you out, such as I experienced with my back injury."
Lynn is amazed at the number of people who have life insurance but no disability coverage. Many people are helping others through life insurance, but have never stopped to help themselves by getting DI coverage. "The bottom line is that I want to make a difference, and that desire creates the drive for me to encourage people to protect themselves," she says. "I encourage those in this business who want to make a difference in people's lives, to begin with their own income protection plan."
Have You Made Your Most Important DI Sale?
Today, almost no one exclusively sells DI. Producers sell health and personal lines and life, and occasionally throw in some DI for good measure. It's become easier for agents to push the need for DI coverage back in the priority line. It's not uncommon to see agents offering coverage to their clients that they haven't purchased for themselves. The key word there is offer. They offer it, but rarely make a sale. The reason is simple. There's no story, no passion, no personal connection. Clients can sniff out a "cold" sell faster than an agent can open a briefcase.
Yes, statistics will grab attention, but only momentarily. Then, most clients will explain them away, citing inapplicable sources, different circumstances, and a host of other scenarios. So what will move clients past every objection, motivate them to ignore everything else competing for their resources, and pull out their checkbooks? One thing: the story you tell -- starting with your own.
Personal connection is the secret ingredient of marketing and sales success stories. Have you ever noticed how many TV commercials show pets, kids, grandparents, and families? Stories, personal connections, and emotions sell. What stories are you sharing with clients? Does your sales presentation contain these compelling elements?
o When and how you purchased your first DI policy;
o Why you may have procrastinated and what made you finally decide to get coverage;
o The moment you knew that DI was so important that it deserved a portion of your household's budget (often this is from interaction with another disabled person or client);
o How DI helped you (or someone else) through a difficult period when you (or they) were unable to work;
o A time when you or a family member were so ill that it was not possible to go to work.
Tell your story. Tell Ron's and Lynn's stories. Tell them with the passion, the emotion, and the desire to make sure your clients and their families don't go without this crucial protection that will safeguard them in their time of greatest need. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, at age 32, a person's chance of becoming disabled for 90 days is 6.5 times greater than his or her chance of death, and each year, one in eight people suffers disability. The fact is that you and your clients need DI coverage more than you need life coverage.
Make the most important sale of your life. It will spark future sales and success. You know what to do. Open the door to your future!
Daniel C. Steenerson, CLU, ChFC, RHU, is president of Disability Insurance Services, Inc., a national disability brokerage agency he founded in 1997 to specialize in assisting producers with case design and sourcing of multi-life and individual non-cancelable disability policies. Mr. Steenerson began his insurance career more than 25 years ago as a brokerage representative for Paul Revere Life and won the company's Rookie of the Year award in his first year. He later served for 14 years as Paul Revere's brokerage general manager for San Diego.
