Sales Blog for National Agents Alliance

Married couples and families are the first demographic to come to mind when we think of people who would buy life insurance. But, according to a Pew Research study, only 51 percent of American adults are married.

While that statistic doesn’t mention whether those singles have any dependents, it’s pretty safe to say that is a huge pool of customers that shouldn’t be ignored. Single individuals are people who still need National Agents Alliance’s help in understanding the importance of life insurance.

While some people are better off financially than others, and have the cash to cover final expenses and cover any debt that they may have; chances are that there are more people who don’t have that luxury.

In order to find out how you can help a single individual LifeHealthPro.com has revealed some questions that you can ask to in order to help provide life insurance protection:

• Do you provide financial support for aging parents or siblings?
• Do you have substantial debt you wouldn’t want to pass on to surviving family members if you were to die prematurely?
• Did family members pay for your education?

If they answer yes to any of these questions, then life insurance is something they definitely should consider.  In the event of an untimely death, this will provide peace of mind knowing that their children’s tuition will still get paid, their elderly parents will still receive the nursing care that they require and their family will not be left with a pile of debt.

The economic climate has also made “permanent life insurance an attractive asset class for the purpose of building a secure long-term rate of return for safe money assets. Cash value in traditional life insurance may provide a 3 percent to 5 percent long-term rate of return over a 20-year period. This can provide singles with money for opportunities, emergencies and retirement,” LifeHealthPro.com reports.

Furthermore, it’s important to express that the cost of purchasing life insurance is lower at young ages, which also allows them to protect their insurability for the future.

These are all valid reasons you need to express to your clients as to why life insurance is something they should seriously consider and how National Agents Alliance can help them.  Now, as Andy Albright would say, “Hammer Down!”

A really good source of business for agents at National Agents Alliance is senior citizens. Around the age of 50, many people start to see their term life insurance policy come to an end. This is a great time for agents to do some teaching about how insurance will still be essential to the senior’s financial future. Should the senior renew their term life insurance policy, start a permanent policy, like whole life insurance, or should they skip life insurance altogether and focus on saving?

The answer to these questions will depend greatly on each person’s unique circumstance and what they desire for their financial future. This is where the NAA agent can deliver a great service to someone at the crossroads of their financial planning.  With the life expectancy of the average person being greater today and people carrying more bills than ever, it may make sense to keep a life insurance policy as long as they qualify.

Another term life insurance policy is definitely an option, but the senior would have to qualify for an affordable premium by being healthy and finding the right insurer. An additional consideration is that the client could likely come to the end of this term as well leaving this decision to be made again. So, many people will do best with traditional whole life, which has fixed premiums and lasts a lifetime. This type of policy will build cash value and the savings are backed by the insurance company’s high-grade bonds and mortgages and they accumulate interest and often have dividends. Whole life is among some of the few long term fixed income investments that keep up with increasing interest rates, paying 15 times more than a bank savings account. It may be more expensive though, so be sure to look at a client’s particular budget to see if it would work.

At National Agents Alliance, our agents are taught to reach these people before that term policy expires because most of those policies allow for conversion to a permanent policy without proof of insurability – an important issue for older clients.  When you do that you now have a client for life, one that probably has children and grandchildren who are all potential clients!

Barron’s Insurance Dictionary defines persistency as the “Percentage of life insurance or other insurance coverage remaining in force; percentage of policies which may have not lapsed. The larger the percentage, the wider the persistency.” It is a part of sales that is often overlooked. To be profitable in insurance, it isn’t enough just to sell your product to one person; you should also try to retain your customers.

Now, think about persistency for a moment. What’s the very first thing that pops into your head? Most likely your answer would not be marriage.  I mean, what would persistency have to do with matrimony? They seem further in relation than your cousin and a kumquat.

But the relationship between a client and an agent is just that, a relationship. It takes courtship, compromise, and commitment for any contract to be signed.  Nevertheless, walking down the aisle and saying your “I dos” isn’t the end of the marriage. Marriage is really a commitment and, in several ways, same goes with a client. If the client doesn’t feel you care, there may be a rift … or maybe “divorce.” In the world of insurance sales, that means cancelled contracts, which may result in the dreaded charge back.

In order to have great persistency, then, you should treat your agent-client relationships with pride. Your customers trust you, they’ve created a resolve for persistency with you, and they anticipate being treated as such. Here are a few methods to keep them happy after the contract is signed.

Keep in contact. Communication is crucial to a good relationship. Keep that bond powerful by reaching out to your customers. Express care for them outside of the context of the company. A simple birthday card or phone call can do wonders. If you’re trying to find an automated answer, NAA’s KIT letters can go further toward showing your clients just how much you care.

Earn their loyalty. When you love someone, it’s usually not just for one reason. It would be their sense of humor, their personality, or their smile. In terms of your clients, the relationship also needs to be multi-tiered. Having multiple contracts with them is a wonderful approach to retain persistency. The more policies they through you, the more likely they are to retain their policies and ask you for advice about future investments. When you help a customer once, they are just a customer. Help them again and they become a valued client. Help them a third time and you have a client for life.

What do you do in the event that the passion of this relationship has cooled and you’ve recently been “divorced?” It is possible to still salvage your relationship by contacting the client and asking why they cancelled. A small reminder will help them remember why they signed up in the first place, or perhaps it will reveal different problems you could help them with. Rekindle that spark of passion and you might be able to save the relationship.

Remember; persistency is a lot like a marriage. You’ve already devoted to one another. Through any time to show your customers how much you care, and seek out opportunities to “romance” them further, you’ll have a lengthy, fruitful relationship together.

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In business selling talent matters much less than effort applied to learning and mastering the skills that lead to success. Those who succeed outwork those who don’t every single time. We can all be successful at sales because effort is a choice and who better to learn from than National Agents Alliance.

Practicing for hours is not always feasible, but you should make the commitment and get in the habit of practicing something every day. We are always offering training, pushing everyone to read and available when you have questions. When you practice, don’t just read or review training material in your mind, practice by saying it out loud or even on your friends and family. Learning is contextual, and what you learn by reading doesn’t really help your ability to use the information in a conversation and a potential sale.

Clients don’t care about your story they care about their issues and getting them resolved. They care about the objections they have when they consider purchasing your product.

The client will be thinking things like:

• “Will this work for my situation?”
• “What benefit will this have for my family?”
• “How can I trust this person?”

It’s your job to anticipate their objections and use the training available to help the client understand you are here to help and answer any questions they have to make them feel comfortable with the product. After all helping the client is the main objective so be honest, helpful and let the client know you care about their situation no matter what it is.

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