Advisors Blog

Thanks to all our advisors for making 2017 such a success! As we embark on 2018, we’ve compiled a list of simple selling tips to help you kickoff the New Year, and reach your fullest potential. These basic concepts can help you increase the size of your cases, your application count and make it another banner year!

1. Maximize Income Protection by Covering the Full Need

Are you leaving gaps in life coverage by not covering the full financial need? We see bread winners often under-insured if the income-multiple method is used to calculate the amount of insurance coverage.  If the head of the household earns $125,000 and is purchasing a $500,000 policy, then we might ask, "Is it appropriate to replace the income for only 4 years?" Many financial planners try to replace 5 to 10 years’ worth of income.  In fact, for younger clients, carriers will offer 20 or even 30 times income as the maximum coverage amount. This is especially appropriate if there are multiple children, a non-working spouse in the household, a mortgage, college needs and so on. Use our GBS Quick Estimator to help clients work through the numbers, and get to the most appropriate coverage amount.

2. Work Faster with Paperless eApps and Drop Ticket Applications

Most of our carriers now offer some form of streamlined application process that eliminates all paperwork by using an online solution. In some cases, the insurance carrier will conduct an interview with the client and complete the entire application over the phone.  All the agent needs to do is request the phone interview to get the process started.

3. Eliminate* Exams with Accelerated Underwriting Programs

Several of our carriers offer a “no-exam” process, especially for younger clients and smaller face amounts, although some carriers could go up to age 60 and $1,000,000 face amount. These programs are designed to cut costs and reduce the application cycle time for otherwise healthy clients who might not need an exam. 

*Note – An exam may be requested at the underwriter’s discretion. Clients should be informed that exams are “optional.” It's best to do a little pre-underwriting on these cases to see if the client is likely to pass with flying colors. Use this checklist as a starting point.  

4. Don’t Forget Coverage for Couples  

Are you routinely offering coverage to both spouses when talking to couples?  Non-working spouses or stay-at-home spouses add significant economic value to any household. Spouses do not need employment income to qualify for life insurance – many carriers will offer the same amount to both working and non-working spouses, up to a maximum of $500,000 or even $1,000,000 in some cases.  So, as long as you are insuring the bread-winner why not double the sale and offer coverage to both at the same time?

5. Don’t Forget Long Term Care

You’ve heard the statistics over and over again - 70% of people over age 65 will require some care at some point in their lives, but how many of your clients have actually purchased any LTC protection? The market for traditional LTC plans has been shrinking over the last decade, with many carriers plagued by in-force price increases - but the good news is, the hybrid and asset-based LTC plan market is booming.  If you haven't seen a proposal for a UL with an LTC rider or a single-premium LTC plan, ask your brokerage manager for one on your next client or even get one on yourself!

6. Enhance Your Annuity Sales with the Latest Riders and Rates

Indexed Annuities have many of the same value-added benefit riders that you’ve seen on Variable Annuities (VAs). Living Benefit Riders (referred to as GMIBs) can provide clients a higher annual payout that will last their lifetime. With little to no risk involved, Indexed Annuities are a great way to invest funds without direct exposure to the market.

Fixed Annuities are a great alternative to CDs, and perfect for clients who want guaranteed growth with no risk. Fixed annuities have a similar structure to Indexed Annuities but with three or four times the rate of return within the same time period. Click here for more information, or contact our GBS Annuity Director. 

7. Disability - Income Protection

You’ve insured the life, but don’t forget to insure the INCOME.  The chance of becoming disabled is actually higher than the chance of death for people in their working years.  We’d be happy to include a Disability Income (DI) quote on any case. Get started by using our GBS Disability Income Fact Finder. DI business is a great source of renewals for agents who write even just a handful of policies each year.

8. Stay on TARGET

Are you leaving revenue on the table by not illustrating full target premium in year one? Many ULs have a higher target premium than normally illustrated when showing lowest level pay premiums to 100+. Some ULs have a so-called “rolling target” that allows additional commission paid on full target for premiums paid in year two, but most do not.  Younger clients can often benefit from a 10-pay, 20-pay, or pay-to-65. Who wants to pay a premium while retired anyway?  Ask your brokerage manager for a short-pay or “full target” illustration.

9. Show the Highest Rates of Return

The death benefit proceeds from a life insurance contract can offer relatively large Internal Rates of Return (IRRs), which are calculated by looking at the premiums going in and the resulting death benefits.  Virtually all of our permanent life insurance illustrations can be ran with an IRR calculation, and you might be surprised to learn that IRRs of 9-11% are common if death occurs at, or near life expectancy.  In other words, for the average person living an average life span, the rate of returns for life insurance often outpace that of other riskier investments.  (Relatively speaking, the earlier death occurs, the higher the IRRs.)  Survivorship IRRs can be even higher.  Ask us to include the IRR report on your next illustration.

Examples of IRRs for GUL* to age 100 – assuming for death at age 85:

Male 60 Preferred 6.83%
Male 70 Standard  8.57%
Female 60 Preferred 8.10%
Female 70 Standard 11.03%

*Protective Advantage Choice UL $1,000,000

10. Prepare Your Client for Their Paramedical Exam 

Help reduce the number of applications that get approved at a rate worse than expected or even declined, simply because the paramedical exam didn’t go as well as it could have.  We recommend showing each client how to prepare for their life insurance exam to avoid surprises. Review our convenient Paramedical Exam Prep Guide with your clients before their exams.

BONUS!

11. Social Media 

Are you getting your feet wet with promoting your business via social media?  Facebook now reports over TWO BILLION active monthly users and as a company with a market cap of over $550 Billion, they are now among the five largest U.S. companies. Facebook also owns Instagram which is the hottest social media platform of the last few years and now boasts over 700 Million monthly users. Your community likely has a local Facebook group that allows businesses to promote themselves at no charge to you.  Search Facebook for the name of your nearby communities and get involved in groups that will allow free advertising. If you can’t find such a group in your area, you can easily start one at no cost.  Once you’ve learned how to use the platform, you can graduate to paid Facebook advertising which can be micro-targeted to any demographic you choose for under $50.

For quotes or more information on any of these topics, please feel free to contact your brokerage manager at any time.