Advisors Blog

We’ve compiled a list of simple selling tips to help you 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 Life Insurance 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. 

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 rising cost of care can devastate your clients’ retirement nest egg if not properly protected. Our specialists can guide you through the fast-changing world of LTC products which include traditional plans, hybrid plans, asset-based solutions and more. 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 an annual payout that will last their lifetime. Fixed Annuities are for clients who want guaranteed growth. Fixed Annuities have a similar structure to Indexed Annuities. Get started by using our Annuity Fact Finder, 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 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. 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.

GBS Insurance and Financial Services, Inc. do not provide investment, tax, or legal advice. The information presented here is not specific to any individual’s personal circumstances. To the extent that this material concerns tax matters, it is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by a taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by law. Each taxpayer should seek independent advice from a tax professional based on his or her individual circumstances.

These materials are provided for general information and educational purposes based upon publicly available information from sources believed to be reliable—we cannot assure the accuracy or completeness of these materials. The information in these materials may change at any time and without notice.

FOR FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL USE ONLY

© 2022 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.