This is the third year I’ve published a life insurance agent’s to-do list. The list represents my humble attempt to suggest ways for agents to be more productive and effective in the year ahead.
A few notes before I begin. My list should be most helpful to agents who work with the merely well-to-do. I first defined that part of the demographic in “Life Insurance Planning for the Merely Well-to-Do” and have written about it many times since.
My list, which largely involves refinements to various aspects of an agent’s practice, isn’t intended to and surely won’t bring about tectonic shifts in an agent’s business. But my suggestions could help at the margin, allowing an agent to attain that incremental measure of success that’s eluded them until now.
Finally, I urge readers to revisit (or check out for the first time) my earlier lists, much of which I’ll incorporate by reference into this year’s version. Now, let’s get started.
Revisit, Reevaluate, Reassess and Respond
As suggested in my 2024 list, look around to see if you notice any changes in your prospects’ attitudes, priorities, concerns or financial constraints. Jot down your thoughts and then ask yourself, “Given what I’m seeing out there, am I still working in the right market or maybe the right part of the right market? How well do my messaging, product offering, service capacity, licensing, professional designations and certifications align with my market? Does my carrier or brokerage general agency (BGA) give me the breadth of product and support I require in today’s world, or am I forced to make my prospects see their needs and solutions in my carrier or BGA’s terms? Am I closing a reasonable percentage of my cases? When I close a case, have I sold all the insurance I should have sold? When I lost a case last year, why did I lose?” On any of these counts, to the extent that you’re not satisfied that you’re doing the right things and have the right support services in place, determine what needs to change and make a plan to effect that change.
Speaking of changes in your market, are your prospects and clients getting older, meaning they’re moving on from an accumulation mindset to one of conservation? This sea change in prospects’ mindsets, needs and priorities offers tremendous opportunities for agents with the knowledge, skill sets, product mix, resources and support to serve these prospects. To the extent you need specialized training or additional resources in this area, where will you get it?
Reassess Social Media Messaging
Before you post something provided by your carrier, BGA or anyone else, take a hard look at it and ask these questions. First, who will read the piece, and what will it do for you beyond just getting your name out there? Second, is the piece professionally done, technically correct, free of typos and grammatical miscues and so forth? Many aren’t, and posting such an item can reflect poorly on you. Third, does the piece deliver on that attention-getting title, or is it all wind-up and no pitch, let alone a bait and switch to the author’s real agenda? Fourth, does the piece tell the reader why and how to contact you?
Sharpen Interview Skills
Over the years, I’ve heard successful agents say something like,” The sale is made in the fact-finding interview, not in the product recommendation.” That’s because only in the interview can the agent make the prospect realize that something in the current situation is seriously problematic and that the agent can offer a way to make things right. In the trade, it’s called “disturbing,” a term many find beneath them and, well, disturbing. By the way, the same principle applies to estate planners trying to sell wealth transfer strategies.
The interview is also where the agent can introduce the concepts of visualization and optionality that I discuss in “Life Insurance Planning for the Merely Well-to-Do.” These concepts enable the agent to explore more deeply and effectively the ways and means by which life insurance can bring not only more security for the prospect and family but also opportunity.
The more agents I talk to these days, the more I hear exclusively about the sale itself, meaning what they sold or how they illustrated the product, but the less I hear about how they conducted the fact-finding interview to uncover the full range of what life insurance can do for the prospect and family. I used to think that the art of interviewing and constructively disturbing prospects was taught in agent training. No longer, apparently. But it can be taught in agents’ study groups or meetings run by carriers and BGAs, if they can get away from presenting sales themes and product updates long enough to devote time to teaching. Agents may have to take matters into their own hands and build informal networks for this training.
I’ll close this segment with an observation. An agent who’s done a comprehensive memorandum of instructions for their spouse/family will be a far more effective interviewer than one who hasn’t. That’s because, while preparing their own memorandum, an agent will realize how much more there is to explore with a prospect than they’ve been doing up to now. And once they start exploring those areas, they’ll sell more insurance and sell it more easily. They’ll also get more referrals from existing clients. I don’t expect BGAs to run meetings to prepare memoranda of instructions, so this would be a good topic for an agent’s study group.
Focus Marketing on Personal Financial Planning
In “Is Your Marketing Message Missing the Mark?” I argued that focusing on estate planning may not be the best pathway to selling life insurance. Now, I’ll try to get my point across differently. I’ve noticed that prospective life insurance buyers apply their own theory of relativity to the purchase: “If the check you’re asking me to write will only benefit my relatives, I’m reluctant to write it.” That’s exactly what the emphasis on incorporating life insurance as part of an estate plan is doing. It’s making an already difficult sale even more so. Why? First, it tells the prospect to spend a lot of time and money on something that they’d just as soon put off until another day. That’s especially true for clients who are far more concerned about the longevity of their money for themselves than as a legacy for their children if they’re even interested in that at all. Second, even if they’re willing to proceed, it could take months to get the plan in place. Third, it’s an approach that’s far more likely than not to end up in a sale of term insurance than permanent insurance. That’s because the estate-planning process is nowhere near as likely as the financial planning process to illuminate the prospect’s more comprehensive needs and objectives that can be served by life insurance. It’s also because the estate planner could weigh in with their view that term insurance is all the client needs. Yet, the push by agents, carriers and BGAs to get prospects to link the life insurance purchase to estate planning continues unabated. Don’t follow that path. It’s a bridge to nowhere.
Review Process for Product Selection and Design
Assume you’re at the stage in the sales process where the prospect’s seriously considering buying a policy for a specific reason or purpose. Maybe the policy will provide basic financial security for the family. Or perhaps it’s a vehicle for tax-efficient accumulation and distribution at retirement. Well-interviewed prospects who’ve put some parameters around the planning objective will create their own criteria for success. And the astute selection and design of the product could be the difference between accomplishing that mission or not.
Frankly, I don’t believe that most agents and their carriers or BGAs are all that interested in fine-tuning the selection, design and funding pattern of products for success in the given planning application. But that may be shortsighted. First, there’s the matter of suitability and best interest, a topic covered to a fare-thee-well by commentators and those selling services to help agents comply with whatever the requirements of regulation and best interest may be. Second, if an agent is competing for the business, the ability to interview the prospect insightfully and then show the prospect (and any onlooking professional advisor) how they selected and designed the product for success in the prospect’s planning application may be the difference between winning and losing the case.
Revisit Professional Referral Network
This is the only suggestion I’ll make here for agents working in the advanced markets. Agents trying to network with estate planners need to be able to interview them to determine if they’re worthy of the agents’ time and referrals. I wrote about this in “How Life Insurance Professionals Can Screen Estate Planners for Better Networking,” but it now takes added importance after the election and the likely elimination of a tax law sunset that would have spurred liquidity sales. Agents shouldn’t refer prospects to estate-planning attorneys who can’t pass the audition I describe in that article. Over the years, I’ve found few agents who could or even would, conduct that kind of a screening interview. Maybe they felt they didn’t need to. I suspect that it was most often due to a lack of knowledge on the agent’s part or a matter of culture of ingrained but misplaced deference to the attorneys. Those days should be over. There’s too much at stake now. This is a great topic for role plays in agents’ study groups.
I hope to follow this article with a to-do list for agents in the advanced markets, especially those who are having trouble coming to grips with the loss of their key marketing message, the sunset.
