Employee Benefit Broker: Selling Disability Insurance Will Maxamize Your Sales Success

As you know, employers who offer excellent benefits are more likely to keep valuable employees and attract new ones. The same idea holds true for employee benefits brokers - the quality and breadth of your benefits offerings is a key component to continued success. And now more than ever, income protection has become an important employee benefit that deserves consideration.

According to LIMRA's 2006 report, "The Value of Executive Benefits to Corporate Executives," 

• 21% of executives are concerned about losing their income
• 40% of executives are concerned about their standard of living
• 50% of executives do not have a financial advisor

According to MetLife's 2009 8th annual Employee Benefits Trends Study:

• Employee levels of concern about financial security have abated but are still high. They have not saved enough and worry about making ends meet.
• Since 2008, employees have taken steps toward greater retirement security. They recognize the need to take more control (54% vs. 46%); more have a formal retirement plan (47% vs. 39%); most stayed with their 401(k) contributions during the economic crisis.

These statistics show that employees are concerned about their income. Disability insurance is making a natural sell, both as a stand-alone voluntary coverage and as a smart supplement to group long term disability policies. Offering DI in addition to your other lines can help you build client loyalty, stay competitive and become more profitable.

Here's why countless employee benefits brokers are adding disability insurance to their toolboxes:

1. Easy Cross-Sell. Disability insurance is a crucial component of executive benefits, group benefit packages and voluntary offerings. You're already talking to HR professionals and business owners about benefits - just make sure your conversation includes income protection strategies.
2. Easy Differentiation. By becoming a disability insurance expert, you can differentiate yourself from other employee benefit producers and establish yourself as a convenient one-stop resource for your clients.
3. Easy Income. Brokers that sell DI enjoy generous commission rates, up to 70%. That means if you sell two "professional" cases each month at $4,500, your annual income could be $75,600 or $891,000 over a 10-year period. And with the highest renewal rate in the industry - between 5% and 15% - those commission dollars really add up.
4. Easy Answer to Declining Commissions. With healthcare reform underway, many employee benefit producers are already receiving carrier letters announcing commission cuts. Unless you're prepared for a lifestyle adjustment, it's a good idea to start augmenting your income streams now!
5. Easy Learning Curve. Don't believe the myth that disability insurance is too complicated to cross-sell. It's just not true - particularly if you partner with Disability Insurance Services. With our robust educational resources, automated quoting tools and comprehensive personal support, you'll be comfortable with DI in no time at all!
6. Easy Underwriting. When disability insurance is written on a guaranteed standard issue (GSI) basis, there's no medical underwriting involved. For brokers, that means fewer individual denials and more DI underwriting approvals!

So what are you waiting for? If you're an employee benefits broker, make DI your new cross-selling success story. When you sell disability insurance, you'll increase sales and build stronger relationships for a more profitable future.