Before your prospects decide to purchase disability insurance, they’ll want to see some quotes. Some agents sabotage themselves at this point. The following three examples show the right way, wrong way, and downright disastrous way to go about providing disability insurance quotes.
Three Approaches to DI Quotes
To illustrate how disability insurance quote strategies can impact the final results of your sales efforts, let’s take a look at how three fictional agents approached the task. All three were trying to sell an individual disability insurance policy to prospects who were interested in coverage but unsure if it was worth the cost.
Sandra knows many people decide against buying disability insurance due to price objections. She also believes this is a short-sighted mistake and likes to address the issue head on. Before providing disability insurance quotes, Sandra has a frank discussion about money to see how much the prospect is willing and able to pay. She finds out that her prospect has some student loan debt, but not much. Saving for retirement is a much bigger priority for him. Any money he spends on disability insurance will take away from money he could have put aside for retirement.
Sandra also has some handouts ready to make the financial case for disability insurance. These show how coverage provides a good value by protecting policyholders’ most valuable asset – their paychecks – and how locking in good rates while a person is still young and healthy can save money in the long run. The prospect has some concerns about the cost, but these handouts seem to help.
Sandra obtains five disability insurance quotes for her prospect. As she knows her prospect is worried about the cost, she wants to show him a bare bones option that provides minimum protection at the lowest possible cost as well as some other options that provide a great value by offering additional benefits for just a little more. She avoids any extra bells and whistles that her client won’t be interested in because she doesn’t want to bloat the price, but she does include some options with retirement benefits riders that could ease the prospect’s concerns about saving for retirement.
When the disability quotes are ready, Sandra shows them to her prospect. She takes time to go over each one, explaining the strengths and weaknesses. Then, Sandra asks her prospect to select one. He selects an option with a middle-of-the-road cost and some retirement saving benefits. Sandra finalizes the underwriting and seals the deal.
Since Max has dealt with price objections, he tries to avoid discussing the cost of disability insurance as much as possible. Instead, he focuses on the available riders. As a result, he’s unsure what his prospect’s budget is. Since the prospect is interested in almost all of the riders Max recommends, Max obtains a couple of disability insurance quotes for policies with all the bells and whistles.
The prospect loves the terms but balks at the cost. It’s much more than she expected and she’s unsure it’s a smart investment.
Max points out that the policies have all the desired riders, implying that a less expensive policy might not be worthwhile. The prospect goes back and forth. In the end, she never makes a decision. After several weeks, Max gives up on the sale.
Ashley knows her prospect is worried about cost because he has brought up price objections multiple times. Each time he tries to bring up cost, Ashley dismisses his concerns and diverts the conversation.
The prospect reluctantly agrees to look at some quotes. Ashley secures one disability insurance quote for a robust policy. The prospect says it’s simply too expensive and does not respond to any of Ashley’s follow-up attempts.
How to Seal the Deal
When prospects look at quotes, many are still on the fence about buying coverage. A great quote that meets the prospect’s coverage and financial needs can seal the deal, whereas an ill-suited quote can cause the sale to come to a grinding halt. Even prospects who were planning to buy coverage may change their minds if they receive quotes that don’t match their needs – for example, if the cost is much higher or the terms are much more restrictive.
- Dig into your prospects’ needs. Your prospects might not know enough about disability insurance to articulate which riders they want or know how much they should expect to pay. It’s your job to ask questions to figure this out. In addition to determining how much prospects can afford to spend on disability insurance each month, ask questions about their jobs to determine which definition of disability they need and about their financial goals to determine which riders will most appeal to them.
- Uncover potential underwriting problems. Past medical issues, a smoking habit, and risky hobbies are some common factors that can cause carriers to charge more or reject applications. Find out about any possible issues ahead of time. This will enable you to approach carriers that are most likely to offer coverage for a particular prospect and set reasonable expectations.
- Secure quotes customized to each prospect’s needs. Don’t present the same quotes to everyone – pick and choose riders to match your prospects’ situations. For example, if a prospect is primarily concerned about providing for his or her family, a policy with survivor benefits may be attractive.
- Pay attention to the cost. Since most of your prospects will care about cost, you should, too. Of course, you’d like to receive a big commission on a pricy policy, but if you lose the sale, neither you nor the prospect will gain anything. Stick to the prospect’s budget and avoid riders that increase the cost without meeting your prospect’s specific needs.
- Provide options. You can include different levels of coverage to meet different budgets. Three is a good minimum number of disability insurance quotes; five is even better.
- Take time to explain the quotes. If you don’t provide an explanation, prospects might just go with the cheapest option, even if one of the other quotes is much better value. Discuss the pros and cons of each option and address any questions or concerns your prospect has.
- Ask which policy the prospect wants. How you frame questions can make a difference. Instead of asking prospects WHETHER they want to move forward, ask them WHICH quote they want to pick.
Increase Your Disability Insurance Quoting Success
Finding leads and pitching to prospects takes a lot of time and effort. If you’re losing sales after providing quotes, you might think that’s just the way it goes – you win some, you lose some. That may be true, but by setting up your disability insurance quotes for success, you can win more and lose less.
A disability insurance needs analysis can help you craft disability insurance quotes that lead to results. If you’re thinking about cross-selling disability insurance, a disability insurance needs analysis is also a great way to find out what your clients are looking for in coverage. Download the DI Needs Analysis Form.
