Want to achieve two, three or even four sales with just one effort? It’s easier than you might expect. Lead with a discussion about enhancing the company’s employee benefits by offering voluntary multi-life disability. It’s a low-cost / high-value solution that many business owners will easily embrace.
Once you’ve increased the owner’s knowledge of the risk of disability, segue into a discussion about the security of the business owner and the business. This can lead to sales of individual DI, business overhead expense DI and buy-sell DI.
Interested? Read on get your action plan!
Most employee benefit packages don’t include LTD.
Employee benefit packages are crucial to company’s ability to attract and retain talent. However, when it comes to crafting an employee benefit plan, budget is often the limitation. Add in a lack of knowledge and expertise, and it’s not that surprising that less than 40 percent of full-time workers have access to group LTD. In addition, 69 percent do not have private disability insurance.
How can business owners protect their employees?
A voluntary multi-life disability insurance program will provide paycheck protection for employees without expense to the employer. Employees appreciate the opportunity to purchase coverage at the worksite, usually through payroll deduction. Participation in a disability program is often close to 100 percent. A multi-life case is renewable source of new revenue and renewal commission for the advisor. For more about multi-life disability programs check out Guaranteed Standard Issue Disability Insurance: Good for your Practice.
When you help owners enhance their employee benefits packages, you also open the door for a conversation about protecting the business and the business owner from the risk of disability.
Income protection represents a major disconnect for business owners.
According to MassMutual’s 2015 Business Owner Perspectives study, the second most important business fundamental is protecting the business against the owner(s)’s death or disability. The ah-ha for financial professionals is that although seen as highly important for the business, it is often at the bottom of the owners’ priorities lists.
How can business owners protect themselves and their businesses?
A three-part program of Business Overhead Insurance, Individual Disability Insurance, and Buy-Sell disability insurance provides the business and owner complete protection.
Ask: How would the business continue if the owner is unable to work? How would vendors, rent, suppliers, etc. be paid? How would employees continue to receive their paychecks?
Business Expense Overhead (BOE) disability insurance provides for all these business obligations and more. The owner’s salary however, is not covered by BOE. An individual disability insurance policy is needed to protect the owner’s paycheck and can be either a part of the multi-life program or can be a stand-alone policy.
The final phase of the disability discussion is to prepare for the possibility that the disability is permanent and that the owner is unable to return to work. What is the business continuation plan for that situation? A Buy-Sell agreement, funded by a disability insurance policy, that outlines transfer of ownership in the event of a disability addresses the third element of a complete plan.
Become the employer’s go-to partner.
Because they are focused on the day-to-day operation of the business, business owners prefer to work with a partner that knows their business, and can attend to several aspects of the business not just one or two.
If you’re not offering disability insurance solutions, now is the time to add DI to your solution suite. Remember – you don’t have to be an expert. DIS can support several aspects of your practice. From quoting, to marketing, to co-selling, you can count on us to get involved at whatever level is right for you.
