They say hindsight is 20/20. That’s certainly true in disability insurance sales. When we look back on all the sales we didn’t close, we wish we would have known then what we know now. Many of those prospects would have purchased a DI policy, if only we’d presented things a little differently.
Here’s the good news: You don’t have to make all those rookie mistakes. We’ve reached into the sales vaults. We’ve interviewed our in-house experts and the most successful DI sales professionals in the industry. Finally, we’ve captured all their best advice and sales know-how in this Ultimate Guide.
Read it. Know it. Live it. These 7 ideas will change your results.
Today, we’re giving you a sneak peek of our first three tips. If you’d like to know the next four, download our all-new guide!
1. Don’t tell me what it is, tell me what it does.
Let’s say you have a meeting set up with a prospect who is an orthopedic surgeon. This potential client is looking into an individual DI plan because many of his colleagues have one, but he does not have a working knowledge of plans on the market.
If you start the conversation with “I can get you a specialty-specific own- occupation policy with a very strong residual rider,” how much of that information will the doctor understand? Think of it this way: how would you react if your dentist told you that you have “an infection in the pulp chamber of your second bicuspid?” What does that mean? What do I need to do to fix it?
Technical terms can be confusing, and often times they make us feel nervous or scared if we need to make a decision. Instead of blasting them with industry jargon, try to converse at their level. Say: “I can get you a disability policy that will protect your paycheck, even if you aren’t fully disabled or if you can perform a different medical specialty.” Now you’re speaking in terms that anyone can understand. This goes a long way establishing trust with your clients.
2. Overcome price objections by comparing the lowest cost denominator with the highest payout denominator.
Individual disability insurance is admittedly not a cheap product. Here is a sample of a case for a 32 year-old female client. She makes $100,000
annually as a civil engineer. When you compare the annual premium (just under $2,100) to the monthly benefit ($5,000), there does not seem to be much in terms of value.
However, most clients pay monthly rather than annually. For an individual who makes around $100,000 per year, a monthly premium of $183 is much more palatable. Take that a step further, and it’s only $6.03 per day. This effect is magnified if we factor in that the potential payout for this plan, which is around $1.8 million (30 years of $60,000 per year).
Tell the client, “Of course, we hope you never become disabled. But, isn’t it nice to know that if you’re ever unable to work due to a disability, you could still potentially earn nearly $2 million dollars in your working years — all thanks to this minimal investment of $6.03 per day?”
3. Compare the odds of loss.
We don’t think twice about obtaining many insurance products. Life, auto, and health, among others, are seen as must-haves (and some are required by law). Our most popular “Wealth Preservation Plan” sales script tackles that subject with two main points:
The value of IDI
Let’s expand on our example above for the 32 year-old engineer.
| Asset | Value | Annual Protection Cost |
Daily Protection |
| Vehicles | $65,000 | $1,200 | $3.29 |
| House | $450,000 | $1,000 | $2.74 |
| Total | $545,000 | $2,200 | $6.03 |
| Paycheck | $3,500,000 | $2,200 | $6.03 |
In this somewhat conservative example, our engineer is paying about $6 per day to protect $545,000 worth of assets. The issue with most asset protection planning is that it does not usually account for a paycheck as an asset. In reality, the paycheck is our most important asset. Without the ability to work, she would miss out on the potential to earn about 3.5 million dollars!
Waiver of Premium
The Wealth Protection Plan also raises another crucial point — how would our client pay for all of these insurance premiums with no paycheck (let alone the assets themselves)? An Individual DI policy acts as a waiver of premium for all of the other insurances, in that she can still keep paying to protect her other assets in the event a disability prevents her from working.
Put it to use
Click here to download an in-depth look at the WPP, including a sales script and a worksheet you can personalize for your clients.
Now that you know our first three DI sales tips, don’t stop. Keep the momentum going by downloading our full report here.
