While you can’t expect every prospect to sign on the dotted line, you should be doing everything in your power to make this outcome as likely as possible. You can’t control everything, but you can prime your disability insurance proposals for success. Here’s how.
#1: Make the need real.
Most people know they’re not invulnerable, but they may still have a hard time imagining themselves becoming injured or ill. Statistics are great, and you should definitely have some compelling ones on hand, but be ready for your clients to assume that they’ll be one of the lucky ones, or that if they do become disabled, it won’t be anytime soon.
- Share stories about individuals who have experienced disability and subsequent income loss. There’s a reason news reports of mass tragedies often focus on individuals. It’s hard to relate to statistics, but it’s easy to sympathize with people.
- Make it personal. Ask the client what would happen if they lost their ability to earn a paycheck. Encourage the client to consider the financial and emotional strain this would cause.
- Create urgency. No one can predict the future. Your client could become disabled in 40 years or in 40 days. This is why it’s important to prepare with disability insurance now. To get this point across, ask them if they’d wait to buy car insurance until after a crash. Of course, they wouldn’t.
#2: Anticipate problems.
Problems can come from two main sources – the client and the underwriter.
The client may raise price objections. People don’t like parting with their income. (This is why income protection is important in the first place!) Be ready for this. Before the presentation, explain that income protection usually costs about 3 percent of gross income. This way, the price tag doesn’t come as a shock.
Then show why this is reasonable by providing a low cost, high value comparison. What’s the expected daily premium? This is the lowest cost breakdown. What’s the lifetime earning potential? This is the highest value. When you put these two values today – dollars a day to protect a million-dollar lifetime income – it’s clear that disability insurance is a good deal.
But what if the client agrees – and then the application is denied? Asking about health problems and prescriptions can be awkward, but you need to know about anything that could complicate underwriting. This way, you can decide whether a Guaranteed Standard Issue policy would be more appropriate – before going through all the work of an application and the disappointment of rejection.
#3: Prepare for success – and failure.
If the client says yes, you want to be ready to go. Have an application for preferred carrier on hand and pre-filled with as much information as possible.
But even if you do everything right, the client may decide against paycheck protection. Be ready for this with a Waiver of Liability form. Explain that if the client ever becomes disabled, you don’t want to risk an errors and omissions suit for failing to provide important coverage. The form might cause the client to rethink. At the very least, it will protect you.
Ready to prime your disability insurance proposals for success? The Waiver of Liability Form, the Income Gap Diagram and a complete sales guide can be found in our Wealth Preservation Plan Sales Script. Download it here!
