Utilizing 40 years of real estate training and professional education experience, Florida real estate school Larson Educational Services is the premier provider of Florida real estate licensing, exam preparation, post-licensing, CAM licensing, mortgage loan originator licensing, and continuing education in Southwest Florida. Classes are available in Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, and online. We are an approved Florida Real Estate School (License #ZH1002299), Florida CAM School (License #PRE31), Florida Insurance School (License # 370501) and NMLS Approved Course Provider.
They also came of age under the shadow of America’s greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, which leads many of them to be apprehensive to invest in the stock market.
These dynamics create a unique demographic of people who may have a steady income they don’t yet know how to utilize.
This makes a wonderful opportunity for both clients and agents to provide them with life insurance services.
First, it’s good to understand the millennial mindset.
Different priorities
For some previous generations, starting life meant starting a career at the bottom of a ladder and working there until retirement, finding a spouse early, and having kids in their early 20s.
In general, millennials aren’t following this life formula.
Of course the housing market is out of millennials’ control, but when and if they start a family is largely a choice they are making.
Because they don’t have dependents or a mortgage, and they do have a mountain of debt, they may not see the need for life insurance.
The first step is to let them know that life insurance is not nearly as expensive as they may assume.
They may not see the value in getting coverage to support a spouse and children they do not yet have.
Three ways to help ease this opposition:
Instill the importance of starting early
Emphasize the relative affordability of life insurance
Contradict misinformation about life insurance
Starting early
Let hesitant millennials know that life insurance doesn’t just cover funeral expenses, but it can help cover so much more, such as lost income, debt, and an inheritance.
And remind them that their rates are lowest if they start their policy young.
Inform potential millennial clients that life insurance policies are very unique to each policy holder. If, for example, they’re thinking they don’t have the same financial needs as their parents (and therefore don’t need a policy) they can absolutely get a different plan.
If they are one of many new millennial entrepreneurs, perhaps they could use a life insurance policy to protect their new company.
Digital services
Millennials expect and need online tools to help them find quotes for policies and an ability to enroll online.
By providing these tools and understanding millennials’ viewpoints, you will be more able to provide a policy that fits their needs.
For more information or to sign up for health and life insurance education, visit our website, LarsonEd.com, or give us a call at 239-344-7510.
About Larson Educational Services:
Utilizing 40 years of real estate training and professional education experience, Florida real estate school Larson Educational Services is the premier provider of Florida real estate licensing, exam preparation, post-licensing, CAM licensing, mortgage loan originator licensing, and continuing education in Southwest Florida. Classes are available in Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, and online. We are an approved Florida Real Estate School (License #ZH1002299), Florida CAM School (License #PRE31), Florida Insurance School (License # 370501) and NMLS Approved Course Provider.
From a logical standpoint, life insurance is one of the best purchases a person can make—it provides financial security for loved ones left behind in the absence of a deceased family member.
This, in turn, provides emotional peace of mind knowing that in the case of the unthinkable, loved ones will be taken care of.
However, many people still deny themselves and their family this security by forgoing a life insurance policy.
Why?
People are uncomfortable (perhaps even afraid of) contemplating their own mortality.
(A host of other reasons also keep people from purchasing life insurance. Read more here.)
Life insurance can be an essential tool in covering end-of-life expenses, yet that’s only a minor part of its benefits, especially if you have a policy that covers lost wages for a deceased wage-earner.
Because this is a concrete inevitability. A funeral and its costs are a guarantee with death—therefore, it’s easier to visualize and use as a rationalization to purchase life insurance.
A higher net worth individual, one who would be able to cover funeral costs out of pocket, may not put a lot of weight into these end-of-life expenses.
There are other factors that drive these consumers to purchase life insurance (for example, in order to leave an inheritance to their children).
What keeps a person from buying life insurance?
Your high net worth clients and prospects may consider these benefits and still stay away from life insurance because of the relatively low yields compared to other potential investments.
A high net worth individual has likely amassed their wealth by way of shrewd investing.
Life insurance may seem like an inefficient investment to high net worth individuals.
Another common reason people don’t invest in life insurance is because they have other financial priorities that require their assets.
The takeaway
Insurance agents likely need to spend time educating your clients about the benefits of life insurance products while simultaneously offering solutions that allow your clients to retain financial liquidity.
Premium financing
Let your high net worth clients know about premium financing, which allows them to receive a loan that pays the premiums of the life insurance policy.
The client is then responsible for the interest of that loan out of pocket, but this kind of plan allows them to get their life insurance policy without a substantial impact on their liquid capital.
Premium financing is especially valuable for clients who want to keep their freedom to continue investing in other asset classes.
Premium financing plans aren’t for every consumer, and some may not even qualify for the loan needed, but the knowledge of this kind of tool’s existence is powerful when trying to overcome client apprehensions about life insurance.
About Larson Educational Services:
Utilizing 40 years of real estate training and professional education experience, Florida real estate school Larson Educational Services is the premier provider of Florida real estate licensing, exam preparation, post-licensing, CAM licensing, mortgage loan originator licensing, and continuing education in Southwest Florida. Classes are available in Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, and online. We are an approved Florida Real Estate School (License #ZH1002299), Florida CAM School (License #PRE31), Florida Insurance School (License # 370501) and NMLS Approved Course Provider.
To learn more about LarsonEd’s Florida real estate and Florida insurance courses, visit LarsonEd.com or give us a call at 239-344-7510.
About Larson Educational Services:
Utilizing 40 years of real estate training and professional education experience, Florida real estate school Larson Educational Services is the premier provider of Florida real estate licensing, exam preparation, post-licensing, CAM licensing, mortgage loan originator licensing, and continuing education in Southwest Florida. Classes are available in Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, and online. We are an approved Florida Real Estate School (License #ZH1002299), Florida CAM School (License #PRE31), Florida Insurance School (License # 370501) and NMLS Approved Course Provider.
When too many of your clients are cancelling their health insurance policies, you start to feel the impact at all levels of your business—lost clients could increase administrative costs and you could also see issues with debt management if you’ve already budgeted certain commissions that are no longer coming in.
And acquiring new clients is not cheap.
Here is part 2 for our tips on how to choose clients who will stick around:
People respond to stories. You can demonstrate the value of a certain policy or package by telling a story about how the policy has worked for an unnamed client in the past and the benefits it provided them.
Insurance consultant Keith Leech likes to use a 4-question process to further drive the point home in a prospects mind. You can use these questions yourself:
“Who do you know who has suffered a heart attack, cancer, or stroke?”
“Were they expecting it to happen?”
“Did they suffer financially or emotionally?”
“Would cash have helped?”
Everyone has been affected by heart attack, cancer, or stroke in one way or another. By relating your products to a personal experience of your client’s, they will better understand the immediacy of their health insurance needs.
4. Maintain Communication
To keep your clients on board with you, it’s important that they not only hear from you at renewal time or when a premium is late, but other times as well.
Show your clients appreciation and they will stick around.
Remember: you and your client are business partners.
The best way to maintain contact is to create a repeatable communication schedule that you replicate for every client.
No, you don’t want to send any “Dear, client” emails. But when your client signs on with you, you may want to send yourself some Google alerts to remind you to ask them questions to head off common conversations you may have in the first 30 days of partnership.
“Did you receive your insurance cards?”
“Do you have any questions or concerns with your coverage so far?”
Make sure some of these are phone calls as well.
Don’t inundate them with phone calls and emails. However, you can use special insurance events as a good reason to contact them. For example, May is national disability insurance awareness month, September is national life insurance awareness month, and June 28 is national insurance awareness day.
Also, around the new year they may need to renew their policy. Your best practice is to see if they’ve had any life-changing events in the past year such as a wedding or a child. Find this out from your client and suggest some options to better suit their new needs.
5. Assume You’ll Be Their Agent for Life
Building a long-lasting relationship with your clients isn’t about selling products, per se; it’s about selling your services. It’s about being there when they need you.
A truly great health insurance agent will get referrals from parent to child.
As your relationship extends over the years, consider offering life insurance. Many people are under the misapprehension that life insurance is expensive. Like most people, they may simple have whatever plan they were offered through their job and have left it at that.
If you are always looking out for your clients needs in their interest, you’re sure to continue these long-lasting relationships.
Having a commission-only mindset won’t serve you well in the insurance industry. Focusing on making the sale without first considering the needs of the client may work in the short term, sure, but over the years this mentality will cripple your sales.
Listen to what your clients and prospects needs are in order to earn their trust, which can be one of the most difficult parts of sales.
2. Accessibility
Make yourself available to your clients–this helps them rest assured that they’re well taken cared of. And respond to phone calls and emails in a timely manner. A major complaint of those who buy life insurance policies is that there is nobody to answer their questions after they’ve made the purchase.
3. A High EQ
Your emotional intelligence will serve you well in this industry. Your ability to listen and practice empathy with your clients will help you connect with them on a deeper level. A good life insurance agent can their help their client see their financial situation with clarity and tact.
4. High Energy
To their clients and business connections, a good insurance agent will appear happy and excited to work. A negative personality trait doesn’t sell well. Even if you’re not the most excited at any given moment, remember the key word: appears. Sometimes you have to fake it ’til you make it.
5. Perseverance
If you want to be successful in the insurance field you’ll have to be prepared to handle rejection on a daily basis for years. Remember: without taking risks, you have no chance of succeeding in this industry.
6. Forthrightness
Using deception or your client’s fear (whether it is their fear for their own future or their financial situation) may work in the short term, but over time you could end up making a bad name for yourself. Your success will come from repeat business. The only way to get word of mouth and repeat business is to gain your clients’ trust.
7. Wide Array of Products and Knowledge
A successful insurance agent will have many products to offer their clients, and they know which of their products will be best for them as well. You also need to understand the legal components of your products in order to convey that information to the client.
If you’re already a LarsonEd student who has taken our real estate licensing courses, you’ll notice something interesting about this list:
These traits of successful insurance agents are the same traits that make a successful real estate agent.
The transition from real estate to insurance may seem arbitrary, but consider this: by offering your current real estate clients an even wider array of products, including health and life, you may be able to better serve their needs and help your business boom.
Utilizing 30 years of real estate training and professional education experience, Florida real estate school Larson Educational Services is the premier provider of Florida real estate licensing, exam preparation, post-licensing, CAM licensing, mortgage loan originator licensing, and continuing education in Southwest Florida. Classes are available in Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, and online.
Utilizing 30 years of real estate training and professional education experience, Florida real estate school Larson Educational Services is the premier provider of Florida real estate licensing, exam preparation, post-licensing, CAM licensing, mortgage loan originator licensing, and continuing education in Southwest Florida. Classes are available in Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, and online.
Remember: LarsonEd is not only your Florida real estate school, but also your insurance school of choice!
To sign up for insurance classes, give us a call at 239-344-7510 or visit our website, www.LarsonEd.com/insurance.
About Larson Educational Services:
Utilizing 30 years of real estate training and professional education experience, Florida real estate school Larson Educational Services is the premier provider of Florida real estate licensing, exam preparation, post-licensing, CAM licensing, mortgage loan originator licensing, and continuing education in Southwest Florida. Classes are available in Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, and online.
Naples Real Estate School 