{"id":16633,"date":"2019-08-26T07:33:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T11:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/Life-Insurance-Blog\/finding-the-problem\/"},"modified":"2019-08-26T07:33:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T11:33:00","slug":"finding-the-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/finding-the-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding The Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

\n\u201cI haven\u2019t found a problem, so there is no solution I can provide to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nI can assure you that I have problems but the insurance agent had spent the past hour sitting at my table talking at me and asking me one question in several ways: \u201cHow much do you want to spend a month?\u201d<\/p>\n

\nIn fact, he had not actually identified himself as an insurance agent but said he was a \u201cmedical underwriter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nI was reminded of this conversation during my research for this year\u2019s Life Insurance Awareness Month feature. During that process, it became clear that the industry is still facing the problem of trying to sell more life insurance as the field force shrinks and consumers change.<\/p>\n

\nThe meeting with this agent revealed some issues in life sales. But more troubling was the path that led the agent to my table.<\/p>\n

\nI am not suggesting that all agents are conducting themselves as this one did. In fact, I usually speak with highly accomplished agents and advisors, who are typically the ones doing things right. Even random agents I meet at industry conferences are likely to be high-level professionals for the sheer fact that they care enough to attend the event.<\/p>\n

\nBut what about the agents who typically serve clients of modest incomes and assets \u2014 people like me? When I got a curious envelope in the mail, I decided to find out.<\/p>\n

\nIMPORTANT!<\/h2>\n

\nThe white, address-window envelope looked important. And in case I did not recognize that, it even said: \u201cOPEN IMMEDIATELY\/IMPORTANT INFORMATION ENCLOSED.\u201d That accompanied \u201cDATED MATERIAL\u201d and for good measure, \u201cSECOND NOTICE\/TIME SENSITIVE\u201d<\/span><\/strong> \u2014 in red so that I knew it was super-duper urgent.<\/p>\n

\nInside was an official-looking form with the heading \u201c2018 BENEFIT INFORMATION FOR PENNSYLVANIA CITIZENS ONLY.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe text said, \u201cYou may qualify for a state-regulated program to pay for your final expense\u201d and that \u201cThis benefit will pay for 100% of all funeral expenses up to $35,000. This payment is tax-free for Pennsylvania residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nAlthough I recognized that this was a life insurance lead generator, I could see how a typical, older consumer would think this was an actual government program. (That would particularly be the case with a version I received recently that looks like an IRS form.) I was intrigued to see what would happen next, so I filled it out and mailed it.<\/p>\n

\nAbout two months later, somebody identifying himself as a medical underwriter followed up with a call. He was not clear about what he wanted but asked for a meeting, which we set up for the next day at my apartment.<\/p>\n

\n[Although the agent allowed me to film, I am not identifying him. He never asked me about my job and I did not volunteer that information.]<\/p>\n

\nHe started by telling me that the form did not refer to a government program. He was going to talk to me about a state-regulated benefit \u2014 life insurance. He said he also wanted to make clear that it was not free, because people often misunderstood the form.<\/p>\n

\nRoundabout Straight Shooter<\/h2>\n

\nThe agent said he wanted me to know that he would be talking about a safe alternative and that he was not licensed to trade equities. About five minutes of describing reasons people typically send in the form, he asked me, \u201cWhere do you find yourself?\u201d I have term life, I told him.<\/p>\n

\nHe showed me marketing material from companies such as AARP and MetLife, which he later said he only used for comparison (\u201cThey\u2019re too expensive\u201d). At 10 minutes in, he asked me how much term I had and for how long \u2013 $250,000 and fewer than 10 years left on a 20-year policy. I also added that my ex-wife was the beneficiary.<\/p>\n

\nAfter he explained whole life some more, he asked me who was responsible for me when I die.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI haven\u2019t figured that out yet,\u201d I answered, feeling just a tad more alone in the world.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou\u2019re not really interested in this, are you?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\nI assured him that I returned the form because I wanted to know what the benefit was. But I was thinking that I was in fact interested in retirement security and a little anxious about my exposure to long-term care risk. I figured he would get to that.<\/p>\n

\nHe described the details of whole life and the application process for another 15 minutes until he asked me how much I wanted to spend each month on life insurance: \u201cSo do you have a budget in mind? $50? $75? $125? $200?\u201d<\/p>\n

\nIt is one of the oldest sales techniques in the world \u2014 find a monthly payment and figure out something that will fit that number. It is a textbook car sales tactic.<\/p>\n

\nBut in this case, we did not even have a vehicle to talk about. We had established I did not need whole life. I asked if he sold term. He said he did but it was a hybrid.<\/p>\n

\nDizzy From The Ride<\/h2>\n

\nThat \u201chybrid\u201d turned out to be universal life, which he had pivoted into variable UL and described the intricacies of VUL. That turned into a discussion of indexed UL and that product\u2019s details.<\/p>\n

\nEven though I knew what he was talking about, my head was spinning. I could not imagine what his typical prospect felt. After an hour of basically asking me what I wanted to spend on life insurance, he said he could not find a problem to solve.<\/p>\n

\nBut I am in my 50s with some savings and plenty of longevity anxiety \u2014 basically an ideal prospect for something that says retirement security on it.<\/p>\n

\nAs Americans struggle with the retirement crisis, the insurance industry is a logical source of solutions. But if deception continues to be a marketing method, the industry is only going to be yet another problem.<\/p>\n

Read the original article at InsuranceNewsNetMagazine.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI haven\u2019t found a problem, so there is no solution I can provide to you.\u201d I can assure you that I have problems but the insurance agent had spent the past hour sitting at...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16633"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/578"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}