Resources for our Strategic Partners
When to integrate expert consulting into your sales process
With a team in place, you can pounce on new sales opportunities.
Let’s suppose your client needs a product you don’t sell. It could be any of these:
GUL
IUL
Term
Whole life
DI
LTCI
SPIA
SPDA
Your Sales Assist team can help with every one of these — in every state.
They will help your client make the purchase immediately.
No need to waste time trying to find the right specialist!
Sit on your client’s side of the table
Joint Work is the key to client satisfaction and sales
You are the General Contractor
Remember your mission:
What is an introduction?
An introduction is a simple but very effective referral.
Here is what you need to keep in mind:
A basic question such as “do you have enough life insurance?’ or “are you concerned about the price you are are paying for your life insurance?” is enough to see if they have a need to discuss their coverage.
They do not have to be in the market now. They should just want to make the aquaintance of a life insurance expert now, for when they are ready to make a purchase.
They simply need to be open to an introductory conversation with me, so I can explain our services and how we can help them. Once they agree, send me an email reviewing your conversation with them, and asking me to reach out. Copy them, and be sure to include a phone number.
Sources of introductions
You can make introductions to people in your personal, business, and communal networks, including;
Your friends and family.
Community groups.
Your clients.
Your employees.
Business and networking associates.
Colleagues in the same business, industry, or parent company as you.
When you talk to people about their life insurance, remember that they may have multiple needs for coverage:
For living benefits:
Wealth accumulation
Retirement funding
Long term care expenses
For their family:
Income replacement
College or trade school funding
Mortgage protection
Legacy gifts
For their estate:
Final expenses
Paying estate taxes
Charitable giving
For their business:
Funding partnership agreements
Key person indemnification
Executive bonuses
Business loan protection
Prequalification is the key to our VIP service
Prequalification is the foundation of our VIP service to every client.
It adds integrity and efficiency to the application process.
It enables us to:
Provide quotes that are both competitive and reliable.
Help underwriting run smoother.
Get our client’s application approved at the rate quoted.
Leave it to the expert
How exactly do you make a referral to a life insurance expert – or any other professional, for that matter? Let’s look at a common referral instance from everyday life.
Suppose you go to your primary care physician for a routine exam. She checks your heart and gets concerned about your heart rate; so she advises you to go to a cardiologist. She knows enough in general terms to identify a potential heart problem, but she does not have the expertise to diagnose and treat you. So she refers you to an expert.
The same applies when you speak with someone you know about their life insurance. You may know enough to see they have a potential problem, but you don’t know enough to solve it. So you refer them to an expert – someone who knows the products, who understands underwriting, and who can counsel the client on choosing the right policy for them.
Term insurance is not always the right choice
Financial advisors should never have a bias, right? Their recomendations must always be based on their client’s needs and goals, right?
Right!
But sometimes advisors do have a bias towards a certain product, company or strategy. Maybe they have a good reason, from personal experience or research. Good.
But maybe they just have a bias.
I find this is the case when it comes to life insurance. Too many advisors take a simplistic approach: “Buy only term. Whole life is bad.”
Not really.
Click here to find out more.
When should you look at your life insurance policy?
It’s a good question, for both consumers and their financial advisers. Many people simply buy a policy, stick the certificate in a drawer, and forget about it. The trouble is, there are SO MANY reasons why that coverage should be reviewed, time and time again. Click here for a quick list.
Why Life Insurance is the Rock of Your Portfolio
People have all kinds of insurance in their financial portfolio: life, medical, disability, liability, home, auto, business…
But life insurance is the foundation of the entire structure. There are very sound reasons for this. Read more here:
Do you know people who have improved their health – or who are health coaches or healers?
Some of my favorite clients are people who have improved their health. This could mean you have lost weight… reduced your A1C…. lowered your PSA… stayed sober an additional year…
There are so many ways people get better, feel better, and live better. And they could all help you pay less money for your life insurance! Underwriters like people who take better care of themselves.
Five ways to save money on your life insurance
People often think of life insurance as purely a “cost:” you pay a premium. and your beneficiary gets a benefit. But there are ways to get much more bang for your buck. Here are a few…
The Five “No’s” of employer-sponsored life insurance
Life insurance is frequently sponsored by employers as a group benefit for their workforce. Is it a nice add-on perk? Yes. Is it a cheap way to get some coverage? Yes. Is it the way most people should purchase the life insurance they need? No.
As a matter of fact, there are Five No’s. Here they are…
Coaches: the new generation of financial advisers
For years, I have had the good fortunate of getting referrals from financial advisers. Bankers, attorneys, and accountants have provided me with a steady steam of introductions to their clients. I have been honored to be the “resident life insurance expert” when the topic of life insurance pops up.
One challenge has been the “transactional” nature of their consultation. These financial advisers typically excel at, well, giving advice . Their client has a need for a product or service, and the adviser solves the problem by steering them in the direction towards buying it.
Continue reading here…
How to avoid giving bad advice to your clients about life insurance
Life insurance is the foundation of our finanacial portfolio. It is the only insurance product for which we are guaranteed to make a claim (assuming we keep the policy in force.) It covers the most disasterous of all risks – the death of a loved one / financial provider. And it is extremely cost-effective – each dollar of benefit literally costs pennies.
Because it is so integral to financial security, financial advisers will focus on this product when consulting with their clients. Planners, bankers, attorneys, accountants, and coaches all seek to make sure proper coverage is in place. Here are three pitfalls to avoid when doing so:
The 10 Life Events that call for a life insurance review
How do you know when to review your life insurance – or to encourage a friend or colleague to look at their policy? Here are ten key life events that call for a look at your coverage.
Who is “high risk’ for life insurance?
If you have ever shopped for life insurance, you know that underwriters consider some candidates “high risk.” This means that you may have a health, lifestyle, or other factor that could make you more of a mortality risk.
The good news is that “high risk” is somewhat of a relative term. Yes, there are some factors that will prevent you from getting preferred best rates from just about all carriers. But at the same time, carriers tend to specialize in underwriting certain risk aggressively. Given the right company, even “higher risk” candidates can get excellent rates.
Prequalification will determine how low those premiums can get. It all starts with the broker obtaining thorough and accurate quote information about the “higher-risk” factors.
The place for term insurance
Is there a place for term life insurance in your portfolio? Yes, there is.
Protecting your child’s insurability
Take a look at a list of hereditary deseases. A good health-related web site will provide one. The list is huge – running from breast cancer, to Diabetes, to kidney disease, and more.
Click here to find out how this factors into family financial planning:
Life insurance for Diabetics: three things to remember
If you are a Diabetic, you can still get life insurance. And it does not have to cost an arm and a leg. But certain factors have to be in place. Here they are:
How much life insurance should you get on your stay-at-home spouse?
Many households have a spouse or partner that stays home. Does that mean he or she does not work? Not a chance. Kids require a ton of time and effort. Then you have all kinds of domestic chores, to keep the household running smoothly. Plus meetings with the various vendors – landscapers, accountants, etc. – that keep the estate in tip-top shape. Even small estates need management help.
So how much life insurance should be carried on your Stay-At-Home-CEO?
Will my life insurance benefit really get paid?
Many people feel cynical about big corporations in general, and insurance companies in particular. It’s almost as if we expect to not get what we paid for.
A lot of this is unfortunately based in personal experience. It can be hard to get claims paid on your home, auto, medical or disability insurance policy. Sometimes the insurance company is in the right, but other times it just seems they want to welch on the deal.
What about your life insurance?
When is vanilla not vanilla?
Financial advisers and coaches ask me this question on a regular basis: “If we have a ‘plain vanilla’ client – young, healthy, with no high-risk factors – should we still send them to you for life insurance?”
How to talk to your clients about life insurance
Financial advisors and coaches frequently ask me for advice on how to talk with their clients about life insurance. I am always gratified to hear that. Life insurance secures your client against the life hazard that can have the most damaging impact on both their emotional and financial well being: the death of a loved one and bread-winner (and in a business, the death of a partner and / or key employee.)
This means that for your client to have true financial security, the right life insurance policy (or policies) must be in force. How do you know this is the case? Here are some questions you can use to get the conversation going. Once you confirm your client’s coverage needs work, get me involved. I will make sure they get what they need.
The key reason why people don’t like to talk about life insurance
As you know, I am second generation in the life insurance business. My father Leon Kobrin, of blessed memory, owned and operated a brokerage in the 1950’s – 1970’s. I grew up in his agency – worked there from grade school through college.
I have also been running my own practice for over thirty years. All told, I have been in this glorious business for most of my life.
When the nest is no longer empty
Many planners and advisers coach their clients to prepare for “Empty Nest Syndrome.” This is the time of life when the kids are out of the house and on their own. The parents no longer have to support them. This can be liberating, but also sad in a way. The family home that was once filled with all the ups and downs and in-betweens of family life, now has just those memories.
But times do change. Family financial planning should consider that the nest may not remain empty. This is especially true with regard to life insurance planning. https://www.stevenkobrin.com/when-the-nest-is-no-longer-empty/
The Midnight Hour
What kind of thoughts keep you up in the middle of the night? For many of us, they are financial worries. Job security. Paying bills on time. Debt. Keeping up with inflation.
Underneath it all, is the nagging fear that our family will suffer if things don’t work out. We will have to make do with less. Cancel plans. Maybe even downsize. Declare bankruptcy? Heaven forbid.
Life insurance helps ease these thoughts.
It’s not just about the price
Is buying term insurance as easy as logging on to an-online platform, and simply picking the lowest premium? Not always. As a matter of fact, it usually is not.
Healing the hole in your life
I have had some very deep and moving conversations with clients recently. They each dealt with the “taboo” topic that people like to brush under the rug: death; in particular, their own mortality.
The topic of life insurance can make you want to hide and talk about anything else. The weather? Sports? Your in-laws? Sure, bring it on. Anything but the scary reality that our lives on this planet don’t last forever.
Me retire? No chance!
There are lot of “plusses’ to not retiring. And they definitely influence life insurance planning.
Let me explain.
My father Leon Kobrin worked into the last year of his life. So did his father, my Grandpa Harry. You can bet I will. Icf you love to work, you keep working.
You need to take care of yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually to be able to work; at the same time, working can help you take care of yourself in all areas. It’s a splendid synergy that could add years onto your life.
By the time you are in your fifties or sixties, you have had a good career. Now you have skills, experience, lots of contacts, and some working capital. You could become more sucessful than ever! Think of all the additional people you could help with your product or service – all the problems you could solve. And all the worthy charities you could support!
Planning to work for the duration of your life would definitely impact your decisions about life insurance. You would probably have family members dependent on your income for many years. Plus the charities dependent on your donations. Maybe some additional debt. Instead of carrying term insurance for the “pre-retirement years,” you would probably use some form of permanent life insurance, to last as long as you do.
Why is life insurance underwriting so rigorous?
10 questions to ask your client about their life insurance
“I am young, healthy, and single. Should I still buy life insurance?”
7 reasons why wealthy people need life insurance
Financial advisers and coaches frequently ask me if wealthy people need life insurance. Couldn’t they afford to self-insure? My answer is always this: sure they could self-insure, but why would they want to? Life insurance gives them tremendous leverage: every dollar of benefit literally costs pennies. It makes smart financial sense to use life insurance to cover your needs, dreams, and obligations.
Also: people of means often need life insurance for reasons beyond the typical final expenses / family protection / mortgage protection / school funding. Here are some examples (please bear in mind that people with complex estates need professional advice to manage them.)
It takes a team of professionals to take care of us
The art and science of buying life insurance
It’s not the product – it’s the strategy
How to help your clients get Policy Audits
Your life insurance portfolio is built in stages
Feelings are tied to
People tend to take a purely ‘technical” view of life insurance. They treat it as a simple transaction:
“When I die, my wife will get money to pay the bills.”
“If the business loses a key person, it will receive the funds needed to find and pay a suitable replacement.”
“My church will inherit a big donation from me.”
“The life insurance benefit will pay my estate taxes, so my heirs don’t have to sell off assets.”
This is all true. But it really is the tip of the iceberg. Underneath the surface lies a wellspring of deep emotion that really is the motivation for the purchase of a policy.
https://www.stevenkobrin.com/feelings-are-tied-to-finance/
To provide and protect
What a loving parent does
A number of years ago, I received a phone call from a woman looking for life insurance. She got right to the point: “I need your help for two reasons: 1) I am a severe Diabetic, and I know my time in this life is shorter than most. And 2) This disease is hereditary. I have a young daughter, and I want to make sure she has a policy before she gets sick too.”
Two very important reasons to buy life insurance. This is what we did:
Your insurability is precious
Can you tell me the number one responsibility of a life insurance adviser?
Is it to help the client clarify his or her need for life insurance?
Is it to recommend the most appropriate product?
Is it to get the lowest cost of insurance?
True, these duties are all part of the job. But there is an overriding priority:
Can we keep the policy in force
There is hope for people who have been declined for life insurance – part one
There is hope for people who have been declined for life insurance – part two
There is hope for people who have been declined for life insurance – part three
There is hope for people who have been declined for life insurance – part four
There is hope for people who have been declined for life insurance – part five
There is hope for people who have been declined for life insurance – part six
There is hope for people who have been declined for life insurance – part seven
Why are some life insurance salespeople so pushy?
The Seven Virtues of Life Insurance: #1 – Healing
The Seven Virtues of Life Insurance: #2 – Love
The Seven Virtues of Life Insurance: #3 – Honor
Life insurance is much more than a legal contract that provides an attractive financial benefit for your heirs. It is actually a tool that enables those beneficiaries to act virtuously.
All told, I see seven of these virtues. One is Honor.
The Seven Virtues of Life Insurance: #4 – Legacy
The Seven Virtues of Life Insurance: #5 – Commitment
The Seven Virtues of Life Insurance: #6 – Meaning in life
The Seven Virtues of Life Insurance: #7 – Leverage
Life insurance is much more than a legal contract that provides an attractive financial benefit for your heirs. It is actually a tool that enables those beneficiaries to act virtuously.
All told, I see seven of this virtues. One is Leverage.
https://www.stevenkobrin.com/the-seven-virtues-of-life-insurance-7-leverage/
How to protect your money against a huge loss
The deal of the century?
What life insurance product should you use for special needs planning?
Can you get a good rate for life insurance, treating yourself for Diabetes?
Why do people research life insurance too much?
Whole life or not whole life: that is the life insurance question
Whole life or not whole life: that is the life insurance question – Part 2
Whole life or not whole life: that is the life insurance question – Part 3
Whole life or not whole life: that is the life insurance question – Part 4
Whole life or not whole life: that is the life insurance question – Part 5
Fear factor: life insurance
Fear factor: life insurance
Fear factor: life insurance
Fear factor: life insurance
Part Four: the fear of losing money.
This series of posts discusses the fears that prevent people from buying the life insurance they need. The third fear we will address is the fear of losing money.
https://www.stevenkobrin.com/fear-factor-life-insurance-part-four-the-fear-of-losing-money/