If you want to be relevant in this industry, you have to get people who don't believe in life insurance to start believing in life insurance, says Bobby Samuelson, MetLife, at the 2014 NAILBA 33 in Hollywood, Florida. "At the end of the day, our competition isn't other advisors selling life insurance." he adds. "Our competition is people not buying our products."
Just look at his illustration: Total net mutual fund flows through Q3 in 2014? Aprroximately $123 billion
Compare that to: Total new IUL premium through Q3 in 2014? Approximately $2.7 billion.
And all life insurance premiums through Q3 in 2014? $13.9 billion.
To turn people into believers of life insurance, Samuelson says that you have to think differently, as well as get consumers to think differently. There are some habits of the industry that are simply not sustainable if we're hoping to grow, Samuelson says. Here are some sound bites from his session.
"We should be looking at what's sustainable and what's not. Interest rates are not going to continue to fall — we're going to enter a new regime with flat or rising rates. What's going to sustain us for that period of time?"
Unsustainable: The language we use to describe our products.
"How do you think your clients feel when you start talking about life insurance?" Samuelson asks. LIMRA conducted a study of how consumers view insurance jargon. The phrase "death benefit," for instance, sounds ridiculous to consumers (millennials in particular). When does one ever a benefit from death?
"Next time you sit down with a client," Samuelson adds, "ask yourself, 'Am I saying things that literally make no sense to this person?'"
