Of all the products you have the opportunity to sell, arguably the most neglected is disability income insurance. The need is blatant for a wide range of age spans and income earners, and the product is affordable. Yet, too many good producers overlook the opportunities. What gives?
That's the age-old question — although it's not always asked in that way. For years, the industry and our society have suffered, I believe, because the need for income protection in the event of a disability has not been adequately filled.
But don't blame this month's panelists for those shortcomings. These three top producers are among the best in the business. Fielding my questions about what drives their passion for the market, the opportunities and challenges they face, and their practical advice for other producers looking to grow their DI business are the following: Robert L. Avery, CFP, CLU, ChFC; Peter R. Magni, LUTCF; and Larry Schneider.
For the rest of this roundtable, see:
Attracting producers to DI
Q: Why do you believe so many producers overlook disability insurance and have yet to integrate it into their own businesses? Is there anything that carriers or marketers might be able to do to help attract more producers to this market?
Avery: It seems everyone wants to be an advisor and go for the "easy" sale. Disability income sales are difficult — due to the time from application to issue — from many aspects, but most things that are tough to achieve typically have the greatest rewards. The reward from a DI sale is not only a monetary reward, but it gives you the sense of satisfaction after you improve a family's financial situation. My DI sales also have great persistency, which improves my bottom line.
Carriers, marketers or both could share simple yet effective sales ideas to educate producers, so they can help clients realize there is still a place for individual DI beyond what their company benefits provide. Providing statistics, such as the chances of disability versus dying before age 66 or that the major causes of foreclosures are typically due to a disability, would be helpful for the producer.
Magni: One of the biggest reasons so many producers overlook the disability income protection marketplace is that they don't understand the product enough to explain it to their clients properly. They also don't understand under what conditions the product will pay a benefit, which is vital information that must be discussed with the client during the sales process.
Companies need to have more educational presentations on the details of the product from a claims point of view, rather than just relating the competitive high-points of their products in relation to another company's products. Life insurance claims are certainly much easier to understand because a claim is paid one time, when a person dies. Understanding how claims are paid for a disability can be much more extensive and detailed, and claims can be paid more than once from a disability policy.
An own-occupation disability can be very different from a total disability, and a good disability insurance salesperson needs to understand that difference. To attract more producers to this market, carriers and marketers need to help people better understand the product. A beneficial method of understanding this product, especially from a sales point of view, is to speak with insurance personnel who actually underwrite this product and with several claims adjusters to understand the claims process.
Schneider: I have addressed that very question — why I believe agents are reluctant to sell and promote IDI — in one of my articles, and the answer has to do with some of the following reasons: some agents are too busy selling other products; some find it too complicated of a product; some lack underwriting knowledge; and some find there are too many demands for information made by the carrier, such as medical history, tax returns, professional duties, avocations, etc.
