Disability income insurance is arguably the most undersold product in the insurance industry. In my travels speaking to insurance professionals about the value of DI, I receive a lot of feedback from my audience that supports this claim. Despite its practical nature, DI is rarely brought up in discussions with clients, and many agents neglect the product as an essential part of their client’s financial portfolio.
Your clients are unlikely to truly see the value of a DI policy until they need it — until they can no longer work because of a disabling accident or illness and don’t know how to make ends meet. No one expects to be disabled, but everyone can make plans for their potential disability.
And on June 13, 1998, becoming disabled was the furthest thing from my mind.
My story
While riding my bicycle on a trail in Granville, OH, a 3½-ton tree fell on me, leaving me paralyzed from the waist down.
At the time of my injury, I owned two businesses — a speaking/training/consulting company and a publishing company. My disability resulted in a prolonged interruption of business activities. I was no longer able to deliver speaking services or ship books. And when you own a business of which you are the sole employee, earned income completely ceases when you can no longer work.
I did, however, have DI coverage — for 11 years prior to starting my speaking business, I was a university faculty member, and my insurance policy was still in effect.
I always rode my bicycle with safety in mind and was wearing my helmet. As it turned out, my helmet was as valuable to me in saving my life as my DI policy was in preserving my financial stability.
DI safeguarded my risk and provided me with an immediate source of income, allowing me to rebound more quickly from my crisis. The insurance also provided a safety net for my husband, Mark. We had enough to worry about with my injuries. Fortunately, we didn’t have to also worry about how to replace my income.
My perspective
Too many people haven’t planned for their disability. Those who own businesses often think they can’t afford DI, but business owners should look at insurance as a necessary overhead expense, not a luxury. They need to be reminded that they are the business and without them, their enterprise is in serious jeopardy.
Those who are employed need to realize that their greatest asset is the ability to earn a living. This should not be taken for granted. Income generates the funds needed to run a household, pay the mortgage or rent, buy groceries, fund retirement accounts, and pay medical bills and educational expenses. Without a paycheck or appropriate insurance to cover that paycheck, quality of life can rapidly deteriorate.
Hesitant DI prospects often state that they are “insurance poor.” Yet they are poorly insured if they do not have a plan themselves for replacement income should they one day become disabled and unable to work. When a prospect tells you, “I just can’t afford to buy this policy right now,” your stock response should be, “Can you afford not to?”
Rosemarie Rossetti, Ph.D. is an international speaker and disability insurance advocate. She can be reached at 614-471-6100 or rosemarie@rosemariespeaks.com.
2 Top Tips for Selling DI Coverage | Tip #1:
Share the statistics about the likelihood of a disability
Many people are reluctant to buy DI because they don’t think they’re at risk. They think the work they do and the lifestyle they lead are automatically protected. Statistics show, however, that the majority of long-term disability claims (75 to 90 percent) are due to illness and not accident. The likelihood of being disabled in any given year is much greater than the chance of dying. Tip #2:
Call more prospects and sell with conviction
Sales professionals realize that there is a direct positive correlation between the number of calls and appointments made and the number of sales completed. It is harder to find new clients and easier to sell additional products and services to existing clients.
Many insurance professionals indicate that life insurance is usually the first type of insurance sold to clients. With that in mind, there are many of your customers who purchased life insurance from you whom you should also contact about buying DI. It is my belief, in fact, that disability income insurance should be purchased before life insurance.
There are no alternative products to protect income should a tragedy occur. DI is unique and universally needed by those in the workforce. The more a person earns, the more they have at stake.
Selling with conviction means selling with an unshakable belief in what you are providing. You need to be convinced that the product you have is critically important to the prospect’s financial, professional, and personal stability. | |