I learned that it's not what's important to me that has to get accomplished. It's what's important to the client because the client doesn't know that he has a problem until we educate them and motivate them to take action on the issue.

If you go in and you're just trying to sell a product, “You should buy this product because it's a good product. Here's why you should buy it.” The client says, “I don't have a problem. Why would I need to buy that product?” But if you take the time to educate and motivate the client, make sure they're aware of the problem, that there is a solution to the problem and the premium is just the price tag for the problem, it's training yourself mentally to understand that and then relay that information to the client. That's when you become a true professional because you're solving a problem that your clients don't even know they have.

We got into this appointment, a meeting with the owner of the firm, and it's very obvious he's not really receptive to much of anything. And I finally said, “Well, you've already told me you've done your estate planning, you've done all the things we've talked about. Would you be willing to allow me to give you a second opinion, and I'll do it for free?”

He looked at me and said, “Sure, if you'll give me a second opinion and all the planning, I've got all my documents right here in my desk drawer. Let me give them to you. Take a look at them and tell me if there's anything I should do.” He opened the desk drawer, handed me the documents, and I'm looking at the documents in bright red across the front of every page is stamped the word “draft.” Apparently, he'd gotten the documents, put them in his drawer. They'd been there for two years. He'd never executed any documents. And since then, the tax laws have changed. So, I said, “We've got a problem.” I explained what the problem was. I said, “May I have permission to talk to your attorneys to see if we can get this straightened out?”

And that developed from there, just by asking that question, “Can I give you a second opinion?” That developed into an exceptionally large case. Because once we got through that, and once again he understood the problem, and then I made him understand that there's a price tag for doing nothing, which is what he had done, and that by utilizing insurance to solve some estate planning and business planning issues, the premium was significantly less than what the price tag of the problem was.

He finally agreed, and we insured multiple family members and put everything in place, and that turned out to be one of my better clients. That's where we have to educate clients and make sure they understand that. And for me, that's fun. I really enjoy doing that.

Transcript

Author(s):

Marvin H. Feldman, CLU, ChFC

Educating clients: Why the premium is the solution