Wow, I can’t believe we’re already in part 4 of this series of how to cross sell life insurance in your P&C agency (Read Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3). Many agencies are telling us the video was extremely helpful and the CSRs are getting more comfortable with the questions to ask to generate life leads. For those of you who have followed this series, have your team in place, the language studied, and marketing plan in motion, you can now dig into the solutions for cross selling life insurance to your client base.
Your CSRs are asking all the right questions and generating life leads. Up to this point you have been using the Redbird team to help run your quotes and manage your applications. But, you’re ready to start taking some of that responsibility in house and you’re not sure what company to use or how to address some of the health conditions your clients have presented.
ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR IMPAIRED RISK AND TOUGH TO PLACE LIFE INSURANCE CASES
First thing we should discuss is product selection. We like to break down each carrier in the following categories to help decide if they are the best solution for your client:
Life Insurance Company’s Financial Rating
First and foremost, you need to make sure the companies you are offering are financially stable. The biggest factor here is making sure they have at minimum an A- rating from AM Best. AM Best is a financial reporting company that tracks financial strength of insurance companies and provides the annual rating, which is publicly available. Keep the quality of your carriers high; most clients expect it.
Underwriting history
Every carrier has different issues with specific medical conditions. Some companies appear to simply want preferred non-tobacco business only. It’s important that as you progress down the life insurance cross selling process that you pay attention to the policies you place. Make sure you are keeping mental notes on the companies that give you problems vs. the companies that make writing life insurance seem so freakin’ easy.
Our team has been doing this long enough that most of us can tell you exactly what company to consider based on a few simple questions. Make sure you aren’t submitting an application based on the cheapest premium to the company with the tightest underwriting. We see it all the time where an agent simply wants to shop price and we know that there is no way the underwriting will get approved with that specific carrier. Always make sure you know the basic underwriting guidelines before submitting your life insurance applications; it’s the best thing to do for your client!
Paper Application vs. E-App
This is something we emphasize in insurance sales training as it is often the number one hurdle to life insurance policies getting approved in a timely manner. Paper applications always leave room for error and many agents rush through the application process resulting in a boat-load of mistakes.
For all the right reasons, many life insurance companies are now offering full e-application solutions. This allows you to write the application, send for signatures, and submit to the carrier electronically. By completing your life insurance applications online, your errors are greatly reduced as the application system will not let you submit an incomplete application. This is a huge time-saver.
Below is our go-to list of companies with user friendly life insurance e-applications.
- Assurity
- Genworth
- Lincoln Financial Group
- Sagicor Life
- United Home Life
- American Continental
- Mutual of Omaha
Policy Premium
This is last for a reason. Never sell life insurance based on your desire to sell more… focus on your client’s needs. There are a lot of companies out there and frankly some may even consider basic term life insurance a commodity. But, you have to remember you get what you pay for. Make sure the company you choose is best for your client and not just the cheapest on your quoting site.
For more information about how Redbird can you help cross sell more life insurance in your P&C agency, contact Drew at 866-547-8780 ext. 102 or email drew@redbirdadvisors.com
