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Call today: 720.344.0312 Recent LTC Articles Target Your LTC Sales Like A Laser Broker World May, 2004 By Wilma G. Anderson Targeting is the principle behind all effective marketing and sales. Targeting means getting the right message to the right audience at the right time, and then using the right approach in face-to-face selling situations. Scattershot is the opposite of targeting. Sure, you’ll manage to hit a few things firing at random, but you’ll hit a lot more when you select your target carefully, aim and shoot with laser precision. Let’s look at how this applies to selling long-term care insurance. When it comes to LTCI, there are distinct groups of buyers based on age: first, those in their 40s; second, people in their 50s and early 60s; and their, seniors 65 and older. These groups require distinct sales approaches. And while the over 65 crowd are your hottest prospects, remember that 33 percent of LTCI buyers are under 65, according to the American Council of Life Insurance. Selling to 40-Somethings Younger buyers are a tougher sale because they don’t perceive the need to be urgent, so agents need special tactics to create the need and present the products that appeal to them. Let’s say your new client is a 42-year-old building contractor who is finally making a lot of money after years of hard work. His wife is 40 and they have two young kids. You might think this is an impossible sale. They’re concerned about taxes, saving for retirement and what promises to be a pretty outrageous college tuition bill 10 or 15 years from now. The nursing home isn’t even on their radar screen. Or is it? When I asked about their parents, the told me that their folks are in failing health and will need support with assisted living or a nursing home. This brings up a general principle: when you’re selling to 40-somethings, ask about their parents and their parents’ health. This will bring home the reality of long term care and not being a burden to their own kids many years from now. One more fact could clinch the sale: as of 2003, LTC premiums are 100 percent deductible as a business expense. And, unlike some benefits, LTCI doesn’t have to be offered to all employees. It can be provided to just the owner or key executives. I also pointed out that LTCI rates are much lower when someone buys a policy in his 40s. Buying young, when healthy, makes sure that you qualify. Finally, even though the odds are low that a 40-something individual will need care, it can and does happen. A car crash or other accident can change one’s life in a split second. Here’s an amazing statistic: 40 percent of Americans receiving long term care are working adults 18 to 64 years old, according to the consulting firm Conning & Company. This couple saw the logic of buying LTCI: immediate protection, cost-effectiveness and tax break. Selling LTCI to people in their 40s isn’t easy, but it can be done if a broker looks at the situation from the client’s vantage point. Selling to the 50 to 65 Group People in this age group can and will buy LTCI when given the facts. Because older working people don’t see the need as clearly as retirees, they will need a lot of education and guidance. People in their 50s and early 60s are more receptive than a 40-year-old because they probably know people who’ve been disabled or affected by degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis or early Alzheimer’s. Minor problems like bad backs and aching knees are more common, and they can begin to visualize a time when their own health might decline. Furthermore, people in this age group often have elderly parents and relative who are in failing health. They may be caring for them already. That makes the issue very real. With people in this age group, you should stress the need to protect the assets they’ve accumulated over many years of hard work. LTCI will also protect the money they may have inherited (or expect to inherit) from their parent or other relatives. LTCI is as much an integral part of estate planning as life insurance and a will. Be creative when offering this group policy choices. For instance, a 10-pay policy can make perfect sense. A 55-year-old can’t pay the premiums for 10 years and at age 65 won’t ever have to pay a premium again—nor worry about the premium ever going up. Reaching the 65-Plus Group Once people become eligible for Medicare, they can more readily visualize the need for LTCI—once you break their pattern of denial. Many are confused about their Medicare benefits and think that Medicare will provide them with a parachute. But once they realize that Medicare provides only up to 100 days of skilled nursing care, they realize that their health-care parachute has a big hole in it. The 65-plus crowd calls for the classic LTCI sales approach. After warming up the prospects with friendly small talk—don’t rush this crucial step that shows you’re a caring, friendly person who is interested in more than the almighty buck—you can start talking about their retirement planning. Remember, if you don’t create need, you’ll never get an application. This sale is not completely based on logic; it’s based on creating an anticipated need for long term care insurance. You must be able to get your prospects to envision a time when their health will change. Most people, especially men, like to think they’ll live forever or die peacefully in their sleep. You have to overcome their denial of what could happen. Now, you must ask some questions about their health and the medications they take. If they qualify for LTCI, next ask how they plan to cope when their health changes. This is when you create the need. Take as much time as you need, and do not go any further until you can establish the need for LTC protection in the client’s mind. During the interview, be sure to uncover and answer their objections as you go along. Yes, objections can be your ally! But you must know what their objections are as soon as possible and know how to overcome them. When you take care of any objections early, you’ll find that closing is easy and natural. A Closing Thought Selling to people your own age tends to be easier and more natural. But when you’re presenting a product to someone much older or younger than yourself, it takes a leap of imagination. If you’re 34, try to put yourself in the shoes of that 72-year-old sitting across from you. What are his needs and concern? If you’re 60 and are talking to a 44-year-old, remember what you were concerned about at that age. Think like a client and you’ll sell a lot more. Mike Sena—A Big Apple LTCI Success Story Mike Sena had never sold an insurance policy in his life until mid-2000. In 2003, the independent Manhattan-based broker ranked number 69 among LTCI producers nationally, according to Long-Term Care Insurance Sales Strategies. Today, he sells about a policy a week, each carrying an average premium of $3,000 to $3,500. The keys to his success: targeted direct mail and getting good sales training at the start. His story began when he bought a long-term care policy several years ago. His New Jersey-based financial advisor suggested that he could represent them in Manhattan and sell LTCI there. “My first reaction was, ‘Sell insurance? What, are you crazy?’” he recalls. But he realized it wasn’t so crazy. He decided to try it, because he wasn’t happy in his job as vice president of sales for a direct mail company specializing in the Medicare segment of the healthcare industry. He had previously owned the firm and had sold it to a large corporation, but didn’t like being an employee and dealing with corporate politics. In his job, he did learn one valuable thing. “I saw that an unplanned disability was the single largest cause of bankruptcy among seniors,” he says. “Long term care insurance was a badly needed product.” Mike got his broker’s license in the spring of 2000 and sold his first policy that August—on his first call. “To say the least, I was stunned that someone would buy from me,” he says. But Mike had training before he went on his first call, so he knew what to say and how to structure his sales call. According to Mike, one effective technique he picked up from his training program is comparing the risks of having a homeowners or auto insurance claim versus the much higher risk of needing long term care. Mike’s sales really took off starting in January 2002, and he’s never looked back. Mike gets most of his lead through direct mail, concentrating on a few zip codes in Manhattan. At first, he used a direct mail piece from his training program, but Mike decided to modify the copy. “We needed a little tougher piece because in New York, people are mostly interested in protecting their assets,” he says. “However, I still use the piece from my training program sometimes for variety. It has a long shelf life.” Mike says it’s fun to sell LTCI. “You have to have some passion for it. I find it rewarding because I’m helping people protect their life savings and educating them. And I meet lots of nice, interesting folks.” While I recommend closing on the first call, Mike rarely tries to do so. He admits, “That may not be the best strategy in other markets. If you’re in a rural area and it takes an hour or two to drive to your appointment, you probably can’t afford to make a second call. In Manhattan, everyone’s close, so coming back isn’t a big deal.” He finds his soft approach works best. “I tell people up front that I don’t care if they don’t buy from me, that I’m there to educate them. In New York, everyone assumes you’ll try to ram a policy down their throat, so my approach is different and disarming.” Remarkably, Mike achieves his high level of success working just 20 to 25 hours a week. He sells only LTCI. Mike turns 70 in May, and his success shows that both newcomers to the industry as well as veteran agents can sell LTCI successfully. You just need to have the right attitude, good training and a sound strategy that you apply consistently. Click here to return to list

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