A critical key to building a dental profession is connecting with people and helping them feel comfortable.
So much so, they continue to come back to the dentist to look for potential hazards of the trade… brushing habits, teeth grinding, gum health, and dental decay. They continually assess current symptoms, but also outmaneuver poor behaviors by helping clients take a preventative approach.
Have you ever thought about sitting in that hygienist chair might correlate to the guest chair in your office? Unlike dentistry where you could potentially fudge on your flossing, our clients can’t do that. It’s pretty black and white when you look at statements, reports, and income. How many times have we heard, “I wish would have…”? If asked, wouldn’t most of your clients saved earlier, built their knowledge sooner, or changed their lifestyle — it’s a common conversation in our industry. Are clients making a commitment to change their relationship with money gathering and savings habits?
As financial professionals and dentists, our philosophies are similar — we both work towards preventative approaches, avoiding cavities and retirement pitfalls. So, if a dentist can get bi-annual visits with clients to provide thorough checkups… why aren’t financial professionals doing more of these? Think about this: According to the Gallop poll, those who earn excess of $120,000 annually are twice as likely to visit the dentist… could we say higher income earners have an increased interest preventative measures, health or appearances? If upper income earners show a higher propensity towards preventative measures, our industry should follow suit with financial checkups, continuing to make refinements and present reviews and potential options for our clients to make informed decisions. In fact, we’re doing this routinely on investment accounts, being actively managed, why aren’t we doing more of these activities with active life insurance policies? Many of the policies we see have significant cash value and the death benefits can rival a family’s assets under management. Bottom line, active policies should be actively reviewed. It’s obvious when you think about it.
I can’t tell you the countless policies our team has reviewed to find out that we can make an improvement in the existing policy. Generally, seven times out of ten inforce policy reviews identify something an advisor can discuss with their client. What’s even more important, the other three know that they still have a competitive offering that will continue to help them work towards their goals. Now, let us get back to the dental field and when you have a non-event cleaning… it’s affirmation that we continue to prevent cavities by doing the things we’re supposed to perform. Folks, it’s a positive experience! It’s the same for our industry, we perform reviews to ensure active contracts continue to align with our client’s needs. It’s a worthwhile value-added service that helps to build trust and it’s desirable and wanted by “prevention-minded” clients.
Think about this: orphaned relationships are everywhere! A few years ago LIMRA ran a study on how life insurance was bought — 85% of respondents said they searched online, and only half of respondents purchased a policy face-to-face with a professional. How many policies are sold online through aggregate groups, retired advisors or those whose relationships have fizzled over time? Millions. If you think about our industry, there are significant insurance sales that are transactional. Here’s the good news: the door was left wide open for you! The personal connection and commitment was gone as soon as docs were inked and delivered. If your prospects or clients have policies in place, who’s actively reviewing them and taking the initiative to do so? Seize the opportunity!
We said that on average seven out of the ten inforce policies had areas that could be improved. What happens to the three who’s policy continues to fit their needs? We think an even bigger opportunity lies ahead. The client’s trust and your integrity just soared off the charts. How likely are they to refer others to you or is it easier to capture additional lines of business and develop an enterprise client? The opportunities are endless.
We’re here to help diagnose and assure your client’s life insurance continues to work towards their goals. Give us a try.
800.992.2642