In addition to the presentations listed under the 'Marketing' tab above, the following are great resources for the agent:
MetLife's Mature Market Institute has helpful information related to the multi-life market-- http://www.maturemarketinstitute.com.
Three good studies from this website--Living Longer, Working Longer, Sons at Work , and Employer Costs for Working Caregivers The following is an article referencing an AHIA Teleconference with Ruth Larkin with John Hancock and Carol Gardner, LifeStyle, as participants
Successful Group Strategies-AHIA Teleconference
AHIA EduCall provides tips for
selling group LTCI.
By Lucretia DiSanto Jones
"Facing the Future Together:
Group Long-Term Care Insurance," a recent EduCall sponsored by the
Association of Health Insurance Advisors (AHIA), addressed what it
takes for advisors to be successful in these group markets.
EduCalls are educational
teleconferences designed to help advisors manage their business—and
their clients—within the evolving health benefits environment. AHIA
board member Debra Newman, CLU, ChFC, moderated the discussion.
Panelists were Ruth Larkin, a regional vice president for John
Hancock responsible for marketing the company’s long-term care
program, and Carol Gardner, president of Life Style Insurance, a
national agency specializing in long-term care insurance (LTCI).
Panelists discussed characteristics of viable group prospects, how
to break into group markets and what to say to group prospects.
Looking for prospects
Larkin suggests that advisors
look at three factors when determining whether or not a particular
group is a workable prospect. These are age, income and geographic
demographics, and participation in other financial services and
insurance programs. "We look for an average age of 40 or better
[older] because that really is the most qualified buyer in the group
setting," says Larkin.
Another indicator of how a
group will perform is participation in other workplace programs.
"Any group with 75 percent or better 401(k) participation is
considered to have very strong enrollment. That’s important, because
it takes great commitment and endorsement by the employer to make a
401(k) work. If the employer is committed to doing that kind of
endorsing, he will likely stand behind other products," she adds.
Once an advisor has determined
that a business prospect holds true group potential, he needs to get
in the door. Gardner sees the CEO or the top executive as the path
of least resistance. She has learned that quite often, the executive
will buy into a group plan if he has had a personal experience with
a long-term care or disability situation; therefore, the advisor
needs to steer the conversation in that direction. Gardner says that
appealing to the executive’s need to be the good guy is also a fair
approach. "Explain that he would be seen as a cutting-edge employer,
offering a plan that will keep employees happy and with the
company," she says.
Motivating the group
Once an advisor has gotten the
go-ahead from an executive to make a presentation, he needs to help
the prospects get past their feelings of invincibility. Otherwise,
they won’t see a need to buy LTCI or disability income insurance.
Prospects also need to understand that long-term care is not
thoroughly or adequately covered under their medical plan and DI
insurance is intended to replace income, not pay for medical
services.
One of the biggest challenges
advisors face, however, is the misconception among consumers that
they don’t need to think about long-term care until they are 55 or
60 years old. If they wait, Larkin argues, they are creating a
dilemma for themselves. "By then, they’re most likely too old to
afford it, and their health may have changed," Larkin says.
From Advisor Today
magazine, May 2003. Reprinted with permission.
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