 A Life Lesson from Charlie Brown I have been working with a new producer on a rather significant business case using one of the high early cash value products I talked about recently in my weekly email. Exciting case, significant premiums, and what looked to be a great start to a new business relationship. That was until the carrier we had quoted pulled a Lucy from the Peanuts Gang that left the case flying through the air like Charlie Brown after she pulled the football!
How did they do it? Well, they exited the independent distribution channel completely, terminating a rather large number of contracts in the process. They were not selective in this. Every Brokerage General Agency was notified of their termination this past week. As much of a disappointment as this may be, our roster of carriers allows us to keep on moving without much of a hitch in our stride. It does, however, bring up a huge point about the sales process, and how to position yourself such that unforeseen changes have a limited impact on your business and income.
Specifically, I have seen this problem come up time and time again when a producer leads with a product rather than a concept. They sell the client on the fact that this is THE BEST PRODUCT solution for their particular situation. Why is that a problem? Well, much of the time, the producer does not really know enough about the client to make that claim. Sure, they will end up being correct some of the time, but when something comes up during the implementation of the sale that makes that "best product" no longer the best, the client ends up feeling as if they are settling for a second rate solution. That alone is enough to open the door for another producer to come in and eat your lunch! Not good.
The savvy agent sells the concept - what problem are we addressing and how are we going to do it? Once this is identified and the client is nodding up and down that the proposed solution does the job, a carrier selection process ensues that leads to any number of acceptable solutions, all with performance that has become more and more homogeneous over time (Life insurance becomes more and more commoditized with each passing day!). This assumes, of course, that there is actually a process in place to do the due diligence required to navigate the carrier selection process. Most solo practitioner producers simply do not have the resources to pull this off, or have a primary carrier affiliation that dominates their product selection.
Of course, there is always a flip side to the coin, and in this case it is the truly design driven sale. Sometimes it is that specific product attribute that is the basis for the sale. Period, end statement. When that is the case, it is better to know your niches and how to effectively communicate the value of what may be a slightly different view on how to select a life contract or structure the premiums. Then it is simply a matter of trying to push as much of that business through the pipeline as possible. The challenge is knowing when each of these two very different approaches is the right one for your client.
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