The Pushy Life Insurance Agent Is (Almost) A Thing Of The Past

Thank goodness the world now longer needs the Pushy Life Insurance Agent

When someone says the words “life insurance agent” or “insurance salesman” what is the first thing that jumps to mind? I would guess it’s some negative idea of a door knocking, cheap suited, fake smiling salesman who puts their foot in your door. I’ve been in this industry a while now and I have seen where things have gone and how the business is changing. Let’s take a few minutes to look at why the customer (you) are now in the driver’s seat – and how life insurance agents need to behave in the new world.

Consumers are well educated and know what they want

Did you know that today, 54% of all people who bought life insurance in 2010 got an online life insurance quote first? More than half of all life insurance shopper are out there getting quotes automatically online before they even talk to an insurance broker or agent. The Canadian insurance shopper has never been so educated. Never before has there been so much useful information online for people to consume.

It can actually get a bit overwhelming. There is so much out there that you don’t know what is true and what is just a sales pitch. When you find a website that gives you clear, easy to understand information on all the topics of life and health insurance, that is a website worth bookmarking and sharing. That is what we strive to do here at Life Guard Insurance – to give you, the life and health insurance shopper, the best online experience when gathering information about the insurance you need.

Reading articles, getting online quotes, watching videos, etc. will all help you to understand which life and/or health insurance plans will suit your needs. The life insurance industry has to embrace this new world of openness and give away as much information as possible. The more empowered Canadian clients are with knowledge, the more likely they will buy the right policy for their needs (with the guidance of their advisor of course).

Insurance products are better than ever before and consumers can shop the market at their fingertips

You might not know this, but the cost of many life insurance products has come down drastically in the last 10 years. Term life insurance has become so competitive that prices have dropped in half. Many clients can get a cheaper policy today even when they are five or more years older than when they bought their original policy. This is good news for life insurance shoppers who are looking for term life insurance.

Other types of permanent life insurance have become more expensive. These products are dependent on long term interest rates, and the low interest rate environment means that premiums have to go up to keep the policies profitable.

These are little pieces of information your life insurance agent should know and be able to explain to you. A professional life insurance agent should guide you through your myriad of life insurance companies and their many product offerings. Help you find the policy that meets both your short term and long term risk management needs and wealth accumulation and protection goals. The life insurance industry today offers products that are better than we have ever seen before. You – the consumer – should feel that this world of choice is opened up before you and your life insurance agent is your guide to achieving your goals.

If you ever feel that you are being railroaded into something you don’t fully understand or that does not meet your needs – STOP. It is probably the wrong life insurance policy for you and will end up costing you a lot of money if you cancel it in the future.

The new bread of life insurance agent is an Advisor, not a Salesman

I have seen all types of life insurance agents come and go in the industry. Today I see far fewer who are in the business to make a quick buck as a “salesman”. In fact this old fashioned role is dying fast. Most Canadians want an advisor who will help them understand their risk exposure, solve it with an insurance policy that meets their needs today, and the advisor will be there in the future to help them adapt and change their insurance as needed.

The old guard of life insurance agents as salesmen is aging fast. The average age of a life insurance agent in Canada is over 50, and unfortunately there are not enough new recruits coming into the business. This has a few implications:

• It is going to get harder for you to find a qualified, well trained life insurance agent in the future; and
• There is no need to be pushy to land a sale today since most customers are motivated to buy if they are face-to-face with a life insurance agent.

The new breed of life insurance agent can take their time, listen more than they talk, and do the right thing for their clients.

Cold calling is dead (thank goodness)

Oh, thank heavens! When I came into the life insurance business I was part of an office that trained new advisors on how to cold call every evening on “mortgage insurance” and how a personal policy is more valuable than what the bank is offering. Now that is very true (get your special report: 7 Things The Banks Don’t Tell You About Mortgage Insurance) but disturbing people during their dinner hour to “reveal” this valuable information was not a fun job.

When was the last time you really listened to a cold caller and bought something or set an appointment? And I don’t mean a call from a current service provider like your bank. The first thing I do when someone calls me is I check them out online to see if what they offer is legitimate or a scam. Why not just get found online in the first place. The majority of Canadian life and health insurance shoppers are looking for information and advice online. That is where the future of the life insurance business is (and Life Guard Insurance is going to be there, front and center).

Trust and your advisor relationship begins online

By providing valuable information and useful online tools for people, the communication and trust actually begins on the internet. Without meeting or even speaking to clients, Life Guard Insurance is able to help people shop for life and health insurance products, do price quotes and learn valuable information about products that will benefit them.

When someone contacts us at Life Guard Insurance they know they are going to be put in touch with a well trained and professional life insurance broker. We don’t call anyone on the phone who has not requested we be in contact with them. Websites that ask for your name and phone number in order to give a life insurance quote can be very intrusive. It creates an immediate barrier to online shopping since you know that someone will be calling in the next 30 minutes.

It is through the online tools, information and ongoing articles that we build our relationship with clients. When someone finally contacts us we know they want to talk and get real help with protecting themselves and their families. This is how a life insurance website should operate – without barriers to our visitors online experience.

What you should expect from a good life insurance broker/advisor

What should you expect when meeting with a life insurance agent? You should expect:

• guidance, openness, and a focus on you
• access to the entire Canadian life and health insurance marketplace
• your life insurance agent should take you through a process of discovery, getting to know more about you and your family
• complete a financial needs analysis to understand what your actual risk exposure is in today’s dollars
• fitting the insurance that you need into a budget you can afford
• balancing your short term pure risk needs with your long term financial planning goals

This is what a professional life insurance agent can and should do for you.

At Life Guard Insurance we carefully chose all partner life insurance brokers very carefully. With our partners at PPI Solutions (our national insurance brokerage team) we have the very best life and health insurance brokers in Canada to chose from, and you will always deal with well trained and professional advisors (not salesmen).

Life Guard Insurance can connect you to the right life insurance broker

If you are at the point that you have learned all you need about life and health insurance, done your online quotes and watched the videos, then we stand ready to help you. Feel free to contact Life Guard Insurance to be partnered with a local and professional life insurance agent who can help you.

The article was written by Mitch Reynolds+. If you found this article interesting or it made you think, please feel free to share your comments below. Liking us on Facebook, giving us a +1 on Google or Tweeting this article about your life insurance agent would also be very much appreciated.

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