0:05

[inaudible] .

0:05

Hello and welcome to a Sherbet East podcast

0:08

tips from the insurance pros. In

0:10

this series we talk with industry

0:12

pros as they share ideas and

0:14

insights that you can use today. I'm

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your host Matt and I'm excited to bring

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you a new topic for this month. Disability

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income insurance. Assurity

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has been a leader in income protection for decades

0:27

dating back to 1890 we're

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committed to the market and to your sales

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success and that's why we have

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a disability expert with us today. 17

0:37

year veteran Benjamin Perez. Benjamin

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is the vice president of sales and marketing

0:42

at Disability

0:45

Resource Group Inc. He'll be sharing his vast experience

0:47

educating and developing advisers in

0:49

the DIY market. Welcome

0:52

Benjamin. It's great to have you with us here today.

0:54

Thank you Matt.

0:56

So to begin, can you tell us a little

0:58

bit about your background and your company?

1:00

Certainly prior to joining

1:03

disability resource group or DRG

1:06

as we are that are known as I

1:08

was in fact in personal production

1:11

as a career agent with mass

1:13

mutual and through my

1:15

affiliation with that agency

1:17

I happened to meet John

1:20

Nichols who had just begun

1:22

disability resource group and

1:25

actually needed some help and

1:27

I agreed to their system on

1:29

a part time basis because

1:32

I was very focused in my career

1:34

as an individual producer

1:36

and 17 years later

1:38

I'm still here.

1:40

Oh , fantastic. Let's begin with with

1:42

education. How do you go about

1:44

educating producers on how to approach

1:47

perspective clients about the need for income protection?

1:50

Well, typically when I begin

1:53

to work with producers,

1:55

they already have a perspective

1:57

client or they have a client who

1:59

has asked them already about

2:01

disability income, so it's

2:04

a bit warmer and I

2:06

take them through the discovery

2:08

process, tell them

2:10

what questions really need to be

2:12

asked and how complete

2:15

those answers need to

2:17

be and take them through

2:19

the underwriting process

2:22

and make sure that they have a

2:24

positive experience or that they will

2:27

continue to seek

2:29

out clients for this type of

2:31

protection. Sometimes I'm

2:33

brought into agencies

2:36

or producer groups or

2:38

even broker dealers to speak to

2:40

their newer insurance

2:42

professionals and I

2:45

let them know that the important

2:47

thing is to ask the questions.

2:50

Many times this product is

2:53

overlooked. It's not top

2:55

of mind for many producers.

2:57

Unfortunately the insurance

2:59

companies don't do a great job

3:02

of training, especially on

3:04

the career side, so I like to

3:06

know that they need to ask their

3:09

clients what they're doing to

3:11

protect their income and probe

3:13

and get complete and full answers and

3:15

also to let them

3:17

know that if a client says they have

3:20

group insurance through their employer,

3:22

that doesn't mean that they're adequately covered,

3:24

so they should get the details

3:26

on their group coverage and see how

3:29

we can supplement that and plug in

3:31

the gaps.

3:32

Absolutely. Now you mentioned

3:35

something interesting about producers seeking out

3:37

their clients. It's a known fact that

3:39

sometimes producers can focus on doctors,

3:41

lawyers, and other professionals for disability

3:44

income insurance. Can you talk

3:46

about the big need for income protection

3:48

that's out there for everyone and

3:50

not just white collar groups?

3:52

Absolutely. Doctors, of

3:54

course, are the number one

3:56

occupation of for

3:59

disability income protection because they

4:01

know the devastating

4:03

consequences that that can occur if

4:05

you're too sick or hurt to work because they

4:08

see it with the patients that they

4:10

treat. However, anyone

4:12

who actually has a full

4:14

time job and needs

4:16

to protect their income, who

4:18

is not independently wealthy, needs

4:21

income protection. And

4:23

there are companies out there who

4:26

offer some type of coverage for

4:28

just about every insurable occupation

4:31

and some that you may not even

4:33

think could be covered, we can

4:35

find some protection for. So

4:38

it's important to ask all

4:40

of your clients who are working what

4:43

they're doing to protect their income and

4:45

if they have a more

4:48

hands on occupation or

4:50

a unusual occupation

4:52

or something that is certainly not

4:54

considered white collar, there are carriers

4:56

out there that can provide

4:59

some income protection coverage today

5:01

.

5:01

That's an important point to note. However,

5:04

a lot of these clients are still going to have

5:06

some objections. Do you think the

5:08

objections to disability insurance have changed

5:11

over the years? How do you help producers

5:13

address objections when trying to sell disability

5:16

income insurance?

5:18

Uh , frankly, I don't think the objections

5:20

have changed very much

5:22

when it comes to this type of product.

5:25

When you're dealing with younger

5:27

individuals, those who are

5:30

under age 48 , they

5:32

immediately think that they are

5:34

not going to need this type of coverage.

5:37

They're physically say it, they're active,

5:40

they're exercising, they're taking

5:42

vitamins that they're invincible. So

5:45

the important thing I have found

5:47

is that you have to move these individuals,

5:50

offset it a little bit, and let them know that

5:53

a sickness or injury can strike

5:56

at any time. Anyone at

5:58

any age. And that

6:00

being disabled does not necessarily

6:02

mean being in a wheelchair or

6:05

being bedridden. It can simply

6:07

mean not being able to

6:10

perform the material and substantial duties of

6:12

your occupation, your

6:14

job not being able to work, just

6:16

being too sick or hurt to go

6:18

in and do your current job.

6:21

For those who are a little more seasoning,

6:24

and for those who are in

6:27

their 50s, it does

6:29

get a little pricey. So the

6:31

objection typically is, wow, that is

6:34

so expensive. I can't afford

6:36

that. And I typically

6:38

let those individuals know that

6:40

we can make it affordable.

6:43

Many times producers want to show

6:45

their clients the maximum benefit

6:47

amount available that their income optional

6:52

writers and show them the Cadillac

6:54

plan, a word . These

6:56

clients, especially those who are

6:59

are a little bit older, get sticker shock.

7:02

So it's important to tailor

7:04

the plan realistically

7:08

and show them that it can be made

7:11

affordable and we can find to

7:13

to get to the most palatable and for

7:15

them.

7:16

So once that these applications

7:18

have been created, what tips do you

7:20

provide producers to help them get their DUI

7:22

applications through underwriting?

7:25

What would be most important

7:27

thing when you get to this stage

7:30

is really to make sure that you are having an

7:32

open dialogue with the client

7:34

and you let them know that this

7:36

is a fully underwritten product

7:39

and that disability income protection

7:41

is underwritten a little differently than

7:44

some of your other insurance products. So

7:46

if there are any health issues that

7:49

the client may have, if they've had any

7:51

hospitalizations, any major

7:53

medical issues or some that may not

7:56

be considered so major, any

7:58

prescription medications that

8:00

they're currently taking or have taken

8:02

in the past couple of years, let's get all

8:04

that information on the front

8:06

end before we submit

8:08

the application so that there are no

8:11

surprises. Same thing

8:13

on the financial end . Have they

8:15

filed bankruptcy on a

8:17

in debt with the IRS? Let's

8:20

get a clear picture of where they

8:22

are because if there are some issues, we can address

8:24

them on the front end. Perhaps

8:26

the companies that they're applying for,

8:28

it doesn't like that particular ailment or

8:31

there may be a company that would be more lenient

8:34

with financial situations than

8:36

the one that they wanted to move forward

8:38

with. But if we had the details be

8:41

forehand , we can minimize the amount

8:43

of surprises.

8:45

Absolutely. Preparation is very

8:47

important in making sure those applications

8:49

can sale right through underwriting without a problem.

8:52

Lastly, what's one piece of advice

8:54

that would share about how to sell more

8:57

disability income insurance?

8:59

Well, I think the primary

9:01

thing that producers need to do

9:03

is ask the question. As I alluded

9:05

to earlier, many times

9:08

this product gets overlooked.

9:10

You don't ask the questions, you're not going

9:13

to get an answer, and many

9:15

times when your clients approach

9:18

you for disability, income protection

9:20

may already be too late. They may

9:22

already have some issues that are

9:25

uninsurable, but the critical

9:27

thing is to ask everyone , every client

9:29

you have who is working, what are they

9:31

doing to protect their income and

9:34

really probe and get as much detailed information

9:36

as possible if they do have

9:39

coverage through their employer, get

9:41

the details on it and point

9:43

out the shortfalls that are inherent in small

9:45

group plans.

9:46

Well, Benjamin, I think that your insights

9:48

have been spot on. Is

9:51

there anything else that you'd like to add before

9:53

we wrap up?

9:54

All right . No. What I would suggest

9:56

is, you know , keep reiterating,

9:59

asking the questions and make sure

10:01

that you are asking and then bring

10:04

the client to be and let's see. But

10:06

we can do for it .

10:07

Great. Well Benjamin,

10:09

thank you for joining us today. We

10:11

appreciate you taking the time to talk about

10:13

the important role of disability income

10:16

insurance. Thank you Madam

10:18

[inaudible] and to our listeners,

10:21

thanks for tuning into a assurities podcast

10:23

series tips from the insurance pros.

10:26

Stay tuned for our next episode to

10:28

get more ideas on successfully selling

10:30

disability income insurance. In

10:33

the meantime, if you'd like to learn more

10:35

about assurities disability income insurance

10:37

product, head over to [inaudible]

10:40

dot com you can also email

10:45

[email protected] and we'll be happy to connect you with one

10:47

of our regional reps in your area to

10:49

take a deeper dive. Thanks for

10:51

listening.

10:55

[inaudible]

10:55

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