6 pitfalls to avoid in selling final expense life insurance

The insurance industry is vast and wide, but one of the easiest niches to pursue is final expense.

Leads are easy to come by, premiums are high, underwriting is simple, commissions are great and you get paid within days, but you are dealing with a different type of prospect on top of the difficulty of starting and successfully running your own business. There are many ways to get tripped up, but if you can avoid these six pitfalls, you will soar above the competition.

1. Plug into The Matrix and never pull a Neo

Final expense is one of those niches where you really need a system to plug into, a mentor to follow and a platform to replicate. Life insurance is built on a hierarchy for a reason. You need an upline that has blazed the path before you. You should have scripts, presentations, underwriting guides, objection rebuttals, etc.

The internet is awash with voices. Coaches and gurus are clamoring for your attention. Use this lead, ask these questions in the home, but you need to block out all the other voices and focus on the system you’re plugged into and chug away.

2. Buy leads and invest the difference

That’s not quite what Dave Ramsey would say, but final expense is a very lead-driven business, so you must be able to cash flow your leads each week.

So before you pay your phone bill, before you shell out cash for your mortgage or even drop some coins on your car payment, make sure you have bought leads for the week. Leads are the lifeblood of any business, but this is especially true for a final expense agent. Learning how to create a budget, giving every dollar a name and living below your means are skill sets that will make or break a final expense agent.

3. You control the clock, so you better punch it

While there’s no foreman making sure you’re clocking in for 40 hours, you better give your boss a pep talk if you’re slacking. Guess what? You’re the boss! People become insurance agents for all sorts of reasons, but the flexibility and freedom have to rank near the apex.

So you have to be careful, or it will be easy for you to stay up late and hit the field even later. Maybe a grumpy prospect turns your head game into mush and you decide to go home early. This may sound elementary, but create a schedule and stick to it.

4. He doesn’t have two pennies to rub together

I’m sure you’ve heard to not judge a book by its cover. This is definitely true while navigating the shallow waters and cat-infested houses of the average final expense prospect. Sure, they don’t have a lot of money, and they’re probably renting the couch you’re sitting on, but they have you out there for a reason. They don’t want to leave that burden to their daughter when they pass away.

So make sure you’re showing them premiums that are high enough to cover their funeral. They’ve been around the block a time or two. They know this isn’t a free government handout. They’ll have to pay the piper so their kids don’t have to pass the plate. So show them $60, $80 and $100 options. You can always walk back, but you’ll never be able to go up. Their family will thank you, and so will your pocketbook.

5. To be or not to be, that is the question

Hamlet may be required reading in some schools, but your average final expense prospect hasn’t heard that soliloquy in decades. There are still some very important questions that need to be asked.

Why are you there? You have to uncover the need before you go into anything else. Unless you’re cold door knocking, you got in that door because the prospect responded to some type of lead source.

There was something that pulled at their heartstrings when they read the advertisement. Most folks respond to the advertisement because they have absolutely no insurance and they just have to get something in place. Or maybe they have a little bit of insurance, but they know they need more. Or maybe they have all that taken care of, but they want to leave a little something for the kids, their church, a charity, etc.

“Which one of those reasons is why you have me out here, Mrs. Mary?” Don’t move on until you get a clear and concise answer to this question. They will define their hot, button issue. Now you know what problem it is that you’re trying to solve. If you don’t get them to disclose this concern, you will hear the dreaded “I need to think about it” objection at the end.

6. All my bills are paid on the 15th of the month

Not this bill. Final expense prospects, by and large, are on Social Security or government-funded disability. The government can’t balance its budget, and it takes them years to do anything, but they always get seniors their money on time.

Seniors on Social Security or disability receive their monthly payments like clockwork on the same day each month. When you suggest they should have their payment come out on the third of the month, they might object. “Can we have it come out on the 5th? I just want to make sure the money is in there.” Simply put, they are telling you a tale. What they’re really saying is that they want to spend all their money first, and if they have money left over, they’ll pay their insurance bill for the month.

Don’t give them the option. Assume the sale. Tell them when the draft is coming out. If you don’t make it a big deal, it won’t be a big deal. If they object, hold the line. If you don’t, expect that commission to chargeback next month.

Final expense prospects add a few new dimensions to insurance sales, but they are an underserved market. Statistics show us that there will be 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day for the next 15 years. We are blessed with the opportunity to solve a major problem for our prospects.

Joshua Jones is a writer, speaker and coach. He owns an insurance agency that mentors agents on how to grow and scale successful agencies. He may be contacted at [email protected].