Surprise your clients – with life insurance!

Sometimes it’s best to play the surprise card. Surprise can be the first step not just in creating memorable moments but also in encouraging action.

Corebridge Financial recently published research showing that many Americans are ready to be surprised by life insurance. There is an extremely good chance that many of your clients do not know just how powerful these insurance products can be and how much has changed about life insurance.

Surprise with emotion

Americans who have life insurance are dramatically more confident in the ability of their loved ones to manage financially without them (47% vs. 28%). On the flip side, Americans who don’t have life insurance are four times more likely to say they are not at all confident (32% vs. 8%).

These findings from our research are packed with emotion. 

Your clients and their loved ones likely have joyous plans for their futures — children going to college, getting married, buying first homes as well as the older generation enjoying their retirement — and these are all plans that life insurance can help make a reality. 

Corebridge’s sales productivity and business development authority, Joe Ross, often reminds me that bringing in the heart is an essential part of motivating individuals to purchase life insurance. 

First, prospects and clients may need help to recognize the emotional pain that comes with knowing their loved ones might not be ready financially should tragedy strike. Not only will they no longer have an important paycheck to rely on in the short term, but they also may not have sufficient financial resources for the future.

Next, as a counterbalance, you can help heighten the emotional satisfaction of having life insurance by connecting it to pleasure, security and well-being. A client’s joy at having peace of mind, the happiness of being able to sleep easier at night, the fulfillment of knowing action has been taken to prepare their family for different scenarios — this positive psychology is powerful and stands in stark contrast to the painful uncertainty of not having life insurance. 

Surprise with speed and ease of use

According to our research, nearly 3 in 4 Americans say they would be more likely to get life insurance if the purchase process included a 24-hour online approval process. 

Years ago, the life insurance purchase process was slow, cumbersome and frustrating. Today, thanks to increasing use of online applications and accelerated underwriting practices, it’s possible for life insurance policies to be delivered immediately, while some may be delivered in as little as 24 hours without the need for a medical exam.

The process of purchasing life insurance has changed in important ways across our industry, and there is a real opportunity to surprise your clients with both the speed and ease of the process. 

Some individuals will want to handle as much of the process as they can, filling out application forms on their own through an online portal with the skill of a personal finance do-it-yourselfer. Others will want to partner with a professional to ensure they’re handling the steps correctly and understanding every detail as they go.

Insurance agents and financial professionals can have the option, depending on the insurer, to create a purchase experience that best matches their client’s personality. Some of your clients may prefer an end-to-end digital platform where they can handle all the steps; others may want you, with your knowledge and experience to be by their side throughout the process; and still others will want some combination of these options. 

Surprise with affordability

Misperceptions around the cost of life insurance deter too many Americans from securing this important coverage, and the opportunity  to surprise clients with the affordability of life insurance is significant.

In what I believe is one of the most important findings in our research, we asked survey respondents to choose from five options to estimate how much a healthy 30-year-old should expect to pay for a 20-year, $250,000 term life insurance policy. Only 10% could identify the correct amount, with nearly a quarter of respondents (24%) choosing an amount that was more than triple the actual cost.

At the same time, cost is what Americans say is the main deterrent keeping them from obtaining a policy. Almost 4 in 10 (38%) say cost is the top reason for not buying life insurance, followed by another 21% who say they have more important financial considerations. 

You could have the opportunity to pleasantly surprise your client with the affordability of life insurance. While so many products and services have gone up in price, life insurance has become more affordable than ever.

Surprise with flexibility

One of the best surprises is how today’s modern life insurance aligns so well with Americans’ financial concerns. Our research found that the top financial concerns for individuals are unexpected expenses, long-term care costs and running out of money in retirement.

In addition to providing money payable to beneficiaries, which is the primary reason most individuals purchase coverage, some life insurance policies also can offer benefits to policyholders while they are still alive. 

Some products allow for premiums above the cost of insurance and policy fees to grow tax-free in an accumulation account within the insurance product that can be withdrawn or borrowed against to help cover the expenses of things such as emergencies or long-term care costs. It should be noted that withdrawals or loans can affect how long coverage can remain in force.

Furthermore, accelerated benefit riders can potentially allow policyholders to receive all or a portion of their death benefit when facing a qualifying health-
related condition, helping with expenses of terminal or other qualifying illnesses or conditions, or meeting other needs.

In our survey, more than 8 in 10 respondents identified all four of these benefits as valuable.

Surprise yourself

Helping consumers create a solid and secure financial plan is one of our industry’s more meaningful outcomes. Still, in order to do that work, you must create real connections with your clients.

Life insurance provides an opportunity along these lines, especially as you’re working with clients who are reaching important milestones in their lives —celebrating weddings, growing families, buying homes.

You can bring in the human factor and share your own experiences. As you tell your clients about your own important life moments or your forward-looking dreams, maybe you’ll surprise yourself with just how much emotion and heart there can be in the life insurance conversation.

Eric Tarnow is head of life insurance with Corebridge Financial. Contact him at [email protected].