DIBroker East / Eskra & Associates

Disability Insurance For Life

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Selling and Training Resources

Lessons Learned from a Seasoned IDI Agent: Guest Video Blog by Steve Brady

  by  DIBroker East

Steve Brady
Steve Brady

Lessons Learned From a Seasoned IDI Agent          

By Steve Brady, National Accounts Sales Director at The Standard (Standard Insurance Company)

Steve Brady is one of the most creative disability insurance specialist in our industry.  Steve put the Standard on the disability insurance map in a significant way when he helped them bring back to the market in the early 2000’s a true own occupation definition for all physicians (among other innovations). Such a bold (and successful) movement is characteristic of his innovative approach to marketing and sales.

Not surprisingly, when he put together this training video of about 30 minutes,  he did it in his own unique way. Steve is our first guest to provide content for our blog and I feel very fortunate that he was willing to share this very special training video–it is a great introduction to IDI sales.

Join Steve on a ferry journey as he recounts real-life sales stories from his more than three decades of selling individual disability income insurance (IDI).  Steve discusses target markets in need of income protection, key IDI contract provisions, and sales strategies proven to work. Watch Video. (http://players.brightcove.net/1079186452001/default_default/index.html?videoId=4902637574001)

 

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Selling and Training Resources

Disability Insurance Sticker Shock and Job A, Job B

  by  DIBroker East

Sticker shock is a common problem in the disability insurance world, especially for new financial planners and insurance agents who have become used to the very low cost of term life insurance.

The cost of a good DI policy, something like a 90 elimination period, with a to 65 or 67 benefit period, residual (for partial disabilities), protection in your own occupation, and a purchase option (for us that would be the outline of basic, but very good policy for a professional) typically costs between 1.5% and 3% of income. And the premium goes up significantly with age, among other factors.

You are a young agent and you just sold a million dollar, 20 year term policy to a 30 year old female for $365 a year. How do you sell a policy that costs 2% of her income–say $2,000?

First, start with the need, not with the quote. For example: What would happen if you got sick or hurt and could not work for a few years?

Second, let the client know you can help her find the right solution to her need, but make it clear up front that good coverage is not cheap and that there are very good reasons for that–most notably the odds of making a claim on a disability policy are much, much higher than the odds of dying during your working years (of course the odds of dying are 100% eventually, but hopefully later).

Third, Job A, Job B.

This idea is a classic in our industry. My father used it 30 plus years ago, but I don’t know who first thought of it (an unknown home office person in Marketing at Provident or Unum or Paul Revere back in the day?–whoever it was, my thanks to you).

It is Disability Awareness Month, and in honor of that unknown creator, the simple, but perfect context for the DI sale:

You are looking for a job. You have two offers: Job A pays you $100,000 a year if you are healthy and can work, but nothing if you are sick or hurt and cannot work. Job B pays you $98,000 a year if you are healthy, and $60,000 a year (tax free) if you become disabled and cannot work. Which job do you choose?

No one ever says they choose Job A.

JobAJobB-new

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Selling and Training Resources

Welcome to the Initial DIBroker East Blog: Buy-Sell

  by  DIBroker East

Welcome to my initial blog for dibroker east/Eskra & Associates.

This blog will show up occasionally when something interesting happens in the disability insurance world that I want to share with you.

I was hoping to get my father, Mike Eskra, Jr. to take on this blog. He was a bit of a legend in our industry and a consummate marketer—and he loved to write (his book on Disability Insurance is a testament to that). Sadly, he passed away unexpectedly in September 2015. This blog is dedicated to him.

I want to start this blog with an unsung product in the disability world—disability buy-out.
Often, often, often we can see clients who have are the owners of small business, and often (though not often enough), they will have a buy-sell agreement that covers what happens to the firm in the event of the death of one of the partners. And often, they cover the risk created by that agreement with a term life insurance policy—great. So far, so good.

But so,so often, the agreement will also cover disabilities (which a good agreement should), and that liability with not be covered by a disability policy—but it can and often should be.

A number of carriers have excellent buy-sell products, including MetLife and the Standard. But the Principal Financial group has just released a new version of their buy-sell product (“DBO”) that has really fantastic pricing, and it now allows for one-way buy-outs.

If you have clients who own a small business and who have partners, talking with them about buy-sell needs is very important, and now is a great time to do it.

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