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Simple Conversations That Will Close Your Sale

When planning for retirement, most people take stock of their expenses to ensure they have enough income to live comfortably. But many fail to consider the significant price of long-term care services.

The average cost of nursing home care is approaching $107,000 a year.

Making it easy to see how a long-term care situation could quickly deplete the retirement nest egg that your clients have worked hard to build.
 
Explain how Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) will help protect their retirement funds and close the sale with these simple conversation pointers:
 
Conversation Starter 1:
 
“Let’s talk about how your plan to live a long life could impact your spouse and your children.”
 
As people get older, they generally need more help. If your clients are like a lot of people, they mistakenly believe their long-term care needs are already taken care of.
 
Ask them if they have thought about:
 
  • Who will take care of you?
  • Will that person be able to be a full-time caregiver?
  • Where will you live?
  • Which one of your children might you be able to live with?
Conversation Starter 2:
 
“Did you know that major medical insurance doesn’t cover long-term care services? Medicare coverage is limited to helping people get back on their feet after an illness or injury. And relying on Medicare may mean spending down assets to qualify.”
 
Ask your clients how they would pay for the care they need if these options were taken off the table.
 
Have them consider:
 
  • Could you afford to pay the extra costs per year out of your retirement savings?
  • Would you have access to the funds you need? Or would you have to sell assets, cash in stocks, or dip into 401(k) or other savings accounts?
  • Which assets would you use to pay for your care?
An LTCI policy ensures that the funds your clients need are available to pay the bills for long-term care expenses – protecting their retirement assets and making their retirement dreams a reality.
 
Design a plan that is both affordable and the best solution for your clients’ needs – contact your LTCI Sales Rep for guidance.
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5 Steps To Building Your LTCi Business Plan

Developing a plan for an entire year can be a daunting task. With so many days ahead of you, it’s easy to get sidetracked and let a few months of inactivity slip and sabotage your success. It’s time to take a more disciplined approach.
 
Stay Motivated All Year
 
Be sure to write down your business plan and place it where you’ll see it each day. Also set up a repeating calendar entry each week to review the plan and the work you’ve done to achieve it.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” ― Abraham Lincoln

Start small and focus on building a plan with measurable and achievable goals.
 
Set Goals
  • Be Realistic – It may sound great if your goal is to increase your Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance business, but you might be setting yourself up for failure. Instead commit to making LTC Insurance more fully integrated into your business.
  • Make Them Measurable – Numbers don’t lie, so use them to make yourself accountable. Pinpoint a certain number of applications you’d like to write, client meetings you’d like to host, or referrals you’d like to gain.
Create A Plan
  • Develop A Strategy – Now that your goals are in place, how will you reach them? Create actionable items to focus on throughout the year. Maybe it’s simply making LTC Insurance a part of every financial planning discussion you have or it’s committing to hosting quarterly education seminars in your community.
  • Target Completion Dates – Having monthly or quarterly milestones are a great way to track success, and provides you with ample time to plan ahead.
Take Action
  • Get Motivated – Your business plan may seem foolproof, but won’t work if you don’t put it into action. Begin each day with a task to help you meet a specific goal. You’ll build momentum to keep you focused and productive.
  • Commit To Your Plan – You’ve positioned yourself for success and have taken the time to establish specific goals, strategies, and deadlines. Stick to your plan and give it a chance to work
Track Results
  • Self-Evaluate – Are you ahead of your goals or are you falling behind? Regularly reviewing your progress will provide you with direction on how to focus going forward.
  • Make Adjustments – You may find that one approach works, and another does not. Being flexible will allow you to change strategies to achieve overall success.
We’re here to help – reach out to your Long-Term Care Associate for assistance with your planning.
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Tell A Story – Sell LTC

Getting your clients to talk about Long-Term Care (LTC) can be very challenging. Many clients don’t believe that it will happen to them. They are under the impression they will not be among the 70% of Americans who need LTC at some point in their life.

So how do you get people interested and talking? The answer is simple, tell a story.

Here are some tips on storytelling to get people interested in LTC:
  • Talk about your own experiences – this adds personal and emotional value
  • Use stories from others – discuss their challenges and how they overcame them
  • Express your emotions – explain how the situation made you feel, or how others felt
  • Make sure it is relevant to your audience – if a potential client doesn’t have children, do not talk about how difficult an LTC situation is on the kids
  • Don’t try too hard – people know when you are lying just to get a sale
  • Keep it positive – don’t scare prospective clients with horror stories, educate them on the benefits of LTC
  • Short and sweet is key – keep your clients interested by only focusing on important details
  • Encourage discussion – ask questions and open up the dialogue to get potential clients involved and let them share their stories

The main goal of storytelling is to get prospective clients to visualize themselves needing LTC at some point, how great they will be taken care of, and how costs will be covered.

For more information please contact your LTC Specialist today!
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4 Ways To Become The LTC Expert In Your Community

In the competitive world of financial services, business professionals are always looking for ways to add value to help differentiate themselves.

In a market of one-stop shopping, becoming the local LTC resource can help you stand out in the crowd.

Build Your Brand
 
Develop relationships by contacting and joining local community organizations, like the Council on Aging, Rotary Club, or Chamber of Commerce. Establish yourself as a Long-Term Care professional and offer your services to help educate people in the community on the need for LTC planning. You can also place an advertisement or by-line article in a local publication to establish yourself as an expert on LTC.
 
Create Awareness
 
Contact local estate planning lawyers and accountants to educate them on Long-Term Care Insurance and its relevance in their practice. Remind them that protecting the assets and net worth of their clients from a LTC event can help preserve their client’s quality of life and help protect their assets.
 
You can also visit local nursing homes and care facilities to share Long-Term Care information and insight with the families of residents. Talk with them about their own vision for retirement and their personal Long-Term Care needs. Use social media to reach out to your contacts to provide expertise and ask for referrals.
 
Building Relationships
 
Keep your schedule full, and make contacts with as many potential clients as possible. In order to succeed in this field, you will need to continually educate people on the importance of Long-Term Care planning. Follow these steps to build your reputation and position yourself as an expert in the industry.
 
Generate Leads
 
Seminars or webinars are a great way to get in front of many people at one time. We offer numerous marketing materials for you to use when presenting to potential clients. Be sure to follow up with a phone call to attendees, to schedule an appointment and answer any questions.
 
Our team is here to offer you support and prospecting techniques when discussing LTC in your community. Contact us today.
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Approaching LTCI For Couples With No Children

The need for long-term care does not discriminate. No matter what your income is, your marital status, or any other demographics that come into play – when you need long-term care, you need long-term care.
 
Clients with families and children typically consider themselves to have a “default” caregiver, someone who will always be on call if they were to encounter a long-term care situation. But what about your clients who do not have any children? How do they approach their need for long-term care?
 
Although couples may face the same long-term care risk as families with children, their situation may create a different set of challenges.

Not having a “default” caregiver in the form of a child can force your clients to think creatively about their long term care strategy.

Ask your clients, how do they want to live their life?
 
Living life without children opens up new possibilities and introduces some unique challenges. They may have more freedom to delve into their career and explore their interests. Yet, they may need to put more thought into long-term care than people with kids.
 
They could have a heightened need for professional assistance, since an adult child won’t be “on call” when and if they need help. And, if they’re part of a couple, they might bear a greater part of the work of providing care than they would if they had children.
 
Accidents, chronic illness, or simply the effects of aging could all result in a need for long-term care in the future. That’s why it’s important for everyone to take steps to preserve their quality of life and financial assets as they age.
 
We’re here to help you design a plan that is both affordable and provides the best solution for your clients’ needs. Contact your LTCI Sales Rep for guidance.
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Your Clients Aren’t Average – Why Is Their Long-Term Care?

Some carriers like to claim that your clients don’t need Long-Term Care (LTC) protection beyond the average length of a care need. But preparing for only the average length of a care need can leave a large gap.
 
The Story of Averages
 
The average length of an LTC need is typically longer for women than men (3.7 years vs 2.2 years). However, in a survey of leading long-term care insurers, that story of averages doesn’t hold up.
 
With five of the seven carriers, men met or exceeded the length of claim for women, with each exceeding a million dollars! Planning for the average would’ve only covered a fraction of the cost.

The belief that average lengths of care are sufficient could create one of the most devastating financial decisions in life.

Addressing only the average care need excludes the possibility of a life-long diagnosis like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Lifetime protection is the only way to ensure that every client has exactly the amount of protection that they need, whether it’s for two months, two years, 20 years or more.
 
Your clients aren’t average, and their LTC protection shouldn’t be either. Contact us to learn more about Continuation of Benefits options, including Lifetime, to help your clients be protected against costly LTC needs.
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Making The Case For Private LTC Insurance

As baby boomers enter their retirement years, many mistakenly assume government programs will meet their future Long-Term Care (LTC) needs. But both Medicare and Medicaid have limitations and may undergo significant changes in the face of the growing federal deficit.

Now is the time to start having conversations with your clients about LTC planning, the risk of depending on government programs, and how those programs differ from private LTC insurance.

This educational approach will help position you as a valuable resource for your prospective clients.
 
Resources for Long-Term Care:
  • Medicare, like most health insurance, is primarily meant to cover acute illnesses. It does pay for some LTC expenses, but there are significant limitations, and you must be age 65 to qualify. Some benefits are payable for the first 100 days per benefit period in a skilled nursing facility, if you enter within 30 days after a hospitalization of at least three days, and if you are receiving skilled care and continue to get better. Medicare does not cover custodial care — help with the activities of daily living that a person could need for years.
  • Medicaid is a joint federal and state insurance program that pays a large portion of the nation’s LTC expenses. Most state laws require that you spend down your assets before you become eligible for benefits, and may limit the options as to where and what kind of care you can receive. Some states have proposed revisions to Medicaid that could further limit eligibility in the future.
  • Private LTC Insurance is a more dependable option and provides benefits for care in a variety of settings, including the familiar surroundings of home. You can assist your clients in taking responsibility to help secure their future by designing an LTC Insurance plan that will fit their specific needs and budget. That way, they can feel confident they will get the care they need without worrying if they will need to rely on a government program to pay for it.
Did You Know? Your social security statement says, “Medicare does not pay for Long-Term Care, so you may want to consider options for private insurance.”
 
Contact your LTC Sales Associate today for more information and resources.
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How To Breakthrough The Couple Rejection Objection

As you’ve all experienced, the majority of your clients who are couples come together as a packaged deal. So what happens when a couple applies for a Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCi) policy and only one is approved?
 
In most cases, the spouse who received the green light may no longer want a policy with a carrier who rejected coverage for their significant other. And even worse, they may decide that they no longer need coverage at all.

The reality is – if one spouse is declined, it is even more crucial that the insurable spouse has a plan in place.

Convincing the insurable spouse to proceed with the plan.
 
Client Objection: “My spouse was declined so I do not want to take my policy.”
 
In this case, it is probable that the healthier partner will attempt to care for the other – with whatever financial, physical, emotional and mental demands that are required.
 
Your Reply: “Caring for a loved one could either be met with minimum effort or it may be very strenuous. And while personally caring for your significant other, you may have do to dip into your savings, leaving little funding left for your own care.”
 
You Ask: “Would you be ready to go it alone and take care of all those new tasks that arise in a situation like that?”
 
Once you’ve overcome the objections, we will help you make certain your clients have the right LTCi plan in place to meet their needs.
 
Contact your LTCi Sales Rep for more information.
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Profitable LTCI Sales: 4 Items You Need To Know

Traditional Long-Term Care Insurance placement rates have suffered due to carriers offering more stringent underwriting guidelines – declines on one spouse or the other and policies issued at rate classes greater than applied for have caused a spike in policies not taken or accepted by one or both of the insureds. The consequence of this is lost profitability to the producer and general agent.
 
We spend untold hours running quotes on prospects without the faintest idea if they will qualify for coverage due to health reasons; additional time and resources processing the cases; and countless hours talking to underwriters on the phone trying to get them to change their minds in a no-wiggle room environment. Ultimately, the producer aggravates potential new customers or alienates existing clients.
 
The reality is that producers and general agents don’t make the rules.
 
When companies across a market segment harden underwriting we have two choices; find another product to sell or adapt tactics. In light of the fact that many of us are committed to long-term care planning, how can we continue to help consumers in this difficult environment?
 
There’s a simple answer; get better at field underwriting the clients’ health profiles before beginning the quoting process. This not so revolutionary concept is easily accomplished by any producer or advisor.

A brief review of one or two insurance company underwriting guides will provide the basic questions one needs to ask prospects and clients.

We also have a one page health questionnaire that can be used to guide producers through the primary issues that impact Long-Term Care Insurance underwriting decisions.
 
The four primary items one must know are:
  • Height and weight
  • Tobacco use
  • Recent major health issues or surgeries that may be pending
  • Current prescription medications being taken (Very important as it is indicative of what may be ailing someone)
With this basic information we can zero-in on insurability and/or rate class.
 
We can also recommend the insurance company that is most likely to look favorably on the prospect’s health issues. The producer appears professional because they’ve done some meaningful research for the client, and the chances of an unexpected underwriting decision are mitigated.
 
Doesn’t it make sense to ‘put the horse in front of the cart’ by getting basic vital health information from the prospect before a proposal is presented? Who wants unpleasant surprises after the fact? The process goes much smoother, everyone’s valuable time is not wasted and selling long-term care insurance becomes a profitable endeavor.
 
Contact your LTCI Sales Reps for assistance.
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5 Reasons Referrals Are Your Best Sales Opportunities

If everybody knows referrals are a good way to find prospective clients, why does asking for them seem so hard?
 
Many producers think a request for referrals will come across as imposing or rude. But think of it this way: asking clients for names of people who are just like them actually can be considered a compliment.

When you ask for referrals, you’re acknowledging your clients made a smart decision and you’re simply asking them to share the results of that decision with others.

For example, in your search for prospective Long-Term Care clients, you might say:
 
I’m interested in meeting people much like yourself – people who are concerned about (protecting their retirement assets, avoiding becoming a burden to their children, remaining in their homes, etc.). I would really like the opportunity to talk with some of your friends and relatives – to share with them some of the same information we’ve gone over today. Who do you think we could help?
 
Asking people you already know to provide you with the names of people they know, will allow you to spend less time locating qualified prospects and more time selling to them.
 
Here are the 5 reasons referrals are your best sales opportunities:
  1. You approach prospects on a favorable basis. Having a friend or acquaintance in common greatly increases your odds of setting an appointment.
  2. It gives you credibility. Your client obviously felt the service you provided was valuable enough to share with others. And that helps to establish your value.
  3. It can boost your confidence. Making calls to referred prospects is a whole lot easier than making cold calls because you’re approaching people on familiar, comfortable and favorable terms.
  4. You can devote more time to selling. For every one appointment you get through hours of cold calling, you should be able to get at least three referred leads from a single sales interview.
  5. You get more well-qualified prospects because they can be qualified in advance. Asking for as much information as possible from the person providing the name allows you to be well prepared when you call a referral.
For more information or prospecting tips, contact your LTC Specialist today.

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