March 19th, 2020
With the recent developments regarding the COVID-19 virus, it’s an understatement to say we are in unchartered territory. Whether you’re looking at the global economy, businesses, the healthcare system, restrictions on travel and personal gatherings, school closings, or just your personal well-being, we are in a situation that is unprecedented.
Regardless of your personal feelings on the matter, I think we would all agree that this will have a major impact on our industry and our overall economy. Even by conservative standards, this pandemic will impact our world for at least the next 3-4 months…
Scott Gilpin
Life Marketing Manager
800.541.6705
and that’s probably being optimistic. The underlying message that we are getting from almost everything we read right now is about “Social Distancing”. As responsible community members, I think most people will try to follow these guidelines as much as they can for the foreseeable future.
Although that is a good thing, and something that we should all do, it certainly poses a problem for an industry that is built upon meeting with clients to sell a product. Not to mention, people’s proclivity to try to save money during such uncertain times. If you are like me, you are asking yourself, “How does our business survive this?” and “What can I do to continue to help serve my clients and make a living?”. These are definitely difficult questions to answer right now. However, we might have a few things we can do, and focus on, to help us through these difficult times.
The first, and most obvious thing that comes to mind is understanding that our clients are probably adhering to the recommendations of social distancing and therefore setting face-to-face appointments might not be appropriate for the time being. This doesn’t mean that you cannot have any contact with your clients, it just means that your method of communicating will be through the phone, email, social media, mail, and/or web conferencing. The good news is that most of us are already very adept at these modes of communicating these days, so we will be relying on them even more for the foreseeable future. If you ever considered an “email campaign”, or sending out postcards or mailers, now might be a good time to start. Another great technology resource is web conferencing. Vendors such as Skype for Business or GoTo Meetings are a great way for you to communicate with your clients in a manner like you were right there with them. Many of our insurance carriers have limited their RVP’s business travels and their sponsored events and tradeshows, so many of them are reverting to web conferencing to continue to stay in front of people and take care of their clients. You can do the same.
The second thing that I believe would be beneficial for you to do right now is to go through your existing book of clients. If business with new clients is slowing down, this could be a great way to pick it back up. Go through and find those clients that you haven’t talked to in a while. Find those that may be nearing the end of their level term and might need to update their coverage or possibly convert. Find those that are turning age 65 and might need a phone call to discuss Medicare. Your existing book could be a goldmine of opportunity for you when prospecting for new clients might be difficult.
The third thing that comes to my mind is something that I have been preaching about for about the last year…..Vive. As most of you probably already know, Vive is a term quote and drop-ticket submission platform that is available on our website. It allows you to submit the term life insurance application electronically, without needing to complete a paper application or ever leave your office. You can complete the one page of questions with the client over the phone and have it submitted directly to the life insurance carrier. This might be the best time to familiarize yourself with this process. Your clients might really appreciate the ability to get their life insurance completed in such a non-invasive manner.
I’m going to try and say this in the nicest and most political way I can, and hope it comes out right…..we can try to turn this pandemic into an opportunity. Do you think the thought of “What if I got sick and something happened to me?” hasn’t entered your clients’ minds in the last month? Health and mortality are thoughts that are definitely circulating at the current time. Maybe it’s a good time to talk about those things with your clients. There is nothing wrong with using this situation to sell life insurance, annuities, med-supp, DI, Long Term Care, etc. with your clients because, at the end of the day, you are providing a valuable product that they need. This pandemic might just be the catalyst that some people need to see the need for insurance that they may have neglected in the past.
As always, we are here to help you in whatever way you need us. We will persevere through this situation and we will do our best to help you do the same. Stay safe and stay healthy.