Sales Ideas to Propel Your DI Practice to the Top

I doubt that many of you reading this got your start in the world of financial services through disability insurance (DI). Income protection, as some of us appreciatively call it, is an often overlooked, undervalued sector of the greater life and health insurance industry. Most agents and advisors have been naturally polarized by our industry, landing in one of the two main camps – life insurance and health or medical insurance. And as far as branching-out, some may dabble in long term care, annuities or even DI, but most of us keep to our core, what we know best and most often to provide ourselves with continual income and our clients with optimal service.

But in this fast-paced business era, opportunities for excellence and growth are abound, and the disability insurance marketplace is where we find newer and greater options than in any other sector. Recent increases in industry-wide competition as well as advances in automation and digital marketing and sales have allowed for the strongest, most progressive DI market the U.S. has seen in several decades. Now is the time to step outside your comfort zone and hone your DI sales skills.

So what is important when it comes to selling disability insurance? The first thing to remember is that DI doesn’t sell itself. The insurance producer is the most important part of the sales equation. Your wholehearted belief in the product is key in relating to your clientele that DI is the cornerstone of a healthy and comprehensive financial portfolio. Without the protection of one’s income, one’s paycheck, nothing else will fall into place economically, and one risks financial ruin. As an advisor you must sell DI to your clients, showing them that the risks are real and potentially devastating.

Providing a marketing brochure or a sales link on your website won’t cut it. The average American must be guided early and often to disability insurance, because the average American has somewhat of a “Superman” complex and holds the natural instinct that he or she isn’t fallible, and the risk of becoming totally disabled and not being able to work is slim to none, which we know is a complete fallacy.

Next, be sure to market your business always in all ways. One brochure, one newsletter, one email blast, one mailer is not going to bring you the results you want. Hit your prospects over the head with many ideas, coming at them from many different angles among differing media. Although some will argue that print media is antiquated especially to millennial prospects, nothing can be further from the truth when it comes to disability insurance. I have recently had incredible results from industry magazine articles, mailers and print ads. They are institutional and they work. But also don’t hesitate to jump into the 21st century by exploiting social and digital media options. A blog or Facebook post may seem unprofessional or impersonal to you, but you may be reaching prospects that never put down their cellphone or laptop. And reaching out on social media just might hit all the right buttons.

Lastly, don’t let your comfort level pigeonhole you into obscurity. I am quite aware of many colleagues who aren’t willing to look outside that little box in which they do most of their business. They end up making a living, but not a real living. They tend to pass on new ideas and products that come their way, allowing for mediocrity. Don’t be afraid of blurring lines and crossing over at times. If you are in individual DI sales, don’t pass-up group cases or employee benefits opportunities that cross your radar just because of a lack of familiarity. Turn that single attorney excess DI sale into a multi-million dollar, multi-life guaranteed issue sale on the entire law firm.

There are so many new ideas and avenues in the DI world at this time. It is an exciting market to be in, and if you heed my ideas and make some new ones of your own, you can make a fortune selling disability insurance.

*Reprinted with permission from Advisor Today Magazine.