Creative Sales Ideas Can Help Clients and Producers Win

? Highlight the discounted cost of life insurance. Would you buy a dollar for 2.5 cents? You probably would, so why wouldn?t your clients? Buying life insurance is like buying discounted dollars?2.5 cents on the dollar.

When you are funding a buy-sell plan, doing estate planning or buying protection for your family, there can be no more cost-effective product than life insurance to accomplish these goals. Most home office sales support departments have software to help illustrate this; take advantage of all they have to offer.

? Illustrate the benefits of income tax-free retirement. One producer I spoke with illustrates increasing contributions into a variable universal life insurance policy. The presentation shows how the plan can work.

The presentation illustrates both accumulation and the tax-free income for retirement when surrendering the policy at cost, then taking out loans.

However, for this plan to work, the policyholder must have the discipline to increase premiums every few years. Since business owners lose their tax deductions after they sell the business, this is a crucial time to demonstrate the benefits of income tax-free distribution of monies.

? Discuss how life insurance changes the future tax nature of money. Finally, one idea from Raymond C. Horton Sr. of Horton Financial Services, LLC in Shreveport, La., is undeniably a very creative concept. I like to call this the “empowerment” idea, but Ray refers to it as “change the future tax nature of your money.”

Here?s the pitch: Interest in CDs and money market accounts is taxable, but there are a couple of ways you can change the future tax nature of your money. One way is to invest the money into an annuity where the growth is tax-deferred. But even better, you can place the money in a cash value life insurance policy.

For example, if a client has $150,000 in CDs, they may be eligible for $600,000 in death benefits. Not only could they withdraw money from their insurance policy tax-free, but their beneficiaries would receive $600,000 instead of $150,000.

You have changed the future tax nature of the money and empowered your valued clients to control both their taxable income and the proceeds received by their heirs.

Five creative sales ideas, and all generated from one simple contest. As a wholesaler, I?m always glad to share great ideas with my partners in the field. And when producers are willing to share ideas with each other, it?s a win-win for everyone.

Matt Roeber, FLMI, is a product marketing representative with Union Central Life Insurance Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. You can e-mail him at [email protected].

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, October 28, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.