5 Questions with a Health Insurance Agent: Marty Levy

Marty Levy is a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Registered Health Underwriter (RHU), a Certified Annuity Analyst (CAA), and holds a certificate in Long Term Care Insurance (CLTC). With all those credentials under his belt, and more than 20 years’ experience in the business, Levy has been able to keep many of his clients for more than 10 years, helping them find the solutions they need. We asked him a few questions to get to know him and his practice a little better.

1. Tell us about your career.
   I was fortunate enough to meet a family friend when I was 20. I knew he lived well, and asked what he did for a living. He asked me an interesting question: He said, “Marty, if you had a machine in your backyard that produced dollar bills, what type of insurance would you buy on it?” Not sure I knew what he was asking, we discussed the fact that the machine could break, be stolen, parts become obsolete, etc. He said, “You are not now, but one day you will be, a money machine for your family, and I insure money machines. If they get sick, die or become obsolete, I ensure money keeps coming in.” I was hooked.
2. What is the No. 1 objection that you hear most often? How do you overcome it?
   Right now, cash flow is challenging and frugality is a prevailing theme even for those making a good living. I have to use the best products and explain their value. People will pay for value.
3. What is the hardest part about your job? What do you do to help make it easier?
   It’s all in the details. Everyone does the big stuff, but the real magic is in the small nuances of the transaction and sale that puts people at comfort and gives them confidence.
4. Describe your typical day.
   A thousand things get done and yet there is a sense that nothing gets done. Being responsive and meeting with clients is the most important thing; everything else gets done on the fly via email or in the car. Then I return to the office and map out the next day.
5. What is the one insurance technology tool that you couldn’t live without?
   Technology like Quotit enables a healthcare provider to rate and dissect health plans and benchmark all plans available to a potential client.