Capitalizing on being honest

“When discussing LTC, I show a copy of my most recent bill from the nursing home for my mother. It shows the monthly rent, $5,100, a date, and check number. That totals to $61,200 this year and probably will go up 5 percent next year. I explain that my mother had purchased LTCI 3 years before being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease… I then ask the question, “How long could you afford to pay the nursing home from your personal assets and savings? It becomes real using a real example.”

Another option is using straight-talk. Though the concept has been misused in the past and criticized in the media as being another tool of the salesperson, when used correctly, it has the power to move mountains. Chris Gassman, an agent with New York Life Insurance Company in Kansas, has proven himself to be one of the kings of honest straight-talk–a distinction which has propelled his business beyond the immediate client onto the next:

“When I work with an estate and/or a business owner, I explain up front how I get paid. I tell the prospect that I get paid in two ways: 1) If after the process is over we find that a product I offer will solve the problem I expect them to give me the opportunity to fill the need; and 2) If you think you are better off after we are done than you are now, I expect you to ‘introduce’ me to someone like yourself. If they don’t agree to both I leave. I never have to leave because they like the idea that I have to prove myself before I expect anything.”