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Life Health > Long-Term Care Planning

12 Questions for 1 Successful LTCI Agent: Curt Horowitz

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Curt Horowitz’s LTCI agency is in Mill Creek, WA, 20 miles northeast of Seattle. The business generates leads in a variety of ways — in addition to marketing to associations and credit unions, Horowitz generates Internet leads for agents, each of whom has their own territory. As a successful LTCI specialist, you may be wondering: What makes this agent tick?

Q: How many phone calls do you make each week to set appointments?
Curt Horowitz:
I am calling leads from the Internet. I call them immediately when they come through. I reach 70 to 80 percent of them and make phone appointments with 70 to 80 percent of the ones I reach. My mentality is that being a business is a war, and that we lose most of the battles, but we don’t have to win many to be successful. I am relentless in my work ethic. At the same time, I feel like I am retired. I walk the dog an hour a day, do yoga, work out, pick up my daughter, because I do my selling over the phone and don’t schlep to appointments.

Q: How old were you when you bought your own LTCI policy?
CH:
41

Q: What’s your personal plan for long term care?
CH:
I take awfully good care of myself. I have a 40-year-old wife (I’m older!) and a 9-year-old daughter. I continue to think I’ll live well in my 90s, because I work out, do yoga (Vinyasa), and play tennis. It’s not that I’m in denial — it’s that I’m too wound up living my life.

Q: Which LTCI policy do you sell the most these days, and why?
CH:
MetLife and John Hancock because I feel they have the best overall value in the market.

Q: How many claims have you seen?
CH:
Not many, since I have only been selling for 13 years. I expect that I’ll see a lot more in the next decade, and I have 2,300 clients.

Q: Think back to when you graduated; what did you plan to be back then?
CH:
I didn’t go to school for anything other than to get an education and the experience. I’ve always been where I wanted to be. I spent 17 years in the health and fitness industry before joining the LTC industry. I think if you’re lucky enough to make any money, it normally happens in your 40s.

Q: What hobby do you most enjoy or would you like to try next?
CH:
Walking my mini Australian shepherd.

Q: What is your favorite drink?
CH:
Coffee in the morning. I call my Starbucks to order a French press coffee.

Q: What makes you happy?
CH:
I’m always happy. I’ve never been sad, depressed — I just enjoy life. Becoming a father nine years ago was the greatest thing that happened to me.

Q: Can you share a resource, service, program, or piece of software that has been critical to your success?
CH:
There are a couple of things that I use in presentations: The Genworth Cost of Care map, www.intelius.com for reverse phone number lookups, and www.glance.com for screen-sharing. Most people are visual learners, so when you show them something real-time, it’s very powerful.

Q: BlackBerry, iPhone, or other?
CH:
iPhone. Walking the dog, I get a lead, and in the middle of the forest, I call and make an appointment.

Q: How many more years do you see yourself doing this?
CH:
I already feel like I’m retired. I don’t see stopping anytime soon, because I enjoy it so much. I have agents who rely on me to be their LTC specialist. I’m 53, which is young these days.


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