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July 20, 2010 at 08:00 PM
Some say it’s hard to sell long term care insurance — and it is, but selling all insurance is hard. Selling LTCI is easier than selling life insurance, since policyholders get to use LTCI benefits while they are still alive.
That said, many clients still insist on bandying about such excuses as, I’ll think about it.” This used to stop me cold. I’d wonder if I’d left something out of my presentation that would have changed the outcome. That can be paralyzing, causing you to question yourself and your commitment to LTCI.
Common excuses and why it’s not your fault
Who knows why people love dwelling in denial? As advisors, all we may ever need to know about denial is that it often makes up a large part of human nature. Expect denial. Advisors need a keen sense of self-confidence to sell LTCI. Confidence comes from knowledge. To succeed, you must not permit yourself to succumb to self-doubt for too long.
Here are some common excuses I heard in the olden days of LTCI, 20 years ago:
- “My kids will take care of me.” Today, I am more likely to have my client’s kids thank me for selling their parents LTCI.
- “Medicare pays for long term care.” Thankfully, this erroneous excuse has now become mostly extinct.
But the extinction of these excuses has just led to creation of newer excuses, like, “I can’t afford it.” (A competent LTCI advisor can make LTCI affordable for almost anyone — but that’s another column.)
We still have the standby, all-time favorite excuses that seem to withstand the test of time, such as, “It won’t happen to me,” and “I’ll just self-insure.”
