How to illustrate the gravity of caregiving needs

Convincing prospects of the potential need of caregiving is an essential part of LTC sales. Chuck Redstone, LTC director for New York Life, uses an approach that works well for both face-to-face meetings with couples and at group seminars. Redstone suggests doing the following:

• On a piece of paper, draw two columns. On the upper left, write the husband’s name. On the upper right, write the wife’s name. Draw a line under both names.
• Ask the wife, “What are your responsibilities in the house every month?” As she answers, list the responses on the right side of the chart. Answers could include: income, laundry, taxi, social calendar, shop, cook, do taxes, etc.
• Ask the husband about his responsibilities and list those answers in the left column: income, home maintenance, take out trash, walk the dog, cut lawn, etc.
• Then introduce the LTC event scenario. For example, if the husband had a stroke, ask, “What happens to all the items on the husband’s side of the ledger?”
• The answer moves to the wife’s side. Move everything from the husband’s column to the wife’s column and add “take care of husband” to the wife’s list.

Their immediate reactions are silence. It’s typically an emotional moment as the prospects start to understand the tremendous impact a LTC event could have on their spouse.

Next, Redstone asks more questions:

1.) Consumers think they will live a long life, and living a long life will have consequences. Ask, “Has anybody in your family needed some type of assistance, either at home or a nursing home?”

2. LTC is a family problem. An important question to ask is, “How will you make a plan that will enable your family to take care of you longer and better and still be able to take care of their families as well?”