Today, individual disability income insurance sales are less than half of what they were in 1986. Take a moment to consider that. Forty years ago, in a country with 60 million fewer people, significantly lower incomes, and participation limits a third of what they are now, our industry was selling more than twice as much DI as it does today.
That is the number I recently shared with Jamie K. Fleischner on the Income Protection Journal Podcast. And it sits next to another one I have been tracking for nearly 40 years: four out of every 100 licensed life and health agents actually sell disability income insurance. Four. The number does not move.
The Opportunity We Keep Missing
What frustrates me is that the opportunity is right in front of every agent working today. Every carrier’s fact finder asks the client whether they have disability coverage. Most of the time, they don’t. And most of the time, we move past it anyway.
I think I know why. We see 60 percent group coverage on the page and assume the client is protected. I spent ten years marketing group long-term disability, so let me be clear: very few people with group LTD understand what their certificate of insurance actually covers.
Three Questions That Reveal the Gaps
When a client tells me they already have coverage through their employer, I ask three questions.
Do you realize that 60 percent of base earnings includes only the income from the hospital, not from your personal practice?
Do you realize that the portion paid for by the employer is taxable as federal income?
Do you realize that if you leave that employer, that coverage stays with the company? It does not follow you.
Three questions. Each one reveals a gap the client has never considered. None of them requires much explanation.
For me, this has never been an either/or conversation about life insurance. You do both. If your client has a car accident and dies, the family will need income. If they live through it, they will need help during recovery, whether that takes months or years. Both products exist for the same reason.
Find Their Blister
My first manager gave me advice in 1986 that I still use today. “Find their blister,” he told me. Find the pain point. Then stop talking. The more the client thinks about and talks about it, the more they tell you how to help them make a conscious decision.
When a client gets quiet, do not mistake silence for agreement. Invite any objections. Tell your clients up front: here are the objections you might have. It costs too much. I don’t need it. I have coverage through work. Give them to me. Getting those on the table early turns a presentation into a problem-solving session.
Even if you do not close the sale that day, you have planted seeds. You will receive the follow-up call. More importantly, you will know you did your job by communicating the need.
That is why we keep showing up for this work. Four out of 100 is not good enough.
