Same Page as Your Clients

Notes from Episode 62

Mary comes home from 4th grade and asks her mom “Where did I come from?” Mary’s mom takes a deep breath and starts to explain the birds and the bees and all that jazz. About 5 minutes into her reproductive explanation, she asks Mary “Why do you ask?”

Mary, with a confused look on her face, replies “Well, Bobby said he was from Florida.”

The point of that bad joke is the mom assumed she was on the same page as her daughter. 

Are you assuming the same with your clients?

"No Mike, of course I am not.  I am the best agent in the world!  Didn't you see my cape?"

If you are not cross-offering, then you are not on the same page.  Notice I said cross offering, because we are simply informing clients of what is out there, not that they need it.  We do this because health insurance is very personal and we may not know what is truly concerning for our clients until we poke that bear.

Examples:

If you are not offering HIP, then you assume your clients are fine paying $1,000+ to go to the hospital for care. That the hospital bill will not cause financial pain on top of their medical issue.

If you are not offering cancer options, you assume your clients have a stack of money to help offset treatment costs and have the means to get the care they need or want. 

If you are not offering dental, then you assume your clients don't need a lot of dental care, which is stupidly expensive.  A crown is over $1,000.  If they need a couple, that can wipe out any and all their dental benefit from an MA plan.  20% of adults over 65 have untreated tooth decay and 3 out of every 5 have gum disease according to the CDC.

If you are not offering short-term care, you are assuming your clients have a plan to age in place.  How many times have you heard this, "Oh my kids will take care of me."  My reply was always "Do they know that?"  How many people have aging parents who also have full-time careers, kids in activities, and are already trying to find time just to do normal things, and now they need to take care of an adult parent?  Do your clients know it is cheaper to go to college than it is to age in place?

Not offering life insurance assumes your clients have all their affairs in order and their kids will all agree on what will need to happen after your client’s death.

If you are not talking to your clients and offering to show them their options, you better take off that cape and start educating your clients about their options. 

Side note, if you want a great quick read, check out The 4 Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.  One of the 4 is don't make assumptions.

And you know that saying about assumptions…it is the one in the GIF above…