Sales Practices
#206 | A Practitioner’s Guide to Picking Product
Since the inception of our industry, we have been bedeviled by the question of whether or not life insurance is a commodity. It is a question core to what we do and why we exist. If life insurance is a…
#201 | An Exchange Epidemic
There’s a famous (but apocryphal) exchange between the famous bank robber Willie Sutton and a reporter. When asked why he robs banks, Willie replied with: “because that’s where the money is.” The same could be said for why people exchange…
James Christie | Policy Reviews – A Process to Follow
In my time in the life insurance marketplace I have seen thousands of policy reviews. It continues to be one of the most fruitful options available to producers looking to do what is right for their clients while also running…
James Christie | Be Aware or Beware Part II
In my previous article titled “Be Aware of Beware – Part 1” we discussed the importance of truly understanding the underlying defaults setup in a carrier’s illustration system. We explored the “Minimum Non-MEC” solve and uncovered how at times it…
#185 | There is No Such Thing as a “Sophisticated” Life Insurance Client
At least twice a week, someone tells me about or sends me a proposal that incorporates some combination of financial leverage, tax leverage, arbitrage assumptions and reliance on illustrated performance in order for the strategy to work. Without exception, every…
James Christie | The Art of the Cover Letter
Having a well thought out cover letter can have a drastic impact on the outcomes of the underwriting process. In the decade I spent at one of the largest life insurers, I had the opportunity to hear our underwriters speak…
James Christie | Be Aware or Beware – Part 1
In my previous article titled “Flip the Script-Solve for the Rate” I discussed a different way to go about illustrating and selling a non-guaranteed insurance product, specifically Indexed universal life for cash accumulation and income purposes. The steps to follow…
James Christie | Help Wanted: Employ Your Retirement
Business owners are used to talking in terms of employees. They hire, fire, and manage employees as much as any other aspect of their business. This vernacular makes sense to them. What they don’t talk about every day is life…
#167 | Don’t Be Fooled by VRDO
I’ve seen more than a few proposals and pitches recently from companies with ambiguous, financial-sounding names promoting strategies with life insurance that sound like premium financing, but the promoters are insistent that they have something different and better (and usually…
