What is not so simple is the ability to apply the internal factors needed to be consistently successful in our life insurance sales presentations. It is this ability that will allow us to earn the kind of income and provide the kind of help that drew us to the business in the first place.

These internal factors are the human side of the service we provide our clients as insurance professionals. Essentially we must become advocates for the family because we care about what we do and we know the client cares about their family. It is important for us to help our clients deal with issues that no one else will. As insurance agents we have an important obligation to educate our clients about possible outcomes of their inevitable death and what it means to their family. Until we learn to do that, we cannot achieve high levels of production in our own business.

You have to understand that most people purchase life insurance to help their family transition financially in the event of an untimely death of a loved one. Many insurance agents focus on the external factors in the sale of life insurance previously mentioned. But to consistently succeed in the sale of life insurance you have to address the emotion that motivates people to purchase life insurance. You have to be an advocate for the family.

Advocacy is the secret to enabling your clients to see the reality of what an untimely death may mean to their family. Advocacy means having the ability to speak to your clients about what will happen to their family if or when they die. This is a subject that their own family and friends may not be comfortable speaking about. As an insurance agent you must let the client know you are going to help them identify their values to see if life insurance is important to them. You have to let the client know that it is not a matter of what you think the client needs but that it is all about what the client values for themselves and their family.

To probe for values you must ask some tough questions about the sensitive areas of how your clients feel, so that you can provide a solution. These may be questions such as:

Do you want to provide financial security for your family if you die?

What are your spouse's concerns if you die?

Do you want to provide the financial means for your family to thrive should you die?

How does that feel?

What do you see?

What kind of financial support do you want for you family in the event of your death?

Have you discussed this with your family?

This will happen sooner or later and the client's wife and children may wonder about this uncomfortable subject but never verbalize their concern. In our society, we push the unpleasant reality of death aside in many cases until it is too late. It is our purpose as insurance agents to help our clients to address the possible outcomes of their death and identify what it is they want for their family in terms of financial resources to help them during this time of transition.

As life insurance agents, we must be bold and step up to the table to help our clients deal with these issues. Our business is about life, death, family, and the home. Too often life insurance agents focus on the "selling" side of the business. They get so caught up with presentation and tactics that they turn clients off to their own problems.

People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. As life insurance agents we already have to overcome the typical subconscious bias that our clients have of not just "sales people" but insurance agents as well. Being an advocate for them is a crucial step to overcome this bias.

Life insurance serves a great purpose in our society, by providing financial benefits to families in times of transition, enabling them to keep a roof over their head, to pay for college, to provide for basic living expenses and to essentially have peace of mind about the essentials of life. Money can never replace a lost family member, but in times where a family suffers the loss of a loved one the payout from a life insurance policy can ease the financial strain that they may suddenly find themselves in.