As insurance agents, we tell our clients on a regular basis that if something were to happen to them, we and the carriers we represent will be there for their family. What happens in actuality? Most of the time a client passes away, the beneficiaries end up piecing things together over months, sometimes years. This is because the agent is either no longer in the industry or too busy with “profitable activities” to take the time to walk a family through the death claim process. This process is made even more complicated when the proper wills and trusts were not set up beforehand. Who can blame the agents? Most IMOs and Captive Agencies do not train, provide tools for, nor speak with their agents about how to help their clients institute a procedure for how their death benefit is to be used when the time comes. Over time, you see agents lose their sense of purpose in what they do, as they see the promises they are making are hollow. Maybe you have felt this way from time to time.

The good news is there are simple tools that can help agents do the right thing by their clients in this regard: 

• Will and Trust Cooperatives
• Digital Safety Deposit Boxes
• Client Relationship Management Systems
• Book of Business Management

These four tools, when provided to agents and used by them, allow clients and their families to take full advantage of the policies they have purchased, as well as start the process to establish true legacies for their families. This is one of the most valuable things that life insurance can do when used correctly; It raises the standard of living for the next generation, which allows an opportunity for wealth to grow. If you don’t have these tools at the ready or know where to find them, click the learn more link in this email, and our agency can help guide you to these tools as we have done for other agents over the past 11 years. If we do nothing to change this for our industry, we will perpetuate the “needle nose” Ned Ryerson stigma that pervades the public mindset. As we start to show families how to grow during generational change, we will establish a new paradigm for what we, as insurance agents, truly do for the families we serve, and we will grow when we do it. The more value we add, the more value we will receive back!