The election is over, and with it, the life insurance marketing campaign may be headed off into the sunset. Agents need to be ready for what may come next, namely an accelerated paradigm shift toward the “no sunset” planning topics that I've discussed in several articles, including “Helping clients plan their life insurance strategy for potential sunsets.” A critical aspect of being ready in this no-twilight context is being prepared to engage advisors collaboratively to reach out to clients for meaningful conversations about now-redundant policies and the shared dollar or other plans that fund them. Of course, this will be especially true when policies and plans are or will soon be under economic and tax liability.

What if the advisers are not interested?

As reasonable as I hope this sounds, I often hear from agents that advisors have responded to their invitations to collaborate with “We don't doubt that things need attention, but we highly doubt that the client will care enough to engage us, meaning we pay for our time, to face it. But thanks anyway.”

While making no representation or warranty that the following will result in a more positive response from advisors, agents may consider these suggestions when contacting them with those “inviting” calls:

Broadcast your message on the counselors frequency. Do not speak in generalities or insurance jargon, such as why rising insurance costs or poor investment performance put the policy and plan at risk. And for sake, avoid anecdotes about what counselors are doing in other cases. Consultants can't relate to all of this, let alone imagine how it might form the basis for their approach to a client in relation to a project. Deal with business, their business, with structure, documents and numbers, especially numbers.

Illuminate in a multimedia way the clear and present danger facing the policy and the plan. That means buttressing your prose with the actual numbers and dollars in play, the actual economic and tax implications of the plan, and how, when, and how badly they'll get worse if the plan isn't followed. Leave nothing to the imagination.

Have the Tax Code and applicable regulations ready.

Describe at a high level the customer's options for policy and plan remediation. When applicable, note the role of counselors in each option. “Helping clients plan their life insurance strategy for potential sunsetsswill be useful here.

Do not assume that consultants can articulate their role and added value in the analysis and subsequent design of a solution. Be prepared with a summary that will help them with this.

Make it easy for counselors to see the wisdom of joining you on the call. You want them to understand how easy you are making it for them.

Warn clients of possible consequences. Be prepared to explain as politely as possible how counselors might one day hear from angry clients asking why their counselors weren't on top of a serious situation.

Involvement of advanced planning attorneys

One more thing. I have recommended that agents consult with advanced planning attorneys when preparing for these conversations with advisors. Some agents will take it a step further and have attorneys on the phone. Some suggestions:

Prepare the lawyers for the call. Tell them about the counselors and your appreciation for their knowledge of the subject.

Provide guidance to attorneys on how to deal with counsel. Advise them where to go in the conversation, where not to go and how technically to reach. Above all, make sure you are clear about the desired outcome of the call, which is not only to educate advisors, but also to motivate them.

Prepare an agenda for the call. With so much to cover, an agenda will help keep the conversation on track and avoid anecdotal or technical digressions that will only confuse or irritate advisors.

Try it! Yes, it is an added step, but this is not the time to defend it. Proof can often be the difference between success and failure in these situations. Without evidence, agents can have no idea if they and the attorneys are on the same page, ready to set the right tone on the call and signal to do things for each other so that the call can go smoothly.

A clarion call

I've written about all of this before. I'm not saying anyone has read my stuff, but it's there for the taking. This is a clear call to action on the part of agents that can push them out of their comfort zones. This is especially true for agents who sell based on relationships rather than technical expertise. It's also a clarion call for advanced sales attorneys to prepare sample, step-by-step scripts for agents to use on calls. Maybe they can do webcasts on this topic for their agents. Each of these can also push those lawyers out of their comfort zones. But I am confident that those who follow my advice will find the results comforting.