Author:  Mark Barsotti

Licensed Life Insurance Agent at Matrix Direct

Working with clients is a two-way “information highway.” Clients need to get a lot of information from me, and I need to get a lot from them. It’s very personal information they provide me, so the trust factor has to be high. Knowledge is key to building trust.

Trust and knowledge made all the difference for one client. His policy was set to expire, and he wanted new coverage. He was a high income earner and the sole breadwinner for his wife and four children. That’s quite a responsibility, and I understood how important getting good coverage would be.

It was not an easy journey, for several reasons. For starters, I found out on our first conversation that he had a trust issue with the carrier itself. He expressed reservations about American General’s association with AIG. I’ve heard these concerns before, and this is definitely one of those situations where a little knowledge can go a long way. We talked and I shared some information and managed to reassure him about American General’s financial strength. He just needed more information to feel comfortable, and I was happy to share it.

About two weeks later, he applied for a $2 million policy. Policies worth this much often bring a few more hoops to go through. It’s standard practice, but I understand when clients feel they are already giving us so much information, why do we need even more? In my client’s case, he was definitely questioning why the carrier needed certain financial information.

By now, we had a good rapport. I could tell he trusted me, but once again, he needed more information to feel comfortable. We chatted a few more times. It took a few weeks, and he finally felt fine about providing very detailed financial information.

So far, so good…until we had trouble tracking down his medical records. That’s not unusual either, but it takes time and can be frustrating to the client. My client was eager to get covered, and the clock was ticking on his existing policy.

My client considered lowering the coverage amount he applied for, if it would get him approved faster. That would have been an unfortunate situation, in my book. I knew he wanted that policy amount, and didn’t like thinking he would compromise.

It’s a team effort here at Matrix Direct, and Teresa, an account specialist, really stepped up throughout this process. What a great help she was. She went over and beyond to help get the information and keep the process going smoothly. It’s like the client, Teresa and I had become a team all with the same goal. We soldiered on, and soon after, the $2 million policy went into force.

Sometimes the process is challenging. And in this case, the saying “Knowledge is power” proved true. Every time we hit a bump in the road, knowledge powered us through until we reached our goal.