Welcome to July, the month in which we celebrate Independence Day! While we launched a fusillade of bottle rockets, though, the day also should have reminded us of how we all too often jump to the wrong conclusions about how to best serve our clients. Bear with me here for a moment.
If you'd asked the folks who fought the American Revolution why the war was worth the sacrifice, you'd have heard a plethora of responses, many of them contradictory. Motivations of farmers on the frontier were far different than those of New York merchants or Georgia planters. Yet, if they truly had agreed on nothing, we'd be calling Elizabeth our sovereign. Out of the confusing multitude of rationales, one theme emerged as a unifying force: They all wanted the freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness on their own terms, not George III's.
And so it seems appropriate at this time of year to consider what really motivates your prospects to buy your products and services. What you hear from some industry pundits is, "They want insurance." Even if prospects say otherwise, deep down inside they really understand they need it, right?
Bull.
Trust me, it isn't about an unstated yet undying yearning for insurance. Can you imagine a client holding forth at a party about the cool new workers comp policy he purchased from his trusty broker that very afternoon?
I think agents and brokers frequently err by mistaking a mandated coverage for a consuming passion for comprehensive and collision. Folks today aren't any more enamored of being told what they have to do than were the patriots of 1776.
So maybe we shouldn't be surprised when our clients fail to appreciate that mandates to purchase auto, home and workers compensation coverage aren't punitive but meant for their own good. Is it any wonder that many folks, resenting this "tyranny," are reluctant to buy any form of insurance that isn't forced on them? Why else would presumably intelligent folks fail to purchase flood, business income, disability, crime or any number of other valuable coverages that aren't required by state laws or lending institutions?
Take a cue from American history--quit talking insurance and start thinking freedom. For example, it's not about car insurance. It's about the freedom to:
--Get to work or to school, or to get the kids to the game safely.
--Allow your teenager to drive, taking his or her own first steps toward independence.
--Borrow from a creditor to purchase the car we need, rather than the one we can afford.
--Recover from a lapse in attention or judgment that might bankrupt us.
It's not about homeowners insurance. It's about the freedom to:
--Have shelter from the elements.
--Protect the largest financial investment many will ever make.
--Afford another place to live should a catastrophe befall our home.
--Replace our possessions.
--Compensate another for injury sustained through my actions or those of my family, pets or property.
--Preserve my financial assets for my family, which may be drained from defending or paying a judgment to another for alleged harm.
It's not about business insurance. It's about the freedom to:
--Maintain a place of employment for myself and employees who depend on me.
--Maintain production of valuable goods and services for clients depending on me.
--Continue an income stream despite an unplanned interruption that may last weeks, months or years.
--Protect me against losing all I have because of an injury to another.
--Provide funds to restore the lifestyle and earning ability of that injured person.
--Assure mortgagees or lienholders that their funds are protected while invested in my property.
"Selfish. Overbearing. Power has gone to their heads. All they do is take and never give. Our financial burdens increase daily, yet we get less and less in return. In our time of peril, they have abandoned us. While their coffers are overflowing, their demands of us only increase. They break promises so easily, and with seemingly no regrets, that we are no longer bound by their treaties or agreements."
Sound familiar? Those things and more were said about England long before the columnists, pundits and bloggers hurled them at insurance companies. I don't know about you, but I have no desire to see a bunch of folks along the Gulf Coast boarding a ship in New Orleans and chucking a ton of ISO forms overboard.
Let's learn from history instead of repeating it. Quit talking insurance and start thinking freedom--the freedom to pursue our individual dreams. A dream of going forward without always watching our backs. A dream of protecting ourselves, our families and others from the consequences if we choose badly. A dream of limiting the downside of failure so we can take the risks necessary to succeed.
Chris Amrhein is an insurance educator and speaker with more than 30 years in the industry. He is also chief fun officer of www.insuranceisfun.com, where his newest book of insurance musings, "Yes, Virginia, There Is Insurance," is now available. Readers may contact Chris at chris@insuranceisfun.com.
If you'd asked the folks who fought the American Revolution why the war was worth the sacrifice, you'd have heard a plethora of responses, many of them contradictory. Motivations of farmers on the frontier were far different than those of New York merchants or Georgia planters. Yet, if they truly had agreed on nothing, we'd be calling Elizabeth our sovereign. Out of the confusing multitude of rationales, one theme emerged as a unifying force: They all wanted the freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness on their own terms, not George III's.
And so it seems appropriate at this time of year to consider what really motivates your prospects to buy your products and services. What you hear from some industry pundits is, "They want insurance." Even if prospects say otherwise, deep down inside they really understand they need it, right?
Bull.
Trust me, it isn't about an unstated yet undying yearning for insurance. Can you imagine a client holding forth at a party about the cool new workers comp policy he purchased from his trusty broker that very afternoon?
I think agents and brokers frequently err by mistaking a mandated coverage for a consuming passion for comprehensive and collision. Folks today aren't any more enamored of being told what they have to do than were the patriots of 1776.
So maybe we shouldn't be surprised when our clients fail to appreciate that mandates to purchase auto, home and workers compensation coverage aren't punitive but meant for their own good. Is it any wonder that many folks, resenting this "tyranny," are reluctant to buy any form of insurance that isn't forced on them? Why else would presumably intelligent folks fail to purchase flood, business income, disability, crime or any number of other valuable coverages that aren't required by state laws or lending institutions?
Take a cue from American history--quit talking insurance and start thinking freedom. For example, it's not about car insurance. It's about the freedom to:
--Get to work or to school, or to get the kids to the game safely.
--Allow your teenager to drive, taking his or her own first steps toward independence.
--Borrow from a creditor to purchase the car we need, rather than the one we can afford.
--Recover from a lapse in attention or judgment that might bankrupt us.
It's not about homeowners insurance. It's about the freedom to:
--Have shelter from the elements.
--Protect the largest financial investment many will ever make.
--Afford another place to live should a catastrophe befall our home.
--Replace our possessions.
--Compensate another for injury sustained through my actions or those of my family, pets or property.
--Preserve my financial assets for my family, which may be drained from defending or paying a judgment to another for alleged harm.
It's not about business insurance. It's about the freedom to:
--Maintain a place of employment for myself and employees who depend on me.
--Maintain production of valuable goods and services for clients depending on me.
--Continue an income stream despite an unplanned interruption that may last weeks, months or years.
--Protect me against losing all I have because of an injury to another.
--Provide funds to restore the lifestyle and earning ability of that injured person.
--Assure mortgagees or lienholders that their funds are protected while invested in my property.
"Selfish. Overbearing. Power has gone to their heads. All they do is take and never give. Our financial burdens increase daily, yet we get less and less in return. In our time of peril, they have abandoned us. While their coffers are overflowing, their demands of us only increase. They break promises so easily, and with seemingly no regrets, that we are no longer bound by their treaties or agreements."
Sound familiar? Those things and more were said about England long before the columnists, pundits and bloggers hurled them at insurance companies. I don't know about you, but I have no desire to see a bunch of folks along the Gulf Coast boarding a ship in New Orleans and chucking a ton of ISO forms overboard.
Let's learn from history instead of repeating it. Quit talking insurance and start thinking freedom--the freedom to pursue our individual dreams. A dream of going forward without always watching our backs. A dream of protecting ourselves, our families and others from the consequences if we choose badly. A dream of limiting the downside of failure so we can take the risks necessary to succeed.
Chris Amrhein is an insurance educator and speaker with more than 30 years in the industry. He is also chief fun officer of www.insuranceisfun.com, where his newest book of insurance musings, "Yes, Virginia, There Is Insurance," is now available. Readers may contact Chris at chris@insuranceisfun.com.
