The Key to Selling Final Expense Insurance is Pairing Data with Empathy.
Final expense insurance sales are challenging since we're reluctant as a society to have the conversation: "What do you want to happen when you die?" Hopefully, “I don’t know,” isn’t the answer.And yet, the last thing Americans want to do is leave their heirs with the burden of burial costs. But that's exactly what we do; we don’t purchase final expense insurance.
What we have to do is help our audience understand this insurance exists and empathize with them during the sales process.
Why Is Selling Final Expense Insurance Hard?
If you’re selling life insurance, it makes sense to also sell final expense insurance. Those who understand that life insurance is important for their spouse and children or necessary as a business owner are already sold. So, which demographics could use final expense insurance?In our American culture, death isn’t revered or honored. It’s avoided -- at all costs. Many couples don’t discuss their final wishes, have a will, or have purchased burial plots. Notwithstanding, it’s hard to sell a service that addresses the problems no one wants to talk about.
“New research commissioned by the Dying Matters Coalition shows that less than a third (29%) of people have discussed their wishes around dying, and only 4% have written advance care plans, despite the fact that more than two thirds (68%) of people questioned say they are comfortable talking about death.” DyingMatters.org
How Do We Take Care of Our Final Expenses?
The number one rule of sales is to put the product in their hands. But as a data provider, we know you can’t touch or feel data, and certainly, no one wants to touch death. We cry when celebrities die because it reminds us of our own mortality. We cry at funerals because we’ve had a loss. But too many Americans rely upon starting a GoFundMe fundraiser for funeral expenses.
Seriously, GoFundMe raises $300 million every year for funeral expenses. Sure, death comes unexpectedly, but it also doesn’t. All of us will one day die. Instead of setting up fundraisers, final expense insurance can do what it was created for: take care of funeral and burial costs. And those costs are only rising.
How Can We Educate With Empathy?
Educating our demographic -- with a bit of empathy -- goes a long way in marketing of any type. With life insurance and final expense insurance, this is huge. Sure, you need leads to call and email marketing drips (we can help with that), but once you’re on the phone, remember how it feels to be the one left behind. Logic is no longer in control; emotions dominate during grief. The conversation is hard -- even before we die.
Understand, as an insurance professional, that the reluctance to purchase this insurance isn’t necessarily financial. It’s the act of buying it that makes the insured feel as though their death has somehow become imminent, not just unavoidable in the far distance. We’re all invincible -- until we’re not.
What Data Helps With Final Expense Insurance?
We’d love to sit down with you and chat about the demographics you resonate with best. Of course, the 50+ demographic is always a great start. But do you want to talk to those with children first or those without? Automobile owners understand the need for insurance; that demographic may be a good place to start. Then again, perhaps post-menopausal women who are single and college-educated don’t realize that they could purchase final expense insurance. It may be a relief for them to know they won’t be a burden to society or extended family.
Our lead gen specialists have your back. You’re the insurance professional; let us help you reach the audience who can truly benefit from your services. We build solutions so you can be certain.
