Only Financial Group

What if a Customer Won’t Talk On the Phone?
The Offset World of E-Mail and Fax
By David Hon

It can still be heard in many insurance sales offices: “Just let me get in front of a customer, and I can sell them.” And in many direct response sales operations, we hear: “If I can just get them on the phone, I can sell them.” One wonders whether these are merely macho chest beating, or are perhaps a thinly veiled excuse for not selling more……Both on the same platter of palaver.

But what if a customer refuses to talk on the phone? Obviously, too many times too many people have seen too many insurance salespersons take up too much of their time trying to sell them too much of a product they don’t feel they need too much at all. So what if the customer won’t talk on the phone? Then we’re almost back to the days of written letters, which had the effect of keeping people at a distance of days, and hence the pressure to a minimum. In this next new world, if a customer wants only e-mail communication, we will have to find out how to operate that way, in an “offset time” fashion, a little reminiscent of mail call, and the leisure to answer soon, but not immediately.

When I sensed such a customer a couple of months ago, I determined to maintain this sale ONLY through e-mail and fax, as he originally wished. That is the essence of this article, the e-mail track of a complete sale to placement. Sometimes, if you will work their way, they are quite inclined to buy, and stay with you through the process.

My introductory e-mail response to an online Application Request at TermOnly.com said that I would be calling Darrell, but he answered to the e-mail instead. ( But I couldn’t call him. He had cleverly managed to slip in the request with no address or working phone number. Turns out he is a hardware sales manager) Now, I’ve eliminated most of the e-mail accoutrements, but here’s the day-by-day. Warts and all.

5/6 Mr. Hon - I’m interested in asking you questions only by e-mail. In the AIG policy for $300,000 and 20 yrs., can that include a Child Rider? How much would that be? And, can I get the application as an e-mail attachment?

(Do I want to talk with this guy? Yes. Am I going to risk the sale for it? No way.)

5/6 Darrell – You can indeed get a Child Rider with AIG. The premium cost with that Child Rider, if the Preferred Non-Tobacco rate holds, will be $670 per year or $58 per month. And certainly you may receive this application as an e-mail attachment.

5/7 Dave – Is the total for my coverage and the rider $670 per year?

5/7 Darrell - Yes, that's correct.

(This was apparently gestation time. Probably he talked to his wife. And his brother-in-law the Allstate agent. Finally he will tire of asking questions. I wait. Actually, I lurk here in WebLand but say nothing. He didn’t want me to lead the dance, so now he must ask ME for the sale. Watch. )

5/8 Dave – Ok, let's get the ball rolling then. What do we need to do next?

5/8 Darrell – Here's how the ball gets rolling:

First, fill in the appropriate parts of the application and return it to me by mail or fax. It may be a little confusing as they use one form for all products, so you would put nothing in, for example, in a blank which talks about Universal Life or Illustrations or Second Policy Holder. Next, as soon as you would like, we will schedule a paramedic at American General's expense to come whenever and wherever you chose, basically to take blood and urine samples. This takes about 15 minutes, but we need a specific time and place from you in order to schedule. You will have to give us a phone number so that the paramedic can coordinate with you. Meanwhile, e-mail is fine with me or, as I said, call me with any questions.

If you would like Conditional Coverage, note that you can send a check for one month's premium of $58 (based on preliminary quote). You can either fax a voided check (and we can draw that amount from your account) for the Conditional Coverage, or you can send a real check made out to American General, by mail.

Will be looking forward to getting your application, and to answering any further questions you may have.

5/9 David – Are you mailing out the application?

5/9 Darrell –

I just tried to re-forward the one I originally sent. Let me know if you get it this time. Otherwise we are stuck with snail mail -- for which I have no address -- and we might want to coordinate by phone.

(Hope you caught that. More fruition from lurking. Now he sees the wisdom of communicating by phone. But I’m sticking with e-mail and not calling him.)

5/10 David – I'm sorry, I missed seeing the attachment. For the record, here is my address and phone # -

Darrell ----------

Street Address

City, State, Zip

5xx-xxx-2066

I'll get this filled out and faxed to you asap.

5/10 Thanks a lot, Darrell. Call me if you have questions filling this out, but I think we're doing well with e-mail. Now, do you have a time fairly soon that would be good for a paramedic visit?

5/11 David - Right now, Saturday's are about the only time I can schedule. I have 2 boys who are both running track, one in middle school, one in high school. I have track meets almost every weekday night until the end of the month.

5/11 Darrell – If you give me this Saturday morning about 8 or 9, it only takes about 15 minutes and the requirement for fasting 6 hours is not so tough. Would 9am, May 15 be good?

(This by the way, is one of many mini-sales you have to do in the midst of the main sale. See previous article in June.)

5/11 Dave - That sounds good.

5/12 OK, I'll schedule that. If you need help in filling out the application, please let me know. We'll be watching for it on the fax 800-856-4805.

5/17 David, I meant to ask, this is a level term policy, correct?

5/17 Darrell- Yes, this will not go up for 20 years. At 20 years, it is "renewable" which means you still have the insurance, but they can charge more for your age (which, of course, will be 20 years older).

(A week and the app’s not back yet. It’s OK. Just lurk a bit more and one day…and …The app appears!)

5/19 Darrell – Thanks for faxing in the app. In that you are actually replacing insurance, I neglected to get you this replacement form, so if you could fax this back as well we should have everything once the exam comes in.

5/20 David - Did you receive the second fax with the replacement form?

5/20 Darrell – Yes, we got it yesterday. Thank you very much. Everything should be on track now.

6/6 David, Everything seemed to go well with the physical. Let me know when you get the results. I would like a copy of them for my file. Also, can the annual premium be billed to a credit card?

6/7 Hi Darrell – If the exam results come through this office, I believe we can get them back to you. However, if they were routed directly to the insurance company, you would have to request them from American General. I'll try to stay on top of this and let you know.

American General does not have credit card payments. Ordinarily, when you have the policy issued to you, you would send us the check but made out to American General. One thing that can speed things is a "digital check", whereby you send a voided check and give us permission to draw that amount on your checking account. It's new, and some people are more comfortable than others with this "digital check" method.

6/15 Hi Darrell - American General came back to me and requested information on your children. Apparently the paramedic did not fill that in on Part B, or something was otherwise skipped over. So I am sending you the Part B to fill in ONLY the parts about your children who are to be covered under the Child Rider. I am attaching the whole of Part B simply because it doesn't break apart electronically. Do not worry about the paramedic passages, or about any health or other material for additional Proposed Insureds. Do not sign any of Part B. If you wish, you may fax back only those pages dealing with the children to my attention at 800-856-4805.

I think our prompt action here will move the underwriting along. This obviously means it is on someone's desk and they are paying attention.

6/16 David - Does this mean everything else was OK with the physical?

6/16 Darrell - You know, I can't really say whether they have underwritten you fully or not
yet. The desire for a new Part II on your sons for Child Rider would seem to
indicate underwriters were looking at your Part II, which includes your
health questions. Other than their asking us to obtain more forms or
information, we are pretty much kept out of their loop for a few weeks.
Also, we as agents have absolutely no access to your medical records, as a
very strict privacy measure.

We'll let you know any specifics as soon as we can.

6/24 Hi Darrell - Actually we do have a slight bit of rework, and it's probably my fault but I'll blame it on the paramedic. With the child rider we probably should have been able to fill in the detail on Chad and Matthew as I had you do a couple of days ago. However, unbeknownst to me, the paramedic put x's in the children's areas. So now the underwriter wants it done the right way, with the 4 pages to be filled out including the health questions as they pertain to your two boys, and then signed in a curious manner that I will also describe. There will thus be a second Part B for the boys, but thank goodness they don't require any physical exam.

First, the information you put in on Chad and Matthew was just fine. Repeat that. Then, on the pages that asked health questions, the boys are technically Proposed Insured as well. So anywhere you cannot check "No" for either boy, write the name of the boy below and the specifics for the condition(s) you answer "Yes" on. Then we get to the last page.

Here's the last page: Because Chad is over 15, he will sign in the LEFT box, but because Matthew is under 15, you as parent will sign in the RIGHT box. No paramedic signature needed this time.

Appreciate your forbearance.

(Fax arrives back in 2 days. And then the underwriters take two more weeks when the app falls behind a desk. Or something. We envision the underwriters are like elves dancing about during this two weeks, but we never really know what happens.)

7/12 Congratulations, Darrell!

On 7/10 you were approved at the preferred class as we put in for. I sent
an e-mail for your blood and urine sample data, and that may come faster
than the policy. Policy should be printed and out within about 10 days. They
send by mail to us and us to you, but you can be sure it is on its way.

7/13 Thanks David. When do I pay the premium? When will the policy be in
effect? Thanks again.
7/13 Darrell - They should send it to us shortly. We’ll send it on out to you Priority Mail and you’ll return the Delivery Receipt with a check for the first month. The policy will be in effect when the check clears.

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This story is not quite finished. The money hasn’t hit the bank. But you get the gist. Patience may be the essence of this story, and of the technique – if it can be called a technique with all the rules it breaks. This was not a sell’em on the first call sale, and not a smooth underwriting, mostly because yours truly klutzed the Child Rider. It was strung out in the way we sales folks don’t usually like to be strung out, and yet it is one more variation in that honored group of activities we call…the Sale.