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​HOW TO INSURE INDIVIDUAL LIFE INSURANCE
National Edition
  • Learn the Coverage.
  • Find the Prospect.
  • Build the Account.
Life insurance is easy to describe.
Someone dies.
The policy pays a death benefit according to its terms.
But that doesn't teach a producer how to have a professional life-insurance conversation.
The real questions are:
  • Who depends upon this person's income?
  • What financial obligations continue if this person dies?
  • How much protection is appropriate?
  • How long is it needed?
  • What resources already exist?
  • Who should own the policy?
  • Who should receive the proceeds?
  • And where does the producer find people who need to have this conversation?
That's what How to Insure Individual Life Insurance was built to teach.

DON'T START WITH THE POLICY
One of the easiest mistakes for a producer to make is beginning with:
  • “Do you want term or permanent insurance?”
That's a product question.
Start with the problem.
Ask:
“If you didn't come home tonight, what happens financially tomorrow morning?”
  • The mortgage still exists.
  • The car payment still exists.
  • Groceries still have to be purchased.
  • Children still need to be raised.
  • College plans don't disappear.
  • Debt doesn't necessarily disappear.
  • The surviving family still needs income.
START WITH THE FINANCIAL CONSEQUENCES.
Then determine what role life insurance may play.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
This practical producer guide helps you develop a working approach to individual life insurance, including:
  • Identifying the purpose of the coverage
  • Client discovery
  • Needs analysis
  • Income replacement
  • Debt and mortgage obligations
  • Family responsibilities
  • Beneficiary considerations
  • Ownership considerations
  • Existing coverage
  • Employer-provided life insurance
  • Term insurance concepts
  • Permanent insurance concepts
  • Underwriting considerations
  • Policy reviews
  • Life-event reviews
  • Cross-selling opportunities
  • Producer documentation
  • Professional boundaries
  • Prospecting
  • Referral development
  • Educational marketing
The objective isn't to turn the producer into an actuary.
It's to help the producer conduct a better insurance conversation.

WHO IS THIS GUIDE FOR?
Especially useful for:
  • New Life & Health producers
  • P&C producers adding life insurance
  • Multi-line agents
  • Agency owners
  • Personal-lines producers
  • Commercial-lines producers
  • Producers building a life-insurance book
  • Producers who understand the product but struggle with prospecting
  • Agencies looking for better cross-selling opportunities
If you already insure homes, autos or businesses, this guide may help you see opportunities already sitting inside your agency.

WHAT'S INSIDE?
This isn't a collection of definitions.
It's designed as a producer desk reference.
You'll work through practical topics such as:
THE PURPOSE OF LIFE INSURANCE
  • What financial problem is the policy intended to address?
DISCOVERY
  • What should the producer ask before discussing coverage?
NEEDS ANALYSIS
  • How do income, debt, dependents, future obligations and existing resources affect the conversation?
TERM & PERMANENT INSURANCE
  • How can a producer explain basic differences without turning the appointment into an insurance lecture?
OWNERSHIP & BENEFICIARIES
  • Why can these decisions matter?
  • When should legal or tax professionals become involved?
UNDERWRITING
  • How do health, occupation, lifestyle and other factors affect the process?
EXISTING COVERAGE
  • Does the client already have insurance?
  • Why was it purchased?
  • Does it still match the need?
POLICY REVIEWS
  • When should an old life-insurance decision be reviewed?
DOCUMENTATION
  • What should the producer record?
  • What should never be assumed?

REAL-WORLD PRODUCER THINKING
A client doesn't usually walk into the agency and announce:
  • “I have an income-replacement exposure.”
Instead, the client says:
  • “We just had a baby.”
  • “We bought a house.”
  • “I got promoted.”
  • “My wife is staying home with the children.”
  • “I started my own company.”
  • “We're refinancing.”
  • “My divorce is final.”
Those statements are clues.
The guide teaches producers to work through real-world situations using:
  • HEAR →
  • ASK →
  • VERIFY →
  • DOCUMENT →
  • NEXT SAFE ACTION
Because professional insurance selling begins with recognizing what the client is actually telling you.

NOW COMES THE PART MOST INSURANCE BOOKS LEAVE OUT
WHERE DO YOU FIND THE PROSPECT?
Knowing how life insurance works doesn't create an appointment.
Producers need people to talk to.
The good news?
LIFE INSURANCE PROSPECTS ARE EVERYWHERE.
You don't necessarily need to begin with strangers.
Start with change.

PROSPECTING TRIGGER #1
MARRIAGE
Two financial lives are becoming connected.
Ask:
  • “If something happened to either of you, would the other be financially okay?”
That's a protection conversation—not a product pitch.

PROSPECTING TRIGGER #2
A NEW BABY
A new child changes the family's financial responsibilities immediately.
  • Income replacement.
  • Childcare.
  • Education.
  • Debt.
  • Housing.
  • Future plans.
A birth announcement may also be an insurance-review trigger.

PROSPECTING TRIGGER #3
A NEW HOME
You may already be writing the homeowners policy.
That's the perfect time to ask:
  • “While we're protecting the house, have you considered what happens to the mortgage if one income disappears?”
One P&C transaction can uncover a life-insurance need.

PROSPECTING TRIGGER #4A PROMOTION OR PAY RAISE
Higher income often creates higher financial obligations.
  • Bigger house.
  • Different lifestyle.
  • Additional debt.
  • More family dependence upon that paycheck.
Coverage purchased five years ago may no longer fit today's income.

PROSPECTING TRIGGER #5
BUSINESS OWNERSHIP
A business owner may have both personal and business life-insurance exposures.
That conversation can eventually uncover:
  • Family protection
  • Debt
  • Key-person needs
  • Buy-sell funding
  • Business continuation
  • Employee benefits
One conversation can open several doors.

PROSPECTING TRIGGER #6
ANNUAL ACCOUNT REVIEWS
Ask every appropriate client:
  • “Has anything important changed in your family, income, debt or business since we last reviewed your insurance?”
That's a much better question than:
  • “Do you want to buy life insurance?”

YOUR P&C BOOK MAY ALREADY BE A LIFE-INSURANCE PROSPECT LIST
Look at your existing clients.
  • Homeowners.
  • Auto clients.
  • Umbrella clients.
  • Landlords.
  • Commercial clients.
You already have something a cold lead doesn't give you:
A RELATIONSHIP.
Ask yourself:
  • Who recently bought a home?
  • Who added a teenage driver?
  • Who recently married?
  • Who owns a business?
  • Who has young children?
  • Who recently increased limits because their assets grew?
  • Who hasn't had a life-insurance review in years?
Your next life-insurance client may already be paying your agency a premium.
​EDUCATIONAL PROSPECTING
People don't necessarily search:
  • “Please sell me life insurance.”
They ask questions.
  • How much life insurance do I need?
  • Is employer life insurance enough?
  • What happens to my mortgage if I die?
  • Should both spouses have life insurance?
  • Do stay-at-home parents need life insurance?
  • Term or permanent—which should I consider?
Those questions can become:
  • Google Business Profile posts
  • Facebook posts
  • Short videos
  • YouTube videos
  • Email campaigns
  • Client newsletters
  • Website articles
  • Community presentations
ANSWER THE QUESTION FIRST.
Demonstrate that you're helpful.
Then invite the prospect to have a conversation.

A SIMPLE 30-DAY PROSPECTING PLAN

WEEK 1 — MINE THE EXISTING BOOK
  • Identify appropriate existing clients with life-insurance triggers.
  • Don't try to contact everyone.
  • Start with a manageable list.

WEEK 2 — START CONVERSATIONS
Reach out around the trigger—not the product.
  • “We haven't reviewed how your family's financial situation has changed since you bought the house.”
That's a conversation.

WEEK 3 — ANSWER A QUESTION PUBLICLY
Create one useful educational piece:
  • “How Much Life Insurance Does a Family Really Need?”
Post it where prospects can find it.

WEEK 4 — FOLLOW UP
Review:
  • Who responded?
  • Who requested information?
  • Who needs another conversation?
  • Who should be scheduled for a review?
  • Who referred someone else?
Then repeat.
Prospecting works better as a system than as an occasional burst of enthusiasm.

THE OPPORTUNITY INSIDE ONE LIFE CLIENT
Suppose you help a homeowner with life insurance.
During the conversation you discover the client:
  • Owns a business.
  • Has a business partner.
  • Employs eight people.
  • Plans to retire eventually.
Now one individual life-insurance conversation may eventually lead to:
  • Business-owner life insurance
  • Key-person insurance
  • Buy-sell planning
  • Small-group health insurance
  • Disability income
  • Long-term-care planning
That's why we say:
BUILD THE ACCOUNT.

PRACTICAL PRODUCER TOOLS
The guide includes practical material designed to help turn knowledge into action, including:
  • Discovery questions
  • Needs-analysis concepts
  • Life-event review ideas
  • Existing-coverage review
  • Producer conversation language
  • Documentation guidance
  • Cross-selling ideas
  • Prospecting triggers
  • Educational marketing ideas
  • Practical producer scenarios
  • Prospecting action planning

10 REAL-WORLD PRODUCER SCENARIOS
Insurance judgment is developed by working through situations—not simply memorizing definitions.
The guide includes producer scenarios involving situations such as:
  • New families
  • Home purchases
  • Income replacement
  • Existing employer coverage
  • Stay-at-home spouses
  • Business owners
  • Beneficiary concerns
  • Old policies
  • Changing income
  • Cross-selling opportunities
Work through them using:
  • HEAR
  • ASK
  • VERIFY
  • DOCUMENT
  • NEXT SAFE ACTION
The goal is better producer judgment.

WHAT COULD ONE NEW CLIENT BE WORTH?
This guide costs: $25.
  • One appointment could repay it.
  • One new policy could repay it.
  • One referral could repay it.
  • One business-owner relationship could open several additional insurance conversations.
  • And after you use the guide once...
You still have it.
  • For the next client.
  • And the next.
  • And the next.
$25 — BUY IT ONCE. USE IT FROM NOW ON.
CLICK HERE TO BUY — ONLY $25

KNOW HOW TO INSURE THEM...BUT NEED HELP FINDING THEM?
This is where FYI Express+ can help beyond the book.
Knowing life insurance doesn't automatically put prospective clients in front of you.
FYI Express+ can help insurance professionals develop visibility and prospecting strategies built around the questions insurance buyers are already asking.
Instead of constantly saying:
  • “Buy life insurance from me.”
Become the agent who answers:
  • “How much life insurance do I need?”
  • “Is my work coverage enough?”
  • “What happens to my mortgage if I die?”
  • “Does my spouse need coverage too?”
Educational marketing can help prospects discover you before they need to be sold.
  • BE FOUND.
  • BE HELPFUL.
  • BE REMEMBERED.

ASK EDDIE ABOUT PROSPECTING & FYI LOCAL VISIBILITY

RELATED HOW TO INSURE GUIDES
If you're developing individual life-insurance business, you may also want:

HOW TO INSURE FAMILIES WITH LIFE INSURANCE
  • Turn family changes into better protection conversations.
VIEW GUIDE

HOW TO INSURE MORTGAGE & DEBT OBLIGATIONS
  • Help clients protect the obligations that continue when income doesn't.
VIEW GUIDE

HOW TO INSURE BUSINESS OWNERS WITH LIFE INSURANCE
  • Move from personal protection into business-continuation exposures.
VIEW GUIDE

HOW TO INSURE DISABILITY INCOME
  • Protect the paycheck while the client is alive.
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HOW TO INSURE INDIVIDUAL LIFE INSURANCE
  • Learn the Coverage.
  • Find the Prospect.
  • Build the Account.
ONLY $25
Buy It Once. Use It From Now On.
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