After a few years of accepting this response, I no longer do. Now, I gently but firmly ask the client to simply tell me no. I ask them to be brutally honest with me. I want either a yes or a no. Maybes stink and do more harm than good. It's dishonest and with something as important as finances, dishonesty is dangerous.
Why would I take such a firm stance and demand people be honest with me? Why wouldn't I simply massage that maybe and hope to eventually get the sale on down the road? It's simple, dishonesty is dangerous, just let me think about it is dangerous. I'm tired of reliving the following just let me think about it conversations in my mind over and over (names have been changed to protect anonymity):
I met Joe for lunch for the 2nd time and discussed further the coverage we were looking to put in place. He liked the premium, the coverage, and knowing that his wife would have plenty of money to live on, without her having to go back to work, should something happen to him. That was June. At the beginning of December he went to the hospital after passing out for no apparent reason. He died not long after from a brain hemorrhage due to an unexplained deterioration in his carotid artery. Would his wife be better off if I had pushed him for a firm answer? Would a firm yes and the resulting medical exam have revealed the health issue earlier? I guess that even with a firm no, I'd still be pondering these questions today but maybe without the sinking feeling in my stomach...
We applied for coverage for Pete and his wife in January. Pete was declined because the medical exam revealed some issues that he needed to address. He was thankful that he had gone through the process and found these issues. It got him to get back in touch with his doctor and begin changing his diet and exercise. A year later I approached Pete about reapplying. The company agreed to take another look and Pete had made tremendous improvements. Pete put me off saying he wanted to lose a little more weight for a good rating. I should have pushed him to reapply but I was happy with his maybe later response. When I called six months later his wife told me that he had just been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and he was beginning treatments. Again, would we have put the policy in place 6 months previous to his diagnosis? Maybe. Would we have caught the cancer earlier if I would have pushed harder? Maybe. It's the maybes caused by maybes that keep me up at night.
Life insurance agents are often accused of being pushy and simply going after the next sale. For some, that may be true and they won't be in the business for long. However, for the vast majority of agents, they genuinely care about their clients and see them as part of their extended family.
When I get push back from clients or accused of going after a sale I jokingly say, "look, if I was simply going after commission I'd be buying you cartons of cigarettes and bringing you fast food every time I pass your house. That way, your insurance rating is terrible, the premiums are higher, and I get a larger commission." They usually get the point.
If you need to think about it, I completely respect that and agree. These decisions should not be made without some thought and discussion. However, you should always think about it while the application is being processed. Complete the application, send it in and think about it for the few weeks that it takes to get approved. Even if you decide to not purchase the insurance at the last minute, you can do that. Just because you've applied it doesn't mean your locked in. Many companies even offer a TIA (Temporary Insurance Agreement) which can give your family temporary coverage during the underwriting process (talk to your agent about the rules and details of this agreement).
If you are young and healthy, I'm not making a lot of money on your sale but that's not what this is about. It's about me being able to sit with your husband or wife and kids, cry with them, laugh with them, and hand them a check that won't replace you but will make their life a little bit easier at one of the most horrible times they'll experience. That's why I do this. That's why I'll ask you for a yes or a no, period.
"Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one." - Jesus (Matthew 5:37)
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