I am starting this new year very optimistically. Thanks to the hard work and savvy of my SEO guy we are reaching more and more of you who have been abused, declined or just left behind by agents or agencies that aren’t into doing the work it takes to properly serve life insurance buyers over 50 or those who need impaired risk life insurance. I am grateful for the opportunity to pick up all of the dropped balls and complete the job.

Each day for the last 10 years I have started my workday by reading a daily thought from a book called “Business Proverbs, Daily Wisdom For The Workplace”. Today’s scripture and thoughts came from Micah 6:11, “Can I justify wicked scales and a bag of deceptive weights?” To quote from the thoughts that go with that passage it reads, “In an era of downsizing businesses, with the focus on cutting costs, it may also be tempting to cut corners with our products and services. And unless we have directly cheated a customer, we might even believe that we are following Christian teaching about frugality and wise stewardship by making the most from our investment”.

Just for a moment let me share with you my take on the state of today’s life insurance industry and how it stacks up with the integrity of Biblical teachings. This is a different business than when I sold my first policy for Mutual of Omaha in !978. Back then you had to look your customer in the eye, shake their hand and give them your home phone number in case they had any questions. Today is so much different with the on line mega agencies dominating the business. I will have to admit that it isn’t all bad. As much as I dislike the total package that agencies like Selectquote, Reliaquote and Lifequotes.com, there is a growing percentage of our society that has become comfortable with doing business by sacrificing quality customer service for the allusion of being served rapidly.

Our on line society has embraced the idea of distancing themselves from their transactions even when they recognize that they are giving up the products and service that we should be getting just because companies are counting us as customers. That is the domain of the huge agencies. The size alone of Intelliquote or the Dave Ramsey backed Zander Insurance precludes the goal of finding the best product and price for every customer. It precludes the time and money it takes to do the job twice if that is what it takes to do right by the customer. It precludes in many cases offering the best product for a customer because that life insurance company doesn’t pay compensation that meets the business model for the agent or agency. It precludes staying in touch with customers after the transaction is finalized.

It is this bottom line mentality that has even led life insurance companies like West Coast Life to blatantly cheating their customers and calling it fair on a technicality. And when you have Matrix Direct presenting themselves as an on line independent life insurance agency, who do they think they are kidding? From their website, “Matrix Direct, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of American General Life Insurance Company and an affiliate of The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York.” Think they might be a little biased on their quotes?

Could I do the job of processing 100,000 life insurance applications a year as Selectquote claims to? The easy answer is no. Could Selectquote do that volume of life business and offer far better service and make a profit? The simple and easy answer is yes. For too many agents and agencies sight has been lost of the fact that short term gain is not long term profit. Cutting corners and offering less than a job well done isn’t honest and it isn’t professional.

Bottom line. So, the No Life Insurance Applicant Left Behind Act is just the way so many of us independent agents have done business our entire careers. We don’t close the sale. We earn your trust and then your business. If we don’t get the best deal on the first try we take what we just learned and go get the best deal. We don’t abandon our customers because your case is a bit time consuming. May your new year be blessed. If you have any questions or need help with your life insurance or finding out if you were the victim of cutting corners, call or email me directly. Let’s talk.