Who practices what they preach?

[rousemark]

We are going to taxidermy you and whichever IMO that is not doing the right thing has to keep you in their office conference area.

Talk about motivation to "Do the Right Thing"... The insurance industry will become even more admired than Used Car Dealers..

 

[Lawsonhj1]

I am curious if any of you really even preach to having arrangements made? The funeral home and cemetery are usually competitors to final expense and a good preneed agent will likely booger your final expense deal if your client walks in; and I know it works the other way too. I have been in preneed since 1989. Been trying to slowly work into other insurance products the past few years but write them by accident. I still remember being 26 years old selling graves door to door straight commission. Hated the question when they asked me if I owned cemetery property. Lying not good but ... Then age 28 took the company up on there half price employee offer zero percent financing $33 month 5 years bought a tandem crypt. I couldn't wait to get into the field. The interested thing is I don't ever recall anyone ever asking me again. That was a cheap way for me to buy some conviction. Now my ex wife owns the crypt unless she sold it and I sold myself a direct cremation a few years ago.

 

[DS4]

What end of life arrangements have you personally made? I voted "nothing". I have a trust and a will.

 

[Newby]

I am curious if any of you really even preach to having arrangements made? The funeral home and cemetery are usually competitors to final expense and a good preneed agent will likely booger your final expense deal if your client walks in; and I know it works the other way too. I have been in preneed since 1989. Been trying to slowly work into other insurance products the past few years but write them by accident. I still remember being 26 years old selling graves door to door straight commission. Hated the question when they asked me if I owned cemetery property. Lying not good but ... Then age 28 took the company up on there half price employee offer zero percent financing $33 month 5 years bought a tandem crypt. I couldn't wait to get into the field. The interested thing is I don't ever recall anyone ever asking me again. That was a cheap way for me to buy some conviction. Now my ex wife owns the crypt unless she sold it and I sold myself a direct cremation a few years ago.

I recommend doing the funeral preneed at a young age but definitely not the cemetery arrangements. People move to different states they get divorces all sorts of things happen. I've seen plenty of cemetery spaces go to waste because people move in live the majority of their life out in a different state. Or a couple in their 40s but has two plots and has their headstone all set up and get divorced in their 50s. Not much market for a used headstone with other peoples names on it.

 

[Newby]

What end of life arrangements have you personally made? I voted "nothing". I have a trust and a will.

That's downright silly. The funeral will be over before that will is looked at let alone a judge validating it.

 

[DS4]

That's downright silly. The funeral will be over before that will is looked at let alone a judge validating it.

I have no wife or children. Just brothers/sisters. So, in other words, I have no loved ones.

 

[VolAgent]

I have no wife or children. Just brothers/sisters. So, in other words, I have no loved ones.

I thought you had a son who moved to Vegas a couple of years ago?

 

[DS4]

I thought you had a son who moved to Vegas a couple of years ago?

That was my grandfather, Rick.

 

[shonceman]

I am curious if any of you really even preach to having arrangements made? The funeral home and cemetery are usually competitors to final expense and a good preneed agent will likely booger your final expense deal if your client walks in; and I know it works the other way too. I have been in preneed since 1989. Been trying to slowly work into other insurance products the past few years but write them by accident. I still remember being 26 years old selling graves door to door straight commission. Hated the question when they asked me if I owned cemetery property. Lying not good but ... Then age 28 took the company up on there half price employee offer zero percent financing $33 month 5 years bought a tandem crypt. I couldn't wait to get into the field. The interested thing is I don't ever recall anyone ever asking me again. That was a cheap way for me to buy some conviction. Now my ex wife owns the crypt unless she sold it and I sold myself a direct cremation a few years ago.

I occasionally dabble in Preneed. I know if they go to a funeral home, the funeral director will try to unhook my FE deal if they can. I'm not too worried about that, though. My clients tend to be people who want "to be put away nice", but with limited income, the preneed payments are usually too big a bite.

Since I can actually run preneed quotes, if someone is talking like they want to go to the FH to see about a preneed, I'll run quotes for it. Then I show those quotes and FE quotes side by side. If they still want the preneed, I can pivot in that direction. But that almost never happens.

For agents who don't have any preneed contracts, you can approximate. If you know what funeral home the client prefers, you can look them up on parting.com to see what their average funeral would cost. Divide that number by 5, then by 12. Add about 30% to that number and you'll arrive at an approximate payment for a 5 year paid up preneed plan for someone about 65-75 years old.

@Newby , would you agree with that formula?

 

[Newby]

I occasionally dabble in Preneed. I know if they go to a funeral home, the funeral director will try to unhook my FE deal if they can. I'm not too worried about that, though. My clients tend to be people who want "to be put away nice", but with limited income, the preneed payments are usually too big a bite.

Since I can actually run preneed quotes, if someone is talking like they want to go to the FH to see about a preneed, I'll run quotes for it. Then I show those quotes and FE quotes side by side. If they still want the preneed, I can pivot in that direction. But that almost never happens.

For agents who don't have any preneed contracts, you can approximate. If you know what funeral home the client prefers, you can look them up on parting.com to see what their average funeral would cost. Divide that number by 5, then by 12. Add about 30% to that number and you'll arrive at an approximate payment for a 5 year paid up preneed plan for someone about 65-75 years old.

@Newby , would you agree with that formula?

I never figured them that way but sounds about right. I'm no math wiz but wouldn't dividing by 60 be the same as dividing by 5 and then dividing by 12?