Why Do FE Producers Ask for Rates So Often?

[GreenSky]

What is your point?

Are you arguing for altruism or merely asking clarification?

My point is that if someone is in the FE business, why would they need to go here for a price when an inexpensive tool is available to do that.

I can see coming here for help with "where do I place something" however.

You pointed out that you use LH primarily so price is not at all a concern for you in most cases. Correct? If so, that would be great reason for not wanting nor caring what other carriers cost.

Rick
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There is a difference between life and medsups. Plan F with AARP and Plan F with MoO are the same. Per my MS mentor. While $10,000 is the the same, companies are very different in some cases. Foresters may be lower cost by a couple dollars than say United Heritage but they are not even in the same league when it comes to service and paying claims.

Thanks Lee. The Walmart analogy made no sense to me which I why I continued to ask.

I just assume if you buy a $10K life insurance policy it will pay $10K. Since I don't do FE I honestly don't know what service differences might be.

You are correct about Medicare supplements. You must have a brilliant person helping you.

Rick

 

[Rearden]

Re-read my post again regarding LH.

My point is that life insurance is not a commodity driven exclusively by price.

People buy for their own reasons.

The reason I asked about competitive pricing is because the prospect told me he would buy based upon getting more coverage for the same price.

He told me under what conditions he would buy. So why wouldn't I sell him?

 

[GreenSky]

Re-read my post again regarding LH.

My point is that life insurance is not a commodity driven exclusively by price.

People buy for their own reasons.

The reason I asked about competitive pricing is because the prospect told me he would buy based upon getting more coverage for the same price.

He told me under what conditions he would buy. So why wouldn't I sell him?

So my question is if you know you can get someone more benefit for the same price, why would you sell another carrier such as LH?

Seriously, I don't do FE and am trying not to make this an attack. But all things being equal, wouldn't the lowest priced carrier be the best choice 99% of the time? Or what things would make it "not being equal?"

Rick

 

[deadhead]

Usually the lowest price wins when you have a customer with no health problems. If you have a customer with issues then you have to go to the well and see which carrier is the best fit. Also which carrier is the least trouble. Which one won't do APS, or parameds, or take forever to issue. Some have far better customer service than others.

 

[Agentguy5]

So my question is if you know you can get someone more benefit for the same price, why would you sell another carrier such as LH?

Seriously, I don't do FE and am trying not to make this an attack. But all things being equal, wouldn't the lowest priced carrier be the best choice 99% of the time? Or what things would make it "not being equal?"

Rick

I believe in using a company that is very competitive price-wise... but if their underwriting sucks or if they don't pay death claims easily, then they are USELESS...

Soo with that in mind, I like to use companies that are

Competitive

Competent

Underwritten easily

Easy to deal with

Give you options to do a telephone interview or not

and

Have multiple payment options...

Ohh, and YES, I Love using FEXquotes to give me that little edge that I need especially when I enter a replacement scenario...

 

[jdeasy]

It's almost all about the price when you are talking whole life. The guarantees of whole life are the same guarantees everywhere. We do run into agents selling term and UL and pretending them to be whole life. I coulod see where an agent might need to ask about a rate when a prospect has repeated some fish story about what they can get.

Perosnally I don't like to write a company that is not A rated. I have written B rated companies in the past but I can't remember how long it's been now.

And I tell my clients that if I know there is a lower rated company that can beat the rate I'm offering.

By "best" price it also means that they can qualify for. Doesn't matter what the lowest rate is if the person can't get covered by that company. I wish there was one compan y for all people it would make my job much easier but that company is not out there.

Then other things come into play. If the price is pretty close between a couple of companies but I know from experience that one of them has a terrible reputation on paying claims then I will steer to the other company even if it's a little bit higher. The extra benefits of some companies doesn't mean anything to me because they can change those benefits at anytime.

It does make a difference to prospects sometimes when I go over those benefits.

Then again I've never asked here at the forums for a rate that I can remeber. And I don't think that fexquotes has all companies on there. I know that LH's rates are not on there. And maybe not even SL's?

So I suppose I'm one of those that "lives on price"? I may end up dying on price but I haven't yet.

 

[GoCubsGo]

A lot of FE people buy what the agent in front of them is presenting. They are not given the pros and cons along with price of numerous companies and letting the client choose. They go with the company presented and adjust the death benefit to their budget. If the agent is offering a company for selfish reasons, commissions, trips etc, then that is their burden to bear. Ideally the agent presents the best company based on the clients needs or at least tries to some degree.

I think someone on this forum once said they don't "force" the client to buy their crap so they don't have any remorse about presenting it. Nice.

 

[GreenSky]

This is great information and I appreciate the responses.

I guess I'm used to using a quote engine for med supps that I assume a FE agent would (should?) do the same. I'm guessing the someone like JD already knows who the most competitive (eliminating companies for various reasons) plans that a quote engine isn't really necessary.

Ok, go back to drinking. It's Sunday!

Rick

 

[TDFnCali]

Maybe it's because I don't do FE, but I see post after post from veteran FE agents asking for pricing.

The cost of a quote engine is minimal and I can't help wondering why a FE agent won't spend the couple of bucks it takes to have this type of product.

For those who write a policy once a month I can understand it. But for someone actually in the FE business, wouldn't this type of tool make their lives so much easier?

I certainly don't write a ton of life insurance but I've been a Compulife subscriber for over 10 years now. It makes my life easier and I would suspect the same would be true of a FE agent to subscribe to Fexquotes for the same reason.

Rick

I can no longer afford FexQuotes, due to meeting u for lunch every month & demanding I foot the bill!

 

[GreenSky]

I can no longer afford FexQuotes, due to meeting u for lunch every month & demanding I foot the bill!

If you keep offering to buy me lunch, I'll take you up on it.

Rick