I posted a thread this week about a new Forbes article that said the pool of potential family members available to provide LTC-type services to other family members who need them is shrinking – from 7 to 1 in 2010 to a projected 4 to 1 by 2030.
This could be construed as alarming, as about 70% of people rely (or “plan” to rely) on family members for their care.
It made me wonder if LTCI specialists ever pull out such statistics when talking to clients and prospects.
The answers coming in from the Forum community? A resounding “NO.”
“Zero stats,” said the first response, quickly backed up by a second post:
“Absolutely zero stats. In fact, if you discuss likelihood of needing care, you will never connect with a client. At all. Do not use any stats whatsoever. Clients move forward with long term care planning because they want to be responsible and not burden loved ones. And by god, do not use a presentation. Just have conversations with people. Listen, ask questions, listen some more, complete application.”
Another post reasoned that statistics have an underside. “When you tell someone there is a 70% chance they’ll require LTC at some point during their lifetime, it rings hollow for a lot of people. Much easier if they had exposure to it, and even then some people would rather play dice,” the post continued. “Fueled by deceptive press, some adopted an attitude that there is no point in LTCi since [the] insurance carrier will find a way to dispose of the claims once they’ve collected 30 years worth of premiums, or force client to cancel by raising rates beyond what is affordable at some point in the future. No stats will help with this.”
Still other posts point to LTCI being an emotional sale and a comfort product for clients.
“Until you have a client that has been a caregiver or paid for care, you don’t have a chance at a sale,” one post said. “People do LTC planning because they don’t want their family going thru what they did when they had to provide the care. The only time a number ever comes into play is when you are designing the policy, looking at the cost of care.”
Please visit this thread now to read more of the responses, and to add your $.02.
