When you ask someone if they have purchased an LTC plan, you probably have heard things like, “it’s too expensive”, “I can’t get it”, or even “I don’t need it”. Today, let’s talk about the “it’s too expensive” objection.
Why do you think people say this? Do you think it’s something they’ve heard before or do you think they’re just afraid of what it might cost them? Either way, the truth is LTC does not always have to be expensive. Sure, it CAN be expensive like anything can be if you add a lot of extra benefits or try to cover all the expenses of an LTC event. The price of LTC goes up with age, so every year someone waits to get started with LTC, it costs more possibly due to a change in a person’s health. These are several reasons why people might thing LTC is expensive.
The reality is that it’s not necessary to cover all of the cost or add the extra benefits that the policy has to offer. When it comes to selling LTCi, we have found that one of the most important things for people is that it is affordable and that they can see the value of the policy they are paying for.
So, how do you go about this? It’s really pretty easy… you just need to do a little pre-planning before you start your discussion about LTC. Part of this planning is knowing how to design an LTC plan for your client.
At AIM, we have been marketing LTC plans for over 30 years and have placed more than $600,000,000 in LTC business over those years. Because of this, on a daily basis we see what’s being sold most often today in Traditional Long-Term Care. What we are seeing is a 3-year plan with a monthly benefit from $3,000-$6,000 and a 3% inflation benefit usually at a select rate which is also known as a standard rate.
Now, before you talk about plan design with your clients, you need to establish what they feel they can afford. This is a really important part of the sales process. Why? Because you do not want them to tell you what they think they can afford… human nature is to pay as little as possible and get as much as you can. If you let your client control this, they will most likely tell you something unrealistic.
That’s why just before you start the policy design, you should ask them to give you a cost range starting a little higher than needed. If you feel they are not comfortable with your suggestion, you can move down since you already know what the cost will be. Almost every situation will be a little different, but when you get the “it’s too expensive” objection, you will have a track to run on so that you can overcome it.