In insurance marketing, one of the best ways to let customers know that you really do care about their concerns is to address their objections in ways other than just to dismiss them. Alleviate the problem, and you can progress.
Lots of times, agents will hear an objection like “I need more time to think,” “Let me talk to my wife / husband,” or “I just can’t afford it” as an out-and-out “no.”
But that’s not really what they are, most of the time. Objecti
As one who is recovering from a nasty, post winter cold, I have been racking my brain for the best way to avoid feeling at all like I have this past week. While having health care insurance is great if you have to go to the doctor, it is better to avoid getting that sick in the first place.
Here are some tried and true tips on how to avoid getting sick:
* Wash your hands. This is the number one way to avoid getting sick. Germs live on surfaces and love to travel onto your hand. Once you rub your eyes or touch something that goes into your mouth, you have successfully transferred germs into your system. One rule of thumb: sing “Happy birthday” while you wash your hands. Thi
I was lucky enough to hear Benjamin Gentry, (a graduate student in the Communication, Culture and Technology program at Georgetown University) speak at last year’s ACLI Legal and Compliance Section Conference. We have continued a dialog about issues related to insurance advertisements and social media. We are both preparing to speak at separate engagements in April and it has been helpful to bounce ideas off each other. He recently sent me this NYT article from November 2010.
As I read it, I couldn’t help but think of the many ways in which the social media management technology, as discussed in the article, could (and should) lead to changes in the way insurance advertising is regulated by state insurance departments. Muc
Chances are your insurance marketing efforts are most successful when they take place through in-person, face-to-face meetings where you can really get to know your customers and give them a chance to get to know you as well.
It’s not always possible to meet customers in person for all your discussions, but it’s a good idea to meet face-to-face when you can, because it’s amazing how much more you and your customer can gain from being in the same room and talking to one another.
Many of the communication techniques for using the phone—proving you’re an expert, starting the conversation strong, ending on a good note—work just as well in person. But the adv
High smoking rates in the past, combined with widespread obesity, continue to chip away at US life expectancy compared to other wealthy nations, a study released Tuesday said.
Over the past 25 years, life expectancy after 50 has risen in the United States, but at a slower rate than in countries like Japan and Australia, said the National Academy of Sciences report.
The gap sounded the alarm among government researchers because the United States spends more on health care than any other country, said the study which examined mortality records in 21 countries.
Men in the US showed an increase in life expectancy of 5.5 five years between 1980 and 2006 for an average lifespan of 75.64 years, while US women’s lifespans expanded from 77.5 to 80.7 years.
“Three to five decades ago, smoking was much more widespread in the US than in Europe or Japan, and the health consequences are still playing out in today’s mortality rates,” said the report.
“Smoking appears to be responsible for a good deal of the differences in life expectancy, especially for women.”
Cigarette smoking also appears to have dented life expectancy in Denmark and the Netherlands, the report said, noting those two nations showed “lower life expectancy trends than comparable high-income countries.”
Globally, women tended to pick up smoking later than men, and started quitting later than men, too.
In 1980, average US life expectancy for women at age 50 was 30.6 years, similar to women in nine other industrialized countries.
But in 2007, women in America gained just 2.5 years for a 33.1 year life expectancy at age 50, compared to gains of 6.4 years in Japan, 5.2 years in Italy and 3.9 years on average among the nine other rich countries.
“Similarly, life expectancy in Japan is expected to improve less rapidly than it otherwise would, because of more-recent high smoking rates,” said the study.
In a country where one in three people are overweight, obesity could also be to blame for “a fifth to a third of the shortfall in longevity in the US compared to other nations,” said the researchers.
“And if the obesity trend in the US continues, it may offset the longevity improvements expected from reductions in smoking.”
Women in Japan had the highest life expectancy — 85.98 years — just edging out France (84.39) and Italy (84.09) based on the most recent data, while men in Australia are living the longest — 79.27 years — followed by Sweden (78.92) and Canada (78.35).
You have heard the stories, they all end the same. A young family is embarking on a new future together. Part-time jobs help the young couple afford to go to school and afford rent in their new apartment. They are bogged down with homework and their jobs, but still happy to be with each other. Good news! The young wife is pregnant. Bad news: they did not have health insurance. It could cost a few thousand dollars for an in and out birth, but complications during the birth landed their newborn baby in the newborn intensive care unite (NICU) for a week. Now the charges are up to $30,000; more money than the young family could ever dream of paying back.