These are critical questions that are necessary to ask the client especially while you are presenting in the client’s home, or at the door, or even on the phone, in order to eliminate objections and put the best plan together for the client. I usually ask these questions in the order listed below.

⦁ Do you have any coverage currently? If yes, is it through their work? Is it term? Universal? Get a copy of what they have and look it over for them. Do a free review of their coverage, they will thank you! You will find that many clients think they have a policy for life, but it’s really a term policy. They may swear that it lasts forever. In that case say, “It can’t hurt to check it out, I’ll put some options together while you go get it”. If the client won’t get the policy, ask them how much coverage they have, when they got the policy and what their payments are each month. Based on that information, you may be able to figure out what kind of insurance they have. If the client knows the name of the company, Google it and call the company!
⦁ So if something happened to you tomorrow, who would be in charge of everything? This is how you find the beneficiary! “So today we are going to make sure _ does not have to worry and we will save them time, money and stress and I will show you how in a few moments”. Use the beneficiaries name throughout the entire presentation to make it more realistic for the client.
⦁ Have you experienced a funeral recently? This question will bring back emotional memories for the client. Most people don’t want to think about a funeral, but as we all know, there is no getting around it. As final expense specialist, your goal is for the client to see the value of what we have to offer and how it will affect their families. If the client has experienced a funeral recently, give your condolences and just listen to what they have to say and remember that information to apply it to the conversation when appropriate.
⦁ Are you leaning towards cremation or burial? By asking this question will allow you to formulate budget and coverage amounts ahead of time in your head for the client. You will always want to explain the costs of both. Always agree with the client with their choice. There is no right and wrong away to have a funeral. Also, by asking this question will also let you tailor your presentation to suit the client’s needs. For example, you may not have to talk about the costs of caskets if the client is adamant on doing a direct cremation.

⦁ Are you familiar with difference between whole life and term life? Even if the client says “yes”, still explain it. This is where you will educate the client to keep and preserve your business. Many clients see that TV commercials that a 40 year old male non-tobacco can get a $250,000 policy for $20/ month. The client just sees the numbers but may not understand how term insurance works. Sometimes I will draw an actual picture for the client so they can literally see the difference of whole life and term. I may ask the client, “Do you rent or own?” By asking this I am also finding out more about their financials and stability. I will explain to the client the difference by using this analogy: term life is like renting your home and whole life is like owning your home. I will then elaborate a little more if needed. Let the client know there is nothing wrong with term insurance, it just depends what they want to do. It’s good to have both, but death can happen in 3 days or 30 years- so which plan will always be there?
⦁ Is there a monthly budget you wanted to stay in? If they don’t know, give them options. “Do you want to stay around $100/month, $50? $30-$40? Even though you are going to write down all the coverage amounts on the MONEY SHEET use the one they can afford as the example when explaining the coverage amounts. 9/10 times they will pick the coverage amount you use as the example or they will “up-sell” themselves.