POWER PHRASES THAT SELL

by Mun Charn Wong, CLU

Transamerica Insurance Companies
Honolulu, Hawaii

In my discussions with prospects I use power phrases to get the point across. They
convey ideas concisely and precisely, are readily understood easy to retain. Most of my
power phrases have been acquired from other insurance agents over the years. A few
might be original, but I have refined and revised them to fit my style so that I feel
comfortable when I use them.

When you use power phrases you should modify them so that you’re comfortable and
they fit you. Words, properly used, are great salesmen. And when words are strung
together to form phrases they become super salesmen. Let’s cover some power phrases I
use.

This one comes from John Todd, the great insurance man from Chicago, and the phrase
is “inevitable gain.” How nice it is to be able to say to someone when you buy an
insurance policy, “There is an inevitable gain.” If you die soon, if you die late, if you
live a long time, there’s going to be a gain in the policy, an inevitable gain. And, of
course, if it’s a universal life policy to support this point that you’ve made.

“Confiscation” is another power phrase. I learned this one from Bob Gatewood, of
Washington, DC. You see, estate taxes are really a confiscation of someone’s estate.
Uncle Sam will take a big portion of that estate, which really means he’s going to
confiscate part of that estate. “So, how would you like to prevent that confiscation?”

You’re saving- not spending!

“Saving money” is another one. It’s a simple two words but its a powerful power
phrase. When you buy an insurance policy you’re not spending money, you’re saving
money. “How much would you like to save this month?” You can save dollars, quarters,
nickels, $10 bills, $100 bills, it’s up to you. What you plant, you reap.

“Giants attract giants.” If you want to sell big cases to big prospects, start building a track record
of success.

In Hawaii, when talking to a prospect, I like to talk about planting papayas, mangos,
and macadamia nuts. What you plant, you reap. You plant $1.00 bills, you get $1.00
bills one day. If you plant nickels and dimes, that’s what you’ll get. “What would you
like to get back some day?” Another law of nature: the sooner you plant, the sooner
you reap. Papayas take six months before you can harvest; mangos, five years;
macadamia nuts, even longer. Remember, the sooner you deposit the dollars, the sooner
you get them back.

The sinking fund

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Another power phrase, “Sinking Fund.” The money you pay for an insurance policy
doesn’t disappear, it goes into a pot for you. Now later on in life you can tap it.
Recently, I talked to a businessman and he asked me about the big premium that was
being paid. I said, “Don’t worry about it. That premium merely goes into a sinking
fund, and that money is available to you down through the years.”

There’s some very simple phrases but they’re effective when you use them with people,
because they get the point across. For example, “To be old is not bad; but to be old
and poor at the same time, that’s really bad.” Or, “When you buy an insurance policy
and maintain it, you’ll never be absolutely broke.”

Analogies are very effective. Starting an insurance program is like planting a tree. First,
you plant the seed, then the seed germinates, a young tree sprouts and more and more
leaves come, then the fruit appears. Later, more and more fruit is borne by the tree. In
the same way, a life insurance policy grows. There’s very little cash value in the early
years of its life, but the cash values grow. Later on when money is needed, it’s there in
abundance. Just as a tree provides shade, the policy provides cash for emergencies. Later
on, you can eat fruit off the tree. With an insurance policy, in later life you can take
retirement income from the policy.

The refrigerator analogy

Another analogy I use is one I learned from a client who came to my office. He
pointed to the refrigerator in my office and said, “You mean if I put $100.00 in that
refrigerator, then some day when I die my family comes and opens the refrigerator, there
will be $400,000 in there for them?” I hesitated because he caught me by surprise, then
said, “By golly, you’re right.”

Then he said, “And also, if I live, at age 66 if I go and open the refrigerator there will
be $200,000 in there for me?” I said, “By golly, you’re right again; that’s a good way
to explain it.”

This analogy hits it right on the nose and I’ve been using it since. In fact, now in
selling salary continuation plans, I use that same idea. I say to someone, “You see that
refrigerator there? Your company makes deposits to the refrigerator. Later on when you
retire your company goes to the refrigerator, opens the door and takes out $30,000 a
year, and they’ll do that for 20 years. In that time, they would have taken $600,000 out
of the refrigerator. Finally, when you die, your company will open the refrigerator for
the last time and take back all the money they deposited in the early years, before you
retired. So you see, under the salary continuation plan, your company will recover all its
costs, getting back all the money it ever paid and all the money to pay you in your
retirement.” This takes me maybe two minutes to convey the idea of salary continuation.

Power questions

Asking questions is the same as using power phrases. For example, I asked, “Who’s
going to pay your estate taxes?” And by the way, with wealthy people you don’t have
to explain too much about the estate taxes, they know about them, but we can bring it
to their attention and make them more aware of the situation. My question is, “Who’s
going to pay? Its either going to be your family or my insurance company. Who would

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you prefer pay these taxes? You want my company to pay it? Let’s look at the numbers.
Shall we talk?”

Another question is, “Where is the cash?’ And of course, you know the answers, you’ve
learned from Ben Feldman the ways that you can settle estate taxes. Sometimes, you
will encounter a CPA or an attorney who will tell you that the prospect doesn’t need an
insurance policy. You’ve presented a proposal to him. He says, “No need for insurance.”
I’ll ask him, “Is this your professional opinion or
personal opinion?” I’ll follow up with, “Will you mind putting it in writing?” Of course,
that’s not a new power phrase, but it’s a powerful one. And I want to credit Bill
Andrews of Calgary, Canada, a very good friend of mine, for that one.

My son, who is an attorney, heard me say one time, “After you’re dead it’s too late.”
My son said, “Dad, that’s powerful.” Thinking about it I think it is powerful to say,
“After you’re dead it’s too late. All your good intentions, all the wonderful things you
meant to provide for your family—a home, money for college, financial security—go
down the tubes with you when you die, if you didn’t take care of that. After you’re
dead nothing can be changed. It’s too late. If you want to make your dreams come true,
let’s talk.”

The great Ben Feldman has provided us with numerous power phrases. One of his finest
is, “The best investment in the world is the one that pays the most when it’s needed
the most, and that’s life insurance.” The act of death creates immediate liabilities such as
estate taxes, probate taxes and income taxes. Bank loans become due. The act of death
creates the cash to discharge those same liabilities. Death means to a family that income
stops coming in. But when you have life insurance, death also means income starts
coming in.

A strong statement

Another one I have used for over thirty years is one that I learned in the beginning of
my career. I want to credit Douglas, my colleague in Honolulu, for it. “You don’t need
life insurance because you might die,” That’s a strong statement to make, but that’s true.
If you have no wife or children or anyone else in the world, why would you need life
insurance even if you might die? But a person needs life insurance because someone
else must live: wife, children, or yourself, because in old age we can use the money in
an insurance policy for ourselves.

Power phrases can be acquired from other agents, but they must be refined to fit your sales style
and personality.

What is insurance? I was invited to speak to a group of civil service employees on the
subject of insurance. I wondered, “What breed of cat are these?” Civil service people are
willing to listen to someone on their own time, on the subject of life insurance. and I
would have to make this very clear, very simple, so that they would have an
understanding of life insurance. I decided to tell them what insurance was all about in
four words. I got up and said, “Life Insurance is simply cash for somebody, someday.”
And I said, “That’s the end of my talk, any questions?” when you come down to it,
what is life insurance? It’s cash for somebody, someday.

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Getting back to this idea of saving money, do you know of anyone who got into trouble
because they spend too much, but never because they save too much. My friend John
Savage tells me that there are two kinds of people in this world. The first is the kind
who saves money each month and lives off the balance. The other kind will spend
money, and at the end of a month they’ll save what’s left. Savage tells me that late in
life the second group, the ones who spend first and save second, end up working for
the first group who save first and spend afterwards.

“Who gets the cash?”

Another power phrase, and this one I’ll take credit for having created it, because I never
heard it from anyone else. When we fill out an application we always ask, “Who is the
beneficiary?” I don’t use that. I ask, “Who gets the cash?” That’s powerful, it brings
right to the fore what life insurance is all about. “Who gets the cash?” Then I follow it
with, “All of it?” suggesting that there’s quite a bit of cash coming in someday. I
personally think its pretty powerful.

Asking questions is very powerful. For example, you can ask, “How would you like to
buy an insurance policy, keep it as long as you wish, and when you decide you don’t
want it anymore, quit and get all of your money back?” Of course, as you know, that’s
a single premium whole life policy. “How would you like to buy an insurance policy
and tell us where to invest your premiums, and if there are any profits, you get them?”
That’s a variable life policy. “How would you like to buy a policy and only pay five
years for it?” Surely, you know it’s no big deal but the public, the prospects, sometimes
don’t. That’s very powerful to ask a question like that.

UL competition

Today, we run into a lot of competition on universal life policies. I learned to steal a
few phrases from the president of Northern Life Insurance Company. He says, “You
can’t pay it if you don’t earn it. There is danger in promising more than can be
delivered. Policies are only as strong as the company backing them. Companies that
promise the highest rates may not always be well rated themselves.”

Another power phrase is, “Too much insurance? I’ve been in the insurance business 33
years and I never met a widow who has told me her husband had too much insurance.”

Another phrase, maybe not for selling but for yourselves, “Giants attract giants.” If you
want to be able to sell to big businessmen, big prospects, you’ve got to be big in their
eyes. You should have a track record of success. You should have credibility-a good
image. “Giants attract giants.”