Protecting Your Top Clients During Their Window of Opportunity

Like exceptional athletes and entertainers who took full advantage of their windows of opportunity, there too are exceptional CEOs, entrepreneurs, business owners, lawyers, hedge fund managers who have leapt at an opportunity and became superstars in their own industries.  One group takes to the stage, studio, field, court while the other shines in the board room, exchange floor, court room.  The one big thing they have in common, none of them know when a potentially career-ending disability might hit.

Disability does happen to entertainers, athletes, and to those in the corporate world, always when it's least expected.  If it does happen, and suddenly your client is out of work during their key earning years, it's going to wreak havoc on their lifestyle.  For your exceptional clients, the conversation around disability insurance shifts from maintaining their expenses in the event of a disability to protecting generational wealth and legacy.

One Pager: 3 Situations Where Advisors Utilized the Excess Lines Market

 Here are 4 ways to make an impact with your clients and grow your book of business:

1. Engage centers of influence, attorney groups, CPAs, board members, etc.
   Connect with these groups on a regular basis, provide them with value, and be sure to reciprocate their referrals by providing referrals back.
   
   Marketing Kit to Reach Your Centers of Influence
   
   
2. Look at your book.
   Most likely you already have these clients that hold promise in the top 5% of your book.  Review their disability coverage.  Does it fully protect their income at a 60% replacement ratio?  Did they receive a big pay increase or bonus in the last year?
   
   
3. Really know your client.
   Are they spending more each month than what their current disability insurance would cover in the event they can no longer work?  Break down any lifestyle changes that could happen if they become disabled.
   
   Case Study: High Limit Income Protection of Executive
   
   
4. Reposition disability insurance.
   You may need to change your mindset when working with high-income-and-soon-to-be-high-net-worth clients and shift their attention to these clients' goals.  How big do they want to build their estate?  How much generational wealth would they like to create?  How much do they want in the bank following the sale of their business?

When domestic carriers get maxed out, there is a solution through the resources found in the Lloyd's of London marketplace with High Limit Disability Insurance.  If you want to look sophisticated and succeed in the Excess & Surplus Lines space, you'll need a basic education of the products and a trusted partner in this space.

This post was adapted from the published article as seen in Rough Notes magazine written by Chris Lack and Frank Zuccarello, Partners at Exceptional Risk Advisors.  You can read the full article here.