What Business Are We Really In? By Steve Clabaugh, CLU, ChFC November - it’s right in the middle of open enrollment season. That time of year when our schedules can go quickly from busy to totally crazy. For many of us, our compensation is directly affected by participation percentages and the resulting premiums. And for many of our companies, (both carriers and brokers) profitability for the year is on the line. But November is also the month when we set aside a special time to give thanks for our country, our families, our fellow citizens and our heritage as Americans. Did you know that the United States is one of only 7 countries in the world that designate a holiday, at any time, for giving thanks? So, as we scramble to handle both the usual and the unexpected challenges of open enrollment on our way to the Thanksgiving holiday, I’d like to take a few minutes to remind us of what our business is really all about. And it’s not just participation, premiums, commissions and qualifying for awards and trips. It’s about offering some security in a very unsecure world. It’s about helping people understand the great risks in human existence (living too long, dying too soon, contracting a critical illness, becoming disabled, etc.).
It’s about being there when the unthinkable becomes the actual. It’s about helping real people deal with real problems. When I first started in the life insurance industry, the more experienced agents used to say that “until you have paid a claim, you aren’t really in the business.” I learned this to be the truth in a very practical and humbling way. Early in my career, I was asked to deliver a claim check to the widow of a long-time client whose agent was no longer with the company. I called, introduced myself, and made an appointment to meet with her and her son to deliver the check. Following the directions her son gave me (directions and maps were what we used pre-GPS in 1988), I arrived at a small frame house in an older but well cared for neighborhood at the appointed time. I was very nervous as I knocked on the door, but she was such a kind and gracious lady that she quickly put me at ease. She introduced me to her son and while we drank coffee, she shared stories about her late husband and their life together.
