This Is Not The ‘Self-Service Lane’

“Well, I don’t see a reason you can’t give me the information over the phone.”

This is a phrase I’ve heard a several times recently. I’ve also read a similar variant in the context of email.

The scene plays out like this usually; the caller or emailer is contacting an agent (me) and requesting the “details” for this insurance product or that one.

The request, if taken at face value seems reasonable. ‘I’m a busy and intelligent person. Give me the details I need to make up my own mind and I’ll get back to you if I like the “details” you provide me.’ Streamlined, efficient, respects the persons autonomy... But, as a practical reality, it is a poor way to help people make insurance buying decisions.

When I’m pressed for a response to the phrase that begins this blog post: “Well, I don’t see a reason you can’t give me the information over the phone.” The shortest answer goes like this: “I understand your request. However, I am not able to offer any more details in the context of a phone call. There are legal and company guidelines that I must conform to.

The long-form answer I know in my heart is: People all have a complex set of conditions, concerns, history, finances, knowledge, resources… To manage a good fit between the specific condition of a person and the vast array of insurance options is a task that benefits greatly from the technical skill and care of a professional.

Our training makes us experts in the ‘details’. But even more important are the interviewing skills to discover the weaknesses in the current insurance program and prioritize them in a logical order. There is no way to cover this vital step if I just hand off the ‘details’ to you and let you ‘go it alone’.

Can you imagine going to see a doctor for some medical problem and the doctors shows you to a room full of medical reference books and a pile of prescription drugs and tells you to “help yourself”? Bad plan, really bad plan!

The products we sell are complex and the details are exacting and precise. But that complexity pales in comparison to the complexity and infinite variation in the people and what is happening in their lives.

Why does it have to be so complex? Why can’t the choices be simpler and easier for the consumer to sort out on their own? It’s not that way. I’ll write some thoughts on that ‘side’ question in a future post. One short and durable answer is “The insurance has to work when you need it.

On the whole, we agents are in this profession to help people. We lend a high level of technical and professional skill to persons who do not have the time to make the investment in building these skills in themselves.

When I am approached by a person who wants to reduce my role to that of “The man behind the curtain” in a fictional “Insurance Search Engine” of sorts, I worry that the person has a flawed understanding of what we agents (and myself specifically) have to offer. They sure don’t understand that I have obligations as an insurance professional.

The truest answer to the statement at the top of this blog post: “I can’t do that because I care about you.” If I didn’t care what really became of you and the people you love I’d be delighted to just shovel “details” out to you.

This is not the ‘Self-Service-Lane’.

I don’t shy from telling people the truth on this question. I won’t give you the details and let you sort it out for your self because you and your loved ones matter to me. I want to be sure that you and your loved ones get good value in your insurance buying.