NAILBA Perspectives Winter 2020 | Page 16

ID 20 WINNERS — Q&A Three-part Q&A from page 14 Orestis: Among the biggest challenges facing the industry is how do you attract Millennials to look at insurance as both a necessary part of their financial lives, and, an area they would want to make a career in. Another major challenge is how do we address the lack of planning for senior years and the eventuality so many will face when it comes to the impact of long-term care. Pate: The persistence of misinformation and confusion about long-term care — specifically, what it is, and the risks associated with not planning for it, is one of our biggest challenges. Most still do not realize that those hardest hit by long-term care (what we also refer to as “extended care”) will be family members and friends trying to balance their lives and needs with providing care to a loved one. Given this, opportunity comes when planners and advisors have conversations with clients about expected longevity, the likelihood of needing care in later years and frank discussions about who and how that care could be provided. Leibow: There are opportunities to sell simplified term products with predictive model underwriting. Consumer facing quoting and eApp tools for maintaining the Agent echo system allow alternative products to be sold to those clients that don’t qualify. Staying relevant and delivering value Ross: Our biggest challenge is that we sell life insurance policies that lapse, and therefore we are progressively losing all trust that consumers place in us, our products and our industry. Brilliant actuaries are doing everything possible to create illustrations that win the sale. But, what about which product is best? That’s irrelevant. It’s all about which illustration is best. Clients buy the policies based on those illustrations, and when the optimistic illustrated assumptions don’t hold up, the policies lapse. Our biggest opportunity is to stop selling policies based on unrealistic illustrated expectations. The people that buy our products count on our experience and professionalism. Families depend on us selling polices that will be there at the worst times in their lives… when someone dies unexpectedly. And we continue to let them down. Levyne: We are continuing to obsess about the customer, policyholders and distributors. Whether that be through addressing regulation changes or providing innovative product solutions, this year is about adapting to what’s good for the industry and the customers. Three-part Q&A continued on page 18 Sheryl J. Moore 2019 NAILBA ID Twenty Award Winner Way to go Rockstar! You make your team proud.