Unhealthy Insurance

Health insurance. Hmmm. I think the whole industry is mislabeled. My wife and I are currently investigating different private health insurance plans and from what I can gather, and it’s by no means a rocket-science thought, it appears the number one reason you even need insurance is when you’re not healthy. So how about we start with the correct label – “unhealthy’ or “sick” insurance. Kind of like life insurance. Of course, it would be too morbid to label it as such, but it should be called “death insurance.” You only need it for when you die. Duh! Well, whatever it should be called, it was comforting to find a trusted friend to help us sort through all the plan options. Actually, it was a friend of a friend, a relative of a friend in fact. So I’m not sure if that subconsciously makes it even more of a trusted relationship? Seemed like it. But Terry, the relative of my friend, is certainly deserving of trust. It was clear after spending an hour with him that he is both an expert at what he does as well interested in using his expertise to guide his clients towards a health plan that’s best for them.

Sure. Being able to guide folks towards products and services that are best for them might sound “no brainerish.” But the unfortunate reality is that’s not always the case. That’s why “trust” is key in business relationships. It would be naïve to think everyone in the world was kind hearted and honest to the point that they wouldn’t take advantage of someone given the chance. And I know that sounds horribly pessimistic of me to push that reality, but it is reality. Some people are interested only in what benefits them. And customers like you or me or whoever comes across their path are merely a vehicle to help get them closer to what they want in life, giving little if any thought to what the client needs. Uggh. It’s sad but true. But hey, that’s some folks. And as I said, thankfully, that isn’t the case with Terry.

It was refreshing spending time with him because after the meeting it was very clear he was interested in what was best for me and my wife. In fact, he even suggested we explore Cobra insurance which would do nothing to benefit him of course as we would be paying my wife’s employer (who currently provides “unhealthy insurance”). But Terry wasn’t afraid to sacrifice his needs (to make money selling insurance plans) in effort to meet ours. Kudos to him.

After the meeting I had to return the favor. Being a marketing nut, Terry and I naturally fell into a discussion about his business and tactics he’s using to grow his client base. He threw out the idea that he’s always wanted to put a video on a CD rom to hand out to prospects. You can imagine I had to bite my tongue from spending the next two hours lecturing him on the difference between a functional, preloaded flash drive and a “use it one time then throw it away” CD rom marketing tool. I didn’t. Because ultimately Terry and I arrived at the “truth” of what he needed to do for marketing at this point in his business and that’s simply to first decide on what his objectives are for the business.

Sure. I won’t deny that putting together a video presentation on customized flash drives is a sweet approach to his marketing. But goals needs to first be clarified otherwise even a solid tactic such as promotional flash drives may seem to be off the mark.

So we left it that he would contemplate his next moves and how he wanted to maybe either grow or find peace with his current position. I assured him that regardless of what he decides, there’s nothing more powerful than discipleship marketing – spending quality time with every client. Doing so generally turns a customer into a happy customer…and that most always leads to them spreading the good news about a business. Thus, the term discipleship marketing.

Here’s to hoping those out there in need of “unhealthy insurance” find someone as trustworthy as Terry!