Being a financial advisor is about character

You need character to buy our products, and you need character to sell our products. When you protect and restore people’s dignity, which is what our products do, it’s a character business. When you realize that, you’ll have a much greater passion about what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.

It’s difficult talking to clients about disability or life insurance. No one likes talking about what happens when they die or get sick or injured. It’s an important conversation, though, that somebody has to have with them.

Financial umbrellas

I’ll often have that conversation with clients by explaining how I’m in the financial umbrella business. I can’t tell you when, how long or how hard it’s going to rain. I can tell you, though, that in your lifetime it’s going to rain. I hope you only get a light rain, but be prepared in case it turns out to be a storm.

When you’ve been in the business as long as I have, you’ve paid a lot of claims and seen too many storms. I’ve found that people are rocking along pretty good in life, until something bad happens. When a family can’t live in their home anymore after a spouse dies or when somebody becomes disabled and can’t work anymore, people can feel like they’ve lost their dignity.

Preserving a family’s dignity

Watch Robert Plybon in “How to build a referral network.”

I remember a 35-year-old dentist I had as a client. He was young and healthy. He didn’t feel he needed disability insurance, and he thought the premium was too high. I told him, “If you think the premium is a problem, then what are you going to live on if you’re disabled?” He bought the disability insurance. About six months later, he crushed his spine in a swimming accident.

His wife called me from the ambulance, and I met them at the hospital. My client was worried to death about how his family was going to live. I assured him he was covered by his disability policy. During the 10 or 15 more years he lived, he told me more than once, “It’s a great feeling to know that I’m providing a monthly income for my family just by being alive.”

My client and this family preserved their dignity. It’s an important part of what we do for our clients, and it’s part of my character.

Robert B. Plybon, CLU, ChFC, an MDRT member since 1977, served as MDRT President in 1995 and is a Top of the Table qualifier. He’s from Greensboro, North Carolina. See more from Plybon in the video “How to build a referral network.” 

Read about the value of life insurance in “True Tales: Life insurance in action.”