Katie Cumalat: The women’s life insurance market

In episode 4 of “Tips from the Insurance Pros,” we talk with Katie Cumalat, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Pinney Insurance. She talks about successfully tapping into women's need for life insurance across all life paths—career, stay-at-home, and entrepreneur.

FOR PRODUCER USE ONLY. NOT FOR USE WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
Assurity is a marketing name for the mutual holding company Assurity Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Those subsidiaries include but are not limited to: Assurity Life Insurance Company and Assurity Life Insurance Company of New York. Insurance products and services are offered by Assurity Life Insurance Company in all states except New York. In New York, insurance products and services are offered by Assurity Life Insurance Company of New York, Albany, New York. Product availability, features and rates may vary by state.

Transcript

spk_0:   0:03
Hello, My name is Matt with a surety. Welcome to the fourth episode of our tips from the Insurance Pros podcast. We're excited to bring you conversations with sales prose as they share ideas and insights you can use today. Joining us today is Katie Kuma Lot, the vice president of sales and operations at Penny Insurance. With 15 years of both insurance sales and management experience, she brings a broad view on succeeding in the women's market. September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, and while we see many campaigns driving home the need to buy life insurance around this time of year, there's a demographic that's often overlooked women. According to a 2016 Limmer report, 44% of women have no life insurance. And yet 42% of women of the primary breadwinners of U. S. Households. How can we help to better educate this market? Katie, it's great having you with us here today. Welcome. Thank you. So, Katie, as we mentioned earlier, not many women have life insurance. Or if they do, they don't have enough of it. How is your organization tapping into this market and there needs

spk_1:   1:11
at any insurance we have an internal marketing team, which has created marketing pieces that are directly targeted at women with these marketing campaigns. They're accessible through our internal CR M platform called Insure EO, and is actually available to both our internal sales agents as well as our brokerage agents that do utilize that system on some of the marketing campaigns or tart or pieces that we use. Our, you know, helping women to take control their financial future. That helps provide tips such as protecting their paycheck with disability insurance, also supplementing their retirement through permanent life insurance products that offers some cash value. We do also do marketing campaigns for Breast Cancer Awareness Month that we do send out in October. That marketing campaign is titled Think Pink and Protect the Women You Love. One of our more successful campaigns is actually directed at Ma Tums, and it does discuss and go over why all moms both stay at home and working. Do need life insurance coverage.

spk_0:   2:21
Great. You talked about having targeted marketing pieces available. So how do brokers or producers use these in the sales process?

spk_1:   2:29
So a. As I mentioned earlier, we have a Fear M platform called Insure EO, which is actually marketed Thio our brokerage agents and so those agents that utilize that system, it's easily accessible through that platform. And so, at any time they can enroll, however many clients all of their clients a specific set of clients into these marketing campaigns. These are email marketing campaigns, but what it does is it really gets that information out there, and then it helps that agent be able to follow up after those e mails were sent for a follow up phone call or schedule a new appointment for the client to come in. But I think that's a really great starting point just getting that out in front of them and getting that information out there.

spk_0:   3:22
So what do you think is the best way to approach women about their life insurance needs and why?

spk_1:   3:27
I believe life insurance is an emotional fail, and so many women have loved ones to protect that they can see the value in that product. I think education as well as having just an honest, relatable conversation help advisor really needs to be able to understand each women's unique circumstances. They need to be able to uncover that specific women's concerns and fears, as well as being able to discuss their current and future needs. I think the better and advisor can uncover these things a better job they're going to do at giving her education as well as being able to recommend the products that specific to that woman's need.

spk_0:   4:07
Excellent. Looking out for someone's well being doesn't only mean their physical wellness. Do you have a story you can share with us about a time that you helped a female client become more financially fit?

spk_1:   4:18
Yeah. And as working on myself, I actually find it easy to connect with other moms who are managing those career as well of the family off it. It often that doesn't make it easy to start a conversation. I have a son who plays multiple sports and give me the opportunity to meet many moms. About two years ago, Ah, one of the moms had shared a story of someone she knew who had passed away unexpectedly, which began a conversation. We started talking about the importance of life insurance. She had mentioned she only had insurance that was provided by her employer and really had just assumed it was enough coverage really hadn't put any thought or considered what would happen to her family if she had passed away unexpectedly. So I just mentioned her what I personally had for life insurance myself, and we were able to make plans to have a phone conversation the next day I would went through, you know, much more in depth conversation to find out what her current financial situation Woz, what her needs are as well as concerns. And we actually did determine that she needed about 12 times more coverage and what she had currently had through her employer. And so, you know, she was able to go ahead and get an application submitted that day and, uh, took out a policy.

spk_0:   5:36
It's a pretty significant gap. It's good thing you were ableto help her realize that she had these unmet needs.

spk_1:   5:42
Yeah, absolutely.

spk_0:   5:43
Being in the insurance business, a mostly male, dominant profession. What has been your key to success is a woman in this industry, especially as you sell to other women.

spk_1:   5:52
I think for myself truly believing and the importance and the need of life insurance has helped. I am an advocate for this product. Idea also thinks that just my drive and ambition have contributed to my success, and I think it's always helpful. Just have that ability to relate to both career driven women as well as mom has definitely been an added benefit.

spk_0:   6:19
You mentioned earlier that you focused specifically on women's issues such as you mentioned breast cancer awareness. Are there any issues that you find tend to resonate more with your clients?

spk_1:   6:30
I think as far as our clients are concerned, I think what residents the most are a marketing campaign that actually does have the most successful, the one that is directed specifically at Mom's. Um, you know, because that goes out to really all of our clients, both males and females. But I think it opens the eyes of the need of making sure that the women are also getting life insurance coverage. And that goes for like I said, both those that are working moms and are bringing in an income as well as really being able to put out there the importance of that stay at home mom and everything that she's responsible for and what impact that would have on that family's life in the event something happened to run expectedly

spk_0:   7:16
lot of education, then

spk_1:   7:18
absolutely.

spk_0:   7:18
Can you talk a little bit more about what kind of education women are looking for?

spk_1:   7:22
I think most women are looking for education to where they can easily understand the product. They can easily understand what the benefit is for them and, you know, really, just to try to make that education uncomplicated. I think it is. But it's gonna help women be ableto move forward with, you know, their financial future and being ableto know that their purchasing the right product

spk_0:   7:52
great. So to, ah, other brokers, How do you recommend going about opening the conversation with women about their concerns and fears?

spk_1:   8:02
Um, we always recommend in the cell of Life insurance is always to ask about the companion. So primarily they're dealing with the husband. It's part of that conversation to do a full, thorough needs analysis of that family unit and being able to make sure that they're recommending what's going to be the appropriate amount of covered for both the husband as well as the wife. And as you mentioned earlier, more women these days are becoming the bread better family, and so I think that Those women are really recognizing that they need to have coverage to help take care of their family and event. Something happens.

spk_0:   8:46
Do you have any recommendations about working with Ah, female small business owners?

spk_1:   8:53
I mean, I would say again, with women who are small business owners. You, you you want to talk Thio. What got them into creating their own business? They're entrepreneurs. So they're, you know, usually driven They are, I would say, financially savvy and talking to what would be their concerns. You know, you have to have that conversation with them. Is that you know, do you have a plan in place if something were to happen to you? Whether that is, if something happened to you and you got injured and you need to talk through disability options or if something happened to them and they passed away unexpectedly, would somebody be taken over that business? So just really being ableto ask them questions? The guard said maybe how they got to where they're at, what their plans are, if they have any. And if they don't, you want to really want to maybe help talk them through. You know what are things that they may want to start thinking about.

spk_0:   9:49
Well, thank you, Katie, for your thoughts and insights. Today we appreciate you taking the time to spend a few minutes with us as we look into new ways to empower women to live your best life. One of those ways being preparing for their future with life insurance policy. Not a problem. Thank you. And to our listeners and to our listeners. Thanks for tuning in to Episode four of a sureties podcast series. Tips from the Insurance Pros Stay tuned for new podcasts coming next month focused on success with critical illness insurance. In the meantime, if you'd like to learn more about a sureties life insurance products, head overto liam dot maturity dot com that's L. I am dot a surety dot com. You can also email us at podcast at a surety dot com, and we'd be happy to connect you with one of our regional reps in your area to take a deeper dive. Thanks for listening. Producer use only not for use with the general public not for use in New York, but surety is a marketing name for the mutual holding company. A surety group incorporated headed subsidiaries. Those subsidiaries include, but are not limited to, a surety life insurance company and a surety life insurance company of New York. Insurance, Product and service is our offered by a surety life insurance company in all states except New York. In New York, insurance, product and service is our offered by a surety life Insurance company of New York, Albany, New York Product availability features and rates may vary by state.