Guardian Policy Info Needed

[JMF902]

I just started at Guardian and need a little bit of help. If anyone out there can share product knowledge about the Life,DI,LTC(riders,waiversm,differences) lines of business and any type of miscellaneous information that i should know about their business, it would be highly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[VolAgent]

Re: Guardian Policy Info

Ok, I am going to be mean in this response.

You just signed on with a career shop. If your manager and GA isn't willing to tell you everything you want to know about these products, find the door now. Between them and the product guides that should be available to you on their internal site, you should find out more than you ever wanted to know about their products.

Also, you can call the wholesalers, both internal and external, and they will make your ears bleed with all the information they want to share.

Finally, you should start out running joint appointments with your manager and more experienced agents. This is the perfect chance to watch and learn, get some OJT.

With those sources available to you, there is never a reason to visit this forum to find about your mother mutual's products. If these sources won't provide the information, leave now! It won't get any better.


That said, this forum is a great place to learn the things management isn't so willing to share. I'm not trying to run you off, but point out that if you can't get this information from your agency when you just started, it will only get worse.

So, welcome to the forum.

 

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

Re: Guardian Policy Info

VolAgent,

Not to be mean to you, but...

Guardian hires both career agents and brokers.

The career agents receive all the training and materials they will ever need, and the brokers are given the login to the internal website, once their paperwork is completed.

The original poster did not say whether he was a career agent or a broker, so I think that you jumped the gun, possibly.

I just recently got a broker appointment with Guardian, and I've been in the business for 13 years, and couldn't tell you the first thing about their product line.

They have a new software program, similar to LEAP, and I got the CD ROM when I signed up.

Now, a better response might be, "which product of theirs do you need some explanation on" or "have you asked for a sample contract to look through"

Thanks for posting a response

 

[DHK]

Re: Guardian Policy Info

I just started at Guardian and need a little bit of help. If anyone out there can share product knowledge about the Life,DI,LTC(riders,waiversm,differences) lines of business and any type of miscellaneous information that i should know about their business, it would be highly appreciated.

Thanks!

First, I 100% agree with what has already been posted. You need product training from your GA (assuming you're a career agent).

Second, product knowledge doesn't matter when you're new. Huh? You need a steady stream of people to go see and a process to use with those people. Once you have that process, you can make some immediate sales &/or open financial needs analysis cases.

You see, all the product knowledge in the world can't help you if you have no one to sell it to. On the other hand, if you have a lot of people who are asking you about life insurance, you can now take your manager out with you to explain the benefits of the product and take an app.

Product knowledge can be "hired" on an as-needed basis by offering a % split of your business - perhaps 20%.

Prospecting is what will make or break your new career. Focus here, and learn your products over time.

 

[JMF902]

Re: Guardian Policy Info

Hey Vol you definitely jumped the gun. Im not a lifer in the business but I know enough to get my self around being in the biz for three years. As much as I can speak to my sales manager or talk to the Home office there will be always something new to learn.I will rephrase my question.

This is going off on a tangent but my manager told me about this one waiver of premium for Life insurance products. It works like an own occ for DI and pays premium on term or WL contracts for up to 5 years(if someone goes on DI claim) and this was kind of surprising as I am used to total disability waiver of premium. My question is are there waivers(LI,DI,LTC), differences in DI contract language, or in general anything that may set this carrier apart from the other big Mutuals?

BTW DHK

My number one job is to sit with as many people as possible and the reason I am asking these questions is just for my own personal knowledge. I know that prospects,clients, have a short attention span, will take what you recommend to them whether you work at God life or swamp mutual as long as they feel they can trust you. I would rather have a endless list of prospects to call than the best product ever in the history of the world. A hot new product is of no use if i have noone to sell it to. Prospecting is a number one,through 100th priority, but I just wanted you guys to answer a simple question not give an abbreviated lecture.

Bob-

Ive heard that Guardian's/Berkshire DI is a true own occupation, why is that?

 

[DHK]

Re: Guardian Policy Info

I don't do product research for people. That's your job as an agent for your company.

When you ask a question like a new person:

"I just started at Guardian and I need a little bit of help"

...what kind of responsible answer would YOU give to someone who "just started"?

 

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

Re: Guardian Policy Info

JMF,

Rather than waste your time with sarcastic responses from others here, go to Disability Insurance Forums

There you can get answers for DI products from experts in the DI industry (who know much more than I about Guardian)

 

[VolAgent]

Re: Guardian Policy Info

VolAgent,

Not to be mean to you, but...

Guardian hires both career agents and brokers.

"I just started at Guardian..."

Pay attention to language, brokers don't talk like that, people who just went on a career contract do.

As to JMF902's question, I have never seen the Guardian contract, but I believe this is what it means:

For the first 5 years of the wavier of premium, it waives premium if the insured is unable to perform the duties of his own occupation. After 5 years, it switches to any occ. I believe Mass offers something similar on its life products, but I believe it is 2 years.

But more importantly, who cares how everyone else's WOP works, unless you are going to sell it. And if you are a career agent with Guardian, selling away is not a good idea. Despite what some believe, competitive situations are rather rare. If you go on talking about Guardian versus NYL or Mass or NWM, all you are going to do is make the person curious and look into those products.

So yes, I was tough, but I've been down that road before. Do the mandatory meetings, but focus on prospecting.

Finally, true own occ means as long as you can't perform the duties of your occupation, you get a check. Even if you are performing other work for income. The contract may have an offset provision, or may not. That DI definition is why Guardian's DI is so expensive. You can also add it to Mass's contract, and I've been told that The Standard is releasing a contract that is true own occ.

 

[Larry Tew]

Re: Guardian Policy Info

Setting semantics and communication style aside, anyone who comes onto a message board asking for specifics about the products they are licensed and appointed to sell is skating on thin ice. The company that manufactured the product is not only the most likely source for accurate information, they also have some liability if they should give misinformation. If you ask me a product specific and I accidentally tell you something wrong that you used with a client, all I can say afterwards is "Oops".

There's plenty of good information here, but there's a manager out there making his mortgage payment from the overrides on your business who you should ask first.

 

[JMF902]

Re: Guardian Policy Info

Thanks Bob!