How to Work Veteran Life Insurance Leads

Veteran life insurance leads are not hard to work. They are easy to ruin in the first ten seconds, which is a different problem and a fixable one.

The gap they are trying to close

Most veterans who fill out a form have some idea that their service left them with a coverage gap. Usually they are right, and usually they cannot name the gap precisely. That is the whole opportunity.

• SGLI ends shortly after separation, and a lot of people do not register that it has gone until something prompts them.
• VGLI is available but gets expensive with age, and rates climb on a schedule most people have never looked at.
• VA disability compensation is not life insurance, though plenty of households assume it covers a death.
• Many have coverage through an employer that ends the day the job does.

You are not there to tell them they were lied to. You are there to help them find out what they actually have, which is a much easier conversation to be invited into.

Service era changes the conversation

Branch matters less than when they served. A Gulf War era veteran in their fifties is usually thinking about mortgage payoff and income replacement. A Vietnam era veteran is more often thinking about burial costs and not leaving a bill behind. Someone who separated in the last five years is frequently underinsured and has never bought a policy in their life.

If the record carries a service era, read it before you dial. If it does not, ask early and let the answer steer the rest of the call.

What to say first

• Thank them for filling out the form, not for their service. The second one is what every telemarketer opens with and they have heard it a thousand times.
• Say where the form came from and roughly when they filled it out. Specificity is what separates you from a cold call.
• Never imply you are with the VA, calling on behalf of the VA, or administering a VA benefit. It is not true, and in this vertical it is the fastest way to get reported.
• Ask what prompted them to look. The answer is almost always the sale.
• If they are busy, book a time and hang up. Veterans in particular tend to keep the appointment.

Working the list

Call fast, then call again. Veteran records tend to have a longer useful life than final expense, because the person filling out the form is often researching rather than reacting. A lead that goes nowhere on day one is frequently a conversation on day four.

Set your state set honestly. Buying all fifty states when you are licensed in six is how agents end up with a pile of records they cannot legally work.

The agents who do well on this vertical are not the ones with the best script. They are the ones who sound like a person who read the form.