Insurance Narratives, Laughter, and Story-Telling with Larry Nisenson! PART 2

Welcome back to another power-packed and witty episode of the Insurance Podcast!
Our terrific hosts sit down with Larry Nisenson, an insurance professional hailing from Princeton, New Jersey, to discuss his captivating story leading to a deep discussion about long-term care insurance.
As the conversation unfolds, Larry reveals his transition from a retail salesperson to a role focused on helping financial advisors and insurance agents navigate complex products through the art of storytelling. The discussion eventually moves into the challenges agents face when introducing long-term care insurance, addressing the reluctance some may feel due to the intricacies of these products. After the discussion, Larry provides the listening agents with comforting advice in the right direction.
The episode takes a thought-provoking turn as Larry discusses the prevalent issue of scams targeting the elderly and the lack of a robust support system for the aging population in the United States. He emphasizes the need for intentional conversations about long-term care, urging agents to break the cycle and address their own needs to avoid burdening future generations. 
📻 Tune in to learn more about elderly care in terms of insurance with a little bit of laughter and wit sprinkled all along the podcast with our amazing guest, Larry, and the hosts.

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Transcript

Larry Nisenson: 0:00

You have two choices, right? Choice number one is to bury your head in the sand and do nothing. And then whatever will be will be and if that's the way an agent and adviser a client wants to go, for sure, nothing wrong with that as long as they're consciously making the choice.

Craig Pretzinger: 0:17

Insurance dudes are on a mission to escape big hiccup by our agents.

Jason Feltman: 0:23

How? by uncovering the secrets to creating a predictable, consistent, and profitable agency Sales Machine.

Craig Pretzinger: 0:31

Hi, I'm Craig Pretzinger.

Jason Feltman: 0:32

I am Jason Feldman.

Craig Pretzinger: 0:34

We are agents. We are insurance. Do

Jason Feltman: 0:39

you have any of those like real life examples of I've had this experience where it's like us as insurance agents where you know, maybe we were PNC on the front end, right. Then there's life annuities a little bit tougher of a conversation, some sort of retirement is is even a little tougher with getting into some of the retirement products. And then it's like, and then long term care. So then when the long term care conversation, man, you guys just try to sell everything. Yeah. And it's like, it's like the end of the line is the long term care. Oh, no pun intended.

Larry Nisenson: 1:13

Yeah, I like that. That's pretty good. That's a good pun. And that's true. Right? And we have, there's plenty of ways to solve this need, right? One of the things we talked to agents who want to, like help, and probably the best example are health agents, those agents who are selling med sup med advantage, right? They've got a seasonality of their business. They're working with an older demographic, and they're like, look, I'd love to do this. I just don't know how. And our advice to them is, first of all, there's plenty of places to get the education and training. Let's start with that not an impediment to it. Right there. cLTC. That's a designation where they offer free and paid courses to help learn about how to position long term care as part of a package. But for people who are PNC agents, by the way, I appear to have my time, I was the president of the New Jersey companies of Plymouth Rock and spend all of my time with PNC agents talking to them about bridging into wealth strategies and protection products. And what we used to say to them is really simple. Find the transactional products that are most closely aligned to the way you sell business and start there. Even if it's only dipping the toe, even if it's not the greatest and best product for your for the client, the ultimate product, it's better than what they have, which is nothing, right? Sell them a short term care product. Explain to them in a in a simple digestible when we're talking about storytellers, learn a story that that talks about that protection and get comfortable with it and then say to your client, look, short term care products, right cover you for that one year or less. What I want to do at our next review, is show you the next stage, it's a building block, tell them the story, not about we sell everything. But we're experts in the field of insurance. And my job is to show you the building blocks to protect you and your family. What you choose to do with that is an entirely different story. I'm not here to sell you things. I'm here to educate you on the challenges you may face to present modern solutions, the universe is this wide. And I want to narrow that down to good solid choices based upon what I know and learn about you. And what client would say no to that, right? That's somebody who say no to that is likely a client who you're not going to develop a rapport with, you're going to sell them something, but you're probably not going to develop a deep client that

Craig Pretzinger: 3:48

well, and an agent that's getting more, I think highly strategic with their outbound and an onboarding of their new clients. Like if it's a PLC, where PLC, right, so they're going to, we're never going to lead with a long term care, obviously. And like Jesus says, At the end of the line, but if we're strategic, and we have a plan that it's like, okay, on the first month, then they're gonna get a follow up about life and then in the third month are gonna get a follow up, and this all happens is just executed, then eventually, you're gonna start writing this stuff, right? Like, that's just the way it works.

Larry Nisenson: 4:22

Yeah, and I will tell you, Oh, sorry. I'm glad Craig sorry.

Craig Pretzinger: 4:25

I just like to unpack one other thing. Something that we do in our own agencies when we're training new people, because it can everybody as an excuse in sales is I need to know everything before I pick up that phone. And, and in my opinion, it's all bullshit. It's call reluctance. You don't need to know the product you need to know. You just need to know that the product is a mechanism to solve that problem that that person has, it doesn't fucking matter what's in the what's in the thing, and I'm sorry to drop it. But

Larry Nisenson: 4:54

I told you from New Jersey, we're required before we leave school to have it as a noun verb ad. verb I mean, we can string them together and make sense if we needed to. So no worries on my point.

Craig Pretzinger: 5:08

You can see the passion. And your it's just it's so important. You're 100%.

Larry Nisenson: 5:15

Right and here's so this call reluctance the call reluctance issue is as real as it could be. Right? So earlier in my career, I told you I was that I was the president, New Jersey company for Plymouth Rock. And we had people who were telephone PNC salespeople who'd work for agents, and they were selling auto insurance and homeowners insurance over the phone right now, you guys, anybody who's run or worked in a call center knows your the likelihood of picking up a phone and getting somebody on a phone call when you dial in, especially these days, single, low single digits, right? And we would see people who'd have to do an entire 20 minute prep, they'd have to look through everything the client owned, they'd have to go through, when is their renewal? When is this? When is this Hold on? Let me go chase Joey down to get the answer to he's left a note I don't understand. Then they'd come back to the desk, get themselves positioned. They dial a phone, and they leave a voicemail, and then they'd go through this whole thing we got to a point did it go to the bathroom? Yeah, right. And then it gets tiring. So now I gotta go get a cup of coffee, right? We got to a point, the most success we had was when we made them turn the computer off and printed out pieces of paper that had a name and a phone number. That's it. Because call reluctance is a real thing. And and what we teach people these days to do is to ask the same solid Good question. This isn't about matching somebody up in a call with a greatest product. And it doesn't matter if it's PNC, or life or an annuity, adjacent to your point, it's the end of the line on something else. The reality of it is, there's so many products out there, we've got to understand somebody's need. And the only get to that need by talking to people by developing relationships. Imagine we talk a lot in our industry about the power of the referral. Right? And we sort of tip our hat to the power of the referral and say, Yeah, you always have to ask for referrals. I will tell you the best referrals I've ever seen were referrals. Nobody had to ask for why? Because they develop the client in the right way. They maybe spoke to a few times they sold a product, they came back. Right, Craig, in a way you said they came back a couple months later, they said look, now we've got this in place, I'd love to understand some more of your dynamic. Tell me about your family. And now they're building out not just the rapport, not just an understanding. They're becoming that trusted adviser, that trusted agent and when you develop that, we know that that's when the referral starts to pour in, right that Ken Blanchard book, raving fan from 2530 years ago talked about this. And that's exactly what we want to create. And that's the advice. Most people don't want to do it. It's hard work, right? You got to put in the legwork. But when you can get to that, then you get to develop some of these later products, whether it's short term care, whether you bring an expert in maybe you bring in and partner with somebody who's got licenses you don't have, because you're doing the right thing for your clients. That's when the magic happens. For sure.

Craig Pretzinger: 8:18

Yeah, the deliberate intentionality. Right? Yeah, for sure. Time.

Jason Feltman: 8:23

It's crazy that we're not allowed to use trusted advisor anymore. Like, yeah, the SEC. It's crazy. Yeah, it's so interesting First Amendment

Craig Pretzinger: 8:37

was that it's kind of interesting. Sort of isn't a violation of the First Amendment, isn't it?

Larry Nisenson: 8:43

Yeah, you know, those prickly regulators like to tell us what we can and can't do for sure. You know, some of it's even good stuff. But a lot of it is I agree, it's it's looking at in the space that I work in, right as aging adults, and you have to be even more careful to not be taken advantage of. And so I appreciate some of the regulation for sure. Some of it definitely goes too far. There's no question.

Jason Feltman: 9:06

Yeah, that is crazy. I mean, they definitely. It's unbelievable, especially with AI and how many fakes are coming out at all, there's so many ways to trick the old trick was just the phone call, send me gift cards and stuff like that. Older people would do that. They would just say hey, it's for Mike your grandson, and they would send stuff out.

Craig Pretzinger: 9:32

I don't even think of that of the AI like of the bad guys using Well, I mean, I thought of it in the world, but not not in the in the real case scenario, which is actually just using it for scamming. Like they're gonna be able to multiply their ability.

Larry Nisenson: 9:46

Here. I'll tell you a quick scam and it's personal happened to my mother. Oh, my mother is to my father is 88 and my father is in the hospital. Okay, it's gonna be fine, but he's in the hospital. he normally does everything. So my mother is not only frantic because her husband of 60 years is in the hospital. But she's frantic because she's 82. Also, when she's got all this stuff going on, she gets a call from a guy who says, I'm from your home warranty company. And essentially scams, my mother for$5,400 in a home warranty, okay. And I need my mother at the hospital to go see my father. And she says to me, Hey, just off the cuff, she said, Do you know who would my home warranty company was? I said, Yeah, you know, I told her what she knows, or that's not who called me. I said, Whoa, what are you talking about? And she says, this guy called me it was $5,400. So the long the short of it is we immediately call cancel the charge cancel the credit card, I call the guy back. It's a real company using fraudulent really terrible tactics. In creating a almost a threat to my mother says, If you don't renew now, it's going to be 7500, that when you call us back, and you're going to need us anyway, when I got to this guy, and I, and I talked to him, and I threatened him with the way us who have been in the business long enough know exactly what the pressure points are to put on. We're not consumers, we're in the industry. And we know what to say. And the guy immediately says, oh, no, that's not what. But my point is, this, my mother knows not to do not to talk not to fall, not to give any of that, and they are fully with it. But here's somebody fully with it, who was taken advantage of in the exact moment of weakness, and it happens every day, hundreds of times a day, right 1000s of times a day by these unscrupulous guy, who, by the way, make it harder for all of the legitimate agents, all of the legitimate people who are trying to help are are screwed by these guys every day who are doing these terrible, terrible things. Really bad. Yeah,

Craig Pretzinger: 11:57

I mean, it's sucks because they're using the same tactics regular business owners do. So they get the same results, right? Like,

Larry Nisenson: 12:05

and you think my mother is ever going to take a call from anyone ever again? Of course not? Well, that's actually my good. Yes, in her case, but imagine if she needed to help. And then and then she wouldn't, right like, so there are plenty of people, to your point that that are going to be denied the stuff they need, either because they read a story that said, Don't ever talk to anybody who you don't know. So they don't ever take a phone call or listen, or because they were screwed at some point in the past and learned a really terrible lesson the hard way. Crazy.

Jason Feltman: 12:40

Yeah. And before we come towards an end, I do want to, you know, it's crazy. And this is kind of a side tangent, but I just want to bring it up is that we're like the only one of the only cultures that don't take care of the elderly, or, like, put them on a pedestal for the wisdom that they have. It seems like every other culture, the parents come back, live it Live with the kids and like they take care of them. And like, I mean, there's cultures they get, they get handed on, or waited on hand and foot. But like we're the only one that's like, setting our parents out to fend for themselves,

Larry Nisenson: 13:23

to 100 to 100%. So about three years ago, I did a tour through China and India, both companies, both countries, well over a billion people both going through what I would what I would call a Westernization, right, where, where the kids are used to live on the farm now want to move to the city because they want to iPhone, they want to live, they want to do all that. And that's true. And you see that occurring. But what hasn't occurred is they haven't left their parents in the lurch. The filial piety, the idea of going home to take care of them still exist. And those are countries that have well over a billion people. Right, socialist countries have figured it out only here in the States. You're exactly right, Jason, we don't have we not only don't we have it, we don't have a support system underneath. The only option becomes right, spend down your last dollar and then go into Medicaid. And if you've seen any of the Medicaid facilities, I promise you, nobody wants to be there. Right. And that sort of this this sort of sense of urgency that that I have I'm I'm 57 in addition to reminding my three kids of their responsibility to take care of me and my wife when it's our time, right and I dangled their college tuition above their head for but but part of this awareness campaign that we're on some ways I joke with my my co workers that were like Don Quixote spitting into windmills. Right, because we're trying to tell a story to people who don't want to listen, because they don't want to face the music. And we know what's coming in in this country, there isn't a government solution. That's solution that anybody wants. And by the way, in 30 years of speaking about this, or 29 years of speaking about this and doing hundreds of public seminars around aging, and asking a single question, and everyone, which is by show of hands, who's looking forward to moving into a nursing home, right? Only one time, have I had a hand go up, believe it or not, one person raised their hand and said, Yeah, I'm looking to go into a nursing home. And I said, I got to hear the story, because who would look for. And the reason they wanted to go in is because the spouse was already in, they were disabled, they couldn't care for them. And so the spouse was looking forward to going to the nursing home, because she wanted to get with her husband. But every other person, nobody wants to age in a nursing home, everybody wants to age in place, and that costs money. And we've got to help people get the message out to understand they've got to pay for it on their own. Nobody's riding in on a white horse to save them in this, that's for sure. Yeah.

Jason Feltman: 16:08

And I definitely think it's a conversation, especially for the kids like, and I think that we as a culture need to change and have this conversation because hey, it's the kids aren't going to be taken care of the parents, at least come up with the plan, this is going to happen. And what's crazier is with the

Larry Nisenson: 16:25

older age, and so there are 40 million unpaid caregivers in the US. Those are people who are doing double duty, they're people who hold out a full time job. And then they go to their loved ones on the weekends, they shop, maybe they pay the bills, they're, they're helping provide care. And some of them are doing it out of love and respect and honor and all of the good reasons. And that's super cool. Others are doing it because their parents, their loved ones didn't prepare. And you would think that for those people who are in my age bracket, who are providing care for their families, they would say, I gotta take care of this for myself, so that my kids aren't in the same boat that I'm in be, you know, having to provide this care. And we do see that in those of those 40 million caregivers, the vast majority are baby boomers and those who are a little bit younger. And we see more interest in long term care insurance products with that subset, but not nearly enough. So Jason, the lesson isn't being learned. They're not saying Wait, I want to break the cycle here. Instead, what they're saying is, oh, man, I wish I had my time back. I love spending time with my parents, my aunts, my uncles, my loved ones, I wish I was doing other stuff. But they're not making the connection between their own long term care needs when they get more disabled when they get older, and breaking the cycle for their kids. We haven't we haven't done that yet. We haven't created that nexus for them.

Jason Feltman: 17:55

Yeah, yeah, it's definitely a subject everybody needs to talk about. I literally had four kids, four kids. And I busted my butt because I'm hoping that one of them will take care of me when I get older.

Larry Nisenson: 18:10

boys or girls, boys or girls, two and two. All right. So the good news for what it's worth, I have three girls, so I'm super happy to do a better job at it. Now. You know, I don't want the guys out there who have sons. Wow, my son's gonna do it. I'm sure he will. Girls, just naturally. And we see that in the caregiving space in the family caregiving space, too. That's a whole, we could do a whole nother show. And another point around family caregiving dynamics. But the good news is for those of us who have daughters will probably have some help. Maybe not all right. Well, you

Jason Feltman: 18:47

can you can see it in the parents, right. The Moms always super nurturing. And the dads like, dude, kids come in at night. They still do it. There's a lot of sleepless nights, they'll come in feel good mom's like, you know, in her sleeping state. Totally nurturing and I'm like, Get out of here. I gotta sleep.

Larry Nisenson: 19:14

I gotta get up in two hours. Yeah, get back out Summit. No, I and it is funny. And hopefully they're, you know, the the impetus for you to stay with your wife all the way through, is that if they're going to take care of her, maybe they'll throw a little bit of care towards you too. Right?

Jason Feltman: 19:30

Right. That's, yeah, I'm playing my cards with everybody here.

Larry Nisenson: 19:35

Gonna play the long game on it for sure. That's hilarious. That's awesome. Well, this has been

Jason Feltman: 19:39

awesome. Larry, we really appreciate you coming on here. Any final words that you want anyone to know? And then also, how can people reach out to you and learn more?

Larry Nisenson: 19:49

Yeah, my only parting words around this financing of aging. This dilemma is you have two choices, right? Choice number one is to bury your head in to sand and do nothing, and then whatever will be will be. And if that's the way an agent and advisor a client wants to go, for sure, nothing wrong with that as long as they're consciously making the choice for agents who want to provide just a touch more education for those that say, I don't even know I don't want to sell it. I just feel responsible to at least make my clients aware. It's really easy. Go to any of the websites out there, download a little bit of information, go to caregiver.org, go to the AARP. There's so much information out there and just educate yourself and your clients a little bit. You can go to my company's website, as I said, it's never stopped one word.com. You can find me on LinkedIn. It's Larry, nice, Anson and i s e n s o n. You can find me on Twitter, you can find me on the web, find me wherever you like it is my passion to talk about this and help educate clients, agents, advisors on this impending tsunami and guys, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you inviting me on and spending some time with you guys.

Jason Feltman: 21:12

Fantastic. And we appreciate the fact that you came on even though your throat, you're not feeling good under the weather, and you went the distance with us. So thank you since we're

Craig Pretzinger: 21:23

gaming words, yeah. I mean, I was a little concerned you might have to use your long term care insurance here.

Larry Nisenson: 21:29

I thought about it. I got my guy. I got my agent on speed dial and got ready to put a claim in right. That's awesome, guys. Thanks again.

Craig Pretzinger: 21:40

All right. Thank you so much. Take care. Take care. Bye bye