2009 Honoree International DI Society’s W. Harold Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award. 2015 Honoree of NAILBA’s Mooers Award for Excellence.
From time to time we will feature an interview with Eugene Cohen, who has dedicated over 57 years of his life to learning, teaching, and supporting brokers in the agency’s quest to help consumers protect their incomes from the tragic effects of a disability. With the help of Victor Cohen, we will chronicle many of Eugene’s life lessons, advice, strategies, and what drives him every day to mentor those who wish to help their clients protect their incomes. Disability insurance is one of those products that can change the trajectory of an individual and a family’s life and is crucial for every financial planner and insurance professional to learn about and offer to clients.
This is the first part of our series with Eugene Cohen, CEO and founder of the Eugene Cohen Insurance Agency, Inc. The agency started as a disability insurance brokerage MGA and has grown to over 35 team members who are all focused on the wholesale service needs of financial professionals for disability, life, long term care and annuities.
Victor: Let’s start at the very beginning. How did you get started in the disability insurance business?
Eugene: Well, I had graduated from Ohio State University as a business major. I was newly married, looking for work.
I received an introduction from an employment agency to interview with an insurance company. They happened to specialize in offering disability income protection. At first, I was very concerned about working in this industry. I was 23 years old and I knew some people who used to sell insurance. They didn’t make it. That didn’t sound so uplifting. But after my interview at this insurance agency, I was really excited about the need for disability income protection.
Victor: Were you an immediate success?
Eugene: Like anything, it took time…but not too much time. You have to remember, after three months I was working on straight commission. And I had the greatest motivators in the world chasing me every day.
Victor: What’s that?
Eugene: I call it, “The mad dog of daily expenses.” Expenses! Rent, utilities, car payments, food, clothing…that “mad dog” was chasing me.
Victor: What else do you think led to your early success?
Eugene: Besides having a desire to succeed and natural competitiveness, I read many motivational books. And one thing they all had in common—they were all very positive.
When I started training at that first job–in a career shop—I noticed there were negative agents and there were positive agents. In high school I played football and also was a wrestler and I love sports. You’ll notice that there are spectators and the players on the field. The spectators get to judge, scream, play armchair quarterback and be negative. While the players were making it happen on the field. The players have to be motivated, focused, keep a positive attitude…they have to perform or be taken out of the game.
I knew I always wanted to be like the players on the field. Stay focused, stay motivated, keep a positive attitude—because what I was selling could change people’s lives! The game of life is a serious business and disability insurance can save individuals and families from the financial effects of a tragic disability.
I also found out very quickly that, like every business, the insurance business is a relationship business as well.
I also learned back when I started that the phone was one of the best ways to build relationships. Even in today’s world of email and instant messages, the most effective communication is by phone and now by video conferencing systems like Zoom.
Victor: Where did you get your leads?
Eugene: Back then I was using the yellow pages…can you imagine that? Now it’s easy. You have so many focused resources, such as Google, LinkedIn, lead services, etc.
Victor: Who did you focus on calling? Were there certain occupations you felt could use your services more than others?
Eugene: Everyone needs disability insurance, but the product seems to resonate more with certain occupations and income levels. I decided to work with professional people and business owners.
Victor: Why them?
Eugene: Doctors, dentists, attorneys, and all types of business owners…the need for disability income protection is so strong. That need is the same today as it was 57 years ago.
Victor: Did you have a prepared script you’d use when you’d cold call these prospects from the phone book?
Eugene: “Hello Mr. Jones, this is Eugene Cohen speaking. I’m a specialist in disability income protection, which is a policy to provide you with an income if you got sick or hurt and couldn’t work. Do you have anything like that?” That’s all I would say.
Most would say, “No, I don’t have anything like that,” in which case I would say, “I’d like to stop by and talk to you and explain the concept of disability income protection.” I was amazed because I was getting appointments!
In the rare situation when someone would say they already had a policy like that, then I would say, “When is the last time you have had the policy reviewed in comparison with your income? I’d like to stop over and introduce myself to you.” And I’d work on setting up an appointment.
People were willing to talk to me. I was on the phone every single minute.
Victor: What role do you think disability income protection plays in a person’s life?
Eugene: The way I look at disability income protection in my own mind is…this wonderful policy is like a silent partner that’s guarding a portion of my income. Could you imagine not having virus protection on a computer? It’s that silent partner, guarding the computer. Could you imagine driving without car insurance or having a home without homeowner’s insurance?
It really is very simple. If I couldn’t work due to a long and extended accident or sickness, I would need help paying my bills or risk wiping out my savings or at least taking a good chunk out of it.
Victor: So, even while becoming a top producer, there had to be times when a prospect didn’t end up buying the insurance. How did you handle that? The disappointment.
Eugene: As a new agent, when I didn’t make the sale, I would try to understand why and try to learn why someone wouldn’t buy. It’s all in the perspective you take and I learned that every time someone said “no,” it became a positive learning experience in that regard. And that’s when I discovered and started fully understanding the four objections that anyone who sells a product will hear at one time or another and how to overcome them. Those four objections are the same today as they were back then.
Victor: What are they?
Eugene: If someone does not proceed with purchasing a product or service, it’s usually due to one or more of four basic objections, regardless of whether the objection is real or just a delay. No Need. No Money. No Hurry. No Confidence. I believe these are universally true, regardless of the product or service you are presenting. It could be an insurance policy, a house, a business, even a TV or washer and dryer. It’s important for the person making the presentation to know how to address each objection in order to get to the root of the true issue and be able to adjust in order to move forward.
Victor: We’ll continue this conversation in our next interview. Thank you so much for sharing your experience, knowledge and love of this business.
How Are You Planning Your 2021 Disability Insurance Campaign? Here Are 12 Resolutions For 2021.
As we wind down 2020, it is time to start planning for 2021 and how you can support your clients’ financial goals. Disability insurance should be part of most of your working clients’ financial plans. There are many ways to help your clients and many great products, so it is good to start planning your 2021 goals.
January’s Resolution: “I’m going to review my client database and create a list of all of my clients who I have helped buy a disability policy. I’m going to make appointments to review their current coverage and needs to determine if more disability insurance is needed.” There are so many stories of clients who bought a disability policy when they first started working, but no one has reviewed it for years and more coverage is needed. We’ve never seen a claim in which someone wished they bought less coverage.
February Resolution: “I’m going to identify clients who own a business and have an office (that’s not in their home) and are the primary income producer of the business. I’m going to discuss with them the need for Business Overhead Expense (BOE) coverage and how this product can help save the viability of their business if they are able to come back to work.” BOE can reimburse a disabled business owner for qualified expenses that are incurred in operating a business. A business owner who becomes disabled, and due to that disability can’t produce the income that pays the expenses, can have a tremendous burden on their shoulders. Think about a sole practitioner physician, dentist, attorney, accountant, or any business in which the business owner primarily creates the income coming into the firm.
March Resolution: “I’m going to identify business clients who have bought key-person life insurance and discuss the need for key-person disability insurance.” If a business has multiple owners or any employee(s) who are key revenue producers for the business, it’s important to discuss key-person disability insurance. The need is similar to key-person life insurance. But the key person didn’t pass away, they became totally disabled!
April Resolution: “I’m going to learn about DI retirement policies and discuss this product with my clients who save money via their retirement plans.” Many planners miss the fact that if a client becomes disabled they most likely will no longer be able to contribute to their qualified plan. There are companies that can help create an alternative type of plan if someone becomes disabled.
May Resolution: “I’m going to identify all of the clients I helped buy life insurance to fund a buy-sell agreement and I’m going to discuss disability buy out insurance.” Many partnership and/or buy out agreements contain provisions if a partner becomes disabled. It’s important to have these provisions funded.
June Resolution: “I’m going to review my clients who have group disability insurance at work or clients who I have assisted buying LTD for their firm. I will explain to those whose incomes exceed the plan’s cap why obtaining more coverage may be in their best interest, primarily due to taxes and inherent limitations in most group policies.” Many times employer paid group plans can be a taxable benefit, which can reduce the net coverage. In addition, most group coverage has inherent limitations compared to individual disability coverage.
July Resolution: “I’m going to review any clients who have been declined for disability insurance in the past to see if I can now get them coverage.” It’s possible that clients who have been turned down for disability insurance in the past can be accepted for disability insurance in the future due to changes in their health, occupation, or income. In addition, there are more companies specializing in impaired risk policies.
August Resolution: “I’m going to identify clients who are owners or work for a business with multiple high-income earners and establish a multi-life discount by insuring three or more people.” There are various multi-life discount programs available.
September Resolution: “I’m going to reach out to clients who have loans and discuss with them how they would pay for the loan(s) if they became disabled.” There are so many types of disability policies and riders that can help ease the financial burdens caused by a disability and the lack of ability to pay contractual obligations.
October Resolution: “I’m going to understand the three basic parts of disability underwriting so that I can better pre-screen clients for individual disability insurance.” There are three areas of disability underwriting: Occupational, financial and health underwriting. Knowing the basics of these three areas can save a lot of time in product selection and preparing a client for various underwriting outcomes.
November Resolution: “I’m going to go to https://lifehappens.org/videos and watch the video testimonials of clients who have been disabled.” While many of us have personal stories of people who have been disabled, you may not know someone personally. These stories show how important disability insurance can be to individuals and families.
December Resolution: “I’m going to give myself a grade, from A+ to F, on how many clients I helped protect themselves or their businesses with some type of disability insurance in 2021.” What grade would you give yourself today? Have you discussed disability insurance with all of your working clients? If you have a client who gets disabled and they ask you what type of disability insurance they have, what will be your answer?