These last couple of weeks have obviously been new for all of us, but I successfully did something in late March and again Mid-April that I'm already deriving some benefits from.

We've all gotten a lot of blast COVID-19 emails over the last month or so, and I designed an email that I sent to two different email lists: one to my client base and one to my centers of influence advisor base.

These emails are very basic--not getting into micro details, but keeping it kind of macro, allowing these people to see that we're still in business; we're here. Ninety-five percent of my business is life insurance; so, my biggest obstacle that I knew immediately was the exam process.

I can control things with DocuSign, I can control e-applications and things of that nature. I can't control a third-party medical exam. I can't control a nurse going to someone's house and drawing blood and taking urine and the client saying to me, “I'm not really comfortable with a nurse coming to my house right now,” which I can't blame them for.

 So, we've done a lot of research. These things are changing daily. But I put an email out saying, “If you're thinking about some additional life insurance coverage, we can get up to $3 million of life insurance right now with a “fluidless” exam. No urine, no blood, no exam,  just some paperwork. Depending on the carrier, they might require that you had a full physical in the last 18 months.” We also have the capability of stacking multiple carriers.

Within 24 hours of that first email going out, I had received four responses. I also had one client who decided to proceed with $3 million of life insurance. 

I sent to home emails, business emails in my Rolodex and centers of influence emails. Home emails had a 42% open rate. Normally, you get like 15%, maybe. And the Rolodex got 22% right now, which wasn't terrible for the other professional advisors.

I did do the subject line differently. It was nothing about COVID-19. I had already sent one of those out, like a : “Hey, we're up for business, we're doing all this stuff” about a week ago. So, this was just: “Appel Insurance is moving forward looking for best options.” That’s it. I thought that might get people to click.

Bio:

David Eric Appel, ChFC, CLU, is with Appel Insurance Advisors, LLC, in Newton, Massachusetts. He is a NAIFA member and a 24-year MDRT member.