Life can be scary. Just look at all the survivalhandbooks out there: You just never know.

“Your health can change tomorrow,” says Steve Spector, managingdirector of risk management services for Kolb+Co., an independentlyowned accounting firm, in Brookfield, Wis. “Tomorrow's not promisedto anybody.”

So what's your best bet? Life insurance. Obviously.

Despite the solution it offers, a problem remains: It's stillinsurance. As with any other, there's a stigma. Consumers don'treally understand it. They don't know how to buy it, and theyaren't always sure why they should. That's where brokers comein.

So we've prepared a survival guide of our own that coverseverything from how to thrive in the industry to how to score yourbest-selling potentials. Good luck.

 Illustration by Colin Hayes

HOW TO DEFINE IT

Life insurance (noun): Insurance that pays outa sum of money either on the death of the insured person or after aset period.

And the more specific kind:

Whole life: Life insurance that pays a benefiton the death of the insured and also accumulates a cash value.

Term life: Life insurance that pays a benefitin the event of the death of the insured during a specifiedterm.

Universal life: Payments of the insured areplaced in an investment fund, earnings from which pay the premiumon term life insurance while any remainder continues to increasethe policy's value.

Permanent life: Life insurance that remainsactive until the policy matures, unless the owner fails to pay thepremium when due.

Group life: Covers a group of people, usuallyemployees of a company, members of a union or association, ormembers of a pension or superannuation fund.

HOW TO SELL IT

Offer it. Ask practically anyone, and they'lltell you life insurance is pretty darn important. So why in theworld are people not buying it? It might be because no one'soffering it to them.

A Deloitte survey out this year found 33 percent of people saidthey didn't have coverage because no one had offered to sell them apolicy. This is despite the fact most workers (45 percent ofnon-buyers and 70 percent of buyers) included life insurance amongtheir top five financial priorities.

“Life insurance is very much on the minds of many consumers,”says Rebecca Amoroso, vice chairman for Deloitte. “A significantpercentage of respondents have simply not been offered coveragerecently; many also noted that they never shop for coverage ontheir own initiative. Not soliciting their business exacerbatesthis gap between insurers' interests and consumers' needs.”

…And keep offering it. A significant number ofthe insured and uninsured intend to buy new or additional insurancein the next two years.

Take the role of educator. Let's be honest:Insurance of any kind can really confuse people. Explain that lifeinsurance can be a source of cash in retirement, a way to savemoney for financial emergencies, or to help finance a child'scollege education.

Keep it simple. Consumers like simplicity. Ifyou just point out the obvious—that they should protect theirfamily—and you give them easy solutions to do so, they'll probablydo it.

HOW TO JUMP ON OPPORTUNITIES

Work with financial advisors—and do the talking forthem. A survey by Saybrus Partners suggests that more thanhalf of financial advisors admit they steer clear of discussionsabout the benefits of life insurance when speaking to clients ongeneral financial planning issues, largely because they feeluncomfortable talking about the policies.

“This means that many of their clients may be lacking essentialprotection for themselves and their families or missingopportunities to more effectively transfer their wealth to the nextgeneration. Life insurance is not a set-it-and-forget-it product.It should be monitored and adjusted,” says Kevin Kimbrough,national sales manager for Saybrus.

The survey did find that 42 percent of the advisors surveyedsaid they'd feel more comfortable discussing and recommending theproducts to their own clients if they could work with a lifeinsurance specialist or attend life insurance seminars geared forfinancial advisors.

Work with employers. People aren't always asproactive as they can be when it comes to financial products andinsurance. When life insurance is offered in the workplace, peopleare more likely to buy it.

HOW TO ASK BETTER QUESTIONS

Successful brokers know how to ask questions.

“Sometimes they aren't fun, sometimes they can be disturbing.But you may have to make them uncomfortable thinking about deathand disability. That's how you find a solution,” Spector says.

Think about the prospect. If you're talking toa married couple with a couple of kids, ask “feeling findingquestions,” Spector suggests. How would you feel if you didn't comehome tomorrow night? How would your family survive? How much moneywould your family need based on your existing income, yourlifestyle, the reduction of your debt, any mortgages, studentloans, and so forth?

Spector points out another example of how to ask questionsspecifically tailored to your clients. He says he recently talkedwith a father and son, both adults. The son was buying in to hisfather's company. Spector says his question for the son was, “Ifyour father was to die, how much was the mentoring that you weren'table to get worth?”

Talk money. How much support would you need ifan income was missing from your family? How much would be needed?

HOW TO MAKE A PROFIT

Think whole. According to LIMRA, the biggestdriver behind both total premium and policy count growth continuesto be whole life. “[Whole life] remains very attractive toconsumers looking for security of premium and cash-value guaranteesalong with lifetime coverage,” says Ashley Durham, senior analyst,LIMRA product research.

In the first quarter of 2011, whole life premium increased 10percent. Whole life policy count improved 6 percent.  Halfof all the individual life insurance policies issued in the firstquarter were whole life products, the LIMRA report says. Measuringannualized premium, whole life market share reached 32 percent inthe first quarter—just 7 percentage points lower than universallife, which has held the lion's share of premium sales since 2003.(At its peak in 2007, UL market share was 20 percentage pointshigher than whole life.)

But…pay attention to other trends and reports.In an Eastbridge Consulting Group survey, carriers said lifeinsurance is the most profitable of voluntary benefits. VoluntaryAD&D coverage received the highest rating, with 43 percent ofthe respondents selecting it as a “very profitable” product line.Universal life/whole life ranked just behind (with 41 percent),followed by term (with 26 percent).

HOW TO THRIVE IN THE INDUSTRY

At least according to one expert in the field, Jody Sevy,Transamerica employee benefits territory vice president:

Follow the distribution trends. The days of thedoor-to-door salesman are long gone. But people are still in needof resources to learn more about their options and a convenient wayto purchase these products. The voluntary benefits industry hasbeen experiencing a rising demand for voluntary life andsupplemental health coverage as more and more companies arereducing employer-provided benefits—leading to a growing concernabout the increasing gaps in coverage. People are looking tovoluntary benefits as a means to protect themselves and theirfamilies from any potential risk, especially during these uncertaineconomic times. With this trend, there's a real need for brokersand agents to grow and adapt to the changing environment, packagingbenefits in a way that is not only cost-effective but also providesemployees with a broader level of security. Most importantly,adaption means developing technology that would make the enrollmentprocess easier.

Focus on the death benefits, but don't forget about thecash value. It provides many valuable options includinglong-term affordability and additional benefits like long-term andcritical care.

Don't limit yourself. Life insurance is theproduct, but the career possibilities are endless as you can entersales, marketing, administrative, finance and IT in the industry.

HOW TO CONQUER OBJECTIONS

When someone says, “It's too expensive.” Tellthe consumer life insurance can be funded any way they want—whetherit be by buying universal, term or whole life policies, or anycombination of them. Identify what the buyer wants out of a policyand how they want to fund it.

“That way the buyer is thinking, 'I'm not being sold something,I'm planning with them,'” Spector explains.

“I overcome this objection by saying, 'We still have X amount ofinsurance but we'll pare it back.' That eliminates pressure andstress. They might say, 'I don't want to put in $15,000 a year, butI can put in 10K, or I can put in 5K. And that's fine.”

When someone says, “But I don't have a family.”Single people still benefit from life insurance—and maybe in agreater way. That's because they'll get a greater discount on apolicy when they are younger, single and free of medical woes. Butthe policy still will be just as effective after significant lifechanges.

Revisit potential buyers. Set up a reviewmeeting a year later. Things might have changed in people's lives,so you can make changes in people's insurance programs, too,whether it's additional insurance, term conversions or so forth,Spector says.

Consider what generation you're talking to—and planaccordingly. Older prospects are harder to persuade withsolicitations than younger consumers. On the flip side, theyoungest respondents found the application and underwriting processto be much more onerous than was the case among older consumers.

HOW TO BUY IT (FOR CONSUMERS)

Force yourself to think about it. No, thinkingabout death—and actually making an appointment to talk aboutit—isn't exactly the plans you want to make. But you need to.

Figure out your needs. Ask the tough questions.Talk to your broker or advisor about what you want (and need) outof a policy. “[Consumers] need to understand what you're trying toaccomplish, and that has to be based on a long-term thoughtprocess,” Spector says.

Buy it from someone you trust. Spector says youshould be able to develop a good, professional and friendlyrelationship with your life insurance seller.

Have more than one meeting. The first meetingyou go to with a broker, only ask and respond to questions. Thinkabout what you want, what they recommend, and then revisit—and buya policy—at a later meeting.

Make life adjustments as needed. Think aboutyour life, where it's heading and your goals. Financial triggersand familiar life events are significant in the life insurancepurchase decision. Your needs for insurance will change when youget married, have a baby or divorce.