There is a family in a nearby town that is pretty affluent and owns multiple businesses. These folks have been involved in an array of organizations, from the chamber of commerce to local government and anywhere in between. The third generation of this family is now in the process of running their operations, with the adult children taking over some of the responsibilities.
Over the years I met a few of these people at various functions and I felt I had built some sort of rapport, as I had worked alongside them at cookouts and fundraisers. My relationship with them was friendly but not personal. However, I had become a bit closer with the one young lady, who I will call Ann. Ann was married to one of the adult children (we'll call him Frank) who was starting to take over the business.
Ann was also involved, in an ancillary way, with some networking groups I attended. She and I, along with a few others, would sometimes grab a bite to eat or discuss businesses that were referable. We also discussed our families on occasion, and Ann loved to talk about Frank and her small children.
I was slightly surprised one day when Ann asked me about life insurance for her husband. Apparently, he had none whatsoever. They had a mortgage on a fairly large home, two little kids, a lot of debt, but no life insurance. To me it was a no-brainer.
Ann gave me Frank's phone number and I gave him a call. He agreed to meet me at his office, which was inside of a larger complex of offices owned by their family. He mentioned that his wife had expressed concerns over the lack of insurance. "She's been on me for a while," he said.
We had a great discussion. He was young, in good health, did not smoke and I let him know that he wouldn't need to be too concerned about the cost of the premiums. Frankly, I knew his pockets were deep, so price was not going to be an issue, but I didn't want him to think I was going to take advantage of this.
After getting some information we agreed on a face amount of coverage he was going to need. I let him know I would be in touch in a few days with some numbers and we parted ways. That's when things started to get weird.
I had come up with a few options for Frank, from term life on the low end to cash building permanent plans, and hybrids of them both. However, he wasn't returning any of my calls. After a few days of this, I called Ann. She said she didn't know what was going on, but she would tell him to call me.
Not long after I saw Ann at a networking function. She was obviously uncomfortable. Apparently when she asked Frank to call me he said he needed to run it by his father. Why?
"I don't get it," she started. "He's a grown man with a family, but he needs his daddy to say it's okay to buy life insurance." I was taken aback. "It's not like we don't know and trust you. He's such a baby when it comes to stuff like this!"
"Did you say he has to ask his daddy for permission to buy life insurance?" I asked incredulously.
She sighed. "Yes, he won't budge unless daddy says it's okay." I assume "daddy" cuts his food for him and tells him when to go to bed as well. After that conversation I never heard from Frank again.
Do you know someone who can't make a decision, but instead has to consult someone else when it comes to decisions like this? I'd love to hear stories.
Footnote: Not long after this event happened, Ann left Frank and filed for divorce. She's doing well and has a spouse who has plenty of life insurance, thanks to me.
Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. He's also the author of "You're Going To Be Great At This!", a humorous look at sales. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states.
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