Since his firm also handles the milk campaign, I asked the CEO of LIFE’s communications firm a number of years ago why milk sales continued to fall even though the milk industry spent hundreds of millions to boost sales. His answer was, “Imagine how much worse milk sales would be if they hadn’t spent that money.”

The same answer might be given with regard to life insurance sales. In the 13 years LIFE has been actively educating the public about the important role life insurance, disability income and long term care insurance play in the financial lives of Americans, sales have continued to drop. Additionally, more Americans are without any insurance or, at least, adequate insurance.

But there is a significant difference in the factors affecting the sales results of milk and insurance. And that difference, if properly addressed, would lead to a resurgence of life insurance sales along with those of DI and LTC.

People buy milk because it is a consumable that they need now and is on the shelf at the supermarket or the corner 7-11. Life insurance, on the other hand, must be sold no matter how aware a person is of his or her need. It does not have that same current “need it now” urgency about it that prompts us to run to the store at 11 PM to “get milk” for the kids’ breakfast in the morning. When we are “out of milk” the kids can’t wait until next week. Life insurance, on the other hand, well . . .

Which leads me to my point.

LIFE’s work can take consumers only so far. It can – and has – raised awareness of the importance of life insurance, helped people understand it better and, no doubt, spurred some spontaneous purchases. It has also, through Life Insurance Awareness Month (LIAM), inspired the industry to pay more attention to life insurance sales in September and the months following. And sales have jumped in those companies that have mounted aggressive campaigns around LIAM. But there is a key component of those campaigns that distinguishes them from milk promotions and holds the promise for our future.

That key component is the agent/financial advisor/ financial representative – call him or her what you will. It’s the personal touch that makes the difference. Agents are not paid a commission to produce sales illustrations, explain complex policy language, take people to a lawyer etc. A commission is paid only when the agent convinces a person to take action now; to overcome their natural desire to want an SUV or 62 inch plasma TV or a trip to the Grand Canyon etc. I’m not making judgments about people’s spending habits. I’m only making a point that life insurance sales are made by people selling life insurance, whatever their modus operandi or what they call themselves.

And the reality is we have too few “feet on the street” selling life insurance. We have plenty of life insurance licensed financial planners, investment advisors, financial counselors etc. etc. Most, if not all, of these folks would say that they almost always present life insurance “as an option” in their recommendations. But as anyone who has ever sold life insurance knows, anytime life insurance is presented as an “option” there are guilt removing serious and pious nods around the table and an agreement that life insurance is something that must be taken care of. “But let’s take care of (you fill in the blank) first.” In short, it doesn’t get sold.

So in our problem is our solution. If it takes more life insurance sales people to sell more life insurance, as I believe it surely does, then we need to find ways to bring more people into our business – people who believe in the industry’s core mission of providing financial security at death, disability and retirement. And they must affiliate with companies whose core mission is exactly that. To sign on to gather assets under management or to write financial plans etc. won’t do the job.

Twenty or so years ago we had 200,000 career agents whose primary job was to sell life insurance. And they did to the tune of 17.5 million policies a year. Today we have only 150,000 career agents who have a contractual requirement to sell life insurance. Even many of them will sell only as much life insurance as they need to validate their contract and will then focus on the easier accumulation sale. The result is we are selling only 10 million individual policies each year.

Adding more milk distribution outlets won’t have much, if any, effect on milk sales. If I have to drive 2 miles instead of two blocks to “get milk,” I’ll do it. It’s a zero sum transaction. I’m going to buy milk. The only question is where. But no one is going to go anywhere, except maybe the internet, to buy life insurance. We have to go to them. And there are not enough of “we.”

The LIFE Foundation has more than kept its promise to the industry to educate the public about the essential role of life, DI and LTC insurance in sound financial and retirement planning. With LIFE’s work and 200,000 plus “feet on the street,” life insurance sales would be headed again toward the 17.5 million policies level. LIFE can take us only so far, It’s up to the sales people to do the rest.

We just need more of them.