-- Groucho Marx
This step of the sales cycle is where you complete the applications and submit them, through your firm, to the corporate headquarters for underwriting.
It's up to you to gather much of the objective and subjective information Ohio National will need about applicants, so be thorough. Field underwriting is a skill, and the application and other forms are sales tools. You and your applicant have only one chance to make a good first impression on the underwriters, so submitting apps that are readable and complete is well worth some extra effort.
It's Not Over Yet
The Application
You should prepare your client by giving him or her a clear idea of the length of time and the requirements that he or she can expect between now and policy issuance. Review the Ohio National brochures, "Life Underwriting Tips" (Form 6144) and "Life Underwriting Requirements" (Form 6149) and specifically discuss:
The completed and signed application for insurance is the formal request from an applicant for a life insurance policy. It is a key source of information for the corporate headquarters underwriter to use in evaluating whether an individual is an acceptable risk. As the person responsible for seeing that the application is fully and accurately completed, you are an extension of the corporate headquarters underwriter. You serve as the "eyes and ears" of the corporate headquarters. You also serve your client by ensuring that an incorrect or incomplete application is not submitted, and thus, does not necessarily delay the issuance of needed protection or, perhaps, even lead to the rejection of the application.
Ohio National is not affiliated with, nor does it endorse or sponsor, any particular prospecting, marketing or selling system.
