Response: "If you were to do that, there's no way one could deduct the income payments as a business expense. What's more, even if the disability payments didn't break your company, they might bend it a little more than you'd like. Wouldn't you rather take a tax deduction for these benefits?"

Objection: "We could borrow the money to get us through if we had to."

Response: "We're not talking about a small amount of money. Potentially, you could need funds for two or more years. But, put yourself on the other side of the equation. Would you lend someone a significant amount of money with no assurance that he or she could pay it back?"

Objection: "We have an employee, Ken Tully, who could fill in if I were ever out of commission."

Response: "Could he take over and do as good a job as you do for several months or more? What would happen if he became disabled? Let's also insure him as a key person, so you would have some operating capital to ease the pain until you find a replacement."

Objection: "I'll still draw an income. That's one of the advantages of owning my own company/practice!"

Response: "If you were to draw on income for longer than you would pay other employees, it would no longer be a deductible expense. Let me ask you — how long a vacation did you take last year?

"Why didn't you take a longer one?" (Wait for a response, then say...)

"If you were so sick or hurt that you couldn't work, could you afford to take a six-month vacation? Could you take a two-year vacation and still keep your business going? Would your valued employees stay? Would your customers/clients/patients continue to do business with your company/practice?"

Objection: "I don't want to do anything right now. I'd like to wait a few months before starting a program like this."

Response: "Knowing that you need the protection is just part of the solution. Now we need to know if you can qualify for it. Not everyone does.

"My company is very selective because, once your policy is issued, you're in control of the contract and we can't change it. That's why we have to determine if you're an acceptable physical and financial risk before issuing the policy.

"Why not let us make our decision while you're making yours?"