78 General Sessions: MDRT Speaks

If Not You, Who?

Peter Jason Byrne

“If not you, who?” Toronto, 2008, was my first Annual
Meeting, which changed my life and the lives of the many
people I have helped since. At that meeting, I heard MDRT
member, John McTigue, ask that question of us.
When he said, “If not you, who?,” it was the wakeup call
I needed. He said, “If you’re not going to do it properly, get
out of the way!”
I literally needed to decide my purpose in this industry.
When he said, “Who do you know who needs your help?,”
I felt sick. I was doing OK in the business. I had a network
of friends whom I knew I should have already helped. But
I had not.
My friends knew sort of what I did, but they never asked
me for life insurance; they never asked for income protec-
tion; and they definitely never asked me for critical illness
insurance.
The reason I felt sick, though, was that I had failed. I had
failed to offer the gift of life insurance to these friends. Yet,
I had helped hundreds of strangers. See, I just didn’t feel
comfortable having those conversations with my friends.
I’m not sure if I was embarrassed, or scared of rejection,
or both, but I knew in my heart that I either had to get out
of the way or come home and start changing people’s lives.
To do this, I made a list of around 25 friends and people I
knew and cared about, and I wrote this letter to them:
I am just writing to you to let you know that
I care about you and your family. I’m not
sure if you know what I really do, but I am a
life insurance and income projection advisor,
and it is important for me to know you have
these valuable covers in place for your fam-
ily’s financial protection.
I will call you in a few days to offer my
services and advice, or if you feel we are too
close, I can refer you to someone I trust to
assist with such an important matter.
As John did for me, I encourage you to go and share the
gift of life insurance. Only four months after I sent that let-
ter, one of my best friends, Chris Paterson, suffered a heart
attack, and I was able to hand him a critical illness claim
check that provided him financial security while he recov-
ered. I was so lucky I didn’t fail him! This is because I asked
to help.
So please let people know what you do, and ask to help!
It’s not just about helping new clients for me. These days,
I spend a lot of effort changing clients’ lives who want to
cancel or reduce insurance.
I understand that clients will not always follow your
advice, but if someone wants to cancel his or her life insur-
ance, please at least have the difficult conversation. John
McTigue said that it’s not about us; it’s about them. We are
not asking for us. We are asking for them.
To do this we created a cancellation and advice decline
letter. It’s about transferring the responsibility back to the cli-
ent and also making sure that the spouse knows. We have
had many invincible husbands wanting to cancel cover who
have come back, hat in the hand, and not allowed to once the
smart wife has read our letter, and she won’t sign it. It’s just

Peter Jason Byrne

Byrne of Coorparoo, Queensland, Australia, is a nine-year MDRT member with four Court of the Table
and two Top of The Table honors. Byrne leads the Mr Insurance team and has more than 15 years of
experience finding the right insurance solutions for families and their businesses. The growth of success
and expansion in the insurance industry has helped Byrne build a respected reputation as an industry
leader in this field. Byrne is also a member of the AFA (Association of Financial Advisers).
Mr Insurance
PO Box 1246 BC, Coorparoo, OLD 4151 Australia
email: pj@weinsure.com.au phone: 7 38477800 website: weinsure.com.au

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Annual Meeting Proceedings | 2017 ©Million Dollar Round Table


about helping people make informed decisions and letting
them know the true consequences of their decision either way.
Document your claims promise. Most of us tell our clients
that we will help at claim time, but do more and document
that promise! It means a lot more to clients if they can read
it, and it reiterates how important we are as their advisor and
the reality check that one day they may make a claim and
will need our help.
Our documented claims promise is included in all com-
munications. We even have a large framed poster of it in our
boardroom for clients to see in meetings.
Proactively change people’s lives through social media.
We utilize Facebook to see what our clients are up to and
to ensure that we are ready to help. Our clients, Rachel
and Kim, unfortunately both broke bones and posted it. I
was actually able to send a private message to them saying
that we had already arranged their income protection claim
©Million Dollar Round Table
If Not You, Who? 79
forms well before they even had time to think about me or
call our office. Clients are impressed by this level of proac-
tive service.
It’s not high cost, it’s not high effort, but it surpasses every
client’s expectations.
My final idea is to have people waiting for you to help
simply by asking your existing clients. I send the letter on
the screen, which works great after an MDRT meeting or a
holiday. [visual] It’s emailed to my existing clients while I’m
away and generates prospects for me to help upon my return
to Australia.
It’s easy. It’s done in a subtle, but effective way. It thanks
them for their ongoing trust. It helps to reeducate your cli-
ents that you’re welcoming and wanting new clients. Most
importantly, it reminds them that you’re there to help when-
ever they need assistance or to make a claim. It reminds
them that you are their trusted advisor!
Annual Meeting Proceedings | 2017