Transitioning from Claims Services to Health Management: In-depth Application and Learning of the Sub-health Concept as a Sales Tool

(III) Learn basic medical knowledge and continuously improve the overall appeal of the sales team.

A relatively systematic understanding of medicine is also a professional skill that life insurance sales teams should possess. As the saying goes, "long-term illness makes one a doctor," and since we are professionals in the life insurance industry, we should gradually master the medical knowledge required for our work through long-term sales experience. The professionalism of life insurance work requires us to understand relatively systematic medical knowledge.

Both medicine and life insurance target the human body and lifespan. Medicine addresses illness, helping people recover or stabilize their condition and extend their lifespan through treatment. Life insurance, on the other hand, aims to ensure quality of life and affordability of treatment in case of illness. The illnesses addressed by medicine are risk factors for life insurance, indicating a close relationship between the two. As life insurance professionals, we also need to possess medical knowledge to assist clients with claims.

A sales team with extensive medical knowledge undoubtedly enhances the team's appeal. When clients are in a sub-healthy state, they can be guided to participate in health checkups and, based on the results, receive interventional treatments for their sub-health conditions. How would clients feel when they recover to their healthy state? Similarly, when clients are ill and require insurance coverage, being able to accurately inform them which medications and examinations are reimbursable and which are not, and even providing detailed information about the medical technology, specialties, services, and fees of certain hospitals, enabling expedited claims processing and alleviating the financial burden on clients during treatment, will certainly earn their affirmation and recognition. They will trust us like family, and endorse the insurance industry and life insurance.

II. The concept of sub-health is an important sales tool for the sales team.

There's a famous saying in life insurance marketing: top-tier agents sell concepts, second-tier agents sell brands, third-tier agents sell products, and fourth-tier agents sell prices. The concept of sub-health, as an emerging science, has attracted significant attention from governments at all levels and experts. Sub-health phenomena are closely linked to life insurance; all sub-health issues are risk factors for life insurance. The sub-health concept posits that only 5% of the population is healthy, 20% is ill, and the remaining approximately 75% are in a sub-healthy state. This suggests that over 20% of the population is ineligible to purchase health insurance, including life insurance with coverage for death due to illness. Among the 75% of people in a sub-healthy state, some are in relatively good health, close to a healthy state, and can be insured at standard rates under their current condition. If their health deteriorates, they will need to be insured at an increased premium. Others are in poor health, close to an illness state, and can only be denied or have their insurance delayed under their current condition. In other words, they can be insured at standard rates or with an increased premium after their condition improves. People in between these two states are insured at an increased premium under their current condition. If their condition improves, they can be insured at standard rates. If their condition deteriorates, they can only be denied or have their insurance delayed until they recover and meet the insurable conditions.

For healthy and long-lived individuals, health insurance may not be necessary. However, their longevity does not mean they are without risk in the long run; living too long is a significant risk in life. As people age and lose their ability to work, their income naturally decreases. Therefore, for healthy and long-lived individuals, purchasing whole life insurance is a necessary risk management measure.

In conclusion, only by using the concept of sub-health as a useful sales tool can we find the customer's needs and gain their recognition and acceptance; only by treating sub-health as one of the risk factors in life insurance can we find the selling point of life insurance. The concept of sub-health is an important sales tool for the sales team.

III. Change service philosophy to promote sustainable and healthy business development

Life insurance sales teams must learn the concept of sub-health; the key issue is changing the service philosophy of their members. Currently, the focus of all life insurance services is on claims processing, which is incomplete and unscientific. Looking at the health status of modern people, not only are 5% healthy, but 20% are ill, and even more seriously, 75% are in a sub-healthy state. Due to a lack of necessary health education in China, people are completely unaware of the seriousness of diseases that may develop when they reach a sub-healthy state. In this state, they are also indifferent to the comprehensive health protection they should enjoy. As a famous saying goes, "Ignorance is bliss, knowledge is fearful." It should be said that it is precisely people's ignorance of medical health that has led to this widespread sub-healthy state and even made coronary heart disease and stroke the world's leading killers. Sub-health is completely curable; as long as it is detected in time and interventional treatment is implemented, sub-health can be completely restored to a healthy state.

By changing our service approach and firmly establishing the concept of sub-health, we can proactively engage with clients, using the sub-health concept as a starting point to introduce health knowledge, identify their sub-health issues, remind and guide them to pay attention to these phenomena, conduct health checkups when necessary, collect their health information, and utilize the theory of the relationship between personal risk and life insurance to recommend insurance products and facilitate contract signing. This approach not only avoids forcing clients to sign contracts but also significantly improves the quality of our business.

Starting with the concept of sub-health, we are changing our service approach, transforming from an extensive door-to-door sales method to a refined service-oriented one. The sub-health concept is integrated into the entire insurance service process, including visits, signing contracts, disease prevention, and claims processing. During the service process, we continuously collect and accumulate clients' health data, using various methods to educate them on health knowledge, enabling them to understand health and hygiene, improve their ability to maintain health and prevent disease, and continuously improve their overall health. Improved health and hygiene knowledge among clients will inevitably promote better health, delaying or preventing the onset of diseases. This is of great significance in reducing the payout rate of short-term health insurance and delaying payouts for long-term health insurance.

IV. Methods for Sales Teams to Learn This Book

Every theoretical study has its own unique learning methods, yet all must follow general learning approaches. The foundational theory of this book is presented in Chapter One, with the more challenging parts comprising ten chapters. This is because the first part covers a wide range of medical knowledge, including internal medicine, surgery, infectious diseases, gynecology, and laboratory testing. While this medical knowledge is common sense, it is often lacking in sales teams. The second and third parts cover familiar insurance knowledge and regulations, but previously, it hadn't been considered from the perspective of sub-health. This book aims to help readers understand life insurance from this perspective; it's simply a matter of perspective and mindset. From the perspective of life insurance development and management, sales teams should focus on mastering the following learning methods.

(I) Integrate theory with practice to understand and grasp the basic viewpoints and ideas of this book.

The basic viewpoints and ideas of this book start from the concept of sub-health and discuss its application in the theory and practice of life insurance. It covers all aspects of life insurance, including service, development, disease prevention, underwriting, management and claims settlement. The aim is to establish a brand-new concept to promote the development of the life insurance industry.

Following the basic viewpoints and ideas of this book, the first step in studying it is to connect theory with practice. As a new theory, the concept of sub-health requires a firm grasp of its fundamental viewpoints. Applying this concept to life insurance involves combining its basic viewpoints with the fundamental theories and practical applications of life insurance. This allows for the identification and correction of shortcomings in current practices, leading to better work, a more comprehensive theoretical framework, and updated service concepts, ultimately serving the faster and better development of the life insurance industry. Connecting theory with practice means identifying areas in our work-such as insurance services, business development, disease and disaster prevention, and business management-that are incompatible with the three major functions of insurance theory. This involves shifting the focus from claims processing to proactive services, making the entire life insurance industry more attentive to sub-health phenomena and customer health, reflecting a more humanistic approach to insurance. Simultaneously, it involves accumulating customer health data to create and capitalize on opportunities for business development. Integrating theory with practice means continuously solving problems in business development. Currently, there are prominent issues in business development such as forcing customers to sign documents, failing to truly link personal risks with the protective function of life insurance. Customers need to understand that purchasing life insurance is to mitigate personal risks and ensure a smooth and peaceful life. Grasping the concept of sub-health means grasping the connection between the two, which can pave the way for business development.

(ii) Memorize the basic knowledge in this book to lay the foundation for future business development.

This book covers a wide range of topics, especially the first half which systematically introduces sub-health and basic medical and health knowledge-essential for life insurance sales personnel. Therefore, in addition to applying theory to practice and understanding the book's theoretical framework and key points, it's crucial to memorize the fundamental concepts. Only then can sales personnel effectively communicate with clients when serving them and promoting insurance, ensuring clients understand the concept of sub-health, grasp its symptoms, recognize personal risks, seek intervention, and ultimately purchase life insurance. Clearly, life insurance sales personnel must thoroughly memorize the book's basic knowledge.

(III) Adhere to a learning method that combines team-based group learning with individual self-study to ensure learning quality.

First, we organized team-wide learning through training to overcome the difficulties and grasp the key points of the course, enabling everyone to correctly understand the theoretical system and knowledge points of the book. Second, we organized collective reading sessions during morning meetings to train the language skills of all team members. Third, we used knowledge competitions and speech contests to continuously strengthen everyone's understanding, cultivate a strong interest in learning, and motivate everyone's enthusiasm for learning. Fourth, we required individuals to persist in self-study to compensate for differences in individual learning abilities. Through these various methods, the sales team understood the relationship between sub-health and life insurance, jointly realizing the integration of sub-health and life insurance, creating a brand-new sales service concept, and working together to fully leverage the functions of life insurance and achieve faster and better development of the insurance industry.