The Insurance Journal for October 2005 features interview with Lorne Marr

Off Bay Street News - Markham Daniela Cambone

"Have a philosophy to do more," is Lorne Marr's mantra, a Million Dollar Round Table qualifier for the past 12 years. He spends over $20,000 a year solely on promotional items for clients, which Mr. Marr stresses is a small investment for the huge returns it brings in.

Ranging from mugs to ice scrapers, Mr. Marr says that no client is left empty handed. "With each sale, I send a couple of movie passes. I started doing this and I found it pays off because it helps strengthen the relationship." He adds, "Or if a client receives a promotion, you can send them a personalized mug. It has a big impact! It shows you put some effort into it and you don't just think of them as a number."

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These are some of the suggestions Mr. Marr shared with other advisors at the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) conference held last June in New Orleans. It was the first time Mr. Marr attended one of the MDRT annual conferences and says it can serve as a good wake-up call. "When you go to the MDRT you think you are doing well, but then you meet people who were doing extremely well and you can learn from them," he says. And since returning from the meeting he has seen a big increase in production.

"I implemented ideas and it recharges your engine," he remarks. Also a five-time qualifier of Court of the Table, Mr. Marr explains that it is his first year qualifying as an independent. After entering the business in 1993 worked a career agent first, for Met Life, then Clarica. He made the switch last year and explains that there seems to be a trend in the industry of people hopping from the career to independent channel. Mr. Marr describes the transition from career to independent, as driving the same car with a new set of wheels. In less than one year he has recruited 200 clients for his Markham-based company, Lorne S. Marr Insurance Services.

Mr. Marr credits the "quarterback" approach in allowing him to get new clients and referrals. "I connect my clients to other professionals, for example a lawyer for their wills." This, he says, allows you to build a fence around your client and in turn, the other professional will send referrals your way. Another technique he uses is to make clients schedule their own appointments. "In situation when the sale is not made initially, book the second appointment on the spot. Have the client write it down. It is a time saver," he says. Mr. Marr specifically stresses to newer agents that they should always try to obtain the day time phone numbers of clients.

"A lot of time you find you only have evening numbers, but it is good to contact people in the day." He has also hired two full-time and one part-time employee to help in his independent venture. "I have just hired a sales assistant, who follows up with underwriters and sends thank you letters to clients. I find in an organization you really have to be organized with underwriting. It is something I have had to adapt to in the independent channel." Mr. Marr also recruited someone to help generate more clients and leads. "By not dabbling in other things, it allows me to focus on dealing with people."

Author: Daniela Cambone Off Bay Street News: Markham The Insurance Journal - October 2005, p.38 GIF of the original article as it appeared in The Insurance Journal.

Readers Write

  - Hi Daniela, I wanted to take a moment to comment on your article "Advise from a sales pro: invest in your clients!" featuring Lorne Marr. I've worked with Lorne as a business partner for just over 1 year and I feel you've done a great job in expressing his professionalism and commitment to his clients. He is a top-level insurance advisor and is growing a very successful business.

Regards, Mark Murano Senior Sales Consultant, RBC Insurance

  - A quick note to compliment you on another fine issue (October). I sense that the Journal is becoming the standard for timely information about the insurance industry. As I work with independent advisors, I find the articles very helpful in keeping me abreast of issues and trends in our industry. Profiles of successful advisors such as Sean Long and Lorne Marr are excellent.

Regards, Terry Mash Account Manager, Empire Financial 

Lorne is featured in The Toronto Star on 21 July in James Daw’s Money Talk column

But will you live to collect it?
Critical Illness Insurance is a concern.

Money Talk: James Daw

A type of insurance sold in Canada for nearly 10 years could lead to a dramatic tug of war around a policyholder's hospital bed.

But a lawyer specializing in trust and estate matters says he, for one, has yet to hear the thorny issues rose at professional seminars or conferences.

Critical illness insurance will provide a sum of cash in the event the purchaser suffers a stroke, heart attack, cancer, coma or any one of a couple dozen medical conditions.

Coverage is more costly than life insurance, and for some people it's more difficult to obtain. But the money from the policy may be used for any purpose, including a private nurse, additional living expenses or quicker access to reach outside of Canada.

No money will be payable unless the insured person is eligible and the claim is made within the required time period. In addition, the person would have to live for 30 to 180 days after the illness is diagnosed.

The so-called elimination period may vary by insurer and by the nature of illness. Most illnesses have a 30-day elimination period. A claim for cancer may not be made for 120 days after the purchase of a policy.

More often than not, purchasers of critical illness insurance will have time to discuss these matters with their family, attorney or the future executors of their estate after becoming ill.

Unfortunately, not all policy holders will have the luxury of time, consciousness or mental capacity. And some financial advisers have only awakened recently to the potential complications for those individuals.

Advisers are starting to urge their clients to talk these matters over with their lawyers, and to consider revising both their wills and living wills, known in Ontario as the power of attorney for property and the power of attorney for personal care.

The most dramatic complication is whether you would want someone to authorize extraordinary efforts to extend your life long enough to qualify for the insurance benefit.

Toronto lawyer Jordan Atin of Hull & Hull, which boasts it is Canada's largest estate-litigation firm, said yesterday there can be family conflict if an ill person has named one person to be his or her attorney for personal care and another person his or her attorney for property.

The person in charge of money matters may have a different point of view than the person responsible for the ill person's comfort and well-being. And while an attorney for personal care may direct the attorney for property to dispense money for care, there is no reciprocal power to direct the attorney for personal care to try to keep a person alive, Atin said.

"I can tell you that I lead many presentations and seminars to lawyers and, quite frankly, I have never heard that raised, especially with respect to the dramatic situation of having the attorney for personal care having to keep the person alive to qualify for the insurance policy," said Atin.

So purchasers of critical illness should consider their wishes ahead of time, and meet with their attorney and their executor to state those wishes and outline responsibilities with regard to the policy, he advised.

Lorne Marr, an independent insurance broker from Markham, points out that life-and-death situations are not the only things that policy holders should consider.

Even when the ill person lives longer than the elimination period, the insurer may take time to satisfy it that there is an eligible claim. For example, it may take time to verify if the claimant knew of the illness at the time of applying for coverage.

So Marr said it is important for individuals to consider how they will pay for those expenses for which provincial health insurance or other private insurance will not, and where the money will come from before the critical illness insurer pays the benefit.

"The key is to be as specific as possible with your instructions with your lawyer in terms of how you want to deal with matters if there are not funds for certain costs, and what life-prolonging methods you want used," Marr said.

Bruce Cappon of First Rate Insurance Inc. in Toronto notes that there are other technicalities that purchasers of critical illness insurance should point out to their family, attorney and executor.

These policies generally require a notice of claim within 30 days (unless there is a good reason for being late) and proof of claim within a year of becoming eligible. With some policies, no legal claim may be commenced more than a year after the policyholder was eligible to make a claim, he said.

Contracts give the insurer the right to order an examination while the person is alive and an autopsy after death. So, for the sake of your heirs, you might want to have your life extended - as well as the day of your burial or cremation.

James Daw, CFP, appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. He can be reached at Business, 1 Yonge St., Toronto M5E 1E6; at 416-945-8633; 416-865-3630 by fax; or at
by email.PDF of the original article as it appeared in the Toronto Star available for download. 

Lorne is interviewed in Forum: the Magazine for Financial Advisors for their Health Matters section

"My workouts are treated as an appointment. They go right into my schedule and my business appointments are simply scheduled around these workouts... Exercise and eating right is a habit no different than drinking or smoking. But it is a habit that creates value in your life and in the people you care about."

Read full Advocis article.