How to Sell Life Insurance and Final Expense — Matthew Murray's Client Scripts (Part 2)

Part 1 of our conversation with Matthew Murray covered the early agency years, the culture-building, and the mindset that got him through the hardest stretches. Part 2 is where he gets specific. Specificity is where the value lives.

The topic Craig and Jason pushed hardest on in this portion of the conversation: life insurance and final expense. Not because they're easy topics (they're the opposite), but because they're among the highest-opportunity and most-neglected conversations in the average P&C agent's day. Matthew's perspective on why that gap exists, and what to do about it, is one of the most practical things he shared in the full conversation.

(Haven't read Part 1? Start there first.)

The Life Insurance Gap Most P&C Agents Leave Open

Here's a number that should get every P&C agency owner's attention: the majority of P&C clients who could benefit from a life insurance or final expense conversation never have that conversation with their current agent. Not because they're not open to it. Many are actively underinsured and they know it. But because the agent never brings it up.

Matthew calls this the "referral by omission" problem. When a P&C client has a life insurance need and their agent doesn't address it, that client will eventually find a life agent to talk to. And that life agent (who has now built a relationship around the most emotionally significant financial product most families own) is going to be positioned to write other lines of business. The P&C agent who ignored the life insurance conversation didn't just leave a commission on the table. They introduced a new competitor into their client relationship.

The reasons agents avoid life insurance conversations are predictable: it feels like selling, the conversations are emotionally heavy, rejection feels more personal, and the technical knowledge required feels daunting. Matthew addresses all of these directly, and his frame for doing so is both practical and somewhat counterintuitive.

Key Insights From Matthew on Life Insurance and Final Expense

The discomfort you feel about life insurance conversations is the same discomfort your client feels. That's actually an asset. When Matthew approaches a final expense conversation, he doesn't pretend the topic is neutral. He acknowledges that nobody loves thinking about end-of-life planning. That acknowledgment creates an immediate moment of connection and trust. Clients don't expect their agent to be comfortable with this. They expect professionalism and empathy. If you can provide both, the conversation flows.

Final expense is often the most needed and least-discussed coverage in your existing book. Many of your current clients, particularly in older demographics, have minimal or no coverage for end-of-life expenses. The average funeral costs $8,000-$12,000. Most families are not financially prepared for that cost. When you frame a final expense conversation around protecting a family from a predictable, significant financial burden, you're not selling. You're serving. That reframe changes everything about how the conversation feels.

Life insurance cross-selling starts with the right trigger questions. Matthew uses discovery questions that naturally surface life insurance needs without feeling like a pitch. Questions about family structure, income dependents, existing coverage levels, recent life changes (new baby, new mortgage, starting a business) create context that makes life insurance a natural topic. The conversation emerges from the client's situation, not from a product script.

Your closing rate on life insurance improves dramatically when you stop presenting it as an add-on. The "by the way, do you want to add a life policy?" approach positions life insurance as something supplemental (nice to have, easy to skip). Matthew's approach frames it as a primary need that deserves a dedicated conversation. When you treat it with that weight, clients treat it with that weight.

Follow-up cadence matters more in life insurance than in property and casualty. Life insurance decisions are often delayed not because clients aren't interested but because the emotional weight of the topic makes it easy to defer. A systematic, gentle follow-up sequence (not aggressive, but consistent) dramatically improves close rates on life insurance quotes compared to a one-touch approach.

What This Means for Your Agency

Go through your current book of business and identify every client who has no life insurance policy with your agency. That list is your cross-sell pipeline. Not all of those clients will be good candidates, but many will be. Create a simple outreach script (not a pitch, a check-in) that opens the door to a life insurance conversation. Something like: "As I was reviewing your account, I realized we've never talked about how your family would be protected financially if something happened to you. Is that a conversation you'd be open to having?" The yes rate on that question, asked genuinely, is higher than most agents expect.

Train your team to use Matthew's trigger questions in every annual review and every significant life event call. A client who just had a baby, bought a house, or started a business is experiencing a moment where life insurance is immediately relevant. Building those questions into your review process ensures the conversation happens without requiring a separate sales effort.

Consider designating one team member as your life and final expense specialist. Not as a separate business, but as the person on your team who handles those specific conversations with expertise and comfort. Routing life insurance opportunities to someone with dedicated focus and skill in this area will significantly improve your conversion rate compared to having every producer handle it inconsistently.

The Bottom Line

Matthew Murray's approach to life insurance conversations reframes the entire dynamic from uncomfortable sales pitch to essential client service. The agents who consistently have these conversations aren't just growing their revenue. They're building the kind of deep client relationships that make switching carriers unthinkable. That's not a sales strategy. That's the foundation of a generational agency.

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