2007 looks to be a promising year for annuity sales. In fact, the next decade looks promising. Several factors are contributing to this recent rise in annuity sales, and they may contribute to further escalations in the market.
Those factors are:
o Baby boomers retiring and shifting from wealth accumulation to preservation
o Financial pressures of Social Security
o An increase in affluence and sophistication in investing and insurance coverage
o Rising interest rates
o A lack of retirement savings
Most annuity buyers are between the ages of 50 and 70, with the bulk of them in their 60s. So why do these people purchase annuities? Five reasons: safety, security, good returns without risk, guaranteed monthly income, and tax advantages.
People who purchase annuities tend to be in higher income brackets and have financial planners or advisors from whom to gain insight into the use of this product. Then there are the rest, who may benefit from an annuity product but may not know it yet. These people need you -- now here are five ways to tap into this demographic and cultivate new annuity clients.
Know your stuff
Many people don't know what annuities are. They just think they're an insurance product rather than a strategic component of a complete retirement income and investment plan. Expand your own knowledge base, then educate your prospects and clients about how an annuity could help them -- it's your responsibility.
Look to your current customer base
Go through your book every six months. You can often make courtesy calls to your current client base and ensure they are well covered and aware of their choices. Look for clients who may be approaching the age where they'd consider an annuity, such as their late 50s. Do you have any clients who may be retiring soon or have just retired? How about clients who may see tax benefits or need an easier way of passing an inheritance to their beneficiaries? Do you have a client who has maxed out all of their tax-deferred investment options yet hasn't considered purchasing an annuity as a continued tax-deferred investment option?
Often, a potential customer might consider a product if you can show how it could benefit their personal and financial situation, so present hypothetical cases that show this benefit. Most importantly, people shifting into retirement are ready to move their wealth from accumulation to preservation mode. Annuities can fit their needs nicely.
Network
Try networking with other service providers who have an established reputation and regularly serve your demographic. Send them a few clients or, if it is permitted by law, offer them a finder's fee for each portion of business you write on a referral from them.
Speaking engagements
Attend functions that your demographic attends. Often, volunteering or speaking with a community group will help to get your name out there.
Let someone else do the legwork for you
According to a 2005 Harris Interactive Poll, there are 47 million 55 to 64-year-olds and 13 million people 65 and older on the Internet. A separate Pew Internet Survey found that 80 percent of Internet users had searched for a health and insurance-related topic online. There are roughly 8 million health-related searches on the Internet per day.
That being said, there are some very savvy Internet companies that qualify someone looking for a quote on your particular product offering in your specified geographic area and can deliver that person's contact information to you within seconds of the lead filling out an online quote form. This can be, and often is, a much more efficient and cost-effective way of prospecting than the traditional methods of cold-calling and door-knocking.
With this method, you can fill up your sales pipeline while decreasing your costs and improving the quality of your leads without having to prospect yourself. This gives you more time to close and less time spent prospecting. You can turn your flow of leads up and down as you need. Top producers often use this method to bring in a flood of warm prospects for them to close.
You don't have to rely on cold-calling, door-knocking, and other unpleasant prospecting techniques. These five simple tactics can help you reach those prospects who may benefit from an annuity -- and from your expert help.
Philip W. Holloway is the senior Web marketing manager for AllWebLeads.com in Austin, TX. For more information, please email wade.holloway@allwebleads.com or call 888-522-7355. For more information, visit www.allwebleads.com.
