Agent’s Sales Journal May 01, 2007
Sales From The Darkside
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Selling Mom Plus New Baby Equals...
"My baby girl had filled her diaper and was screaming hysterically, so I pulled over my SUV and changed her in the back seat. I was exhausted all the time. As a successful sales pro, I'd barely given birth to my daughter before I was
Front Page Stories
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Index Annuity Sales Gain New Momentum with Investors
The first index annuity was sold in February 1995. When index annuities turned 12 years old, we didn?t just celebrate because they got older ? we celebrated because they got even better. The biggest news in financial planning is
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Staying out of Trouble: How to Pass the 'Assurance' Test
As a financial service professional, you may consider risk management to be an integral part of your practice. In other words, life insurance is a subject for constant review. Today, clients may ask, "What assurance is there in my life
Short Takes
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Determining the Suitability of Annuities
When trying to explain pornography, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said, "I shall not attempt to define it, but I know it when I see it." In today's ever-competitive, fast-moving market environment, we can easily apply that
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Expanding Your Baby Boomer Practice with Term Life Insurance
If you are reading this publication, you are probably familiar with the fact that the oldest of the 70 million-plus baby boomers turned 60 in 2006. Some quick math shows that that equals 7,900 baby boomers turn 60 every day, 330 an hour, and
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Marketing and Selling VAs to Baby Boomers
As millions of baby boomers head toward retirement, many are seeking financial solutions to adequately fund their later years, ensure their savings last throughout their lifetimes, and fill existing savings gaps. Variable annuities are uniquely
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Affluent Baby Boomers with Children: Rethink Your Assumptions
Although rarely recognized as such, members of the boomer demographic are highly diverse. There is one group to consider, however, that you may not have thought of: affluent couples with children. As defined by the Cohorts Consumer
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Selling Income Products to Aging Boomers
In today?s insurance industry, people are either trying to prove that fixed index annuities are, in fact, insurance products rather than securities or they?re scrambling to accommodate the sale of FIAs through broker-dealers. There
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The Top Three Ways to Improve the Effectiveness of Direct Mail
Direct mail has long been an effective marketing tool for insurance companies and agents. Before the days of email and the Internet, it was the easiest way to touch a prospective customer. Now that spam overwhelms our email inboxes, direct mail can
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Learning the Value of Alternative Marketing
As insurance, financial, and estate planners, we can often get into a rut when it comes to marketing and prospecting. We like the low-hanging fruit. Changing the way we do business and how we market and prospect is mentally, emotionally, and
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How to Determine Your Optimal Email Frequency
Email is a powerful marketing tool for insurance agents who want to stay in touch with prospects and customers. Relevant and timely newsletters keep them interested, informed, and connected to your agency. One of the most common questions
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Good News About Cold Calls
Looking to expand your client base? You can put your Web site out there -- but they probably won't see it. You can do search engine optimization -- but the rules for that seem to change daily, and most businesses are in categories
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Finding Your Niche as a Producer
We all know that there is nothing more frustrating than working in a field in which you have little to no interest whatsoever. If you are breaking into the insurance industry as a producer with this approach, you will find it particularly
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Putting Together a Profitable Marketing Campaign
Marketing genius falls into the Thomas Edison model of "1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." Far too often, good marketing is seen as something that only a chosen few can pull off well. Feeling at a loss, some agents take
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Retirement Presentations Available from RIIA Web Site
The Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA) is making a number of presentations from its Third Annual Managing Retirement Income Conference available for access on its Web site. Presentations available cover the topics of annuities,
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House Bill on Mental Health Parity Differs from Senate Bill
A mental health parity bill introduced in the House in March takes a different approach than legislation approved by the Senate, possibly creating discord between the two houses of Congress. Like the bill introduced in the Senate, the House
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LIFE Foundation to Coordinate Industrywide Disability Insurance Awareness Month Campaign this Month
The Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE) announced that it will coordinate an industrywide campaign in May 2007 to get Americans thinking about their need for disability insurance protection. The second public awareness
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Long Term Care Awareness Week Established for Nov. 4-10
The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI), has announced that Nov. 4-10, 2007 will be Long Term Care Awareness Week. The campaign will focus on promoting long term care insurance and educating individuals in their 50s
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LIMRA Announces Individual Life Premiums Up 7 Percent
According to a survey by LIMRA International, U.S. individual life insurance sales went up 7 percent in 2006. Life insurance sales have not increased at this pace since 2000. LIMRA also reported that total face amount sold in 2006 rose by 4
Sales Review
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50 Ways to Make More Money
More than half of the U.S. population will require some form of long term care during their lives, according to Americans for Long-Term Care Security. Considering this eye-opening estimate, long term care insurance should practically sell itself,
Perspectives
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Letter to the Editor: Some Sources Not Reliable
Thank you for your recent Variable and Index Product Selling Guide (Agent?s Sales Journal, February 2007), which provided a forum to focus on the growing index life and index annuity markets. I was surprised to read the Perspectives column at
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Obtaining Securities License Not as Easy as You Think
Editor?s note: The following column is in response to a front-page story that appeared in the February national edition of the Agent?s Sales Journal, ?How to Get Started in the Securities Business? by Larry Klein. To read Mr.
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Marketing to the Masses
?I?ve been in the business for 25 years, and today, 90 percent of our business comes from referrals.? So says Jennifer Borislow of Methuen, MA. She stays close to her clients, creating multiple touch points by which to follow
Marketing
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12 Ways Agents Screw Up Sales Meetings - and How to Fix Them
Can you relate to this: You're looking across your desk into the face of a couple who would be perfect clients for you. You know what you can provide is perfect for them and you're 99 percent sure they will accept your proposal. Then
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7 Deadly Insurance Sins to Avoid
1. Not knowing what your customer's needs and wants are. Your growth will only come from delivering what people want. First and foremost, your clients must be immediately happy. You'll get very few second chances without complete and
Prospecting Corner
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Too Many Prospects a Problem?
Believe it or not, having too many prospects can be a problem. The prospecting system I use for my agency consistently generates large numbers of new prospects. While this is normally very favorable, it does create some challenges. Because we have
Objection of the Month
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Objection Of The Month
How would you respond to a prospect who says? It seems like every day I hear something negative about the insurance industry. I?m afraid I?m going to get ripped off by some agent. ?Unfortunately, there will be one bad
From The Agents Desk
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The Fraternal Royal Order of Glaciers
The Fraternal Royal Order of Glaciers Serving our members faithfully since 1493 Harvey T. Wallbanger, President & CEO IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT To: All FROG Agents and Home Office Staff This
