Disability

An Untapped Opportunity?

Presented by Donna Ries According to the September 2013 U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, with over 23 million small businesses in the United States, the market opportunity for business protection solutions is wide open. Small businesses need protection if an owner would become too sick or hurt to work. Overhead Expense insurance keeps the business running smoothly by reimbursing business expenses until the business owner can return to work during a disability. This type of policy helps pay for rent, employee salaries, utilities, loan payments, etc. to keep the doors open. Overhead Expense premiums are tax-deductible for the business and the benefits received are reportable as income. Although benefits are taxable as income, the actual business expenses are deductible. Help protect the ability to keep up with overhead expenses that may force a business to close its doors. Propose Business Overhead insurance and disability insurance on your next business insurance visit.
Life Insurance

Six Questions for Six Life Insurance Sales to Seniors…

Presented by Brian Leising Do you have senior clients? Did they purchase only one product from you? Was it a Medicare supplement, annuity, long term care or final expense policy? If you were able to uncover the need for one insurance product, could you uncover another? What if you had six simple questions to ask your clients that would uncover additional sales? Do you need a good way to open up an estate planning conversation with a prospect you think may have a problem? Maybe a business owner? Why not ask: ”What steps have you taken to minimize your taxable estate to your heirs?” This is an easy way to lead into the conversation. You are assuming they have already done some planning. Most people have not, or if they did it was never completed. Keep in mind with the higher exclusion amounts that went into effect in 2012? The Federal estate tax may not apply in as many situations as it did in the past. Your state may impose its own state estate taxes at much lower thresholds. On top of that, income or capital gains taxes may also apply. Make sure you are working with an attorney who specializes in estate planning to minimize your client’s taxable estate first. If needed, life insurance can provide immediate funds to pay any remaining tax without liquidating assets. In part six I will discuss two opportunities that will open the door to your next generation of clients.
Annuities

10,000 Boomers to retire each day!

Presented by Richard Mangiameli Over the next 19 years that’s 64,850,000 boomers trying to figure out how to take the most advantage of their financial investments. Here are some key points: Boomers are internet savvy and are searching for help. You need to have a presence on the internet using all the different types of Social Media. Have your own website; Understand the top three selling annuities and companies – get appointed with each. Talk about pay checks for their living expenses and play checks for their enjoyment during retirement.
Annuities

Have you arrived?

Presented by David Corwin In my position with working with many agents it dawns on me that many if not all insurance professionals want to arrive. Arrive defined is “to reach a place at the end of a journey or a stage in a journey.” I define it as complacency or becoming comfortable. Too comfortable is the zone that you need to stay clear of in my opinion. Here are some indicators to tell you where you are. • Do you have a business plan? Crafting a meaningful business plan takes a lot of thought and time. Set out a strategy for your business and in particular, your marketing strategy. Set targets and objectives, including sales and financial goals so that you can monitor business performance. • Are you actively looking for new prospects (referrals and warm market) or just replacing the business you wrote in the past? It really should be a 60/40 split. Sixty percent of your marketing efforts should be spent on referrals and warm marketing. Forty percent should be reviewing clients that you’ve written before, both fostering the relationship built, as well as looking for new business. • Are you running enough appointments throughout every week to get the result you want? Yes, I know – the old numbers game. It only makes sense that if you have enough lines in the water the more fish you will catch. The more successful agents run between 10-15 appointments per week. If you’re running less than that…run more. It’s as simple as that. • On your appointments do you implement a fact finder to obtain material facts that allow for cross-selling opportunities? If you don’t, well then, you’re probably an order taker, and if you don’t have what they want you’ll go back to your office without the business. Last I checked, an insurance license allows you to sell Life, Annuities, Health, Long Term Care and Disability insurance. If you don’t use a fact finder then you just have an insurance license. • Are you furthering your education through industry leading programs like CLU, ChFC or CFP? Furthering your education allows you to become better informed to assist with the variety of unique problems that your clients may have with respect to their estate planning, wealth transfer, income replacement and risk management needs. It’s been reported that holders of these designations increase their sales by up to 51%. This isn’t meant to pass judgment of any sorts, but to help you realize that you never want to arrive. If you do that means that you’ll never challenge yourself to learn new things and that’s when true growth will happen.
Life Insurance

Legacy Building

Presented by Gary Peterson Legacy building is a strategy that utilizes the leverage of permanent life insurance as an efficient way to pass along assets to beneficiaries. Often, existing funds are transferred to a life insurance policy, which immediately increases the amount of the legacy in the form of the death benefit. North American has some great resources to help you discuss legacy building with clients and prospects and generate more and bigger permanent life sales. Building a Legacy