Are you “in the business” or do you just…

Presented by David Corwin 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? 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 one, then you just have an insurance license. • Are you furthering your education through industry leading programs like CLU, ChFC or CFP? Furthering your education, you become better informed to assist with the variety of unique requirements that individuals, professionals and business owners may have with respect to their estate planning, wealth transfer, income replacement and risk management needs. Holders of these designations increase their sales by up to 51%.

Life Changes

Presented by Rich Mangiameli Change is something that will happen to you and me in our lifetime. It might be a new home, a job/career change, the birth of your child or grandchild, the need for care of your parents, spouse or even you. It might be a divorce or the death of a loved one – whatever change life has to offer us, it will either be a pleasant or a difficult time. What you need to remember is that your clients are going through these changes in some form or fashion, and as an agent, it’s important that you keep up with their current life events and changes. It is also important that you review annually with each of your clients changes in goals, assets or needs, which means that you need to be there with the advice to protect, guarantee and plan for the future. And, it’s important that you always review the BENEFICIARIES of their life insurance, annuities, IRA’s, 401k, pensions, CD’s and other investment assets to be sure that in the event something happens to your client, those assets are distributed to the person(s) they really want it to go to. Remember, the Last Will and Testament does not override the Beneficiary Designations that might have been set up years ago.

Prospect in Your Client File

Presented by John Schraut Most producers are constantly looking for a new, unbeatable, inexhaustible source of prospects. What they may not realize is that they already have this prospecting source. There is an often overlooked source of new business right at the producer’s fingertips that doesn’t depend on magic spells and hocus-pocus. It promises an endless chain of new business, repeat business and referrals from prospects already on a first name basis with the producer. The best source of business is repeat business. Translation: get out and see your existing clientele every year whether there is an obvious need or not. Statistics tell us that the average American will buy life insurance 7 or 8 times in a lifetime. That doesn’t consider other products like disability income, long term care, and annuities. The producer who postpones a call on a client for more than twelve months may find another producer’s business card stuck on the client’s refrigerator when he finally does call back.

Bring Social Media Into Your Marketing Plan

Presented by John Schraut Any insurance industry publication you look at now has ways to use social media. So my question to you is: Do you have a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account for your business? If not, you are losing out on a way to connect with other professionals and potential clients. Best of all it’s FREE! I recently saw a survey that said more than 60% of advisors have used LinkedIn to gain new clients and 75% said it has improved the effectiveness of their referral network. I have even noticed some carriers offering social media marketing pieces such as blogs, statistics and videos. One agent I talked to said that he sets aside time each day to dedicate to his social media marketing. So have you set aside time to utilize FREE marketing? Maybe it’s time to do it!

Secret to Being a Successful Financial Advisor

Presented by David Corwin The secret to being a successful financial advisor isn’t about what you do or how you do it; rather, it’s about why you do what you do. If you are truly inspired, success will easily follow. Communication, listening and wisdom are the foundations of inspiration and the basis of all positive beliefs and feelings. Inspiration is sustainable because it comes from within. On the other hand, lower forms of motivation are based on a desire to meet your needs for recognition, safety and worthiness. These needs are the basis of all negative beliefs and emotions. Such motivation is not sustainable because it comes from outside. It attempts to satisfy unmet needs through people, places and things. What are the practice management issues many advisors face? Things such as lacking a business plan and clear goals, neglecting to ask for referrals or simply allowing yourself to become overwhelmed are just a few. Starting out with a “zero” in the production column has its way of getting you down or not as motivated. Here are 3 reasons why: 1. Lacking business plan/goals. The need for safety generates negative beliefs such as “I don’t have enough time” and “I don’t have enough money,” which fuel the negative emotions of anxiety and fear. Hence, an advisor becomes addicted to survival. It is impossible to establish values, vision, a business plan and goals while this is happening. A learned advisor once said, “Most financial advisors are addicted to selling, and they will not take the time to build vision, a business plan and goals.” 2. Not asking for referrals. Ninety percent of advisors agree that asking for referrals is the number one way to build their businesses, and yet only 15 percent actually ask for them on a consistent basis. The need for approval generates negative beliefs such as “What if they say no?” which fuels negative emotions such as uncertainty and worry. 3. Becoming overwhelmed. The need for control generates negative beliefs such as “I am out of control” and “No one can do it as well as me,” which contributes to the negative emotion of fear. Just remember that the “law of attraction” is absolute, and with the need for control fueling negative beliefs and emotions, you will refuse to delegate. Or, if you do decide to delegate, you will fear that no one will ever be able to do the job as well as you can. Your needs will become your jailor. Values are like turtles: They only come out when it is safe. Unmet needs will wreak havoc on your values, vision, business plan and goals. They will limit your ability to grow. Until you are able to meet those needs from within, inspiration which is the foundation for true success will elude you.