Technology has changed a lot for the modern annuity salesperson—whether it’s the fixed product purist or the VA-touting Registered Representative. Today’s agents have cell phones, email, laptops, iPads, social media, and a lot of other tools that salespeople didn’t have a generation ago. That is an advantage, but it is also an obstacle. Why? Because today’s prospects have the same …

A recent study from General Re found that the total number of disability insurance policies fell by 2 percent last year – building on a 2 percent decline from the prior year. Agents selling to the individual market took it on the chin, with total individual disability insurance premium falling by six percent, compared to 2009 levels, for a total …

Insurance agents and agencies are increasingly being targeted by trial lawyers with errors and omissions lawsuits – the financial equivalent of the malpractice claim. According to data from Demotech, Inc., 28.4 percent of sampled agencies reported having had an errors and omissions claim within the last five years – up from 22.8 percent of respondents the year before.  Use your …

In the financial services sales world, the threat of a lawsuit is just part of the cost of doing business. Insurance agents and financial advisors expose themselves to the threat of a lawsuit almost every time they put pen to paper – and even the most dedicated and knowledgeable agent isn’t immune. Lawsuits typically arise out of miscommunications, which can …

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more popularly known as ObamaCare, is mired in the courts. A loose consortium of twenty-six state attorneys general filed a series of lawsuits challenging the courts constitutionality last year – and this year obtained a ruling from a federal judge in Tallahassee striking down the law as unconstitutional. The Obama administration plans to …