Sales & Marketing

Although I have written lots of articles about the features and benefits of End of Life Planning, this article is focused on helping financial professionals learn how to have “the conversation” regarding End of Life Planning. Having “The Conversation” You may have heard this saying: by failing to plan, you are planning to fail. However, in our industry, there are …

Nowadays, Americans primarily turn to the Internet for news and information. Therefore, it is critical for insurance agencies to have a captivating website, which can generate traffic and maximize sales. Chances are, your insurance agency has a website, but a simple online presence doesn’t necessarily translate into customers. People need a reason to visit your site. When they get there, …

Within the insurance sales and insurance distribution channel, there isn’t a group that producers love to hate more than the sales lead industry. In many cases, it’s for a good reason. As an industry insider, I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly. While there are some high-quality insurance lead companies, there are others that sour the reputation of …

In my last article, I showed you a safe and effective way to ask for referrals. As promised, here’s what you can do when you have a client who isn’t comfortable with your request—or just doesn’t want to have a referral conversation. I was coaching a top producer the other day, and he was frustrated, because one of his top …

One of the tenets of insurance law is that parties to an insurance policy are expected to deal with each other in utmost good faith. Applicants for insurance, or their brokers, must disclose all relevant underwriting information fully and accurately to prospective insurers. If the application contains any misrepresentation or omits information that could affect the underwriting decision of the …

In 1974, the Employee Retirement and Income Security Act (ERISA) became law and ushered in the tax-qualified savings plan (also known as the IRA, 401(k), Keogh, and others). Almost overnight, Wall Street advisors lost their biggest and best clients—pension fund managers and workers were cast into the unknown world of managing their own investment accounts. Wall Street shifted its model …

Does your company have a social media presence? If not, then you are clearly missing out on one of the most effective ways to market your products and services. Every other business these days is in the hunt for leads through social media websites, which they can convert into sales. With the increasing number of social networks available today, it’s …

Most conversations start off with innocuous questions like, “What do you think of the weather?” If you want to build rapport and trust with clients, you need to have conversations that go deeper than that. The way you ask the questions will dramatically affect the quality and value of your conversation. Certain types of questions can expand the conversation, and …

Some estimates indicate that it costs between five and seven times as much to gain a new client than it does to retain one. This indicates that selling more to your current customer base is a wise priority. Since they have already conducted business with you to fill a need, your clients have shown trust in your company. To gain …

Below, there are five important lessons I would like to share with regards to selling life insurance: 1. Successful sales are a combination of art and science. 2. People buy what they want, but they must be “sold” what they need. 3. Education is the best strategy to help people buy what they need. 4. People don’t want to know …