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Annuity brokers rely on annuity companies to provide an education on marketing and sales. However, the focus of the insurance companies is on the products they manufacture while the focus of the successful annuity broker must be on the client. Therefore, there is an incompatible focus between the insurance company and the annuity broker.

Of course, it would make sense if the annuity sales industry was also focused on the client because then the overall sales of annuities and other insurance products would increase. An example of this manufacturer-to-consumer focus is how Intel, which does not sell directly to the consumer, continues to heavily advertise on consumer television promoting computers that have Intel inside. Intel understands that by promoting the benefit (safety of a high quality microchip) to the end consumer, they do more business. But because the annuity industry continues to have a focus on its products and its distribution channel, the annuity agents and annuity brokers, these sellers inherit a product focused mentality. This costs all involved a lot of annuity sales.

Let’s take the example of an annuity agent who decides to use seminars to generate annuity leads. He will likely make an obvious beginners mistake and title his seminar something like “All About Annuities.” The selection of this title is plain stupid. The annuity agent is looking at the title of the seminar from his point of view, his product-centered orientation, and not the potential attendees point of view. The potential attendee will see a title “All About Annuities” and immediately conclude this is a sales pitch about annuities. Since no one wants to go attend the sales pitch, seminar attendance will be terrible. The annuity agent will then conclude that seminars don’t work, will market less and the downward spiral of annuity sales for both the annuity agent and insurance company ensues. The consumer has no interest in annuities. The consumer has an interest in conceptual benefits such as:

• Safety of principal
• Growth of principal
• Tax reduction
• Financial security for heirs

The annuity can certainly be a tool to all of these objectives of the consumer. However, if the agent puts the cart before the horse, the product before the objective, he will not get the consumers business. He will be a struggling annuity agent, always seeking to sell this product rather than provide solutions.

For an agent to get out of this product-centered mentality would require that he stop going to the insurance company training sessions. Rather, he would be much better served by holding a focus group among his target market and simply ask them, “what’s important to you about your money?” The answers to that question, the concerns that are expressed,  would then provide him the headlines, topics and content for his successful seminars and all other successful annuity marketing he might do. Because once the insurance agent understands what his clients want, he can start speaking about that. Once he has a room full of annuity leads, he then has accomplished the first step to more annuity sales.

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First of all, your mail marketing should happen continuously, e.g. send some mailers each week. That way, you will have a continuous stream of annuity leads and you can follow up in a timely manner.

Next, make sure you get the right list. The “sweet spot” of fixed annuity buyers are people age 55 to 65, mostly female in middle-income neighborhoods (see Gallup Research study of annuity owners). You can easily rent a list of these prospects (the SRDS catalog at our local library is a directory of every list you can rent) .

Third, select the right format for the annuity lead direct mail piece. For annuity leads, we have tested both post cards and letters in envelopes.  In this case, the postcards did equally well and are less expensive that items in envelopes, so use the postcards.

Fourth, get the message right.  The message will be wrong if you sit back and think about what appeals to your prospects.  There is no way you really understand that.  The only way to find out is to ask a handful of prospects.  The question is not “what do you like about annuities?”  (Notice how product centered that question is and grows from your point of view)? The correct question to generate annuity leads is “what’s important to you about your money?”

As people start to answer, write down what they say.  Then dig deeper:

What else is important?
What would you rank second?
You said safety was important.  What do you need to give up to get it?

Only by asking these questions and really digging will you understand what matters to your annuity prospects.  Now, based on what they say, create at least 15 headlines for your mailers.  These might be:

“How to Get the Safety You want Without Sacrificing Return”
“How to Earn more Interest While you Pay IRS Less”
“How to Have a 2nd Social Security Check”

After you compose the titles, select your best and then use six of the others as bullet points:

“How to Get the Safety You want Without Sacrificing Return”

• Bullet point 1
• Bullet point 2
• Bullet point 3
• etc.

Here’s an alternate format

Fifth, make a non-intimidating offer such as a free booklet, free report, free quote, etc.  Every direct mail piece should have some form of tangible, unambiguous benefit for the customer that addresses their question, ”What’s in it for the me?”

There are many things you can do to make direct mail annuity lead generation plan work. By using these tips, though, you will be off to a good start and a continuous flow of annuity leads.

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Insurance Internet leads are no different.  It takes some trial and error until you get your approach right (if you call expecting the prospect to want to buy, you’ll mess up a lot of good insurance leads). Once you get your approach correct, your appointment ratio can be significant, 20% o more on your first contact.  The other problem you wll have is a significant percentage of worthless insurance leads.  But that’s also a benefit as I will explain in a minute.  A significant percentage are worthless because ANYONE can fill in a form, the ad, on the Internet.  The Internet lead provider simply runs ads on the Internet and no matter how careful they are as to which sites are selected to run ads, the Internet lead provider cannot control who fills out the lead generation form.  People who can’t afford a computer might see the ad on the computer at the library.  Or a 12-year-old kid might see the ad and fill it in for information.  So you will get a lot of junk Internet leads.  The good news is that 2 or 3 out of every 10 Internet leads will be legitimate, viable prospects.  If you get one new client out of 10 insurance Internet leads, you likely make

1000% return on your investment as follows:

10 leads x $20 = $200 invested in insurance leads
One sale = $2,000 commission

Because you can earn so much as an insurance agent (especially annuity commissions), you can afford to have a lot of crappy insurance leads and still do very well.  There is also a silver lining here.  Because other

agents will not have patience and tend to look at the glass as half empty, these agents will focus on the “bad” Internet leads and quit the service leaving you as the insurance agent that sticks with the service and gets all of that service’s insurance leads in your area.

The best part about Internet leads is that the prospecting work is done by the Internet lead service.  Normally, when producers start in the business, they do all of their own prospecting.  Think of prospecting as calling every number

from one page in the phone book to find the 5 insurance prospects that have interest.  The Internet lead provider has essentially done that “sifting” for you as only interested prospects will typically complete a form on

the Internet.  Not every insurance lead will turn out to be a commission, but it’s a very smart way to outsource grunt work, use your time more profitably and get a very good return on investment.

Internet Insurance Leads

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You cannot expect much else from an online insurance lead and you should not. For example, don’t expect that the prospect has been waiting by the phone to buy life insurance and is delighted as soon as they realize there’s an insurance agent on the phone. Life insurance leads, annuity leads, health insurance leads are all merely an indication of interest by the prospect, not a sure sign of a buyer. The prospect’s interest may range from “don’t bother me now” to motivated.  And it’s your job, as the expert in the market to determine the buyer’s need or desire, infuse them with interest and convert that interest to an appointment. Don’t expect that the life insurance leads you buy to be ready-made sales—the outcome of an appointment depends on your skills and communication talents.

However, these comments are not meant to diminish the value of Internet life insurance leads or a life insurance lead service.  Compare what you get buying Internet life insurance leads to cold calling from the phone book.  The phone book lead is a total stranger who may have no interest whatsoever. Alternatively, insurance leads are a reflection of a prospect who went SEARCHING for life insurance information of their own volition. Insurance agents who use lead services are so far ahead of other agents who start from scratch and who won’t invest in their business to buy life leads. In fact, a new life agent can avoid washing out of the business as many do when they start their career by having a budget for insurance life leads, long term care leads or health insurance leads. No matter what type of leads the new agent buys, these leads help put any agent in appointments.  And the following is true: the more activity you have, the more results you get.

Success in insurance, life, long term care insurance, health or annuity sales always boils down to only two elements: quantity and quality. A service which provides exclusive life insurance leads and quality life insurance leads will solve your quantity problem and help you setting appointments. 

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In other words, the average annuity agent only wants us to match him with prospects that have expressed interest in annuities and can be an annuity sale.  Other prospects have expressed interest in financial planning, mutual funds, life insurance, etc. but the average annuity agent is not interested in these general prospects.

However, the RICH annuity agents DO have an interest in these prospects.  Here’s the logic of the rich annuity agent:

1. When people express interest in a product or service, it does not mean that they will buy that particular product or service.

2. It does however mean that the prospect is motivated to seek a solution–i.e. if they fill out a form on the Internet seeking information on retirement planning, at least this is a motivated, “take action” person.

The rich annuity agent wants to speak to any motivated viable prospect and has sufficient confidence that if an annuity will help the prospect achieve his goals, the agent will have a sale.

How many clients have you lost because you have failed to cultivate a general interest from a prospect desiring to take financial action?

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The following are some tips for outsourcing your annuity marketing direct mail campaign.

• Determine your approach.

You can find companies that handle the campaign from beginning to end.  This includes the creation of the pieces, strategy and the mailing.  However, some of these companies can be expensive and may be out of your budget.  If you feel the expense is worth it, ask your fellow agents for referrals to companies they’ve worked with.  Check the company’s other references, not just by what they say but by calling each contact and talking to them yourself.

• You can outsource each step of the direct mail campaign.

If a full-scale media production house is out of your budget, you can outsource the separate steps in the process to save money.  Typically, you need to find a professional who can do great graphics, and one who can write good copy.  Some professionals will offer to do both, but it’s often better to find one person for each element of the piece.  Be sure to outsource the copy first so that you can forward the finished text to your graphic designer.

But where do you find these professionals?  You can check you local yellow pages for advertising agencies, or you can look online using services like www.guru.com or www.elance.com.  These websites feature freelance professionals who will bid on your job, often charging less than the professionals you can find offline.  And with the power of the Internet, you may be in Texas and work with someone in California!

• Once your direct mail piece is completed, you can either mail it yourself or outsource this step as well.

If you already have a list of annuity leads, you can save yourself money by mailing the direct mail piece yourself.  First, you’ll need to have it printed, and there are a number of different discount printers online who can do this for a few hundred dollars or less.  Once you’ve received your printed pieces, you can sit down and spend an afternoon labeling, stamping and mailing out your direct mail campaign.

If you don’t yet have an annuity lead list, you can contract with a company that will not only mail the piece for you, but will send it to a list of qualified leads.  You can get a list and the piece mailed for one price!  This is a great way to get leads and send out your direct mail piece quickly and efficiently.

In addition, there are two things you should remember when outsourcing any component of your annuity marketing direct mail campaign.

1. Make sure you have everything in writing.  Most freelancers sign contracts that state they are independent contractors. These contracts protect you and them, by laying out every detail of the project timeline and deliverables so that there’s no misunderstanding during the process.  You can find one online, but if you can’t, ask your attorney to draft one for you.

2. Give the company/freelancers clear instructions.  Nothing is as frustrating as requesting a job and not having it done right.  Be responsive to their questions and communicate as clearly as possible.  If you aren’t as clear as possible with your instructions, it’s likely that the job won’t be done right!

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You meet an annuity prospect, but he does not make an appointment. Or you do meet with him, but he decides not to take action. So you put his contact information into your tickler for a call in 90 days. When you call him in 90 days, you find out he has just invested $100,000 into an annuity that would have grossed
you $8,000. But he had forgotten about you. In fact, he says, “Geez, Joe, I would have made this
investment with you, but the guy at the bank caught me when I was rolling over a CD.”

To maximize the yield from your seminars, direct mail or any other marketing program, it’s critical
to drip on people you have met but who did not make an appointment or become a client. Eventually
they will. You have to be in front of them:
1. At the right time, and
2. With the right message

And if you fail to maintain contact, to sonduct drip marketing, the above scenario will happen to you again and again. Money, transactions, policies and commissions will continue to slip through your fingers.

“The very best money I have ever spent in my business is the insurance newsletter I obtain from your firm … it never fails to generate $15-20k of commissions each mailing.” B. Broich, WA

This is where most financial professionals fall down. They waste significant prospecting effort
meeting people, yet never bring these people to full boil. They waste time and energy heating the water,
yet fail to keep the flame burning. Their hot prospects cool off and disappear. Read on and see how the
right insurance newsletter converts these prospects to clients.

Drip Monthly

The right monthly insurance newsletter will help you turn prospects into clients. Why monthly? Because people have a lot of distractions in life and they see lots of offers and advertisements. After 30 days, they barely remember who you are. But by having your silent salesman (your insurance newsletter) show up in their mailbox every 30 days, you stay fresh on their mind.

If you’ve been sending a quarterly newsletter, save your money! After 3 months, they don’t remember who you are and when they receive your newsletter they think to themselves, “Who’s this guy?” and they toss it out.

If you do not keep in touch with clients and prospects, someone else will. Another financial professional will invite your clients to seminars and keep pounding them with their insurance newsletter, and your clients’ assets and prospects will drift elsewhere. The only efficient way to stay in front of your prospects and clients is with a monthly insurance newsletter.

“Just a note to let you know that in the short time that I have been using your newsletter I have picked up an additional $300,000 in assets under management.” T. Treacy, NY

Target Your Audience to Generate Sales

Sending just any newsletter WILL NOT do the job. You’ve seen what most professionals send—some boring junk about a change in the tax law, the latest economic report, statistics from the Fed, political commentary… BOOORING!!!!

The prospect cares about only one thing: “What’s in it for me?” They couldn’t care less about some economic prognostication or the change in the fed funds rate. They want to know, “How am I gonna make more
money?” Or in the case of seniors, they ask, “How can I best preserve my principal and obtain more income?”

Your insurance newsletter, targeted at the affluent 50+ audience, addresses their concerns and solutions regarding investing for income, investing for growth, mutual funds, annuities, long-term care, estate
planning, and tax minimization.

So you send an insurance newsletter that tells them point blank how they can make money or save it. Every article answers the question, “What’s in it for me?” As a result, the newsletter generates business for you because people call you to learn more; it’s not just some low-key public relations tool. It generates commissions and fees! In the next post, I’ll explain why they call you from this insurance newsletter.

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One way to show that you’re an expert in the financial field is by earning specific professional designations.  Think about it – when you’re looking for a new health care provider, would you trust anyone without the “MD” designation?  If you’re an annuity agent and you don’t have a professional designation, you may find yourself losing clients to agents with better credentials.  Just having your insurance license may not be enough to make a living selling annuities.

Some of the better known professional designations include:

• CFP (Certified Financial Planner)
• ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant)
• MSFS (Master’s of Science in Financial Services).

Each of these designations has different requirements you must meet before you can begin using it.  The CFP designation is one of the most widely recognized in the industry, although you’ll need to take several courses and pass a board exam before you can use the credential.  The ChFC, on the other hand, requires some coursework, but no exam, while the MSFS credential comes from completing a two-year graduate level program.  All of these will make you a far more competent financial advisor and significantly impact your annuity sales.

In addition, there are many professional designations for annuity agents who focus specifically on selling to seniors.  Some states don’t allow annuity agents to use these designations – depending on the wording – so it’s important to check with your state board before you pursue them.  These designations include:

• CSS (Certified Senior Specialist)
• CSRS (Certified Elder Planning Specialist)
• CLTC (Certified in Long Term Care) – this professional specializes in planning for care in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

For more information on the specific requirements of each credential and the schools that offer the necessary training courses, visit www.brokerworldmag.com.  Depending on your schedule, you may be able to find courses can be taken either online or by correspondence.

At first, these courses may seem expensive – especially to someone just starting out in the annuity business.  But by earning a professional designation, you give yourself several advantages:

• You learn more about selling annuities and marketing annuities. The classes go beyond what you can learn on the job or in a basic college course.  For example, if you earn the CLTC designation, you’ll learn much more about long term care and nursing homes than you would just sitting behind your desk.

• If you want to market to a specific group like seniors, a credentialing program can help you learn more about how to tailor plans to them and their unique needs.

• Professional designations build trust with clients.  When a certain set of letters appears after your name, clients know you’ve taken the time to learn more about how to help them with their financial needs, and will reward you with increased business.

• Often when someone sees a designation after your name, they’ll ask you, “What does it mean?” This gives you a perfect opportunity to market your services to clients you never would have met otherwise.

If you sell annuities, compare earning professional designations to the steps an educator takes to advance in their career.  Most school principals begin as teachers with bachelor’s degrees.  Later on, they earn master’s degrees – usually in administration – to learn more about working as school principals.  As you progress in your career, you may find that you need the additional education and qualifications provided by a professional designation course to advance in the field of selling annuities and generating fixed annuity leads.

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But how do you begin the process of understanding your annuity prospect?  You can’t really ask, flat out, “Tell me about your secret motivations.”  At best, your comfortable will feel uncomfortable and move on to another agent, while at worst, your meaning could be misconstrued, leaving you in an uncomfortable situation!  Fortunately, there are a few conclusions you can draw from the basic information your client provides as part of the initial consultation.  For example:

• How old is your annuity prospect?

The age of your client should be one of the key factors in determining how you market annuities to him or her.  Elderly clients have different concerns than young couples or families. For instance, they may not respond as strongly to the idea of their investment growing over time compared to the benefit of a guaranteed regular payout.  So if you stress the right benefit to the right age group, your annuity selling is more successful.

• Is he or she married, and if so, are there children in the family?

Parents typically have a vested interest in providing for their children’s future, whether through savings for college education or a sizable nest egg that will be their legacy once they’ve passed.  You can use this desire for stability and security to your advantage in the annuity sales process, with projections of future annuity value.  Such projections would have little impact on someone single and age 80.

In addition to this basic information, you need to pick up on the subtle clues that your annuity prospect is dropping throughout your meetings.  One great place to start is with the question, “Tell me about your financial history.”  Of course, all agents use this question to get a feel for the size of their clients’ wallets, but we’re going to extend it further to uncover some of the more hidden motivations.  Instead of just breezing through their responses, ask them to reflect on the financial decisions they’ve made.

If, for example, your prospect lost $50,000 on a failed small business start-up, ask how they felt afterwards.  If your client exhibits fear at the thought of losing so much money, try to market annuities that feature guaranteed returns over time.  On the other hand, if your prospect expresses frustration over what that money could have been doing over time, he or she may be more susceptible to pitches that revolve around long-term gains or tax-deferred benefits.

Pay special attention to any specific statements – either yours or the prospects – that cause your client to become uncomfortable or emotional.  These statements are the key to discovering the hot-button issues that you can use to tailor your sales presentation and increase your annuity sales success.  Don’t think you can get away with repeating the same tired message over and over again – by learning to understand your annuity prospect and implementing a customized sales message, you’ll dramatically increase your annuity sales and make customers for life.

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