1. Business continuation. Transferring control to a family member, key employee or third party.
2. Key talent retention. Ensuring continued success of the business through retention of key employees using special benefits (golden handcuffs).
3. Retirement. Securing a comfortable retirement (which may not be primarily dependent on the business).
4. Legacy issues. Preserving the business for family members or realizing its value to provide financial security for surviving family members while treating heirs fairly.

This article, the second in a four-part series, addresses how an owner can:

• Attract, reward and retain key employees; and,
• Protect the value of the business upon the eventual departure of a key employee.

Business owners, especially those who have lost a key employee to a competitor, know first-hand how hard it is to attract and retain talent. Not only does the departure of a key employee hurt the bottom line, but valuable time must be spent to find and train a suitable replacement. If the executive was a possible successor to the business, the owner may have to consider other, less appealing options.

Indeed, for many businesses owners, the most important assets of the company are the key employees and executives. They drive revenue and are important to business perpetuation. But in today’s economy, key employees are less loyal and might be tempted to leave for even slightly greener pastures.

Executive Compensation

One way a company can retain and attract top people is to reward them with additional executive compensation.

A supplemental executive retirement plan (SERP) is a viable option to provide special compensation for special people. Highly compensated employees are typically not able to put away enough through the company’s 401(k) and profit sharing plans to adequately replace the executive’s pre-retirement income.

With a SERP, the company agrees to provide a benefit to an executive based on satisfaction of terms and conditions such as sales goals, performance and longevity. The business owner chooses who participates, the level of benefits, the types of benefits and the plan provisions. Benefits typically include retirement income, survivor benefits and disability payments and are subject to the company’s creditors.

By offering valuable benefits like these, business owners will attract more top talent, increase their productivity and make it more difficult for them to consider leaving the company.

Family Business Applications

A SERP can be especially useful in a family-owned business setting where a key employee, such as a CFO, is not a family member. Because these employees are unlikely to receive equity in the company as a benefit of employment, they can be provided with “equity-like” benefits through a SERP so they will stay with the organization and perform, especially as the business is transferred from one generation to the next.

Informal Funding

Most businesses earmark assets and current cash flow to pay future SERP liabilities. Otherwise, the “pay when due” approach may put too much financial pressure on the business. When the promise to pay isn't backed by assets, a slowdown in business can mean a slowdown in benefits paid out, as well.

To avoid these pitfalls, most organizations choose to informally fund SERPs with taxable investments, such as equities, or with tax-favored corporate-owned life insurance (COLI). Both offer attractive, growth-oriented investment opportunities.

Assuming the executive can medically qualify for the coverage, COLI can provide additional tax advantages: tax-free gains on investment earnings in the policy, tax-free access to cash values through policy withdrawals and loans and an income tax-free death benefit at the passing of the executive. In a rising tax environment, the benefits of tax-favored COLI can make it an even more compelling option.

The coverage can be even designed to allow a company to eventually recover all or a portion of its SERP costs, including benefit payments and policy premiums.

An Example

Suppose a company has a key employee it wants to retain. A SERP could be established with a COLI policy on the executive’s life that is sufficient to provide the future benefits outlined in the agreement, such as a retirement income benefit of $100,000 a year for 15 years. The business would own the policy, pay the premiums and serve as beneficiary. In specific cases, a business may be in a position to borrow some or all of the premiums and make interest payments to a lender rather than premium payments to an insurance company.

At the executive’s retirement, the company would access policy cash values to provide the agreed-upon income benefit to the executive. The retirement benefit would be taxable to the executive and deductible to the company.

When the executive eventually passes away, the company receives the tax-free death benefit proceeds as a mechanism for cost recovery.

If the executive dies before retirement, the death benefits are paid income tax-free to the company. The business can then provide the benefits promised to the executive’s beneficiaries and use the excess funds to recover the cost of the plan and protect the business from the loss of the executive.

If the executive decides to leave before retirement or meeting the terms of the SERP agreement, the executive may forfeit some or all of the promised benefits, which should make him think twice about departing. Even if the employee leaves, the company still owns the policy and can use it as source of funds to hire a replacement.

Although the premium payments are not tax-deductible to the business, using COLI can be extremely tax-efficient because: Cash values grow tax-deferred and can be accessed tax-free via policy loans and withdrawals; payments to the key employee (or employee’s heirs) are tax-deducible to the company; and death benefits are paid income tax-free.

Next Steps

It is comforting for a business owner to know that, with a SERP, there is a tool at her disposal to efficiently recruit, retain and reward the industry’s top talent.

Consulting with a corporate attorney and a knowledgeable life insurance professional, who is experienced in designing COLI products, is the place to start.

Part 3 of this four-part series will address business owner retirement, to ensure the business owners and their families maximize the value of the businesses they worked so hard to create.

Objections are not only a natural part of the sales process, they help you to clarify what is on the prospect's or customer's mind. For you to help the prospect or customer with a problem, it’s important to understand what and where are the roadblocks. In other words, what concerns do they have about what you are offering?

Their perception is their reality. Asking questions is the way to learn where they are coming from, what their reality is.

Who

Consider the people you are going to contact. What is the best time to call them? Misunderstanding can cause a loss of rapport and potentially a sale.

What

Test yourself on all of the questions that could possibly come your way so you are fully prepared. Continue to learn regarding the offers and services you are providing.

However, when you receive an objection, it’s common to start explaining all the reasons why the prospect or customer should choose your offers and services. We’ve been taught by the “professionals” to respond that way. Well, guess what? It doesn’t work. If you are patient and listen closely, an opportunity will present itself for you to begin to ask questions instead of explaining. Ask first, then tell.

Why

Let’s face it, most people do not like being approached by a salesperson. Why? Because they have probably had a bad experience. Prospects or customers might believe that if they needed your products or services they would have contacted you. The reason for a sales call is to remind potential or past customers of what you have to offer and how you can potentially solve their problems, even problems they might not be aware of.

How

The best way to work with objections when making sales calls is to attend sales training sessions, learn from other people and learn from your mistakes. You should also care for your customers and take their feelings and families into consideration. When you do these things, you’ll have more success.

How many times have you heard the objection, "I'm working with someone else" or "I'm happy where I am"? It happens all the time, doesn't it? 

If you want to engage the prospect, you must begin by asking questions. Stay focused on the purpose of the call and be persistent. However, you always want to leave them better than you found them. When you state the purpose of your call, be sure to listen. If the prospect reveals something to you, capture it. Don’t be so focused on your script and saying what you want to say that you miss an opportunity to engage the customer.

Formula for Success:

• Listen and don’t get defensive
• Begin to ask a series of questions
• Get of of the objections and focus back on the purpose of the call. 

Examples of questions begin with:

• Who
  • Who are you currently working with?
• What 
  • What type of strategies have you implemented that will ____?
• When
  • When was the last time you sat down with your adviser and reviewed your plan?
• Where
  • Where are you in the process?
• How
  • How long until you ____?

After you have asked a series of questions, ask for the appointment again. Say things such as:

"I am not asking you to change anything, and I don’t want to duplicate anything you are doing. The purpose of the meeting would be to give you an opportunity to compare our unique approach with what you have done and see if it makes sense. Okay?"

Always focus back on the purpose of the call. 

Refrain from getting defensive. Focus on asking questions and listening to responses. Re-engage the prospect, then restate the purpose, be persistent and ask for the meeting or sale.

Remember, you must offer suggestions to help prospects solve problems based on your products or services. Work through objections without trying to overcome them, seek to leave the prospect better than you found him and focus on win-win results. This is the way to work with objections as a professional.

Consider this: Nearly every opportunity that later transformed into a successful endeavor was first found in a moment of adversity or to fill a need. 

Think of a paper clip. Was it invented because someone thought it would be fun to twist a piece of wire into a funny shape? The paper clip was invented so that people could hold papers together without damaging them. Previous methods included pins, string or even wax. Each of these methods damaged the paper.

The situations we deal with on a regular basis are life’s way of providing us with opportunity. Think of the various hardships that you have faced over the years, both large and small. How have they changed you? How did you work to alleviate the afflictions of yourself or those around you?

Think back to when you first were learning how to ride a bike. Remember all the skinned knees and false starts, slamming on the breaks too hard because you were so nervous? Remember the feeling you had, that exhilaration you felt when finally, finally, you could race down the street without the training wheels?

In your life today, there are opportunities to feel that feeling again, to become something better than you were before. Just around the corner is an opportunity waiting to help you transform yourself and the world around you into something you have dreamed about.

The real skill is recognizing within the adversity that there is a potential opportunity if you look hard enough.

Think of the last time you were frustrated about something not working or an item not quite living up to the standards that you set. Did you say, “I wish someone would make a better…” or “I wish they would find a better way…”? Why couldn’t that someone be you?

One of my favorite things to do, both as a child and as an adult, is to sit down with a big tub of popcorn and soda in front of a huge movie screen and see it come to vibrant life. I learn a lot and find myself using various lessons and inspirations directly from the movies that I have seen over the years. One such movie is "Miracle on Ice," the story of the 1980 Olympic hockey team, coached by Herb Brooks, that beat the supposedly unbeatable Soviet team and won the gold medal. The movie is one of my favorites, and my wife always chuckles each time I watch it. You see I’m always looking for inspiring things to pass along to my readers, so every time I watch it, there is a pen and paper in my hand. No matter how many times I watch it, there are some gems. Here are a few of my favorites:

“It’s a pretty lofty goal, Herb.” “That’s why I want to pursue it.”

“Win, lose, or tie, we are going to play like champions.”

“Great moments are born from great opportunities. That’s what you have here tonight. That’s what you’ve earned. This is your time. You were born to be hockey players. You were meant to be here.”

You really can’t get words more encouraging words than those.

How many of us strive to play as champions, no matter the outcome?

How many times in our lives do we find out what we are meant to do? How many of us know we are “hockey players” in our own right?

It’s true that opportunities abound, but so very few of us actually meet the challenges of daily life head on and make our own opportunities.

It’s just like Herb Brooks said in the movie – he wants to pursue the lofty goal simply because it is lofty, a challenge. Nothing truly worth anything is easy to obtain, and sometimes the sheer challenge makes it that much more valuable.

You have the intelligence, and you certainly have the passion and drive. As for expertise and knowledge, that can be gained, either through research or talking with knowledgeable people. You know your ideas are needed, and bringing them to life is possible, so why not get started?

Begin by looking around you, searching out the opportunities that are presented in the everyday adversity that you see. Remember, every problem has a solution; it is just a matter of time and effort until it is found.

Make a list of the hardships you see every day. What could be done about them? Maybe your neighbor is having trouble getting his lawn mower to start. What could you make so that starting that lawnmower becomes easier? Or perhaps you have a bathroom shower curtain that can never stay clean. Maybe you need to come up with a new way to do the job.

No matter which opportunity you find, no matter which hardship you try to alleviate, remember that you and your happiness are part of the equation. While the ability to offer a service to others is laudable indeed, it is important to realize that you are just as important. Don’t be afraid to charge for your product or service. After all, fair is fair, and you should be compensated for all your time and effort.

Remember, the adversity you face can be revealed as an opportunity for your success if you simply know how to look.

So the question becomes, what is your “Miracle” story?

What lofty goal will you tackle and achieve next?

What are you willing to sacrifice to reach the goal and become who you truly are?

As an insurance broker, you know that increasing your production and being more efficient with your time can lead to a lot more business. So how do you accomplish that? It starts with getting organized.

There are many different technology tools available. For me, it starts with three things: a calendar, a simple to-do list and the ability to take notes throughout the day from phone conversations or face-to-face meetings.

The problem for many people is how to compile and manage the to-do list. The problem with most "to do" lists is there are too many items each day to accomplish. What happens to your confidence when you go home at the end of the day and there are still too many things you have not checked off your list? I typically have five or six items on my list each day that need to be accomplished.

For my to-do list, I use a great app called Nozbe. The app is cross platform with great apps, a 10 Step Course, and their own Productivity! magazine to help you along the way.

With this power-packed tool, I am able to make my to-do list digital and sync it across all of my platforms and devices. I connect my Nozbe to my other favorite tool, Evernote, and I can even use it with Dropbox and synchronize it with my iCal or Google Calendar.

To be successful, personal development and organization are key. You have to get passionate about your productivity. I suggest that you go through the amazing 10-step course (which happens to be available in English, Spanish, German, Polish and Japanese) and learn how to manage not just your to-do list, but your goals, projects, commitments and even your emails. You’ll learn about doing a brain-dump into Nozbe, clearing your mind of the clutter, then organizing that stuff into tasks on your to-do list. It’s amazing how productive you can become just by clearing your mind and focusing.

Read the magazine, Productivity!, to gain more inspiration. Implement what you learn and begin to see the changes to not only your weekdays and work life, but your life in general.

Nozbe also makes it easy to collaborate with your team. We already know that everyone starts the day with 24 hours. We can also be so busy, though, that we get overwhelmed and miss out on joy.

The most successful people in the world: Warren Buffett, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, etc… have teams behind them. I have my own team behind me. Chances are, you have a team behind you. It's not that we need loads of people to help, but delegating tasks to others, sharing ideas collaboratively and enjoying the fruit of a team is pretty powerful stuff.

Nozbe allows you to share projects by a simple email invitation. Team members can discuss tasks and pass them back and forth to one another and with you.  Amazing things can happen when your to-do list can be delegated and improved by the thoughts and ideas of your team.

I moved my team completely out of email and into this tool. We now have our own common space to work, so we are out of our email (which is full of distractions) and we can comment on tasks and files as needed.

There are many other "to do" apps on the market. You can go to Google and search "to do apps" or you can check out this post by Mashable, 6 Fantastic To-Do Apps for Getting Organized.

Whichever you choose, find the right technology tools that will help you get organized and be more productive.

Consider these 10 tips:

1. Set attainable goals: Start small and set yourself up for success.
2. Make them your priority: Design your daily life around taking steps toward achieving the goals you have set.
3. Reward yourself: When you meet a goal, treat yourself to something you love.
4. Involve others: Turn to those you trust and who care about your success. If you are now accountable to them, not just to yourself, you may find that you are more motivated to stay the course.
5. Come up with a phrase that will be your reminder when things get tough: Practice self-talk. Something like “keep going” or “yes, I can!” might work well.
6. Strengthen your inner focus: Spend some time each day or week on an activity that requires quiet focus.
7. Don’t stop because of setbacks: If you slip, don’t let that be an excuse to quit altogether.
8. Avoid distractions: Until you are in a stronger place with your self-discipline, avoid people or places that will derail your efforts.
9. Get on a routine: The power of a routine cannot be overemphasized. It creates a flow to your day that you will soon find yourself addicted to.
10. Eliminate excuses: Do not allow yourself to make an excuse for missing a single day in working toward achieving your goals.

How competitive is your business?

What are you doing to separate yourself from the competition?

Seth Godin talks a lot about being remarkable so that you stand out like a purple cow. What would happen if you saw a purple cow? You would stop and take notice, wouldn’t you?

Are you asking the same questions your competition is asking? If so, you will never differentiate yourself. When you act and sound like your competition, the prospect or customer will always gravitate to the cheapest price.

The best way to get to the core of your prospects thought process is by asking questions that allows them to think about their key issues differently. When prospects think about their key issues differently, the solutions become obvious. Stop telling your prospect or client what your product or service will do for them. Ask them!

Let me share with you a couple of examples:

Commercial Insurance: "What strategies have you implemented that will reduce your exposure to risks you may be unaware of?"

Investment Adviser: "What steps have you taken that provide you with fiduciary risk protection?"

HR Consultant: "What ideas or strategies do you have to reduce key employee turnover and increase employee satisfaction?"

Asking this type of a question allows the prospect or client to come to his own conclusion.

Stop telling. Stop doing a feature dump all over your prospects. Start asking what I call “opportunity questions." It is easy to create an “opportunity question." Take the problems that you solve or the pain you eliminate and create a question. With each one of the questions above I have identified a key problem and created a question.

Recently, I was listening to The New Business Podcast by Chis Ducker. He talked about how, when he started out, there was a ton of competition. He wondered: How am I going to build this business with so much competition? Then he realized there was no one like him on the planet. That was his competitive edge. 

I have said this for years. You are the product. People buy from you. Yes, you may represent a company or brand, but, at the end of the day, if people didn’t like and trust you they would buy from you. It’s that simple.

So the question then becomes… What can you do to be remarkable and stand out.

It’s in the details. It’s the small things that you do in life that make the big difference and make you remarkable. 

Three Strategies You Can Implement Now

Show up on time

Example: I had an appointment last winter that depended on my being there. We were in the middle of a snowstorm. On a good day it would have been a 35-minute drive. I left an hour and 45 minutes early to make sure I wasn’t late. It took me about an hour. I was 45 minutes early. To many people, that seems like a waste of time, but I got caught up on email and got ready for the appointment. No matter where I go, I always have something with me to do. 

Follow through

When you tell someone you are going to do something, follow through. 

Example: A while back, I got a call from a sales rep. What he was selling was very interesting and would help my online business. At the end of the conversation, I told him I was interested. Could he email me something and follow up. “Sure.” Last week, I received another call. No email. I checked junk mail. I checked everything because I was interested. “Please send again.” To this day, I have received nothing. 

Say thank you in style

Send hand-written thank you notes. I know what you are thinking. I don’t have time. Email is faster. My handwriting is terrible. But you don’t have time not to send handwritten thank you notes. 

What would happen if you sent one thank you note a day Monday to Friday over the next 12 months? That would be 260. 

That would cost you a few hours a year, but wouldn't that make you look remarkable? Wouldn't handwritten notes make you stand out? In the 24/7 fast pace world that we live in…of course you would stand out. 

So, go the extra mile. Do more than you are paid for. As Zig Ziglar says, “There are no traffic jams when you go the extra mile.” 

Are you going the extra mile to stand apart from the competition?

If you are asking a friend, family member or an established customer to suggest the names of your next prospects, the whole process is somewhat easier. You already have built the rapport that you need to acquire the names you want.

If your relationship is still being formed, asking for referrals is a little more uncomfortable. People want to make sure that their friends and associates will be treated well before they refer you. Whether a prospect or client gives you a referral depends on how they relate to you and what they think of you, as a business professional as well as a person. How you present yourself and your products or services can either lead to more referrals or more dead ends. The choice is truly yours.

Many don't even ask for referrals because they fear rejection. The simple question, "Do you know of anyone who would be interested in hearing more about our investment opportunities…retirement community…or printing services?” can be so daunting that 89% of insurance professionals don't even ask for referrals.

Even if we find the courage, inexperience can cause us to approach the whole process incorrectly, forgetting an important step.

To get the process right, you must first believe in your product, your message and the value that you can bring to your clients and prospects.

You must then present and deliver your solution in the best light possible. There are a select who can improvise and succeed. For the rest of us, it takes detailed preparation to get to the point where we know enough to be comfortable to present our solution with a reassured smile. One of the easiest ways for the sales person to gain increased confidence is to be prepared and, if needed, script the calls or at least create an agenda or outline to follow. Scripting is used by a number of different professionals to get their message across. Movie actors and directors follow a script, and an off-Broadway play isn’t very enjoyable without the script. A well-written, well-organized script will provide your prospects and clients with the right information and reassure them that you know what you are talking about. When you sound like you know your product or service, you can give others confidence in both yourself and in the product you offer.

In the end, though, we have to earn the right to ask for a referral. A recommendation is a direct result of how effective you have been at gaining someone's trust, often by delivering a product that fits her needs. People must know, like and trust you. Think for a moment. If you had a friend or a family member, someone you wanted the best for, would you refer that person to someone like you? If you are paying attention, you should know when to ask for a referral.

Often, if someone provides a referral, he feels that the actions of that sales person will reflect on him, for good or bad. For example, a client of mine asked if I knew of an individual or organization that worked with sales people on their image, or how they should interact with a prospective customer. I provided one of my contacts, knowing full well that she was more than capable. I called my contact to prepare her for this client, who was not one for flash and showy materials. I felt good about connecting these two people. About a week later, I got a call from my client asking me what in world I was thinking. Despite my warning, she had shown him a number of risqué ideas and suggested liberal techniques. It was as if my words fell on deaf ears. From that experience I learned to be much more careful about making referrals.

The dynamics of human interactions are often complex, and it is important to understand and honor our customers' reluctance to share information. Being patient can create respect that can help strengthen the relationship with those we serve.

It’s easy to ask for a referral. Let me share with you a simple, five-step process.

• Step 1: Somewhere in a conversation, I ask, "Can you do me a favor?" A majority of the time, the person will respond with something like: "Well, that depends. What do you need?"
• Step 2: I simply ask, "Who do you know whom I should be talking with about the type of work I do?" Expect the response, "I can't think of anyone."
• Step 3: Identify the type of person you are looking for. Say, "I am looking for someone very similar to you." Then describe what that means.
• Step 4: "If we were at a social gathering right now, having a conversation like we are now, and a friend of yours walked up, would you introduce us?" Expect this response, "Well, of course I would."
• Step 5: "That's all I am asking for today, an introduction to someone you know, a nice person who may be in a similar situation. You can be confident that I will treat them with the same respect that I have always shown you. Is that fair enough?"

If the person still doesn't want to refer you to anyone, let it go. You want to always leave the person you are talking to better than you found him. The question we all need to ask ourselves is, ‘Am I referrable?"

• Do I show up on time?
• Do I follow up on the things I say I’m going to follow up on?
• Am I prepared for each call?
• Am I confident?
• Are my prospects and clients confident in me?

I haven't personally made a cold call in more than 15 years. Over that time, my business has prospered on a steady stream of referrals. If you’ve done the work of effective relationship building, gaining referrals is very simple. 

Are you asking for referrals?

How can you apply these simple steps to your process and begin getting more referrals today?

Recent research has revealed these three baseline concepts:

1. Information = confidence. At your first meeting, your level of confidence will rise with the amount of information you have about the people with whom you are meeting. Do your research before the meeting (through LinkedIn, Google, their website, etc.). Knowing background information on your potential client's representatives will give you something to talk or ask about.
2. Body language. Eye contact, smiling and the handshake are common elements of the first meeting. But do you know which of the three should last the longest?
3. Say something specific. Use your research to introduce a question or comment that will help you frame future conversations.

Integrating technology into the tracking and organizing of your goals may be just the thing you need to stay on track, so I found a comprehensive, user-friendly website called Life Tick that uses SMART goals as the jumping-off point to achievement.

Once you’ve assigned your core values and SMART goals, the software provides an assortment of graphics and tools to keep you on track and motivated:

• Charts and reports: This feature is excellent for the visually inspired goal setter. See your progress charted in a variety of ways based on criteria you set.
• Tracking: You choose what gets tracked and how it gets tracked, whether it be how many times you worked out during the week, how many times you closed new business this month or how much money you saved this year.
• Teams and groups: The software easily integrates goals for groups such as teams at work or family members at home.
• Cheerleaders: You can invite loved ones or friends to view your progress. They will be allowed to send you messages to cheer you on the path to success.
• Dreams: If you have a long-term dream that you are not quite ready to set as a SMART goal, you can jot it down, and the software will remind you about it later. You can convert the dream to an actual goal when you are ready.
• Easy access: You can interact with the software from anywhere, anytime, as long as you have Internet access.

If you want to try it out free of charge or jump right in with their very reasonable subscription-based service, click here and give it a go.

The profile information and status updates that more than one billion people share each day on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn offer agents incredible insights into what is happening in the lives of current and potential policyholders. These insights signal to agents what types of insurance are needed by the customer and generally allow the agent to build trust through personal connection and personalized service. As a result, agents can now be smarter about when they contact customers and prospects and more directed in their communications, saving agents time and improving business results. Researching prospects on social media and understanding what's happening in their lives ensures that every call will be warm. In the era of social media, the cold call is dead.

The insurance industry has been an early adopter of social technology. While regulated industries, including financial services and insurance, tend to be cautious because of compliance concerns, a study by International Data Corp. found that the insurance industry has actually blazed the trail with social media. Farmers, Nationwide, Thrivent Financial, Northwestern Mutual and other Fortune 500 insurance organizations have instituted forward-thinking initiatives on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter that have demonstrated social success that other industries are attempting to replicate.

But it's time for all insurers to move to the second wave with social. In the first wave, many companies rushed to get as many "likes" as possible on their Facebook pages. But research shows that these "likes" have failed to convert into lasting value and tangible return on investment. In the second wave of social, insurers are realizing that they need to focus on results achieved through true engagement and authentic relationships. Just as it has always been, since long before the digital age, developing long-standing relationships is key to building a successful business in the social era.

For insurers, moving on to the second wave means two main things:

First, insurers need to provide unique and relevant content that agents can use on their Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn feeds. For an agent, sharing relevant content via social channels builds credibility and helps establish them as a trusted expert that their connections will turn to when they need insurance. Marketing departments already know the type of content that resonates with customers and are typically producing professional content used in other online and offline channels. For example, success stories about the value of insurance or financial planning tools are valuable pieces of content for agents to share socially.

Second, insurers must empower the field. As an example, Thrivent Financial, a Hearsay Social client, has hundreds of agents actively managing their own local Facebook pages. As financial experts, Thrivent Financial representatives share value with their close-knit communities by consistently posting relevant content, like IRA calculators and market analyses. In addition, Thrivent reps share personal updates and plan community events, building an authentic social presence while still appropriately representing brand.

Organizations that empower agents to create their own local social-media presences are many times more effective than when the same messages are shared from a corporate page. While having five million fans wins bragging rights for any brand marketer, from the consumer's perspective, it can be much more powerful to hear the story from a local representative that you know and trust.

Savvy chief marketing officers at insurers have done a great job of making a relatively abstract product tangible by creating some of the most interesting and memorable personas in the history of marketing — Mayhem the Allstate villain, Flo the Progressive Girl, Snoopy representing MetLife and the GEICO gecko. For an industry that sells a product you can't hear, see, smell, taste or touch, this is impressive. And the characters can drive social-media strategies, allowing a company to create a social-media asset for a character (e.g., the Facebook page for Mayhem). Getting consumers to "like" the page can provide yet another entry point into the News Feed, increasing engagement for the brand and driving sales. When your local MetLife agent posts a picture of a sleeping Snoopy with the text "TGIF," how can you not click "like"?

While insurers are off to a great start with social marketing, there is so much more that they can do to leverage the power of social media into sales. By coordinating enterprise-wide social selling programs, insurance companies can empower agents to attract more prospects and build stronger relationships, leading the way by selling socially.