NIA

Do yourself a favor, look at the recent Imerica, i predicted its demise as soon as i saw the rates. Now no commission is being paid and all that work for nothing!
Do not let any agency, manager talk you into anything against your better judgement, a company that just came out of receivership is more likely to go back in than the strong, multi billion dollar carriers NIA represents!

Do not make mistakes i made years ago by trusting the word of people, they have a vested interest, but your time and money is to valuable to wast on ingorance and dishonest people who are new to the industry.

NIA is designed for maximum efficiency. Daily EFT payroll is processed from years of experience in the commission advance market. No competitor can match NIA’s financial strength nor clear, consice commissions uploaded online daily.
NIA agents receive two notifications of a deposit to their account, one text message, one email with the amounts on each.
We provide agents with free leads, free web sites, and custom webinar tools.

If any agent fails at NIA, they need to look in the mirror and look at their work habits. I can show you any agent who has failed who has circumvented the system for a quick buck and leave the company or they have what i call the bottle blues. They cannot get out of bed from the prior night, do not have the drive and inherit focused desire on success. Mearly showing up an hour or so a day is worthless.
Our successful managers and agents have builld a business within the NIA structure, a staff of their own using our guidelines and years of to and not to does. Why re-invent the wheel? If its been tried, i probably have seen it and have an opinion on it.
There is no short cut to success in any occupation.
It is so easy to blame incompetence and lack of drive, lack of hours invested, lack of investing in themselves on any carrier or agency, but watch the leaders. NIA is the leading Key Broker in the Nation #1 with United Health One, and a coconsistant top 5 to 10 with Assurant, why, we focus, we train and we expect and inspect.

If you want to succeed you can in any field, if you want to fail, give only a portion of yourself and you will fail. its that siple. With all the new markets open and the new products available, now is the time to grab yours and take control of your future!
Larry McClendon
President/CEO

PS – Dishonesty will always be met with stiff opposition. Never give in, never, ever, stand up for your beliefs no matter the cost. Push for justice to the very bitter end you will get it.

EVERYTHING HAS A PRICE.

No one has a corner on success.
Pay the price for it and it is yours.

There is no easy road to success.
You’ve got to work a great deal harder than most people to get it.
Nothing worthwhile will come easily to you.
Hard work will accomplish results that last.

No matter what you want from life,
you’ve got to give up something to get it.

There is no success at bargain basement prices.
You’ll find that the highway to success is a toll road.

Cost objection has long been one of the major challenges agents face when selling insurance. Today, as the economy tightens and consumers become more selective in what they spend money on, that challenge will continue to become larger.

Research by Agent Media, publisher of the Agent’s Sales Journal, shows that cost objection is consistently ranked among the top five insurance sales challenges, and when different lines of insurance are measured, is cited by as many as 75 percent of agents as the biggest obstacle they face.

Carriers in different segments of the industry are responding to the tightening environment, attempting to offer products and incentives that will help agents overcome the cost issue when working with clients.

Following are some solutions offered by a number of companies in the health insurance, benefits, life insurance, long term care insurance, and disability insurance markets.

Health insurance: High deductibles, rate guarantees
One method carriers are using is offering more products that allow for higher deductibles, which lead to lower premiums. In the health insurance field, for example, “carriers are trying to offer a diverse choice of health insurance designs, and by doing that, you go to higher deductibles and get extremely lower premiums,” said Ron Buffman, president of the Texas Association of Health Underwriters (TAHU). Cost objection was cited by 45 percent of health insurance agents in the 2008 Agent Media Health Insurance study.

Some of the newer products offer coverage for catastrophic illnesses while providing a deductible as high as $7,500, Buffman said. These appeal to consumers who have enough money to handle routine medical costs but want to be protected in the event of an extended hospital stay.

In addition to higher deductibles, some carriers are offering guaranteed rates for multiple years.

Assurant Health, for example, offers a two or three-year rate guarantee for most of its products, said Mike Norderhaug, vice president of sales strategy for the company. Consumers trade paying a slightly higher premium for the knowledge that the premium will not increase during the policy term, Norderhaug said.

Assurant also offers a variation on the higher deductible/lower premium approach adopted by many carriers. For certain high-deductible products, for example, if the consumer does not reach the deductible through claims, the deductible is lowered every six months while the premium remains the same. This helps meet consumers’ concerns that they are paying for coverage that they don’t use, he said.

Providing a wide range of deductibles is part of an overall trend in the health insurance industry to provide more “consumer-directed” products, said Carolyn Goodwin, former president of TAHU.

“We want to get the consumer more involved in their health care decisions. People are being given multiple options about the kind of coverage that they want, and how they want to spend their money.”

That involvement can also include participation in wellness programs. With some carriers, said Buffman, “if you are participating in a wellness program, you will see a decrease in your premium.

From the carrier standpoint, if we become healthier people, health insurance costs will decrease and will therefore decrease premiums.”

Benefits market: Wellness plans take the lead
Wellness programs are visible in other segments of the industry, as well. Health benefit administrators are among industry groups featuring the programs on their Web sites, and using them to help reduce insurance costs. Thirty-five percent of survey respondents in the benefits area cited cost objection as a challenge in the 2008 Agent Media Benefits Market Study.

Wellness programs focus on preventive measures to help reduce the instance of claims. For example, Meritain Health offers a program to new clients that provides them with a comprehensive blood test screening for such components as cholesterol and cancer. The test is used to “help identify tomorrow’s claims,” said Dave Parker, Meritain senior vice president of sales. Meritain pays the costs for the tests for the first year, with subsequent years covered by the employer as a claim.

While there is a cost to the employer, Parker said that detecting diseases before they’ve had a chance to worsen saves lives and helps maintain health care costs.

Life: Premium refunds, combo packages
In the life insurance arena, where 35 percent of agents in the 2008 Agent Media Life Insurance Study said cost was a sales challenge, carriers are trying a combination of customized policies and other approaches to help make it easier for agents to sell to their clients.

Premium refunds have become one regular part of the mix. Some carriers have begun offering refunds on term insurance policies where the client has not used the policy before the term ends. In other cases, carriers are trying to ease the “sticker shock” of whole life policies.

For example, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual) offers a whole life product that allows customers to recoup 90 percent of their premium if they cancel within one year of taking out the policy. At the end of five years, they can take back the full amount of their premiums, said Craig Waddington, vice president and actuary for U.S. insurance group product management at MassMutual.

Sticking with the overall industry theme of customizing products to try to reduce premium costs, MassMutual also offers a policy that mixes whole life with term insurance. The policy starts as term, with the customer paying whatever part of the whole life premium is affordable. As the whole life portion begins to pay dividends, it covers an increasing amount of the term premium, Waddington said. Eventually, the policy can be converted to whole life.

Prudential Financial is another carrier working on keeping premium costs down so agents can more easily sell policies, said Hank Ramsey, vice president of product management in individual life.

While Prudential has a return-of-premium term product, and is working on a reduced-premium whole life product, through the use of technology and other efficiencies, the company strives to keep premium costs as low as possible.

In addition, AIG American General has, among other measures, launched a universal life product with lower premiums and new underwriting classes between standard and premium and added a term life policy with customizable dates that in some cases has resulted in a 16 percent reduction in premium costs, said Leslie Hiltabrand, communications manager for the company.

Education key in LTCI segment
Cost has always been a challenge for agents selling long term care insurance, said Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI).

Seventy-five percent of long term care agents in the 2008 LTCI Study reported that cost was the biggest objection they faced from clients.

While there are some initiatives carriers are taking to help provide agents with flexibility, Slome said one of the biggest ways to overcome cost objections is to educate consumers about the actual costs of long term care insurance. “Consumers have the mistaken impression that long term care insurance is expensive,” said Slome. In response, AALTCI has developed promotional materials designed to help consumers understand what the costs are.

AALTCI’s efforts are also aimed at the increasingly younger market for long term care insurance — the average age of a policyholder in 2000 was 67, while in 2007 it was 58, Slome said. A key point the association tries to make is that there are good reasons to take out a long term care policy when you are young and in relatively good health, Slome said.

“You need to health-qualify for long term care insurance,” he said. “If you wait until you’re in your mid-60s, two things are likely to happen. The first is you’re much more likely to lose good-health discounts, and second, the worst-case scenario is that your health condition has gotten worse and you can no longer qualify at all.”

AALTCI also works to educate consumers and producers alike that a full-fledged long term care package isn’t always needed and that choosing a lower level of benefits may provide adequate protection for the insured and significantly reduce the premium, he said. Calculating inflation protection in different ways is one example of how costs can be reduced. Some carriers also offer the ability to purchase a base level of coverage, with the ability to add to it as life circumstances change. That allows the consumer to “lock in” the health qualification, Slome said.

More targeted coverage for DI clients
In the disability insurance segment, where 61 percent of agents in the disability portion of the 2008 Health Insurance study said their clients perceived coverage as too expensive, carriers are starting to offer a greater breadth of coverage types to make coverage less expensive for those put off by the price.

According to Bob Taylor, executive director of the Council for Disability Awareness, the industry has been making several creative moves toward more accessible and more affordable products, including a push toward increased awareness of the true cost and value of disability insurance.

“Clearly one of the challenges of the industry is this is a difficult, somewhat complex product to sell, probably more than any other genre of products,” Taylor said. “I think we’re starting to make inroads in getting [the message of value] out and that, combined with efforts on the part of insurance companies to make it easier to buy and sell their products, those forces are coming together and are showing bright signs on the horizon.”

Among the disability companies working to make their products more accessible is Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America, which is offering policies that allow consumers flexibility in what coverage they have. As their life circumstances change, their coverage can change with it, said Larry Hazzard, senior vice president for product and marketing.

And Unum Provident recently placed their traditional employer-funded product and their employee-funded voluntary product on one platform, allowing for a lower spread of risk and lower administrative costs that can then result in lower rates.

Mike Simonds, chief marketing officer for Unum U.S., urges agents to discuss with clients any group disability offerings their employers may offer, as group policies typically carry a lower premium than individual disability products. Tweaking coverage options such as elimination and benefit periods can also help further tailor the coverage to meet both budget and needs, he said.

Ultimately, cost should be no concern for those looking to shield themselves from mounting bills and potential loss of income. In reality, however, it can be difficult to motivate clients to think beyond the now and see the true return on investment of a major insurance purchase. Combining education with new solutions, however, can help ease your clients’ cost concerns

The Wall Street Journal recently called the individual health insurance market a “prime business opportunity” for insurers. How right they are. This market is expected to generate more than $100 billion in annual premiums in the under-65 market and an additional $200 billion in senior markets. Estimates coincide with what many health care experts are saying: The individual health insurance segment is rapidly becoming the biggest and most promising growth sector for health insurers and agents.

How do agents fit in? Well, it’s fairly obvious — they are uniquely positioned to help carriers sell these new products by providing the education and high-touch support that these emerging consumers need when comparing and purchasing coverage options.

If you haven’t yet devised a strategy to help you get your share of the estimated 25 million new individual, family, and senior paid policies that will be written in the next four to five years, the time to do so is now.

Following are three tips that will help you gear up for this rapidly emerging market.

#1: Keep up with the times
The individual market has been largely ignored for decades by the nation’s leading health insurers. So why the sudden interest? There are two key economic forces driving the rush to capture this market. First, commercial health insurance sales have basically flatlined since the early 2000s. Skyrocketing premiums have forced employers in the small and mid-sized markets to eliminate group health coverage, shifting the purchasing decisions and costs to individuals. If employers continue to opt out of group health plans, the number of individuals expected to need new coverage will increase substantially. According to the Economic Policy Institute, between 2000 and 2006 alone, an estimated 8.6 million Americans became uninsured, due primarily to the erosion of employer-provided health insurance. A lingering recession can only increase this movement in the near term.

Second, there is increasing pressure on policymakers to cover the 47 million uninsured Americans. According to a 2003 report by the Institute of Medicine, the U.S. spends about $35 billion per year to provide medical care to the uninsured.

These medical costs create a huge ripple effect throughout the economy.

Policymakers are demanding new programs to cover the uninsured and are calling on private health insurers to provide the plans that will meet these consumer needs.

In light of all this, be sure to keep abreast of state and carrier developments, because today’s market can move very fast, enabling legislation and new carrier initiatives. In fact, one recent carrier initiative targeting the uninsured in a small state generated 20,000 new sales in the span of eight weeks.

#2: Get to know your customer
Historically, the insurance industry has defined the “uninsured” as a “high risk” market segment, largely composed of individuals with pre-existing medical conditions and those who were unemployed. Today, that definition couldn’t be farther from the truth. As it turns out, 85 percent of uninsured Americans today are employed, almost half are between the ages of 18 and 34, and about 75 percent describe their health as “excellent” or “very good,” according to a recent Census Bureau survey. Most have some college education, and about half earn incomes that put them right in the middle of the middle class. This makes them prime candidates for individual health coverage.

#3: Understand your role
Agents are uniquely positioned to play a growing role in the sales of individual health plans, educating and guiding consumers to the coverage that best suits their family, health status, and financial situation. But these sales will be unlike anything you’ve sold in the group market. These prospects spend hours plugged into the Internet for entertainment, socializing, learning, and shopping. Already, according to Celent, about 50 percent of individual health insurance purchases are initiated or completed online, and that number is expected to increase to over 90 percent by 2012.

So where does that leave agents? Fortunately, agents are positioned to be the most important facilitator of coverage. Why is that? Because even with all the information and access that the Internet offers, the vast majority of shoppers require assistance from a professional advisor to understand and sift through the growing list of products, as well as numerous network, pricing, and financing configurations.

So regardless of where you’ve been and what you’ve sold in the past, when you make the effort to keep up with health industry developments and initiatives, learn all you can about your target market, and develop a solid understanding of your role in the industry, you can position yourself for success in the burgeoning individual health insurance industry.

Attrition – it’s an ugly word that conjures up images of irreparably wounded relationships, disappointments, and lost revenue. Attrition is typically thought of as an inevitable obstacle to growing your insurance practice. You must sell enough to compensate for those predictable losses and sell even more if you want to grow your bottom line. It’s a bit like the old saying, “Three steps forward, two steps back.”

Trying to sell enough to compensate for lost customers then selling even more to increase profits is the norm for most insurance agents. Not only is it frustrating, with estimated costs for acquiring new clients exceeding $1,500 each, it’s a pretty expensive strategy, as well.

Power up with information
Do you know how exactly many customers you have lost? It’s surprising how many business people just assume that losing clients is “a part of the business.” They react at the moment it happens, but soon the disappointment fades and the client is relegated to a back room file with a “that’s business” shrug. You have to acknowledge a problem before you can fix it. Get into your old records and take a hard, honest look at your agency’s track record.  

The average company loses 20 percent of its customers each year. If you have determined, or can determine, an average dollar value for each customer it’s not hard to figure out the amount of revenue that represents. You can even take that information to the next level and place a “life-time” value on each customer. How much revenue does a loyal customer represent for the lifetime of his or her business? This can be sobering information. It certainly shines a bright light on the value of customer satisfaction.

This isn’t the full picture, however. Loyal customers refer friends. But while you may score one or two good referrals from a happy client, a dissatisfied customer tells an average of 10 people.

Maybe it’s time to dust off those old file and create a plan for contacting the customers who have left you. Find out what the problem was. Some things, such as having to relocate out of your service area, are circumstances you cannot overcome. But other information is priceless. An issue that pushed a particular client into leaving may be annoying your other clients as well.

We are living in a business climate where most people feel they are little more than a number. This can be especially true in the insurance industry with its automated billing, forms, and notices. In an industry where people become numbers, just taking a personal interest and showing concern speaks volumes.

Obviously, fix and change what you can. If a problem is beyond your control, consider accumulating and passing on pertinent information to those in a position to make appropriate changes. As an agent you are the conduit between the client and the provider. We have all experienced the frustration of knowing there is a problem but feeling powerless to do anything about it. The research you conduct with customers who have defected gives you power to influence change and is invaluable to everyone concerned.

Hold yourself accountable
We are a goal-oriented species. Set a goal for how many clients you want to regain. Along with setting goals for recapturing lost clients, strive for 100 percent retention of your current customers. Remember, we seldom get more than we ask for. You won’t achieve 90 percent of anything if you’re willing to settle for 75 percent.

If you want to achieve 100 percent customer satisfaction, declare it. If you intend to regain 80 percent of your lost customers, take ownership of that goal as well. Write down your intent. Make it real. Writing down your goals literally impacts your neurology and enhances the likelihood your statements will become reality. But it is not a substitute for action.

As in everything, have a plan. Don’t wait for clients to defect before you listen to their concerns or randomly “deal with” complaints and then accept the fall out. Look for solutions. Show you care. Document what the complaints are so you can determine if there is a common thread. You may think a problem is solved, but that doesn’t mean your client thinks so. Create a short-term and long-term follow up strategy. It’s easier to keep a customer than regain one.

Keep in mind, a customer who has left you is not necessarily happier for having made the change. Let lost customers know you took their dissatisfaction seriously, and what you did or are doing about it. While you cannot necessarily change the policies of your underwriter, you can let unhappy clients know you took their complaint seriously enough to take it up with the powers that be. If it is an internal situation and you have addressed it, again, let the client know. Customers are especially impressed if you have actually made changes in how your agency conducts business a result of complaints (provided such action is warranted.) Don’t keep your responsiveness a secret. Let your clients know they matter to you. Even if you can’t change the situation immediately, genuine concern helps keep the door open for future communication.

So next time you are looking at where to start prospecting for new business, don’t overlook those files tucked away in a back room. That lost-customer file may look as useless as a pile of lead, but with a bit of prospecting alchemy you can turn that lead into solid gold.

Mitzi Crall, Ph.D. is a sales, marketing, and management consultant, speaker and, trainer.

Nearly 50 percent of producers reported an uptick in business and referrals despite the economic crisis, according to new research by LIMRA.

The survey of nearly 700 experienced producers, who focus on individual clients, was conducted in early November and found that about one-third think the U.S. economy will stabilize within one year. More than 90 percent of producers surveyed think their business in 2009 will be as good as or better than it was in 2008. In addition, producers reported that almost 90 percent of their clients made no changes to their financial portfolios as a result of the financial crisis, and 46 percent obtained new referrals during this period.

Similar to a study of consumers that LIMRA conducted, the survey found producer confidence in insurance companies was higher than all other financial institutions, including stock brokerage and investment firms, mutual funds, banks, and even ratings agencies and regulators. Consumers reported highest confidence in local banks and credit unions, ahead of insurers.

When asked what carriers could do to help the producers, the overwhelming response was better communication. They also said they wanted carriers to be more proactive in communicating the security of life insurance.

When asked about the actions they have taken, 85 percent of individual producers reassured their clients to stay the course, while nearly three-quarters provided their clients with information about the financial stability of a company or product. In addition, about two-thirds of these advisors suggested to some clients that this is a good time to invest.

In product news, LIMRA’s sales survey report shows that new annualized premium for individual life insurance dropped 11 percent in the third quarter of 2008. Variable life and variable universal life saw the steepest decline, with a 33 percent drop each quarter. And after seven straight years of considerable growth, universal life premium experienced a significant decline in 2008. Third-quarter premium dropped 12 percent over the same period in 2007.

LIMRA reported that term sales are holding their own, with new premiums flat for the third quarter.

Despite the decline of variable annuity (VA) sales, overall sales of individual annuities continued at a record setting pace in 2008, reaching $197.1 billion through the first three quarters, according to LIMRA’s “U.S. Individual Annuities Third Quarter 2008 Sales Report.”

While VA sales were virtually flat in the first quarter, second-quarter VA sales decreased 12 percent, and sales dropped 18 percent in the third quarter when compared with the same quarter from 2007.

For the first nine months of 2008, VA sales reached $122.0 billion, a decrease of 10 percent. LIMRA estimated that just over 80 percent of new VA premium went into contracts in which a guaranteed living benefit rider was elected, if available.

When you discuss life insurance with a client, a number of objections are likely to emerge. One of them — that they already have free or low-cost coverage through their employer — can be difficult to overcome. A skilled agent needs to highlight the importance of permanent insurance and the proper amount of coverage to convince the client to reach into their own pocket for more protection instead of relying on something temporary.

But in today’s economy, the “temporary” label doesn’t just apply to the nature of the insurance clients have through work; it also reflects the work itself. A lack of job security means that many jobs — and their accompanying benefits — are constantly in danger of being eliminated altogether. Clients who cannot be certain where they’ll be working in a few years also cannot be confident about what their benefits will look like at that time.

On one hand, those economic uncertainties create challenges for agents whose products compete with other essentials in a shrinking family budget. Even a client with job security and other insurance needs might find themselves unwilling to move forward with a necessary program. Writing a check for a large policy could take a back seat to other priorities, and decisions regarding coverage could be deferred to an unknown point in the future.

But the most successful agents often find opportunities alongside obstacles, and the current economic climate can provide plenty of both. Can agents overcome client concerns about the future by arguing in favor of adequate coverage? Can they help show prospects who are wary of new financial commitments the benefits of additional short-term and permanent policies? And in this economy, what are the best methods to increase a client’s peace of mind and an agent’s business at the same time?

Marvin Feldman, president and CEO of the LIFE Foundation, a nonprofit educational resource, said that losing work coverage is especially difficult for the millions who don’t have their own insurance policy.

“When they lose their group insurance, it really makes them go bare at a time when they need it more than ever, because if something were to happen to them at that point, there’s nothing for the family to fall back on,” Feldman said.

If an agent has clients in this situation, he advises the agent to be proactive and reach out to help clients make informed decisions and obtain the right amount of coverage. While money will be an issue for anyone with employment uncertainties, the low cost of term insurance makes it a viable stopgap solution for many who need sizable coverage at an affordable price.

Feldman also pointed out that even those who remain employed need to review and adjust the amount of coverage they have, since the term insurance provided through work is usually just a small portion of their annual salary.

“If you have somebody making $50,000 a year and their group term insurance is $50,000 or $100,000 maximum, they’re way underinsured to begin with, and they need to be supplementing that with some outside coverage,” he said.

Tony Franks, a financial planner with MetLife, is seeing a renewed interest in policies that replace coverage that ended when the prospect lost their job.

“I have been seeing my phone ringing a lot more because people are losing their jobs,” Franks said. “They still have families. They still have spouses that need to be taken care of.”

He said that price-conscious clients are also receiving advice from the media regarding the benefits of term insurance, so their interest may be heightened from commercials and other outlets that provide general advice.

While he said that term usually meets a short-term need, however, agents should make sure their clients are educated as to the pros and cons of different policies before settling on a solution.

Franks also said that supplementing term insurance obtained through work can have additional costs if the client goes through their employer to obtain that extra coverage. In some cases, the client pays a higher price as the insurer also needs to cover those in the group who are in worse health. As a general rule, Franks said that healthy clients should consider supplementing their work coverage with a policy on their own, noting that an agent can provide a lifetime of assistance and advice as opposed to the limitations of a human resources department.

Richard Koob, a Northwestern Mutual financial representative with 41 years in the business, agreed. He believes that it’s important for clients to control their coverage by obtaining policies independent of their work benefits.

“I always encourage people, even when they do have employer-sponsored benefits, to match it — to say, ‘I need to have some insurance in force that I control that is not subject to external circumstances,’” Koob said. “‘I control this, and as long as I am able to pay the premium I am assured that I have continual coverage.’” That way, he added, clients always have a policy to fall back on regardless of their employment situation.

He admitted that the public has adopted a general apprehension to making long-term financial commitments because of economic uncertainties. If an agent presents a comprehensive program that requires more than a nominal investment, they can expect the client to delay action for several months. Koob suggested offering a term policy to cover the client while they’re deciding on a more complex strategy. He believes that if the need truly exists, doing nothing will not only fail to solve the problem but could create more troubles in the long run. Term insurance, while not a long-term solution in those cases, will provide affordable coverage and help meet those needs. In addition, a good term policy with convertibility allows clients to obtain a more permanent policy without providing further evidence of insurability.

Dick Miller, a regional vice president with Pacific Life, also believes that term insurance can be a valuable short-term solution, but believes that agents should be adamant about the importance of a more permanent plan when appropriate.

“Too often, people depend on employer-sponsored insurance to cover them,” Miller said. “Insurance is something that should be considered valuable enough of an asset to be personally owned.”

Instead of considering another policy as a supplement to their term insurance through work, clients should consider their employer-sponsored program to be the supplement to their own more comprehensive program, he said.

Miller believes that agents should explain that insurance shouldn’t be seen as a simple expense, but a valuable asset with benefits that make it integral to a financial plan. He acknowledges that clients might be experiencing financial challenges that make implementation difficult, but agents should look for the best way to cover a client’s needs and create a foundation based on permanent solutions.

“In this current economic environment, where people are watching what they’re spending, term is probably, in some situations, a good answer,” he said. “But there are still other situations where permanent insurance can still be the answer today.”

Regardless of what path an agent takes in meeting a client’s insurance needs, experts agree that finding a solution and investing in the agent-client relationship is ultimately good for business, even if the early returns don’t fully compensate for the efforts. While the commissions generated from a basic term insurance policy might not sound enticing in the short run, Feldman encourages agents to be patient and take a long-term approach to their books of business. Those clients who begin with a simple term insurance policy can develop into consistent and profitable repeat business for an agent who takes the time to meet their early needs.

“That [term insurance] client could possibly grow into a very nice client over a long period of time,” Feldman said. “It’s the initial investment in time and effort that the agent has to make, and they’ve got to make that determination [whether] they want to do this. In most cases, it will probably work out.”

Miller also believes that a sound agent-client relationship will eventually become a valuable asset to both parties.

“The key is to make them a client, and have them build trust in your advice and your judgment,” Miller said.

“The type of product will become secondary to the quality of advice that you give them.”

Clients and prospects constantly need to be educated so they know and understand the value of your products, services, or practice. Plus, they need to know exactly what to do with this information, or they may never figure out what you want them to do.

Even you are great at your business and love what you do, if your clients don’t know about your enthusiasm, you’ll never reach the sales volume that you dream about.

You sell insurance. All of the details about what type of insurance you sell, who needs it, and why prospects and clients should listen to you should be included in all of your advertising and promotional material. You should have handy a report or booklet on how to save on insurance costs — one that could be used in a variety of marketing efforts — that you offer to clients for free.

In other words, teach your customer about your products and your firm. Teach them about your insurance offerings in general and how these products would be useful to them. You can even expand your educational efforts to include information on related subjects.

One of the most unfortunate marketing mistakes that agents make far too often is failing to let their customers know what is unique about their products or services.

If you are an independent agent and have looked at 10, 25, or even 50 insurance carriers, let your clients know this. They’ll be impressed that you’ve investigated and eliminated those carriers that don’t provide the value, support, service, or dependability you know your clients want and need.

What if your offerings solve three times as many problems as your competitors’ offerings? Your customer won’t know this unless you point it out to them.

Few businesses realize that, in addition to educating your customer, you must lead them to action — this is the key to successful marketing.

People need to be told exactly what to do to in order to fully benefit from your offerings. Therefore, every sales call, marketing campaign, or personal contact should make your case.

The average consumer wants and needs to be led. They want to know more about the products and services they are interested in, but will procrastinate if you don’t motivate them to move forward and make a purchase.

As you educate your customers and tell them how to buy your offerings, you’ll find much success.