Ben Nevejans

Best Practices—Leaving A Lasting Legacy

Ben Nevejans

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October 1, 2021

Our industry lost a great man last month. To know Bill Zimmerman was to love and respect him. Though it would take him hours to make it through just one aisle of the NAILBA exhibit hall, stopping every couple of yards to engage with an old friend or meet someone new, he could never get enough of learning and giving back. Much to his chagrin he hadn’t been as active in the industry for the past several years as he once was. Not having his extraordinary presence around was missed by all who knew him but also left many new to the industry without an understanding of what his contributions meant to our community. Bill Z’s long career in the life insurance and financial services trade spanned over five decades. During his first 20 years he excelled as a top personal producer, as an agency manager, as a PPGA and finally as the founder of one of the leading independent marketing organization in the country.

In fact, Bill was there at the very beginning of today’s staple industry associations and helped countless peers, carriers and vendors navigate the very early days of independent brokerage. Over the course of his career, Bill Z helped guide numerous field advisory boards and donated thousands and thousands of hours to the industry by helping to create consumer friendly products and efficient distribution techniques. Many of those carriers, including Allianz Life, National Life, Aegon, F&G, Conseco, United Presidential and many others owe a large degree of their past and current successes to the work Bill did. He generously served as a member of several local and national trade organizations including NAILBA, AALU and NAIFA, and was a long-time member and supporter of the MDRT and Top of the Table organizations. The numerous articles he penned and contributed to some of the finest financial trade journals always focused on relevant topics of the day, many of which are still referenced presently.

It was in 1986, with a dream of starting an independent marketing organization that stands on integrity, service and honor that he opened the doors of LifePro Financial Services, a company that focuses on what is genuinely in the best interest of the end-consumer and the extensive support of the advisors who deliver it. But Bill’s vision and personal crusade to help others didn’t end with his countless hours each week spent with his team, carriers, vendors, consumers and financial advisors. Those that knew Bill best saw how much of his life he devoted to helping individuals overcome serious and life-threatening personal challenges. In fact, he spent nearly as much time helping those in recovery as he did those in the insurance business. In addition to LifePro he founded the charitable organization 12StepRadio.com, a recovery based, on-line radio site providing solace and resources to thousands. Most people in the industry would not be surprised to learn that since 1987 Bill spent each and every Saturday of his life engaging in back-to-back meetings mentoring and sponsoring those in need. He hosted a regular weekly study group at his home for over 30 years and spoke at international and local conventions regularly. Bill Z was more than just an agent, he was more than just the founder of an IMO, more than a businessman, he was a mentor, an advocate for anyone in need, and a loyal friend. He was a true humanitarian who dedicated himself to helping everyone he could and leading a life of service to others.

In business, one of Bill’s major passions, for obvious reasons, revolved around the plight of small business owners and entrepreneurs. Many of the strategies, programs and education delivered by LifePro over the years focused on providing insured solutions to the myriad all-too-real problems faced by this incredible league of hard charging, independent, dedicated, job creating individuals. Another passion near and dear to Bill’s heart was the creation, success and ultimate succession of his own business.

Bill became a GA and an IMO because he knew he could help more people collectively than he ever could by being a one-man advisor. Though he could help many families and business owners by working with them one-on-one he understood that if he created an organization dedicated to the end consumer and the independent advisor he could exponentially increase the amount of service he could give to the world. He also knew that in order to achieve his lofty goals he needed to surround himself with a like minded and like-spirited team. He literally poured his blood, sweat and tears into that cause and was ultimately rewarded with wild success. But that wasn’t enough for Bill. He wanted to make sure that the service he provided didn’t stop when he could no longer be the one delivering it. To that end he became what Jim Collins would characterize as a “Level 5 Leader.” A leader that builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. In other words, a leader that is willing to sacrifice ego for long lasting and generational continuing results.

Bill Z was truly a cook that ate his own cooking. He studied, created and promoted “recipes” for successful business owners and he employed them in his own firm. You see, Bill struggled with a real-life challenge faced by many entrepreneurs: How do I help the most people for the greatest amount of time and make sure my vision lives on. He took personal offense to the old adage “shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in three generations.” He knew that what he and his team were able to build was special and could live on for many, many generations with the proper planning and care. He also wanted to make sure that the team who helped him gain his success shared in the continued success, as well as the continued responsibility, when he no longer could. Finally, he turned himself into a true Level 5 Leader. When things went right, he credited others. When things went wrong, he took responsibility. The only way his vision would live on was if he found and nurtured those that had leadership skills and a shared vision.

The final ingredient to this Five Star formula? A Five Star succession plan. Bill, with the help of his team, including his long-time consultant, came up with what he referred to as a Non-Qualified Employee Ownership Plan. Thereby the individuals that worked the closest and longest with Bill and who would lead the next generation became the majority owners of LifePro upon his passing. Additionally, over the years, once an employee reached their five-year anniversary and remained on, they were given shares in the company and had a vested interest in seeing the company move forward. It’s important to note that inside of this unique succession plan ownership was not “given away” but rather sold via a note held by Bill and his estate. Perhaps the most important piece to this entire plan and indeed the linchpin that allows it all to work was something we are all very familiar with…life insurance. And how appropriate that the ultimate execution of the plan occurred during Life Insurance Awareness Month. The policies that the company purchased on Bill Z’s life were used to complete the succession plan by paying off the note and allowing the company to transition to the next generation and away from the estate smoothly and seamlessly.

Bill Z, a true pioneer in our industry, not only touched the lives of so many consumers, advisors, carriers and vendors (some without even their knowing) but, in searching for a way to create a meaningful legacy, touched the lives of those who worked with him the closest. During what was one of the saddest and most emotional times in LifePro’s 35-year history, Bill’s successors and employees didn’t have to worry about having to look for a new job. They didn’t have to worry about supporting their families. They didn’t have to worry about their careers or a disruption in their common vision. Because of Bill Zimmerman, life insurance, and leading by example, that vision will carry on for generations to come by those that helped him see it through.

In our industry, and in our day-to-day responsibilities, there are many “best practices” that we can point to. Many of them would improve our output, make us more efficient and drive additional revenue. However, if your family, your life’s work, your employees and your legacy are truly important, I can think of no better practice than by following Bill Zimmerman’s example of walking the walk by utilizing the strategies we teach every day.

Policy Review: An Obligation Or An Opportunity?

Ben Nevejans

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September 28, 2020

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Policy Review: An Obligation Or An Opportunity?

“I don’t get paid to do those.” “I don’t have time to do those.” “Let Policy Services do those.” “What the heck are those?”

Bring up annual policy reviews to 90 percent of the producer population and these are some of the common retorts to the seemingly sensible suggestion. While each of those ripostes may have some degree of merit, the real reason annual reviews are not conducted on any type of regular basis can be summed up in just one word. Fear. Fear that the client will ask a question the advisor can’t answer; fear that the product sold did not perform as well as anticipated; fear that the advisor won’t be able to explain the myriad charges, fees, loads, credits and returns that make up these often complicated products. And that fear definitely has merit. The statements generated by the carriers can often be incredibly complicated to understand, let alone explain. So much so that it’s been said one would need the Rosetta Stone to decipher the true meaning of these yearly accounts.

While the complexity of the products and the fear of embarrassment, or worse, losing a sale, may be valid, it does not reduce the need for a thorough annual review on nearly every type of life insurance policy owned. Life insurance applications have been on the rise in 2020 for obvious reasons. According to the MIB Life Index, application activity increased 3.4 percent in Americans under 44 in the first part of this year. While the simplest form of insurance, term life, made up 23 percent of all sales in the first quarter, some of the more sophisticated products such as indexed universal life, whole life and variable universal life overwhelmingly made up the majority at 68 percent of market share. It’s fair to say that term insurance can be thought of as a “set it and forget it” type of product and as long as the client systematically pays the premium established at the time of purchase, over the entire length of the policy, on time, they can probably feel confident that their death benefit will be there throughout the length of the term period. Regardless, the majority of the products sold, now and in the past, do not afford the clients the same attitude of invigilance. Indeed, with fluctuating caps, participation rates, interest rates, dividend scales and the uncertainty of COIs coupled with the flexibilities of planned premiums, these products need to be looked after on a regular basis.

The Los Angele Times once ran an article depicting the story of an elderly couple who, after making regular monthly premium payments for over 23 years totaling thousands of dollars, were forced to increase their monthly premium payment by a rate of 2,000 percent in order to keep the same death benefit they originally purchased. Unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence for clients who may have purchased VUL or fixed UL hoping that the illustrated rates, which made sense at the time, would sustain the policy for the rest of their lives.

Policy holders relying on dividends to offset premiums are likely also to face danger. The danger for them is that their contract’s success probability is predicated on the insurance company’s ability to pay policyholders a dividend based on a projected scale used at the time of purchase. One major whole life carrier has seen a decrease of nearly 20 percent (19.28 percent) in their dividend interest rate from 2010 to 2020 and an over 46 percent decrease in the past 20 years. Given the rate of declining dividend payouts over the last decade, a decade by the way in which the American economy saw unprecedented bull market returns, what can whole life policyholders expect as we move into vast economic uncertainty? In fact, we have already seen carriers experiencing the largest spreads between their dividend interest rate crediting and their current bond interest earnings—meaning that policy holders can expect dividend scale payouts to be reducing at a rate quicker than they’ve experienced ever before.

Perhaps most at risk for potential disaster is trust owned life insurance or TOLI. The Uniform Prudent Investor Act of 1994 clearly sets standards for all trustees in managing and investing trust assets including life insurance. Section 2 of the UPIA titled “Standards of Care,” goes so far as to give specific direction toward the responsibility of the trustee to systematically monitor and document all trust assets. In STOLI situations, not only should insurance policies be reviewed but per legislation they must be reviewed.

We’ve discussed why insurance advisors don’t do annual reviews and it’s clear why they should do annual reviews but the real question that needs answering is why insurance advisors want to do annual reviews.

It’s been said, and I very much believe it, that a producer’s opportunity to generate revenue is limited to three sources. The first and most obvious being new business acquisition, which tends to receive more attention than any of the others. And why not? There are few things more attractive to a salesperson than the thought of fat, juicy leads. We all love the idea of being introduced to hundreds of new, qualified and engaged prospects. You don’t have to look much past your outlook in-box to see that the overwhelming majority of spam ads are focused around lead generation. Generating brand new prospects is the life’s blood of any sales organization, however it’s only one-third of the total opportunity to generate revenue for the firm.

Any good sales person understands that their best prospects are their existing clients. It’s a fool’s notion to assume that once a client has purchased an insurance or financial product that they are never going to need another product that the original sales person has the capability to sell. An incredibly large percent of consumers who purchase an insurance or financial product today will purchase another one within the next five years. An incredibly small percent of them will purchase it from the original advisor. Why? Because that original advisor has not kept in touch, has not made the client aware of other products that they can provide and has not consistently conducted annual reviews.

If generating new prospects is the life’s blood of a sales organization, then asking for referrals is like going to the blood bank. An advisor could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per year acquiring brand new prospects while the easiest and often most lucrative prospects cost only a conversation. The trick is that the conversation must take place with an existing and satisfied customer. What better time to have that conversation and ask for those referrals than after taking the time to explain how the customer’s financial vehicle (which you sold) has performed over the past year, over its lifetime, and what it is likely to do in the future. With clarity comes confidence and with confidence comes a satisfied customer. Social psychologists talk about the Law of Reciprocity which in a nutshell states that when someone does something nice for another, the recipient will have a deep-rooted psychological urge to do something nice in return. In this context, what better way for a satisfied customer to show appreciation than to refer you to other like-minded peers?

Let’s assume two-thirds of an advisor’s revenue generating opportunities require regular meetings with existing clients and consumers who own insurance and financial products. Let’s also assume that those clients desperately need help to gain clarity and understanding of what they own and how it will affect their futures. If those assumptions are true, then the only logical conclusion is that the most successful practitioners of the future will find the resources necessary to understand how to decipher and explain a policy statement. They will make the time to conduct annual reviews with all of their clients and, if possible, any other policyholder that will sit down with them. The often unapparent truth is that not only does an advisor get paid for conducting annual reviews, they might get paid more for conducting annual reviews than they do for anything else.

Selling IUL In A Pandemic World

Ben Nevejans

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September 1, 2020

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We’ve all heard the story. If you’ve spent any time in sales at all it’s a tough one to avoid, but it’s still a great story… Based on the recommendation of a high-level executive, ACME Shoe Co. agrees to expand into a new market in the South Pacific. Wanting to impress the C-Suite and shareholders alike the executive puts his two best sales people on the job and ships them to two different tropical islands halfway around the world. After a couple weeks go by the exec calls up the first sales person and asks with anticipation, “So how’s it going over there? Are we selling a lot of shoes?” The response comes back terse and aggressive, “Are you kidding me? You sent me to an island where no one wears shoes! Of course I’m not selling any shoes! Send me a plane ticket home, I’m outta here!” With this disappointing report the executive tentatively dials the number for the second sales person and this time asks with trepidation, “So how’s it going over there? Are we selling any shoes?” The excited response he receives changes his mood drastically. “Are you kidding me? You sent me to an island where no one owns any shoes! I can’t keep them on the shelves! Send me another dozen crates, I’m killing it over here!”

Whether you view it as a cautionary tale against a negative attitude or an inspiring tale about having the right mindset, it definitely underscores that great Henry Ford quote, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” It’s also a terrific metaphor for the state our industry found itself in during March of 2020.

In the early days of COVID-19, with quarantines sweeping the nation, we witnessed two types of producers and, to a large extent, two types of marketing organizations. Those that felt their clients and prospects—watching the world as they knew it crumble before their eyes—had no desire or need to talk to them about the products and solutions they provide. Then there were those that viewed it completely differently. With a virtual mortality tracker updating on the news every night, businesses closing their doors daily and the stock market dropping like a lead weight in your favorite fishing hole, their mantra quickly became: “There has never been a better time to be in the insurance and financial planning industry.”

Indeed, who else has the insured solutions to protect against future market volatility? Who else could offer peace of mind should their worst fears be realized with this pandemic ravishing the nation at untold rates? And certainly not least, who else could provide tax advantaged retirement vehicles in a future where tax rates must certainly and drastically increase to pay for the unprecedented amounts of government stimulus packages?

The question remained though, how does one do an about face and reinvent a practice to be successful in a world where face-to- face interactions no longer exist? Even those that knew they were on the precipice of arguably the greatest opportunity of their career did not know how, or where, to jump.

Having the right solution is critical. But it’s only one of four crucial ingredients necessary to bake a successful “virtual” practice. And like any good recipe, it’s important to add each ingredient at the right time with the right measurement in the right steps.

Step 1—Identifying the Solution
To identify the right solution, you first must identify the right problem. What pains are your clients and prospects experiencing? Unfortunately, during this chapter of our history, the American public’s pains were no mystery and by no means difficult to uncover. You didn’t have to look past the headlines to realize the vast majority had reason to panic. Beginning on March 9 the market plummeted, falling a record of 2,013.76 points, followed by two more record setting point drops on March 12 and March 16. These were the three worst tumbles the U.S. markets had ever seen, ending an 11 year bull market run. During that very same month the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act was passed by the 116th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump adding an additional $2.2 trillion dollars to an already unfathomable U.S. national debt that now topples over $26 trillion. As we watched business after business close their doors, many never to open again, and send their employees home to collect unemployment, the only conclusion the U.S. taxpayers could draw was that regardless of how this pandemic plays out, taxes are going up.

Now that the problem has been defined, what is the solution? If only there were a product, backed by the incredible financial strength of a highly rated, legal reserve insurance company, that allowed the American consumer to contribute a maximum amount of assets limited not by the IRS but by their own personal insurability. And if it grew tax deferred like an IRA, would taxpayers want to know about it? What if those funds were accessible during retirement (or before) on a tax-free basis like a Roth IRA…do you think your clients would be interested? And what if all those funds participated in the growth of the market when the U.S. enters its recovery period yet remain protected from negative returns brought on by any future pandemics, market crashes or extended recessions? Obviously, those of us in the industry know that this product does exist. In fact, it’s existed for over 20 years and has one heck of a track record when structured efficiently and with the policyholders’ best interest in mind. We know this product as indexed universal life and there has never been a more important time to talk to the American people about the incredible relief this product can bring to the fears and pains they are experiencing.

Step 2—Creating the Infrastructure
In the U.S., most successful independent practices are run from a brick and mortar office. While some advisors have had success working out of the home, the reality is that with day to day distractions, lack of technology, and need to convey professionalism, the typical practice has grown up outside of the home. These practices are complete with staff, technology and plenty of room to meet with clients, prospects, vendors and strategic partners. Unfortunately, many advisors that did not have a defined disaster relief process prepared prior to March 2020 were forced to fly by the seat of their pants when seemingly out of the blue they no longer had the ability to work in an office. Questions like, “How do I meet with my staff and continue to remain in constant communication with them?” became paramount to moving forward. Tools like Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting and WebEx were crucial in meeting this need. Just as, if not more, important questions arose around client interactions. “How do we answer the phones and rout the clients appropriately?” RingCentral and Teams were two key tools while Zoom and GoToWebinar became vital in answering the question, “How do I meet with my clients and reassure them that their finances and families will remain secure during these troubled times?”

Step 3—Business Continuation
Once a successful face-to-face practice could function as a viable virtual practice with no loss in service standards to the customer, business continuation became essential. It’s great to be able to communicate and lead your clients with confidence, but if business could not be transacted because of the inability to meet face-to-face the practice wouldn’t be viable for long. Fortunately, our industry has embraced the online application process with nearly every carrier allowing some sort of drop ticket or eApp. With the sale, or rather the first part of the sales cycle, taken care of virtually we still had the second, selling the risk to the carrier, and the third, delivering and funding the policy, to contend with. Accelerated Underwriting has been a major topic in our industry for the better half of the last decade. Carriers using big data and data analytics have come a long way with non-fluid underwriting. Prior to COVID-19 it wasn’t hard to find an Accelerated Underwriting program up to $1,000,000 in face amount. In these unprecedented times, the carriers acted in unprecedented ways. Recognizing that the ability to have examiners go into the homes of potential insureds was no longer a reality, they quickly put the actuaries, reinsurers and underwriters to work and were able to increase their AU to as much as $3,000,000 in some instances. We also saw the rise in popularity and the carrier’s willingness to embrace electronic health records. Leading health data platforms like Human API and Clareto took away some of the remaining need for traditional face-to-face exams and are paving the way to eliminate the dreaded traditional APS. Now comes the most important part of the cycle—delivering and funding the policy. The application has been electronically submitted, the new business processing and underwriting has been completed and the policy has been issued. The good news, we’re at the finish line. The bad news, everything to this point has been an expense, or rather, an investment. If we can’t deliver that policy because we can’t see the client, or it takes so long through the mail that the client forgets why they bought it in the first place, not only did we not receive a return on that investment but we lost the entire principal. Unfortunately, the industry hasn’t embraced eDelivery like they have the eApp model. Though carriers were, and in some instances still are, scrambling to develop an eDelivery platform, tools such as DocuSign have become imperative to complete the sale. If you were in the mortgage or real estate industry DocuSign would be second nature. The absurd thing about the insurance and financial industry is that with all the paperwork necessary to transact business, DocuSign had yet, until now, been embraced by the institutions. Having this final tool in a business continuation plan has proven to be a major component in insulating a business from disaster.

Step 4—Messaging
With the confidence in having the right solutions, the right infrastructure and the right business continuation plan, a successful virtual practice needs one last and critical component. Message delivery. Justice Louis Brandeis once compared the use of a toll bridge to that of a free bridge during his commute to and from the Supreme Court chambers. He would use the toll bridge when he was in a rush, but when he planned adequately he would use the free bridge outside of town serving to alleviate congestion in the downtown area and saving himself money. He then went on to liken the toll as a convenience tax and thus the use of the free bridge as a tax avoidance strategy. The tragedy, he quipped, was that “So few people know that the free bridge even exists.” That free bridge could easily be a metaphor for our strategies. Getting that message out is our job and our responsibility. During this unique time in our history where the traditional means of communicating that message, such as workshops, seminars, adult financial education and other in-person events are not possible, we are forced to be creative in how we communicate to those that need our help the most. Indeed, prospecting and client acquisition must continue regardless of our environment if we hope to remain in business for very long.

We are fortunate that we live in a time where technology has the answers, if we know where to look. Zoom, GoToWebinar and WebEx are fantastic platforms to present ideas to multiple people in a very professional and efficient way. ScheduleOnce and Calendly are fantastic automated scheduling software programs to make sure you’re able to secure meetings with as many prospects as possible in a short amount of time. Social Media marketing with Facebook has become a tremendous source of new and ongoing prospects and when all of these are partnered with landing pages hosting resources like videos, articles, success stories and more you have the makings of a full virtual marketing webinar program!

One would be hard pressed to find someone to admit to being thankful for this pandemic or any disaster of this magnitude. Even if a practice thrived by helping existing clients during these troubled times while gaining trust from and acquiring new clients, the truth remains that our economy has been hit hard. Consumers lost a considerable amount of wealth, businesses were devastated, our national debt increased astronomically, and we’ll be recovering from this for a long while. It’s important to remember though that we have the solutions to help the American public now and in the future. It’s what we’ve done for our clients and communities since the advent of our profession. We were thrust into a climate where change was necessary. We all talk about the next disrupter. What is our industry’s Netflix, Uber or Airbnb? I would argue that we are living through our disrupter and its name is COVID-19. In order to survive it we must uncover ways to deliver the solutions and spread the message efficiently, technologically and easily. Our industry is being forced to evolve and propel itself into the modern world. Those of us that embrace it will not just survive but will thrive, regardless of what the new normal may look like. And if we do it right, we could finish our careers sitting on that tropical island drinking Mai Tais along with some of the greatest shoe salespeople in the world!

Life Opportunities In A Post DOL World

Ben Nevejans

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September 1, 2016

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Regardless of what you have or haven’t heard, your fixed indexed annuity (FIA) sales and much of your fixed indexed universal life (IUL) sales will significantly change after April 10, 2017 and January 1, 2018. These are the two deadlines the Department of Labor has imposed on the financial industry to comply with their new fiduciary guidelines. The result? Your indexed annuity and life sales will be different; the types of products you now sell will be different; the compensation you now earn will be different; and the way you gain access to the products will be different.

The DOL extension of ERISA regulations require that any professional offering investment advice on qualified plans such as IRAs and 401(k)s do so as a fiduciary and thus are subject to a higher standard of conduct. In many cases this will include a written contract attesting that the fiduciary acted in the best interest of the investor, signed between the financial institution and the individual client.

By all accounts, qualified dollars make up over half of the current FIA sales across the country. In fact LIMRA studies have shown that FIAs will decline from a predicted record high of $60 billion in 2016 to $40 billion in 2017 representing a 30 to 35 percent decrease in industry sales. What’s more, if fixed indexed annuities aren’t the majority of your annual production, don’t stop reading here—there are serious implications to your IUL business as well. The upside? This could be a major opportunity for you!

You may have overheard during side-bar conversations at your local NAIFA and industry meetings that this regulation will never see it through to actual implementation. In fact, if you listened to some of those same conversations a year ago you would have heard that the regulation would never see its way to actually being passed in the first place. So now that it has passed you can do one of two things. You can embrace the somewhat naïve idea that legislation, litigation or politicization will step in and save the day (probably not very likely). Or you can prepare your practice to not only survive in this new environment, but thrive. At this point in the game, it’s a real enough threat to your business that exploring a way to responsibly protect your livelihood probably makes the most sense. What’s more, the right preparation could also add another substantial source of revenue to your practice.

It’s important to be mindful that being held to the standards of a fiduciary is in no way a negative thing for an insurance professional nor for their clients and prospects. I’d like to think that the professionals reading this are already acting in that capacity. The crux of the issue for the insurance and annuity professional lies in the exemption that will continue to allow them to help clients with qualified solutions and receive commission for doing so.

The Best Interest Contract, or BIC, exemption includes fixed indexed annuities amongst a host of other retirement products and requires that the financial institution (FI), i.e. bank, broker/dealer, wirehouse, RIA or insurance carrier, enter into a contract with the investor stating that they and the representative are acting in the best interest of said investor. Not to be overlooked, this contract is held between the financial institution and the investor, not the agent and the investor. It also gives the investor unlimited opportunities to file a complaint and/or litigate against all parties involved should they ever feel that their best interests were not observed and that another product or solution may have performed better for their individual needs. Either incredibly forwardly thinking or deviously serendipitous, with this small clause the DOL, having no means of enforcing regulation themselves, have put the power of enforcement in the hands of tort attorneys.

Obviously this puts a lot more responsibility and liability on the financial institution, specifically when that FI is an insurance manufacturer who typically does not have the oversight and compliance infrastructure that a B/D, RIA, wirehouse or bank might. In fact, it may just be prohibitive all together for a carrier to use an insurance-only licensed representative that doesn’t already have a go-between FI to sign the BIC as a conduit to distribute their products to the public. In other words, rather than taking on the additional liability and exposing their seemingly deep pockets by entering into a contract with a client with whom they have no working relationship, some carriers may look to offer their products only through other financial institutions that do.

There is no doubt that the DOL regulations are still unclear at best. What is not completely understood is how various institutions will interpret and react to them. For instance, if a BIC must be signed and a carrier does not have adequate distribution through B/Ds or wirehouses, they may be forced to enter into the contract themselves. While this may seem like a good thing for an insurance-only licensed agent, there is still the exposure to litigation on their qualified sales. Another approach a carrier may opt for is in the product development arena. Because only FIAs, and not fixed annuities, are treated under the BIC exemption, carriers may choose to swing the pendulum back to non-indexed products that are treated under the less intrusive 84/24 exemption and have some of the same features that make so many FIAs attractive. A fixed annuity with a guaranteed income rider and a confinement doubler may not be a difficult transition for many of today’s insurance-only licensed agents to make. In a move that may prove a bit more difficult for today’s producer to transition to, many carriers are now looking to develop fee-based-only FIAs which would make it necessary for a producer to affiliate with an RIA and thus add a layer of protection to the manufacturer.

Although the 84/24 exemption does not require a written contract to be signed at the point of sale like its close cousin, it still clearly puts onus on the representative to act as a fiduciary and carries with it the shadow of exposure.

So where does this leave your indexed universal life sales? The overwhelming majority of focus in the insurance industry has been placed on the impact the DOL will have on the sale of FIAs. However, unlike FIAs, the majority of premium deposited into an IUL is not qualified and thus does not fall under the DOL’s jurisdiction.

This is not to say that an IUL or any life insurance product is completely exempt. It is certainly not an uncommon solution to individuals who are unknowingly and unwillingly creating a heavy future tax burden for themselves by deferring compensation into their company 401(k), over the company match, to redirect those funds into a more tax advantaged product like an IUL. Likewise it can sometimes prove prudent for an individual to liquidate a qualified account, pay the tax now at a known and possibly lower tax rate and transfer the remainder into an IUL which will enjoy tax deferred growth and, if structured correctly, provide a tax free income into perpetuity. If qualified funds are involved in the sale of an IUL they will be treated under the 84/24 exemption and thus experience a bit of regulatory relief from the DOL. There is also little to no immediate threat to an insurance-only licensed producer in being able to continue to sell IULs as the carriers incur no additional liability.

There is no doubt that indexed sales are changing. Carriers are looking to add a layer of protection between themselves and the client. New products are being developed, some that producers unaffiliated with an RIA may not be able to sell. The DOL has opened up the door for potential legal actions surrounding the recommendations producers make. For indexed annuity producers, the proverbial “cheese” is moving and the opportunity could very well lay within indexed universal life alternatives. Though a different type of sale with additional requirements making it a less transactional procedure, with the right training and proven process a move to more life solutions to retirement dangers could make the difference between a dying practice and a thriving practice.

For indexed universal life producers, carrier illustrations alone are not going to be enough to protect you in the future. Having a systematic way of documenting every step of the sale and providing clients with comparisons to other types of retirement vehicle options will be imperative.

For both insurance and annuity-only licensed producers, there is another solution that may be part of the answer. An affiliation with a true registered investment adviser is a viable and important path to consider looking toward. For conservation purposes it will allow today’s producers to continue to sell the products they have always sold. Becoming an investment adviser and having an RIA to perform compliance and due diligence will protect against future liabilities. By becoming a true financial adviser an agent now has the ability to develop an additional and recurring revenue stream. The revenue is no doubt a tremendous bonus, but think of the value proposition to existing clients and prospects alike that can now enjoy the benefits of true and holistic financial planning.

Life BGA Panel

Larry W. Dahl, Jason Lea, CFP and Ben Nevejans

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March 1, 2015

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Larry Dahl, President, Ash Brokerage

Jason Lea, President, Brokers’ Service Marketing Group

Ben Nevejans, Chief Marketing Officer, LifePro Financial Services

Q: Most “life shops” actually provide a wide range of products including annuities, long term care insurance and disability income protection. What is the full range of product types your agency offers, and what steps do you take to help/encourage/beg/nag/coerce “life producers” to further protect their client’s financial well-being by planning for long term care and disability risks?

Larry Dahl: We encourage our advisor partners to take an individual, client-centric approach to protection, accumulation and income planning. Certainly, a comprehensive plan for life insurance is the foundation, but you can’t complete the planning process by leaving out coverage for risks that can devastate clients. In addition to life insurance, we also offer annuities, linked benefits, long term care and disability income. This ensures that the risk conversation will focus on the goals and dreams of each individual, family and business.

Our DI and LTC offerings are unique because we encourage producers to take advantage of our offer to do the “heavy lifting” and utilize some of the best talent in the business. It’s not enough to just run a quote—our team will explore all options and then explain why the recommended solution makes sense for their client. We understand that our producers can’t be experts in all products, so we assembled the experts for them.

Jason Lea: Brokers’ Service Marketing Group (BSMG) started in 1972 as a life insurance brokerage agency, and in 2000 we added annuities, long term care insurance and disability insurance. Most BGAs have access to virtually every product worth selling, so products and compensation are barely table stakes. Producers want unique value for their practice added to the equation. Today we’re focused on changing the BGA model by modernizing it for the 21st century producer. Our business is now focused on a narrowed group of carriers with whom we have agreed to partner more closely than ever before. We have combined the latest tools in technology and digital marketing with our team of insurance experts—and it is a powerful combination. Now, we can consistently reach producers in exciting new ways, the ways they prefer, and help them communicate with their clients more effectively about optimizing risk management. We are proactive and accessible every day—we don’t wait for the phone to ring. Our producers want experts who can help them solve problems for clients—a secret weapon. We help them protect families and businesses and create transformational solutions.

The long term care opportunity is a great example of how unique, value-added services can make a difference. Seventy percent of retirees will need some form of care, yet fewer than 10 percent of eligible buyers have any form of a long term care solution. Producers today recognize the financial risk their clients are up against by not having a plan for dealing with long term care risk, but they don’t bring it up with clients because they are not comfortable talking about it. We help our producers understand that it’s their duty as financial professionals to start the conversation, and we give them the tools they need (workshops, study groups and one-on-one conversations) to build their confidence. Here’s the cool part: When they start speaking with their clients about planning for long term care risks, their clients are grateful for the conversation, the relationship is strengthened and sales happen. There are also exciting new long term care solutions available today (at a guaranteed fixed price for a guaranteed fixed benefit) that simply didn’t exist five years ago. Our sales team members are experts at helping top producers position these new long term care solutions to their clients.

Ben Nevejans: As a full service BGA/IMO we view our role as one of complete advisor support. With that, it is imperative that we offer not only core life and annuity products but long term care and critical care options as well. Like us, we encourage our advisors to take a holistic approach when working with clients. The odds that their client will have a long term care need during the relationship is much greater than the odds of a death benefit need during that same time frame. It is even more vital when providing clients with retirement and cash accumulation solutions. In these cases it becomes not only an opportunity but also the responsibility of the advisor to help protect their clients against the possibility of an unplanned illness which could easily derail a lifetime of retirement planning.

Q: With the decline of the career agency system, much of the traditional training and education of agents has either evaporated or shifted. What does your agency offer to further the training and education of both “new” and established agents?

Lea: Training and education are at the absolute core of our business. We pioneered live producer events in the 1980s and continue to innovate today with a dynamic combination of live educational events, original videos, webinars and conference calls. Over the years we have created a spirit of community and thought leadership among our producers—a sense that being part of the BSMG “family” is both worthwhile and rewarding. This year we are embarking on an exciting new digital marketing strategy to create a true virtual community that relies on high quality online content and the use of new mediums such as Google hangouts, targeted LinkedIn conversations, and the launch of our blog and two new websites—www.bsmg.net and www.getvive.com, just to name a few.

Twenty years ago, NAIFA and FSP chapter meetings were bustling, and today they have dwindled dramatically. Producers are going online to “network” on LinkedIn and searching on Google to get their questions answered. We have made a significant investment and have hired exceptional digital marketing talent to make sure that our content shows up in the right place for the right professionals. We consistently publish content, such as our Retirement Planning Playbook and Policy Review Checklist, hold educational webinars, host large scale training/CE events with nationally recognized speakers, as well as hosting networking events where our producers can share their success stories and best practices with one another. We also use on-demand video as a flexible practice enhancement tool to meet our agents’ changing needs, effectively creating a digital, 24/7 version of our sales team’s client positioning capabilities and concepts.

In the near future, producers will rely on a much more social, online approach to finding the content they need to grow their practices. This landscape is changing rapidly. Just think about how much more you use LinkedIn today compared to two years ago, then compare that to four years ago—the difference for all of us is astounding. Where will it be two years from now? What tools will producers use? Combining all of this technology and training, our consultative sales team is one key to keep us moving forward. Our company is there every day to support and help producers to enhance their practices, and we will constantly stay ahead of the latest trends to capitalize on new opportunities.

Nevejans: Whether a brand new advisor or a seasoned veteran, education must be a major focus in a successful practice. We constantly check the pulse of our Top of the Table and Elite advisors, and the most apparent common denominator is the importance placed and the money spent on continued education. With this in mind, LifePro conducts a 30- to 45-minute educational training webinar every day. Topics range from case design, sales concepts and solutions, best practices and advanced market specialties. No advisor can or should spend all of his time on webinars, but it is important to make education a habit, and the less time spent looking for education and the more time spent engaging in it the better. Additionally we conduct live educational teachings in our 2500 square foot training center, often flying advisors in from all over the country. We focus on topics such as tax-free retirement, Social Security maximization, IUL, annuity concepts, premium financing, and many more advance market topics. Knowledge is great, but action is the key. Not only do we provide the knowledge, but each training exercise is packaged with a turn-key process for the advisor to effectively deliver the message to new prospects and clients alike, ensuring that their education leads to solutions and commissions.

Dahl: Keeping pace with an industry landscape that is constantly changing is a challenge; our solution is to offer continuous learning opportunities for advisors at every stage in their careers. To encourage young insurance professionals, we have created a young advisors group for those with 20 years or more left in their careers. Here they receive training, support, mentorship and potential recruitment opportunities. Twice a year, top advisors and industry leaders are invited to our summit meetings, which allow them to share best practices and gain insight on trends and opportunities.

For all advisors, we have multiple educational events and meetings throughout the year, as well as an extensive online library of videos, webinars, blogs and industry news articles to help them stay up-to-date with the latest practices. Most important, we provide technical support around sales, with advanced marketing, attorneys, underwriting, etc., for individual client situations. Often, the best training is “on the job.” Nothing is more satisfying than hearing your client say, “Thank you—you provided exactly what we needed to meet our needs and fulfill our dreams.”

Q: Between the aging of the agent force and the distinct possibility of consumer lack of awareness, under-performing or soon-to-lapse policies can have major consequences for consumers and their financial planning goals. How important, structured and persistent are your agency’s policy review initiatives?

Nevejans: One of the most underserved areas in financial services could quite possibly be in-force life insurance. Unfortunately many clients purchased life insurance with the “set it and forget it” mentality. As we all know, even if the client purchased a GUL or whole life policy, rare is the case in which the product does not need to be reviewed and adjusted to reach the current goals of the client. Not only does this unfortunate phenomenon present a problem for the client who may be paying inadequate premiums into a “ticking time bomb,” but it is also a huge problem for our industry. With that said, why are so few advisors willing to conduct policy reviews? From my experience there are three main reasons: Fear, knowledge and lack of incentive. Many are afraid to go back to existing clients and point out that the product they sold is now inferior and may not be meeting the goals of the client. To this I tell my advisors that it was not a crime to offer the best product for the time with the knowledge that they had then. Like in the car industry, insurance policies are improving and becoming more efficient every year. My dad drove a sweet Cadillac in my youth, but even if it was in pristine condition today I’d still opt for my all-wheel drive, attention assist and satellite radio, and I expect my car dealer to update me on new options and features as they come out.

Unfortunately, getting information from the carriers can be time-consuming at best. At worst it is impossible. This is the next barrier many advisors face. Because of this we have developed a turn-key program to take the pain out of that process and allow us to utilize our expertise in working with carriers to get the information quickly and efficiently and to package it in an easy-to-present report.

Lastly, there is no perceived monetary reward for reviewing existing policies. To really recognize the value of conducting policy audits one must look past the small, often non-existent renewal commissions. The true value lies in the additional discovery process where new opportunities are uncovered. The trust factor can’t be overlooked either. There is an incredible amount of value, including referrals, from providing this type of service to an existing client.

Not only does LifePro provide the ability to access the necessary information about the in-force policy, but we also compare it to the best-in-class products available now and package them in a full report called ReProject. Our advisor then has the ability in most cases to: a) systematically show the client that what they had is working exactly like they thought it was, b) show them how they can have a more effective product for the same amount of outlay, or c) provide them with the same benefits for less out-of-pocket expense.

Dahl: We are proud of the positive impact we have made on many lives through our close, consultative relationships with our advisors. We firmly believe policies should be reviewed on an annual basis, or at minimum every two to three years, and we arguably have dedicated more resources to policy review than any other agency.

Our life insurance portfolio analysis gives an in-depth and objective review of existing policies. With proper permission, we request all data from the life insurance companies and put it all into a professional output that flows logically and is easily understood. The resulting information can not only help ensure that clients are maximizing their insurance dollars but also confirm the policies are performing as originally intended, which could save the client money, give the beneficiaries a larger death benefit, or ensure that their legacy plan can be executed with ease.

Lea: Our mission states that “Every day we will: Provide an extraordinary experience, deliver solutions that exceed expectations, create success, and do the good and right thing…for everyone” and is at the core of everything we do. Policy review is essential to ensuring that clients are still in the best position possible and their existing policy is best suited for their needs. In some cases a policy review may result in simple contract changes such as beneficiary or owner changes, not necessarily a new revenue opportunity; however, these can be equally as important as initiating a new policy.

Policy review is a critical part of our business model. Historically, many of our larger, permanent life insurance sales have come out of a policy review scenario. We have a proprietary policy review process which we employ not only at the time of sale but which persists every year after a new policy is issued. We are also piloting a new technology that will allow us to monitor all inforce policies for our agents (any life policy written over the last 40 years), and help them to recognize those policies that are ready for review or have other actionable triggering events. From now on, unified in-force policy management must be a key value driver for producers.

Every permanent life insurance policy should be understood as a fully-evolved asset class and as such should be monitored in the same manner as other assets of significance. Our clients in this space are most often insurance producers, but we also work with broker/dealers, bank trust officers, estate planning attorneys and CPAs. We help them to frame a policy review process. Not having a formal policy review process may open exposure to the liability of not adhering to the fiduciary responsibility that comes along with being a trustee of a life insurance policy. We aim to provide education on the importance of the review process, as well as the risks of not performing policy review.

In addition, our risk differentiation underwriting (RDU) process enhances many significant policy review cases, enabling us to put many clients in a much better position. Carrier consolidation, product changes, and significant advancements in medicine have led us back to an environment in which our RDU approach truly can differentiate on underwriting. Impairments that were assessed 10 years ago have the opportunity now to be assessed more aggressively, specifically when employing tactics like RDU. With RDU we are not looking at the statistical data to drive pricing, but differentiating on the nuances between clinical medicine and insurance medicine.

Q: Lower and middle income consumers, particularly those “just starting out,” have the need for life insurance protection but often can only budget for term insurance. What does your agency do to a) encourage producers to reach out to fulfill these needs; and b) simplify the process to keep it as profitable as possible for both your agency and the producers you serve?

Dahl: Often, advisors and agents say term insurance is not profitable. We prefer to view it from the client’s perspective. We want to impact as many lives as possible. When advisors take this approach, they will make a huge difference, and the result will be a by-product of “doing what is right.”

As an agency, we encourage agents to follow these clients through their life stages. As these clients have life events (marriage, the birth of a child, purchasing a first home, etc.), term insurance is critical in order to protect what they love most. As these same clients start to get into the high earning years of their careers, they have already established relationships with trusted advisors who can help guide them to other life-appropriate opportunities. We also encourage advisors to work with multiple generations of a family, which can add additional opportunities.

Additionally, we have implemented an electronic application platform to promote solutions with a quick underwriting process, such as Principal’s accelerated underwriting platform. This platform makes the experience easier for the advisors and their clients.

Lea: At BSMG our vision is to “Protect the future of families and businesses. Our innovation and passion will empower financial advisors and institutions to achieve transformational results for their clients.” This means families of all income levels.

Ten years ago we created a proprietary process and web-based platform specifically for the producer serving lower and middle income consumers. We have used cutting-edge technology combined with highly experienced insurance professionals and melded the two together seamlessly to create what is now called Vive. Vive enables the financial professional to transact term life insurance online in 10 minutes with no paperwork and no client signatures. It’s incredibly easy and intuitive to use. Once the producer submits an order on Vive, our dedicated internal team handles the new business, underwriting and policy issue processes. All along, the producer is kept up-to-date while we provide an incredible service experience to the client. Vive is the industry’s best and only award-winning, multi-carrier, drop ticket term engine available today.

We’re always proactively seeking out distribution relationships that have access to and focus on the middle market. Vive aligns perfectly with what they are already doing and becomes a turnkey revenue accelerator. By educating all types of producers (B/D reps, bank reps, independent brokers and advisors) we’ve found that term insurance in 10 minutes is profitable—it’s an eye opener and game changer for them. They begin to focus on this segment of the market. Vive provides them the platform to reach the market that they know needs to be addressed to do the good and right thing for consumers, while creating a new profit center for their businesses.

In the not too distant future we are planning to deliver an experience in which producers can use Vive, offer all of the most competitive solutions to their clients as they can today, and get a policy approval immediately.

Nevejans: There are many different kinds of clients in all different phases of life. Just because a prospect is starting a new family and/or a new career it doesn’t necessarily mean he is not a qualified prospect, and what’s more, that he doesn’t have a great need for life insurance. Quite the contrary, he probably has the largest need—and not unlike a good professional athletic team, your practice needs a strong bench. Although we would all love to attract and recruit only “A” clients, it’s important to have organic growth within a practice to point to and to be looking for the next generation of “As” that are loyal and trusting.

Q: Impaired risk business is generally considered the foundation on which today’s life brokerage business was built. How much of your business is still “sub-standard,” and how does your agency help brokers in the placement of impaired risk cases?

Lea: We do not look at a risk as sub-standard; we look at it as a special risk. We do not look at the special risk marketplace as the conventional industry has, but rather we look at it as one of the harbingers differentiating the BGA marketplace today. At BSMG we employ a unique underwriting strategy on those engagements that demand more time and piercing intellectual inquiry. It’s called risk differentiation underwriting—RDU.

We have seen growth in the number of cases that we process using this RDU strategy. We have been able to place cases for clients that experienced multiple declines when processed using a more traditional underwriting approach.

RDU is not bound by the conventional wisdom of how pricing is determined at the carrier but looks at how clinical care is done at the client level to find differentiation. The focus of RDU is not to change the way home office underwriters and medical directors assess risk. The aim is to recognize when a particular case exhibits qualities which are inherently different from a more standardized version of the same risk.

We recognize that delivering favorable underwriting results when assisting affluent clients with impactful clinical conditions can be a significant challenge, a challenge that BSMG can uniquely help top producers and their clients overcome.

RDU gets results that others simply cannot because we dig deeper, giving the underwriter a more complete, individualized picture of the client’s health history and insurability. We work directly with the producer, the client and the client’s corps of physicians to separate their individual risk from an otherwise statistical/actuarial grouping. RDU allows the producer to bring this differentiator to his or her client at the point of sale, rather than at the point of underwriting result disappointment. The result: a fully educated client, a more amplified and complete risk for the insurance carrier (that would otherwise not be placed) and a deepened client relationship. [JL]

Nevejans: For many advisors the underwriting process can be an unpleasant experience. What most don’t understand is that there are two sales cycles to every life insurance sale: 1) selling to the client, and 2) selling to the underwriter. Having to go back to your client for additional premium or a lower projected accumulated amount is scary and can be a deal-killer if mishandled. With this in mind, LifePro has created a complete system that will turn this perceived industry pitfall into a relationship strengthening tool. We give our advisors the ability to help those who need their help most and increase their commissions at the same time. RATE, LifePro’s risk assessment, turn-key evaluation, allows our advisors to provide a full report including several reputable carriers’ underwriting decisions, negotiated rate classes and premiums, client-friendly illustrations, and an executive report, giving them the ability to show their clients the levels of professionalism and due diligence they have performed on their behalf. Think how many cases over the years have been rated or declined, creating the loss of thousands of dollars in commission, but more important, the loss of benefits that families did not receive. With RATE, LifePro has been able to turn these missed opportunities into real value for the consumer, the agent and the carrier. [BN]

Dahl: In 2015, less than 20 percent of all placed business fell into the substandard category. With that said, on the formal substandard business we advocated for, we were able to maintain a similar placement ratio when compared to other non-impaired risk business. This is significant, as our placement ratios historically range approximately 10 points higher than the industry average.

We attribute our success in the substandard market to our integrative approach of underwriting, case management and marketing. We train our case management staff to not only be process advocates but also risk advocates, and to be able to navigate other-than-applied scenarios and pivot cases with ease. Our case managers and underwriters also partner with marketing support to ensure that when we have exhausted all options as they relate to rate class, we also exhaust all product solutions that could improve the outcome for the client. [LD]

Life Insurance Action Month

Ben Nevejans

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August 1, 2014

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“National Tickling Month,” “Correct Posture Month,” “Revise Your Work Schedule Month,” “Impotency Awareness Month.” Not a month goes by that we aren’t encouraged to reflect on one important cause or another. Make no mistake, each of these and the many more out there are worthy in their own right. Those that have a personal connection with the affliction, phenomenon, impairment or occupation deserve a month of recognition and mindfulness. Many causes recognized by awareness month jump demographics and affect people of multiple age, race, health, sex, generation and geography. None more so than September’s “Life Insurance Awareness Month (LIAM).”

The question is, what good is having a whole month dedicated to your cause if it’s only for awareness? I’d be willing to bet that most Americans are already aware of life insurance. Does devoting a whole month to the institution make more Americans purchase life insurance? Based on LIMRA’s “Trends in Life Insurance ownership” study, which found that only 44 percent of U.S. households had individual life insurance in 2010 (down from 55 percent in 1992), I’d say not.

So the real question becomes, how do we take “Life Insurance Awareness Month” and turn it into “Life Insurance Action Month.” With this in mind, our firm has leveraged this amazing campaign and the resources put together by organizations like Life Happens—a nonprofit dedicated to helping Americans take personal financial responsibility through the ownership of life insurance and related products. By putting together a concrete and proven program to turn awareness into action we hope to take advantage of having a whole month of industry recognition!

The following description highlights our Four Point LIAM marketing process which is 100 percent designed to help our advisors turn Life Insurance Awareness into Life Insurance Action:

I. LIAM Blog

The best thing about blogs: They’re not emails. A blog is a great way to communicate an opinion through a non-oversaturated medium. Unlike emails, often deleted before they are opened, blogs get read. Today’s professionals seek out opinion-based information from successful sources known to have valuable insight. If an organization has credibility and consistently delivers ideas that generate revenue, save revenue or provide cutting edge strategies, blogging is one of the best ways to communicate. In the case of Life Insurance Awareness Month, waiting until September is too late. Advisors need to be thinking about leveraging the peripheral activity way before the actual month hits. A great source of content for blogs can be found at www.lifehappens.org or http://blog.lifepro.com/

II. realLIFEstories…in Real Life

What’s better than a realLIFEstories video? A Real Life Story delivered in person by the individuals who experienced firsthand the compassion of our industry. We all know why someone should have life insurance. But life insurance isn’t bought based on logic, it’s bought based on emotion. When we, as the life insurance professional, are able to experience the highs, the lows, the blood, sweat and tears of a family traumatized by an untimely death through their very own eyes, we become more in tune with what we provide. When we see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears how a family persevered because of our products, we become more effective in serving our community, our clients and our own practices. Each year at the LifePro University, which takes place not unintentionally in September, we feature one of the Life Happens realLIFEstory families. From Melissa Wandall and her daughter Madison to Melisa Knolls, very few eyes are left dry by the end of the presentation. Ironically, it is not the Washington Economist, New York Times best seller, or million-dollar sales system creator that are surrounded three people deep at the after-reception. It’s the real life consumers who openly and generously shared their story of triumph to inspire us that become the stars of the show.

III. realLIFEstories…Real Time

Unfortunately, space and geographic limitations prevent all who need to experience a live realLIFEstory from actually doing so on an annual basis. Fear not, these stories are made available on a real time basis at www.lifehappens.org. As we approach Life Insurance Awareness Month, LifePro increasingly features these videos during our daily online university webinars. Since awareness is the name of the game, it’s important to build the awareness early and ride the momentum right through the end of the year. Though we only have one Life Insurance Awareness Month a year, the reality is that we need to help advisors keep their communities completely aware of life insurance all 12 months.

IV. LIAM Turnkey Agent Action Plan

The resources are out there. With spokespeople such as singer, actor and film producer Donny Wahlberg, former NFL quarterback and current network color commentator Boomer Esiason, and fashion model and actress Leslie Bibb, Life Insurance Awareness Month commands attention in the eye of the public. The key is finding a way to harness the resources and branding in a way that generates action. Action for an advisor’s practice and action for communities that we serve. If action is the goal, then it stands to reason that a plan must be created and implemented. The pillars of the template we provide our advisors with consist of, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Life Insurance Awareness Client Based Video Marketing. This two-minute cartoon/voiceover video is designed for an advisor to email to his database or a purchased email list. After watching the video the prospect, now educated on the importance of life insurance in an engaging, entertaining and thought-provoking manner, is given the option of requesting more information. Upon doing so he becomes a very warm lead for the advisor.

2. Call Script. Once the client has engaged, it’s time to go to work. The initial conversation can be free-flowing, but there are key elements that an advisor must touch on. Thus a script is always helpful, even if it is not strictly adhered to.

3. Fact Finder. Whether building the case yourself or allowing your back office support team to do it for you, obtaining the most significant information is critical. It also allows for a more in-depth client data collection to be used in annual reviews, policy audits or even data mining efforts.

4. Client Proposal and Supporting Material. Though each element of the LIAM Action Plan is vital, leaving the client with the realization that your proposal is one of the—if not the—most crucial elements of their family’s overall financial health is arguably the most important of all the steps. For that reason we make sure our advisors are armed with highly professional and thorough presentation materials supported with graphs, statistics and carrier financials. These are designed with one thing in mind: Action!

It’s been said that the key to getting ahead is getting started. The difference between a prize-winning race horse and the rest of the pack is often no bigger than a nose. The way to gain that proverbial nose and increase your production and value to prospects and clients alike is to utilize the advantages you have at your fingertips.

Life Insurance Awareness Month is a tremendous advantage that’s been afforded to those of us who practice in this great industry. Don’t waste this advantage. Rather, embrace it, harness it and, above all, “actionize” it.

NAIFA Members Prepare For Life Insurance Awareness Month

According to LIMRA, 30 percent of U.S. households have no life insurance. To remind Americans of the critical need to include life insurance in their financial plans, Life Happens coordinates Life Insurance Awareness Month, an industry-wide campaign aimed at encouraging all Americans to take stock of their life insurance needs. The educational initiative takes place every September and is joined by more than 100 of the nation’s leading insurance companies and industry groups.

The campaign offers NAIFA members an opportunity to talk to people in their communities about their life insurance needs at a time when life insurance may already be on their minds. Life Happens offers a wide range of tools and resources to make that job easier. They include:

• Access to all LIAM materials at www.lifehappens.org/industry.

• Access to two new videos featuring former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason. Members can share a link to the following videos:

• “Undercover Boomer the Barista” video

https://www.lifehappens.org/videos/undercover-boomer-the-barista/

• Boomer’s Public Service Announcement

https://www.lifehappens.org/videos/a-message-from-boomer-esiason/

• Additional Boomer resources are also available:

• Boomer’s Real Life Story downloadable flyer

• 5 Minutes With Boomer downloadable flyer

• Boomer’s advice to Millennials: “Taking the Next Step” downloadable flyer

• Pre-approved quotes from Boomer for social media

In addition, there’s a wide range of LIAM and general life insurance materials:

• New LIAM logo!

• Social media content, pre-written posts, graphics and statistics

• New videos:

• A new Life Insurance 101 video

• Two new “True Cost” videos showing how affordable life insurance really is

• Three new Real Life Stories 2014 videos

• Two Real Life Stories 30-second videos

New flyers available:

• Two Life Happens-themed downloadable flyers

• A Life lessons downloadable flyer

Football and Life Insurance-Themed Marketing “Giveaways”

Because Life Happens recently launched an industry-only site, NAIFA members will need to sign in to access all the content available at www.lifehappens.org/industry.

Email info@lifehappens.org with any questions or comments.

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