Charlie Gipple, CFP, CLU, ChFC

“Follow the Science!” Yes, we have heard this a lot over the last 18 months from both sides of the aisle. Because I do not wish to experience an involuntary early retirement from my Broker World columnist duties, I am not going to discuss politics here. But I do believe in the power of science and probably 100 percent of the Broker World audience does as well.

In discussing science versus art, science is a mechanism for providing “proof” to the person that observes the science. Conversely, art is more subjective to the person that observes the artwork. For example, take a beautiful piece of art, a Van Gogh painting. I, as somebody who grew up in a blue-collar Iowa family, am going to have less appreciation for a Van Gogh than the rich guy in the Grey Poupon commercials would have. Again, art leaves room for interpretation. With science, that is not so much the case. If science says that the sun will come out tomorrow, I will believe it.

The reason I love science when it comes to our business is because science does not leave much room for interpretation assuming the source and data are reliable. In my work, I really love science because science supports the wonderful products that we are offering our clients. The value of the insurance industry’s hedging capabilities, the tax advantages, the mortality credits, the longevity credits, etc., cannot be debated in a “scientific” argument. Through “pooling” insurance companies, and only insurance companies, can do certain things that no other companies can do. So, since science is on our side, we should leverage it.

So how do we demonstrate this science/proof to our clients outside of showing them clever quotes from industry “scientists” that indicate that our products are scientifically viable? You can do it in many ways and one way is through the use of financial planning software.

To back up for a second, I am not minimizing art because much of what we do in our business is artwork. The largest form of art that we deploy every day is in how we communicate in a simplified manner what the science says. The art of storytelling, humor, and simplification is extremely valuable. This art that you deploy takes the sharp edges off the scientific information we need to communicate to our clients. But, you sometimes need to set forth a scientific argument.

In essence, if you can arm yourself with the science/proof that these products work while also using art to explain the science/proof in a simplistic fashion, you will win.

As I help agents in helping their clients with retirement planning, here is what I often observe: That—because these agents are seasoned experts—many times they just know intuitively that these products will help the client when it comes to hedging the various retirement risks. After all, if a client does not want to lose money in the stock market, then it is usually obviously clear that the client should look at a fixed or indexed annuity! Some things do not require rigorous analysis. Additionally, these pro agents are usually great “artists” when it comes to explaining and simplifying the product strategies and, therefore, they have been very successful in selling. However, many times I will observe agents that lack a “scientific process” when it comes to cases that need to be backed by data and science. To demonstrate this point, I often will ask agents, “Let’s say you have a 55-year-old client that wants to retire 10 years from now and this person has just given you all of her portfolio details and then says, ‘So how much can I take in annual income once I retire?’ What is your answer?” Many times, it’s a blank stare back at me because the agent may not have the answer or even a tool/system to scientifically arrive at an estimate. This is where financial planning software comes in!

If you are in the field of retirement planning with consumers, you would likely agree with me that many consumers have the following questions:

• How much income should I plan to take in retirement based on what I am spending today?
• Based on what I currently have in savings and what I am saving, how much can I take in retirement?
• Am I on track or should I be saving more?
• Will I be able to have the retirement I would like if I retire at X age?
• When should I file for Social Security to get the maximum amount over my life?
• What about long term care derailing my retirement? Can you demonstrate how that would impact me?
• What about inflation?

Good financial planning software will provide answers to all the above questions. Note that this column is not about any one software system as there are several in the marketplace that do what I explain.

Furthermore, good financial planning software will also incorporate Monte Carlo Analysis. Monte Carlo Analysis is statistical modeling using 5,000–10,000 different data points that will help you arrive at an estimate of what the client’s portfolio will grow to and what the client will be estimated to take at retirement, along with corresponding “confidence levels.” For example, the system may estimate that a particular client with a current portfolio of $X in mutual funds can take $30,000 per year out in retirement dollars with there being a 90 percent confidence level that she will not run out of money in retirement. That same Monte Carlo Analysis may also say that taking $40,000 per year ($10k more) in retirement will drop the “confidence” down to 50 percent. Disclaimer: If you are not securities registered, remember to heed regulations in what you can and cannot “recommend.”

Not only will this software model out the client’s current portfolio and what she is projected to have at retirement, it will also allow you to introduce changes to the portfolio and the positive impact those changes will make in the future values. For instance, financial planning software will generally allow you to demonstrate an increase in after-tax retirement income if the client introduces annuities or cash value life insurance to their portfolio! Furthermore, the software will allow you to project the size of the consumer’s estate at various ages and then introduce a great estate planning tool—life insurance!

Now, for some of the more skeptical folks reading this article, you may be saying, “But Charlie, everything you mention above has to do with ‘estimates’ that could be way off.” You are absolutely correct, but that is a part of my point. By introducing the products that we offer that get rid of the “estimates” and introduce guarantees, we can scientifically demonstrate the value we provide to our consumers.

Allow me to demonstrate in a greatly simplified context what I meant in that last paragraph. The following is just a tiny microcosm of what using financial planning software can demonstrate:

Take a consumer that is 65 years-old and wants to retire today. She has $1 million in a 60 percent equity and 40 percent bond portfolio, and her budget requires that she take $40,000 per year in retirement income from this portfolio. Using the Monte Carlo Analysis, the software will show somewhere around a 50 percent “confidence level” that her portfolio will last her 30 year retirement. This is usually displayed as a pretty bar chart or line graph. However, need I say that 50 percent confidence is not enough? If airline pilots were comfortable with a 50 percent “confidence level” my feet would never leave the ground!

Conversely, what happens to this scenario in the financial planning software and the resulting printout when you introduce an annuity that will guarantee her much more than a four percent payout rate? The “confidence level” goes up and the pretty bar chart or line graph goes up relative to the “status quo.” And when the client sees the “proposed scenario” next to the “status quo scenario” it becomes clear to her the value of your recommendation.

Again, the above example was greatly simplified as we did not even get into taxes, social security, estate planning, second-to-die policies, etc.! It was merely a microcosm of my overall point that financial plans allow you to demonstrate the power of the products we offer and allow you (and me) to buck the stereotype of just trying to “sell a product.”

Follow the science and preach the science because the science is on the side of annuities and life insurance!

I have written before about my son, Matthew, who is the most creative kid I have ever seen. So, I will start this column with a quick story about Matthew. A couple of years ago he and his older brother were sent home from school to do a fundraising project where they would have to go to our friends and the neighbors to get funds. If they raised a bunch of money, they each got prizes. The more that they raised, the better prizes they got. The prizes got progressively larger. To oversimplify, if they each raised $50 worth of items, they each got a book or something. However, if one of them raised $100 in funds, he got a bicycle. As I, Seth, and Matthew were looking at the sheet with the various prizes and thresholds, I noticed Matthew was thinking about it hard. He then proposed a plan. He proposed to Seth that they both sell individually, but they both should put all of the sales on Matthew’s fundraising ledger. Smart kid. However, I shut down that idea. I said, “So what if every family in your school did that Matthew? The school wouldn’t be able to afford all the bicycles and you would be left with a balloon or something.” More on this in a bit.

After being in the business for over 20-years I have been fortunate to travel the world and develop friendships that are multiples of what I ever had prior to being in the business. I have friends that are agents, friends that are competing marketing organizations, and friends that are in the carrier world. This business has been great to me and there is no better business on Earth than the independent distribution of financial services.

I emphasize the above “Independent Distribution” because in this day and age when consumers can search online for the “cheapest” or “best“ products, the chances are that we in independent distribution have those products or equivalent products available for our clients. As I like to say, we are never “out producted.” Conversely, if we were stuck to one product offering, if that product offering was not in the top three or five, we would have a difficult time. In independent distribution, we all—agents, BGAs, and IMOs—have choice and options! So, I love this industry, I love the independent channel, and I will probably continue to work in this industry until I leave this world. I don’t think I could have more fun in retirement than what I’m having now!

With that said, if you know me you know that I shoot straight if I believe something in my heart, even if it will not earn me friends. If you gave me a choice, I would rather be trusted than liked. Although both would be nice!

So, in the vein of shooting straight, I want to point out what I believe is one of the issues our channel is faced with that I have always known but was further highlighted to me when I created my own marketing organization three years ago.

First off, the linchpin of my observation. When I was in the carrier world, I was a couple layers removed from the agents, even though I had been training and educating those agents for years. Doesn’t that seem like a contradiction? It is not a contradiction because training and educating agents is completely different than sitting down with them and talking about the ailments in their businesses and addressing their concerns. Three years ago I put myself on the ground floor where I could help these fine folks by doing exactly that—listening to the issues they were experiencing with their businesses and helping solve them. What was the surprise that I found? Probably one of the very few surprises I have experienced since opening my independent marketing organization? That there is a true and genuine thirst for training, mentorship, and education inside many of the financial professionals in the independent space. This is a wonderful thing to me because who doesn’t like having people that genuinely want to get better at their trade? However, I observed a flip side to this “thirst.” Why do these agents have such a thirst? What I found was, this thirst is there with many agents because they have not found anybody to quench it. This is an area of opportunity for us as a channel!

By the way, the agents that are receiving this training, mentorship, etc., will generally never consider leaving their IMO or BGA. They love them! Because these IMOs/BGAs took the pain to create the processes and systems to do it right, they will have agents for life. The agents love them because they get to have their cake and eat it too: Great compensation levels and also great training.

So, is that the end of my column? That I think we need more training and education? No. If finding great training, education and mentorship is a concern in our channel—as is probably the case in many industries—then what do I think one of the causes of that problem is? I think it very much has to do with Matthew… The inclination for distributors/IMO‘s/BGAs to want to recruit agencies in order to make their production larger, without any synergistic components to the relationship. Getting larger is great but the last part, “without any synergistic components to the relationship,” is the area I want to highlight.

Example. I often get calls from larger IMOs who try to recruit my company “under” their hierarchy. They tell me that the relationship will be a “mutually beneficial relationship.“ And when I know that my systems, technology, education, is likely as good or better than theirs, I am of course curious about what the benefit to me would be. Their response? That 1+1 = 3 from a compensation standpoint with the carriers and that extra “1” they will split with me. In other words, the value proposition to both of us would purely be to get more money from the carriers. Again, Matthew’s idea was not a new idea apparently.

The above is not the way that independent distribution was meant to be. It was intended that independent distribution was to share one similarity with the captive channel. That there has to be an intermediary that trains, educates, and provides services and technology to the “downline” agents or agencies. And to incentivize this, the carriers of course would compensate the IMOs and BGAs through distributor compensation that—as I alluded to—is progressive with production scale.

Does great training and education take place in the independent channel? Absolutely it does! And for much of the industry, the structure works very well and some IMOs provide terrific value to their downlines. In fact, for many of our contracts, I am associated with a larger IMO that is invaluable to me. For these IMOs that are providing training, education, mentorship, systems, underwriting resources, technology, marketing, etc., they should be getting the larger share of the carriers dollars versus what the carriers are forced to provide to those that get larger with the main goal of 1+1=3 from a compensation standpoint. Again, there can never be too much training, mentorship and education—so by the carriers rewarding that type of behavior the industry would only get better. And this is the reasoning behind what the carriers created in their compensation schedules, to reward the distributors that grow their production via training, education, etc.

However, because we are all independent (versus captive), it is extremely hard for carriers to police the original intent. At XYZ Captive Insurance Company, if a general agency was not doing their job in training and educating, they are reprimanded or terminated. This is not so easy in the independent channel and makes for exceedingly difficult calculus for the carriers. For example, if an IMO/BGA were to practice the “stacking” like what Matthew proposed, a carrier cannot get too carried away with enforcement. This is because that IMO/BGA will always have other carriers available to them if one carrier enforces the rules. So, many times the carriers’ hands are tied.

Because there is only so much pricing in products, the compensation schedules are basically a zero-sum game. Similar to how I told Matthew that eventually he would only get a balloon. So, for years, the carriers have been wrestling with the issue of how do they allocate more of the bonus schedule to those that are truly providing value to their downline without destroying the large amount of distribution that they have? There is no easy answer to this other than for all those involved—carriers, IMOs, BGAs, agents—to have a relentless focus on training, education, etc. When this happens, the money will take care of itself for all involved.

Lastly, this issue is not just about the flow of money and it’s not even about carriers, IMOs, BGAs, or agents. This issue is also about the value that our channel provides to consumers. When I witness agents that are truly thirsty for more knowledge, whether they receive that knowledge or not will ultimately impact the consumer that works with that agent. And clearly, the more educated and trained the agent is, the better we as an industry and channel will do for the end consumer.

Recently my entire neighborhood here in Iowa was hammered by a storm that came with baseball sized hail. My roof was damaged, gutters destroyed, paint on my house was chipped, the deck was pelted, and my garage door looked like it had been used as a pitching backstop. Although the insurance company was great with stating that they would cover everything, it quickly became clear to us that the logistics were going to be very stressful.

Many of the contractors we spoke to only did one thing or the other. One contractor only did roofs, no garage doors. Another contractor only did siding painting but didn’t want anything to do with replacing decks. One contractor was willing to deal directly with the insurance company, the other was not.

All these contractors doing their own thing but yet working independently of one another made the choreography of tasks extremely stressful for us to plan out. For example, the painting of our siding and the replacement of our deck should be done in the right chronological order. In other words, if you were going to paint the house, it is easier to paint the house with the deck removed. And in our case, if the deck needs to be replaced, then why not remove it, paint the house, then build the new deck. The painter and the deck builder being two separate people made the planning of this a bit cumbersome. This is why choosing the right contractor is incredibly important, meaning that you should be vetting them beforehand to see what they can do, when they can do it, and if they’ll do it in order. No matter where you are, whether you need a deck painting service in Texas or a Deck Oiling sydney service, you have got to get all your ducks in a row before saying yes to any work.

As you can imagine, talking with several contractors about the choreography of everything became stressful, and that doesn’t even include the stack of multiple quotes that we would have to collect and send to the insurance company.

Well, we finally found a general contractor that said he would do it all. He had subcontractors that he worked with that specialized in each of the areas we needed addressed. Furthermore, he was at the top of the hierarchy and would handle all the choreography, paperwork submission to insurance companies, etc. Needless to say, we went with him.

Although a painful process, the need to get all of this done was obvious to us because of the “realization of necessity.” We could clearly see that our house was almost destroyed, and we knew we had to get the roof fixed-ideally before it rained again. With tangible items like cars, houses, etc., it is very easy to have a “realization of necessity” when it is destroyed. We can see it! Unfortunately, with non-tangible items like finance, that “realization” rarely happens for many consumers. And it is the realization that drives people to go through the process, even though that process might be painful for the consumer.

That last paragraph is very important because finance is indeed painful to many consumers, just like dealing with contractors and insurance companies was painful for me. It’s not breaking news when I say that people are “pain averse”-which is why many people don’t want to think about their finances. What I would like to discuss in this article is taking the “pain” out of the process by you working as a “General Contractor” for your clients. And by doing so, you can relieve some of the pain that typically comes along with discussing finances. You can also help the client with the “choreography” that many times is required with their finances.

Here are the steps that I would suggest taking to become the general contractor for your clients.

1. Simplify with stories: Simplification and storytelling take the stress out of finances, as alluded to previously. Learn to be a great storyteller and simplifier.

2. Understand financial planning and have the right software: Recently I have been training agents on how to have this conversation while using financial planning software that uses “Monte Carlo Analysis.” Many have said it was some of the most valuable training they have received. Financial planning software generally allows you to work with the client’s entire portfolio because it allows you to answer questions like the below:

• When can they retire?
• How much can they be “projected” to take from their portfolio at retirement?
• What would a long term care event do to their retirement portfolio-at age 80 for example?
• How does inflation impact their portfolio, especially if “healthcare inflation” is five percent per year?
• What is projected to be the size of the estate when they pass away at age 85, 90, 95, etc.?
• Does the client need any trust work done?
• What would happen to the size of their estate if you added a second-to-die policy payout upon the client’s and spouse’s death?
• What happens to their portfolio’s “chance of success” when you add an annuity with guaranteed lifetime income?
• What are the confidence levels if the client were to withdraw various levels of income during retirement?

3. Create Your List of “Subcontractors”: You may be thinking, “What if I am not a trust attorney? How can I implement trusts?” or “What if I am not a registered rep and cannot recommend selling or buying securities in their plan?”

You are right by asking those questions, this is where I believe you should take the time to interview these folks in your local area:

• Estate Attorneys: You can just do a Google search for “estate or trust attorneys near me.” As you interview these attorneys, get a feel about their philosophies. A good marketing organization would help you with a script of what to ask these estate attorneys. At CG Financial Group we have “cheat-sheets” on how to navigate these conversations. There are several things to ask, such as: Do they do wills, living trusts, and power of attorneys? And for the higher net worth clients you might have, does the attorney do irrevocable life insurance trusts? Also ask if they are licensed to sell insurance! If they are, that can create a conflict. If you have a good impression of the estate attorney, maybe ask if he/she knows of any good CPAs as well.
• CPAs: This is so you have a resource for your clients to file their taxes. Very similar to the estate attorneys, ask about how they do their jobs. Do they recommend tax mitigation strategies like traditional IRAs, Roth IRA‘s, or life insurance strategies? One thing I have observed with many estate attorneys and CPAs is that they are more about what the client’s current situation is than they are about planning for the future. In our profession, we don’t have the luxury of ignoring the future! Does their philosophy align with yours? Of course, make sure there is no conflict-such as the CPA also being licensed to sell insurance.
• Mortgage Brokers/Bankers: As I speak with a lot of clients, it amazes me how much in unnecessary interest they are paying when a quick conversation with a trusted mortgage broker or banker could save them thousands of dollars per year in interest. Consumers are in debt and if you can help them in this area, you will be their hero. Know a good mortgage broker/banker. By the way, reducing their mortgage payments can be input into the financial plan and thus show a better retirement portfolio!
• Financial advisors: Of course, if you are already a financial advisor dealing with securities, you would not want to direct your clients to a financial advisor. But for those of you that are insurance only licensed, it would make sense to interview various financial advisors that deal with the securities. There are many financial advisors that do not work with annuities and do not like to deal with underwriting on life insurance, and therefore they stay away from these products. There are opportunities for you-the insurance agent-to have great conversations with the financial advisors.
• Financial planning software that I mentioned previously often will show the client that by adding an annuity to their portfolio that they can be more aggressive with the rest of their portfolio. The end result is a “probability of portfolio success” that is much higher than before the annuity was introduced. However, if you are an insurance only agent, you cannot make recommendations on buying or selling securities. This is where a “subcontractor” can come in. I promise you, if you speak with a financial advisor about this logic, he/she would be all ears in affiliating with you.

I really want to emphasize that last paragraph. Helping to put a portion of the client’s money into a “conservative product” like an indexed annuity with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit should impact the rest of the client’s portfolio. Meaning, the financial advisor should be able to be more aggressive with the rest of the client’s portfolio. Many times, the insurance agent and the financial advisor work independently from one another and that is equivalent to my deck guy and painting guy working independently of one another. Or, heaven forbid, working against one another which is common in our industry.

Your clients need a “General Contractor.” Be that guy/gal.

For all of us in financial services and those that plan on being around for the next several years, there are great reasons to be excited. I believe there will be more millionaires created in our industry over the next couple of decades than ever before. This is because of the supply and demand dynamics that will be taking place. There will be higher demand for our services while, at the same time, there will likely be lower supply of your competitors. Allow me to explain.

First, let’s discuss demand. Without boring you with a ton of the statistics that we all have heard numerous times, I think it is obvious that the demand for our services will continue to skyrocket. Over the next 10 years the entire Baby Boomer cohort—who own over 50 percent of the wealth in our country—would have reached retirement age. For purposes of this article, I will define retirement age as age 65.

Some of you have heard of “the pig through the python” when it comes to the wealth approaching retirement age. I like the analogy of “the pig through the python” because it is a great visual representation of the massive amount of baby boomer wealth working its way through the system. I don’t want to get too graphic in discussing a python’s digestive tract, but my drawing depicts a pig that had been eaten by a snake decades ago. That pig that is now in the python represents the massive amount of wealth owned by the baby boomer cohort that is now “digesting” its way to age 65. The entire pig is going to be fully digested over the next 10 years, with the youngest baby boomer hitting age 65 in the year 2029.

Clearly what this “pig in the python” means is a continued increase in demand. This means that baby boomers will need their retirement plan set up very soon, if they have not done so already. Furthermore, the baby-boomer opportunity is not over once the entire pig passes retirement age. This is because the later phase of their retirement will potentially present “long term care events” that also need to be planned for, if it has not been done already. Lastly, after the pig passes the retirement age and the long term care ages, the cycle is still not complete. The final part will represent the passing of that wealth to the next generation—estate planning.

What I just explained was the three-legged stool of planning opportunities that will only increase over the coming years: 1. Retirement planning. 2. Long term care planning. 3. Estate planning. If you do not represent all of these three opportunities, I would encourage you to take a more holistic approach, because the “pig in the python” needs your services.

What about my reference to the “supply” of your competitors? Although exact statistics are hard to come by, it is no secret that the average age of the independent insurance agency owner is somewhere between 58 and 61. Meaning, they are a part of the pig in the python that will be retiring over the next decade as well. This void in supply is what our industry really needs to figure out quickly because the agent attrition is already happening. However, this void will leave great opportunities for those of you that continue to stick around.

In short, there is a huge tidal wave of money that is coming the direction of you and your competitors right now. But many of your competitors are not going to be around in 10 years, leaving you to fill this void in supply.

My thoughts on how financial professionals can address the Pig through the Python:

1) Be holistic: particularly in the three areas that I previously mentioned. If you choose not to master any one of those areas mentioned, partner with somebody that can assist in that area

2) Be a student of the business: As Daniel Pink says, it used to be “buyer beware” but now it is “seller beware.“ Meaning, if you give a potential buyer a couple hours of web access, they can learn more about a particular product or solution than what many agents knew 30 years ago. If you are not as savvy with retirement planning, long term care planning and estate planning as the client is—beware. Read a lot, join webinars, subscribe to top publications like Broker World, and partner with the right GAs or IMOs that will allow you to be a “student.”

3) Educate and they will come: I often tell the story about when I was straight out of college (over 20 years ago) and went to work with a big career agency. The sales training that we received at the time was what I would consider slightly abrasive to the consumers. The theme of the training was something like this: “You should get the prospect uncomfortable, close them in one meeting with a powerful assumptive closing statement, wait for them to respond, and then the first one to respond loses.” And by the way, many times those “prospects” were your friends or family that they effectively forced you to contact as soon as you joined them.

My point is—related to my second point—times have changed and these tactics do not work (if they ever did). Frankly, I never followed those tactics to begin with.
Unfortunately many consumers today have biases against what we do and will immediately react negatively if you take the “hard-close” approach. Consumers today choose to be educated versus being hard closed. And turning a prospect into a client is a longer process than it once was.

How do you educate? First off, you be a student of the business as I suggest in #2. But you also need to leverage technology to drip the education to your consumers so that you are the one providing them with the best information versus Google. They will buy eventually if you do this effectively.

Tools for this “drip” educational process are:

• Your website. Have a Blog where you post educational content.
• Create an email distribution list of prospects that sign up for your blogpost emails. I like Constant Contact and MailChimp for email providers.
• Facebook Business Page: This is free! Add your comments to it every week. You will find that your personal “friends” on Facebook will gradually subscribe to your Business Facebook page, without you ever “soliciting” them. Free marketing…
• Email timely articles to your existing prospects with your summary of why you liked that article and why it made you think of sending that article to them.
• Do Virtual Seminars. This is one of the few positive things that the COVID crisis left us with. Consumers are willing to join “virtual seminars” more than they used to.

4) If you are independent, market the advantages: I have observed that many agencies that are independent do not market the “independence” enough to their consumers. Rather, some financial professionals view the lack of a big brand behind them as being a detriment. I beg to differ, and here is an example:

I ran a term quote on me—a 43-year-old healthy male—needing $1 million. The difference between the lowest priced term policy and the highest priced term policy on my list of carriers is about 80 percent. Meaning, the most expensive product is 80 percent higher in price than the cheapest. Imagine if I was tied to only one company and that one company was the most expensive?

Although “cost is an issue only in the absence of value,” my simple example does demonstrate the capabilities that independent agents have when it comes to helping their clients. Choice is freedom, and you should market that freedom.

5) You can be independent but don’t be alone: If the educational content and the ability to do everything that I mention above are something that seems intimidating to you, partner with the right people! This is where a good IMO comes into play and will make all of the above (education, tools, technology, marketing, etc.) a simple process. Afterall, this is what IMOs do…

6) Last! It was the legendary insurance professional—John Savage—that said, “One of the secrets to life insurance success is to last.” Sounds simple, huh? To merely last? That sounds very superficial, but I believe it is true and I believe that if you can “last” throughout your first couple of years, things really start to happen.

If you are just entering this business, know that the first couple of years is indeed tough. However, I believe there is something special about the 18 months to two-year mark. I believe there a few things that happen around that point:

• I believe that there is something psychological in our prospects’ minds that triggers after you have been in the business for around 18 months to two years. A lot like how in marketing they say that it takes seven views of an ad before a consumer acts, I believe that the magical point where you become more credible to consumers is 18 months to two years in. Of course, all of this depends on your particular skill set and assumes that you are doing the right things.
• This is a point where you have learned a lot from your mistakes and are finding that you are getting more effective at many things: Time management, prospecting, speaking, connecting, networking, product, etc.
• This is also point where your educational and marketing efforts that I previously mentioned (in #3) are starting to bear fruit.

I have heard it over and over again, “Man, after around the two-year mark I really started to make some money in this business.” Last!

A while back, as I was preparing to go to the gym, I made myself a protein shake. For whatever reason I actually read the label on the protein jar. The label had some guy that was jacked and tan as well as a lot of technical, chemical, and biological language that made it sound like I would turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger if I took this protein. One sentence in particular that stood out to me—as a marketer—was a sentence that explained what the protein powder was. It said that the protein powder was “A pre-workout energy and post workout recovery system.“ I thought to myself, “Wow, and for a second I thought I was just drinking protein powder mixed with milk.” That is marketing my friends! And our industry revolves around marketing.

Another example would be BMW. Instead of BMW saying, “We make good cars,“ their slogan is that they make “The ultimate driving machine.“

Now I am not suggesting putting lipstick on a pig, but rather I am suggesting giving credit where credit is due. Because, after-all, you must live up to your marketing message!

Like the old saying, “When you live inside the jar, it is hard to read the label on the outside of the jar.“ Many of us have lived in the financial services jar for decades and as a result we “normalize our excellence.“ We normalize our excellence just like how pro golfers probably can’t understand how hard it is for “normal people” to drive a golf ball straight.

Now, “normalizing our excellence” may sound like a bold and arrogant statement but I promise you, if you are reading this article, you more than likely are excellent at financial services relative to who your prospects and clients are—the public. Are you marketing your excellence adequately?

When you normalize your excellence you take for granted what it is that you know and the wonderful things that you do automatically.

So, the purpose of this article is to get you to reflect on exactly what it is that you do when you assist your clients in achieving financial security. Then, the goal should be for you to market that process. When you have a process, and that process has a name, and the process is clearly explained, you then differentiate yourselves from your competitors. And that is what you want—differentiation. Nothing is worse than just blending in…

Let me give you an example as a microcosm of my point. As a marketing organization, one of several things that my company does is we help agents/reps with case design. And because of the experience that I have been privileged to acquire over 23 years, my company’s case design process and knowledge is unique. My process—that I do automatically—is actually a substantial, detailed, and methodical process that I have when I help an agent with case design.

Now, If I just put in a brochure that CG financial group “helps agents with case design,“ does that have any appeal to it at all? No, it normalizes my company’s excellence and it blends in with every other entity that markets case design. That would be like my protein jar merely saying “Protein Powder.“

So recently I have reflected on exactly what it is that I do automatically when I get scores of phone calls per day to help agents/reps with cases. I have created sales material, videos, and brochures that communicate this message. I would suggest that you consider doing the same thing, whether you are a general agency, a marketing organization, a registered rep, or an insurance agent.

Here is my example that is effectively a “cut and paste” from some of our advertising. The purpose of the below is to get your wheels turning with your business and a different way of thinking about how you market:

The CG Financial Group 6-Step Case Design Process: This is a process that includes analyzing—using technology, quantitative analysis, and qualitative analysis—the products and solutions of around 80 different life, annuity, and long term care companies depending on the problems the client and advisor are wishing to address.

The implementation of CG Financial Group’s 6-Step Case Design Process usually begins with a simple statement from the advisor. That statement is, “I have a client who…”
Those Six Steps:

1. Exploratory conversation and assessment. This is where the advisor and CG Financial group discuss the financial situation of the consumer and what the problem is that needs to be addressed. This will lead to a preliminary conversation around potential solutions and to get a pulse from the advisor on those potential solutions.
2. Quantitative Solutions Screening Process. The numbers! This is where technology comes into play. Whether it is term pricing, GLWB payouts, long term care pricing, etc., the cost per dollar of benefit is always a factor. Using technological tools can take hundreds of financial products and narrow down the field to those products/solutions that are the most “cost effective” in the industry.
3. Qualitative Solutions Screening Process. Cost is an issue only in the absence of value! Although the quantitative analysis in #2 is important, this is where we identify if there is additional value by looking at some of those products/solutions that are not necessarily “the cheapest.” This is where experience and knowledge come in! For example, a term policy may be “the cheapest” but does it have living benefits? If there is a term policy with living benefits that we found and is only a dollar per month more expensive than “the cheapest,” we may want to go the living benefits route. This is where experience and “qualitative analysis” comes into play.
4. Plan and Solution Formulation. This packages everything together. This is where everything that was learned through the Exploratory Conversation, the Quantitative Analysis, and the Qualitative Analysis culminates into the formulation of the plan that will then be presented to the financial professional.
5. Proposal of Plan Session. This is usually a phone call or a Zoom call with the Advisor where the Plan/Solution is presented. Furthermore, this is where product descriptions, sales ideas, and proposed sales language is presented to the advisor so that they can communicate it to the client. Many times there are videos that are sent to the advisor laying out the sales ideas as well. We have over 400 sales idea videos already created in our private YouTube channel. Lastly, the willingness to join meetings between the advisors and the clients to propose the plan directly to the client.
6. Documentation Delivery. This is delivering the supporting sales material and documents to the advisor for the case to be written. Many times there is carrier mandated “product training” that accompanies this email as well. Whether the advisor wants paper apps or eapps, this email provides him/her with the preferred avenue for writing the app.

I think you would agree that the above is much more than “We help with case design.” Think about the process you go through with your clients and create something similar. If you want my opinion, email me your creation and I will give you my quick consultation.

At 43 years old I am no longer a young puppy. I remember being a 20-something in the business wishing that I could be older because I would then have more experience and credibility. Naturally, somebody who is 20-something in this business is dealing with people that are multiples the age of him or her. Well folks, be careful what you ask for because the time comes quickly.

Do not wish away time. Which is a topic for another column.

Anyway, as we get older and more mature, we tend to reflect on things that we didn’t slow down to do when we were in our 20s. Recently I have had a couple opportunities to reflect in a similar manner that probably many of you readers have done. My “reflections“ have been about “I wish I were a little smarter with my body when I was younger.“ That may sound odd because those that know me know that I do try to take care of myself. I work out, I read a lot, and I am usually the first one to bed at night while others shut down the bar. So, what am I referring to?

Allow me to explain. Back in January I had a major colon surgery because I have been dealing with diverticulitis for about 10 years—since I was 33. Why would a 33-year-old get diverticulitis? Nobody knows for sure, but it likely has to do with the strain of going too hard with athletics, lifting weights when younger, along with all the other stress I put on my body by—paradoxically—wanting to better myself.

Like the herniated discs in my back. My wife says that when I put my mind to something, there is no moderation involved. She is right.

Finally, late last year, I got sick of dealing with the diverticulitis so I agreed to surgery. The surgery went great, and I was basically told to sit on the couch for eight weeks to recover. For those of you that are physically active, you probably have not sat on the couch for an eight-week period of time for decades. That was me. And I did exactly that! I followed the doctor‘s orders perfectly.

After the eight weeks of rest, I felt better than I have in a decade as the surgery worked! So, I got back into working out with my 14-year-old future basketball star son (proud dad). After about a month, we were going pretty hard again. Well, that led to a hernia! Although a hernia surgery is not a big deal anymore, it was still very disappointing because that meant another surgery, another x weeks out, another scar! Two steps forward and one step back.

As I was talking with my doctor to plan the hernia surgery and recovery time, I said “I wish I had not been so stupid with my body when I was younger.“ Again, this is something that many of you may ponder from time to time. Here was my doctor’s response which I thought was pretty profound. She said, “But your scars are what make you who you are. You would not be who you are today if you did not have those scars.“

That statement has never been truer. As I think about it, almost all my scars have come from driving forward and wanting to better myself and better those around me. Now, granted, I have a few scars from just doing stupid stuff that I never should have done, but a majority of my “scars“ are from trying to get better as a human being. My dad, who died at a young age of 62, had a ton of “scars,” primarily because of him working hard with construction to support his family. He often said “If I knew I was going to live this long, I would’ve taken better care of myself.“ Well, at the same time, he had a reputation in our small town as being one of the hardest working people that anybody had ever met. He made a great living as well. Without his hard work ethic, his scars would’ve never come. Or maybe, without his scars, his tough work ethic would have never come. Chicken or the egg?

Your scars define you many times. Of course, I am not just referring to the “scars” in the literal sense. I am referring to the process of getting those scars.

Now I am not suggesting that you don’t take protective measures like wearing a weight belt (as I do), wearing a seatbelt, managing your stress, etc… Like anything, it’s a matter of magnitude. Said differently, we could all go through life without one scar by being couch potatoes, but is that what we want? You face bigger risks in life by being a couch potato than the risk of a “hernia” (figuratively and literally).

What about stress and anxiety? Seeing life insurance medical information on a daily basis, I know that a significant number of people have stress and anxiety as a “scar.” Those people that are stressed and anxious are oftentimes exceptionally good at their jobs. We read about actors and singers in the media that seem flawless with huge talent, yet they deal with stress, anxiety and depression. I would argue that many times those “scars” are a result of them actually giving a damn about what they do! I would argue that maybe that stress is a requirement for them to be good at what they do.

My son complains about stress and “butterflies” before his basketball games. It’s because he cares! If he did not care, he wouldn’t have those side effects. Before I give a big speech to an audience, I experience the same “side effect” and I love it!

I don’t know if it is the chicken or the egg. As in, because of the scars that we have, we get stronger and therefore become who we are. Or, conversely, because of being who we are and pushing ahead (maybe too hard at times) we will get scars.

It doesn’t matter to me if it is the chicken or the egg, or both. All that I know is, sometimes you must accept the scars as the entry fee for being who you are. If you would take who you are along with your scars over being a couch potato without any scars, then listen to my experience. Because my experience, and the conversation with my doctor, makes my scars something that I can be proud of. Embrace your scars. But do not be stupid and go out looking for more scars. If you do, buy life insurance first.