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Ask more than 50 industry leaders for their thoughts on the life insurance market, and you’re bound to get a wide range of answers. But if there’s one thing on which many of them agree, it’s that change is coming. We’re not talking small product tweaks here; we’re talking industry-shaking revolution. In an age when technology is advancing rapidly and consumers demand immediate, customized attention, this is necessary. It’s also pretty exciting.

A LIMRA study conducted last fall asked a diverse mix of life insurance executives, distributors, reinsurers and other financial leaders this question: Do you believe an outside source like Google or Amazon will be a disruptive force in the life insurance market in the next five years? Fifty-seven percent said yes. Moreover, a 2013 LIMRA study revealed that 21 percent of middle market consumers would be willing to buy life insurance online from a non-traditional source such as Google or Amazon.

All of this points to the fact that insurance may very well be on the verge of becoming a whole lot sexier. Andreessen Horowitz recently included insurance on a list of the 16 tech trends it’s most excited about for 2015. The scope of opportunity is huge, and companies outside the industry are starting to notice. But that doesn’t mean these newcomers will corner the market. It may very well be the stalwarts of the industry who capitalize on all this potential and deliver the products consumers need, in the way they need them.

Why is the market ripe for disruption now? Here are five reasons.

1. Consumers need life insurance, but aren’t buying enough of it.
2. People are starved for time.
3. We all want to engage differently.
4. Technology is providing insight that we’ve never had before.
5. Consumers love crowdfunding.

Source: lifehealthpro.com

• New Medico Corp states effective 4/1/2015 – AL, IA, NE, SC, SD and WI
  
• Mutual of Omaha Sales Leaders – 2016 Rome, Italy

You’re probably looking at your to-do list and getting a little bit anxious. There’s a lot to do today and, it might seem, not enough hours in the day to do it. Breathe and take a step back. Prioritizing will help you figure out what’s most important to do right now … or was tackling the most difficult task first, the right way to do it?

A recent infographic from NeoMam Studios, a U.K.-based company that specializes in creating infographics that merge data from various sources, reveals that as many as one in five adults may be chronic procrastinators. The infographic gathered information from sources such as APA.org, Princeton.edu, Psychologicalscience.org and other publications.

And, get this: Contrary to popular belief, procrastination doesn’t necessarily equal laziness. Inaction is often caused by anxiety, fear of failure or negative perfectionism, according to the infographic.

But how you can stop the stress of not getting things done? Having faith in yourself, living in the present and setting realistic goals you can successfully achieve are some of the steps to stop procrastination in its tracks. And though NeoMam focused their inforgraphic on helping students break the vicious procrastination cycle, if it works for pre-teens that are full of energy or for neuro-surgeons in training, these solutions can work for you too. We have condensed the list to eight steps:

1. Know yourself
   
   
2. Commit to tasks
   
   
3. Be realistic
   
   
4. Self-talk positively
   
   
5. Swiss-cheese tasks
   
   
6. Don't indulge fantasies
   
   
7. Plan for obstacles
   
   
8. Help yourself, reward your progress and learn to forgive yourself
   
   

Source: lifehealthpro.com

• New Medico Corp states effective 4/1/2015 – AL, IA, NE, SC, SD and WI
  
• Mutual of Omaha Sales Leaders – 2016 Rome, Italy

A single voice can be a powerful tool, and in sales, the strongest voices belong to your customers.

According to MarketShare’s “Quantifying the Role of Social Voice in Marketing Effectiveness” whitepaper, offline word of mouth has a direct impact on financial outcomes, even more so than social media or traditional marketing. That means that vocal advocates for brands influence sales — period.

As a great salesperson, you need to build a foundation of brand advocates who will provide you with referrals. The result: more loyal customers and more sales. But you can’t pay for advocacy — it will only devalue your brand, and it’s unethical. Instead, you have to build strong relationships organically with your leads and clients through personal, healthy relationships.

Connect With Leads on a Deeper Level

The process of building brand advocates starts with establishing meaningful connections with your leads. Keep in mind that every salesperson is vying for potential customers’ attention, so you must make a memorable impression to stand out.

That being said, rather than viewing leads as potential sales, view them as real people, and act accordingly. Be friendly and personable; ask questions to learn more about them on a personal level, and share things about yourself that they’ll remember. Knowing your leads — their habits and preferred ways of doing business — will eventually turn them into your best clients because they’ll know that you view them as more than just another source of revenue.

Once those leads become your customers, go through your client list and identify your all-stars. These clients are passionate about what they do and have strong business ethics. It’s also important to pay attention to clients who contact you with great feedback and questions. After all, they care about your business enough to help you improve your business practices.

Turn All-Stars Into Advocates

Once you’ve identified your all-star clients, encourage referrals by letting them know how much you appreciate them. Here are a five ways to inspire your clients to advocate for you:

1. Ask for their opinions. Let your best clients know that their opinions matter by asking for constructive feedback. Whether you’re testing a new product or service or trying to improve current processes, gather input from your clients. This will not only help your business, but it will also forge stronger relationships because they’ll recognize that you respect their input.
   
   
2. Acknowledge them. Publicly acknowledge and honor your advocates in email newsletters or on social media. You can even feature them on your website. These clients will know they’re valued and will be more willing to refer you to their network.
   
   
3. Spend time with them. As you work to build deeper relationships with your best clients, it’s important to spend face-to-face time with them. Take them to lunch, host exclusive events, or invite them to spend time with your company’s leadership. Face time with your best clients will build your relationship and increase loyalty (and their willingness to refer you).
   
   
4. Provide them with early access and sneak peeks. Keep your advocates in the loop by letting them in on company news in advance. Sneak peeks and early access to new services and products can go a long way in making clients feel valued and important.
   
   
5. Give them exclusive discounts. Honor your top customers’ loyalty by giving them price breaks and exclusive discounts. This will encourage them to continue doing business with you and motivate others to become top-valued customers because of the associated perks.
   
   

Source: eyesonsales.com

• New Medico Corp states effective 4/1/2015 – AL, IA, NE, SC, SD and WI
  
• Mutual of Omaha Sales Leaders – 2016 Rome, Italy

With so many strategies and schools of thought out there on how to generate new (and returning) clients, building one’s book of business can seem like a daunting task. Lead generation is not just about investing time and effort while providing as much value as possible—it’s also about making sure your value is conveyed up-front. Otherwise, your message is falling on deaf ears. Take a look at how these three advisors have generated more business by investing in their current clients, covering all the planning bases, and partnering with pivotal centers of influence.

Retention brings acquisition

For Michael Morrow, CFP, of Morrow Financial in Ontario, Canada, focusing on current clientele is the best way to keep his business growing. Ninety percent of his efforts go to looking after his clients, which he says keeps his retention rate high and brings in referrals. “If I improve my client retention from 97 percent to 98 percent this year,” Morrow says, “that means I lost 1 percent fewer clients this year. In 10 years, that is 10 percent fewer that I didn’t need to replace.”

The holistic picture

While holistic planning means different things to different advisors, Jeff Warnkin, CPA, CFP of Avon, Ohio, says it involves integrated planning so that “the clients don’t have to go to four or five different professionals and get all sorts of potentially conflicting advice.” Warnkin, alongside his colleagues at The JL Smith Group, offers tax preparation as well as Medicare Supplement assistance to his clients, which in turn creates leads for his retirement and financial planning practice.

Adding value and influence

When it comes to Warnkin’s value-add events, what used to be lunch-and-learns are now dinner-and-learns. “I’ve found that almost all of my retirees are busier when they retire than when they were working,” he says. “We were getting the same people to lunch-and-learns, only about 12-15 people total. Once we switched it to an evening dinner-and-learn format, it immediately jumped to 30-40 people. These dinners are first and foremost client appreciation events where we give back and let them know we appreciate their loyalty and trust,” Warnkin says. “One of the things that suffers when people retire is their social interactions. Here, clients make connections with each other, and that’s going to translate out into the community, as well.”

Source: lifehealthpro.com

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