From March 9, 2010

Learn Something New Everyday

The best agents realize that in order to make the most money, they have to stay on top of things in the business.  They need to constantly be trained.

Here is a great way to see what seminars are coming up through the carriers,

Look to the left.  Under the Click Here button, you will see a scrolling Latest News and Events box.  This box contains information about all the upcoming webinars and training sessions.  Just click on the link as it scrolls or click the link "Read All News" at the bottom of the box and learn how to attend the webinars and trainings. You can also click here for all the latest news

From January 26 2010

How Many Tentacles do You Have Out  

Insurance agents could learn a lot form nature, specifically from jelly fish.  Pound for pound, jelly fish are the most ferocious predators on the planet.  They feed all day long and almost never want for food.  The key to their success is. . .

.  . .they have many, many tentacles searching the area around them for food.  They would starve if their tentacles we fewer in number and bigger in size.

This is true of you too! Put all your eggs in one lead system and you could starve.  Try to force a lead system and again, you may starve.

Successful agents find that they need to have five or more different “tentacles” out there searching for new contacts, prospects and people.  The more you have the more successful you will be.

From January 19th 2010

A Simple Million Dollar Plan

Most agents think that the secret to writing a lot of business is to buy leads.  One of our top producers says that is not his key.  He said that about three years ago, he learned a simple truth.  He says the secret to having multimillion dollar years is all about. . .

. . . spending four hours a week learning.  He says that as a business owner, his number one job is not to be an order taker, his job is to advance his business.  He understands that he needs a business to market, know his competition, and know his products.  He said that taking at least four hours a week to learn, review training, go to webinars, and read product brochures has changed his business.

He told me recently that taking time to learn is like magic in his business.  He said that he could be sitting in a webinar and because his brain is actively engaged, ideas seem to just explode into his head.  He attributes his own direct mailer, that he has used to sell a ton of business, came to him in a rather dull webinar.  He said that even though he couldn’t remember what he learned in the webinar, the opportunity it gave him to exercise his brain led to the creation of the direct mail piece.

If you are looking to get your brain exercised we have several things to help you.

1.  Take the Step Program Courses.  These 26 multimedia presentations will train you in everything you need to know about Annuities.
2. Look on our website.  On the left hand side there is a ticker of webinars, teleconferences, and training opportunities.  Just click one of them to find out more.
3. We send out webinar announcements from the carriers and the home office weekly.  Take a moment and read through one and then plan to attend that training program.  It will help you.

We have more than enough to help you succeed.  All you need to do is set some time aside to use them.

from November 17. 2009

Real World Indexed Annuity Returns

Finally, an article that puts condescending broker dealers, the skeptical media, and naysayers in their place. This paper from the Wharton Financial Institutions Center of the Wharton School of Business dispels the myths and exposes the way the media and broker dealers have used misinformation to create comparisons that are not real.  This article gives real world returns and guess what. . .

They are even better than you and I could have hoped for.  This article shows that not only does a FIA do all that it promises, it is competitive with alternative portfolios of stocks and bond (and by default mutual funds).  Get the facts.  Read the article.

This is an article that is also available to the public.  You can download it below, but ANYONE can get it from the Wharton Financial Institutions Center’s website.  Now, this doesn’t mean that I would share the whole thing with your clients, in fact, they won’t understand most of it, however, you can provide some great facts from the article to help them.

Click here to download the paper.

From June 2, 2009

Referrals and How to Get Them

Referrals are the single biggest indicator of how stable and effective your business is.  If you are not getting 5-10 referrals from everyone you are meeting with, you are actually doing something that is wrong.  Referrals are easy all you need to do is . . .

Learn some simple concepts and create a business that is actually referable.  If you struggle getting referrals it is because you have nothing to refer people to.  When you have nothing to refer people to, you don’t get referrals.  So what am I talking about?  I am talking about creating substance and meaning to your business.  It has nothing to do with products, carriers, your business card, or your chosen product line.  It has everything to do with what you are presenting and how you are presenting it.  MOST agents fail because they fail to grasp these simple ideas.  There is no way that I can explain what I mean in a few short paragraphs. It takes 140 pages.  It is called the Secret Handshake.  This book has helped hundreds of agents find out why they are unreferralable and helped them fix the problem.  If you want to succeed find out what you are doing wrong and fix it!  Real businesses pay tens of thousands of dollars for consultants to help change their business.  The Secret Handshake will do it for less than $50.

From 1/21/09

Get Trained, Get Paid.

We only get paid for doing a handful of things like writing apps, making calls, getting referrals, and filling out paperwork, but did you know you get paid when you learn?  Some of the best ideas, best client preparation time, best work I have ever done is while my mind was being expended through training.  I have made more money, more than anything else, while I have been. . .

Learning something new.  Too many agents think that they don’t have time to take training.  They think that doing something else will further their business more.  They are wrong.  Training expands the adult mind and allows us time to think, not go through the motions.  Training offers you a chance to have inspiration and work out money making ideas.  So if you don’t do it, you lose.

We have some wonderful training opportunities for you.  First, we have the Step Program.  We are told almost weekly that it is the best training that they have ever been through.  We agree.  We think (and have some data to prove it) that those who take the training produce more than those who don’t.  it is just that simple, take the Step Program and you will make more money.

Another resource is all the training that the carriers offer, which is quite a lot.  If only there was a way to have all of that info at your finger tips, let’s say, scrolling up the screen with all the information you need to attend the courses. Oh! Wait!  I have seen that very thing.  Have you?  It is on our new website!  On almost EVERY page.  All you need to do is click on the link to get all the information.  Now you too have access to more training (and a chance to make more money).