We all get marketed to by our local friendly and often helpful Insurance Agent; most people just shrug the agent away. With comments like, I already have Insurance, don't need any, I'm busy etc. But as Joint venture Consultants we should be doing the exact opposite. You should run up to them grab hold of them and give them a hug, and here's why.

What many people do not know is exactly how an Insurance agent works, what they do in their day to day functions. You will not know what they do unless you have a friend or had a job as an Insurance agent its pretty much a unknown.

So here is some inside information you can use to grow your Consulting Practice. One, Insurance Agents continually come into contact with new prospects and is always build their list. Insurance firms also sponsor up to a half dozen or more meetings every year, where they invite their prospects and companies, and organizations to listen to their pitches. As you might have guessed, that can be, well pretty dry, at times. So what's that mean to a Joint Venture Consultant or Coach?

A lot really, first go to your Insurance agent and offer to speak at their event and share in any business, that result from your speech. Now what's in it for the Insurance agent? Their seminar enrollment is likely to grow because it's not the same old dry Insurance stuff. They can bracket your speech; they can speak before you and after you as well. Those are the best times to speak anyways; people tend to drift in a one hour speech. But people don't usually drift in the beginning or the end. The Insurance agent's goal is to get their message out to the audience.

Than you come out share your message about how they can build their Business, improve their life or accomplish their goals. The audience will appreciate someone new, the agent will have a new and interesting event where he gets to network with his prospects and you tap into a new list of prospects.

It's a win-win-win for everyone, and the biggest reason for you to grab your Insurance Agent and never let go.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Godines

As discussed in the first part of this article, insurance only agents that sell equity indexed annuities may be unknowingly acting as an unregistered investment adviser and opening themselves up to regulatory scrutiny. There are three elements to the definition of an investment adviser; the first factor was discussed in Part One of this Article. In this article the final two elements of the definition will be discussed.

This second part of the "investment adviser" definition asks whether the person giving investment advice is in the "business" of providing investment advice. As with the first element, the SEC paints a broad brush with its interpretation of this "business." The SEC will look at several factors when analyzing the second part of the definition with the first being the frequency of the advice given. The insurance only agent should be concerned when there is a pattern of replacing securities with equity index annuities. The more often this happens the more likely they will meet this part of the element.

According to SEC Release No. 1092, they will consider this element met when one or more of three conditions are present. These include: 1) holding oneself out as an investment adviser; 2) receipt of separate or additional compensation clearly associated with the advice; or 3) specific investment advice is provided other than in rare isolated instances. Once again the insurance only agent who sells equity-indexed annuities may fall into anyone of these three. For example, many agents offer "Free Portfolio Analysis" as part of marketing their services. If this is part of an advertising campaign mailed to the public, the insurance only agent may be considered holding oneself out as an investment adviser. After all, they will be advising clients about the investments held in their portfolios.

In addition to these advertising offers, insurance only agent frequently move client's out of securities into annuities. By doing so, there may be a presumption that the insurance only agent offered advice on the securities the client previously held. If the agent has continually done this with multiple clients, a pattern of "regularity" could easily be found. It would behoove an insurance only agent to review his past recommendations to see if a pattern has been created inadvertent or not.

The final element concerns whether the advice given is "for compensation." In other words, as a result of giving the advice will the person giving it receive compensation? Once again the SEC has broadly interpreted this element. According to SEC guidance, the compensation does not have to be large; It does not have to come directly from the client; and it can come from a third party. There only has to be receipt of an economic benefit. With the large commissions equity-indexed annuities pay, it is clear that the SEC would consider that the advice has been given for compensation.

All insurance only agents that sell equity indexed annuities should take a close look at their sales practices to ensure they are not acting as an unregistered investment adviser. They may be putting their careers at risk!

These articles are not an exhaustive analysis of the definition of investment adviser. Each individual's situation may vary and a closer review should be taken if there are concerns.

David R. Millar is President of Integrity Compliance Consulting, Inc.

For more compliance and operations tips and assistance visit http://www.easy-ria.com and sign up for a FREE monthly e-zine, Compliance-Talk, designed to improve quality and efficiency of registered investment adviser's back office.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_R._Millar

Although this data is not 100% accurate, it is probably the most precise info available. Employee group benefit brokers need to know where to find the plans to fit their client needs. It is a well established fact that employers cannot handle the entire burden of providing a grocery list of benefits that their workers would like to have. As a result brokers are working with both the employee and his workforce. The worker is being given options of having additional coverages available with the convenience of premiums taken right from their paycheck. This is a win-win-win situation for the employer, the worker, and the agent.

Here you will find the top national insurance companies in this market, along with others marketing in most states. For brokers selling products with only one insurance company, it seems impractical and virtually impossible. I carry around a Swiss army knife, which although useful, often is incapable of performing the job correctly. Therefore, in my experience, I have found most agents selling plans more than occasionally, represent more than one insurance company. Like the Swiss army knife, no one insurance company can serve all situations. According to my records, the average broker involved in frequent sales represents 3 national insurance companies for this employee market.

For your convenience, there are two lists prepared alphabetically. The first are the carriers licensed to sell their employee benefit plans in all 50 states. The second listing is of states selling in a minimum of at least 40 states. All should have websites to receive fast additional information. With 100 top national insurance companies listed, maybe it is time to check out a couple more.

TOP NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANIES & Carriers Licensed in all 50 states

1. ACI Specialty Benefits

2. Advantica Eyecare

3. AFLAC

4. AIG Employee Benefit Solutions

5. Allstate Workplace Division

6. American Sentinel Insurance Company

7. Ameritas Group

8. Assurant Employee Benefits

9. Avesis

10. BCS Insurance Company

11. Beta Health Association, Inc.

12. Boston Mutual Life Insurance Company

13. CIGNA

14. Combined Insurance Worksite Solutions

15. CCG- Cost Containment Group

16. Davis Vision

17. Delta Dental

18. Dentali Dental and Vision

19. Dental Select

20. EyeMed Vision Care

21. EZ Meds USA

22. GPM Life

23. Great American Insurance of NY

24. Great American Supplemental Benefits Group of TX

25. Guardian Life Insurance Company

26. Hartford Life

27. HM Insurance Group

28. Humana

29. Independent Health

30. ING Employee Benefits

31. Liberty Mutual Group Benefits

32. Lincoln Financial Group

33. Madison Life Insurance Company

34. Magnum Dental & Vision

35. Majestic Underwriters

36. MedAmerica Insurance Company

37. Medico Insurance Company

38. MESVision

39. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company

40. Minnesota Life Insurance Company

41. Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company

42. Nationwide Financial

43. Patriot Health, Inc.

44. Petersen International Underwriters

45. PPO USA

46. Principal Financial Group

47. Prudential Company of America

48. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company

49. SecureCare Dental

50. Security Life Insurance Company of America

51. Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of NY

52. Spirit Dental Life and Vision

53. Standard Insurance Company

54. Standard Life Insurance Company of NY

55. Sun Life Financial

56. Super Vision Services

57. Symetra Financial

58. Transamerica Affinity Services in MD

59. Transamerica Worksite Marketing

60. Trustmark Voluntary Benefits Solutions

61. UNIFI Companies Retirement Plans

62. United American Insurance Company

63. United Concordia Companies

64. United Health Programs of America

65. Unum

66. VSP Vision Care

TOP MULTI-STATE INSURANCE COMPANIES Licensed in 40 or more states.

1. American Fidelity Assurance Company, minus NY

2. American Public Life Insurance Company, -NY

3. American United Life Insurance Company, -NY

4. ArmadaCare, -7 states

5. Assurity Life Insurance Company, -NY

6. BasicPlus Insurance Services, -10 states

7. Block Vision, -9 states

8. Brokers National Assurance Company, -6 states

9. Colonial Life, -2 states

10. Colorado Bankers Life Insurance Company, -2 states

11. Companion Life Insurance Company, -4 states

12. Conseco Insurance Companies, - 2 states

13. Continental American Insurance Company, -NY

14. Dominion Dental Services, Inc., -4 states

15. EMC National Life Company, - 2 states

16. First Dearborn Life Insurance Company, -NY

17. HealthPartners, -2 states

18. Illinois Mutual, -4 states

19. John Hancock, -2 states

20. Kansas City Life Group, -2 states

21. Minnesota Life Insurance Company, -2 states

22. Mutual Trust Financial Group, -2 states

23. Ohio National Financial Services, -3 states

24. Oxford Life Insurance Company, - 5 states

25. Penn Treaty Network America, -7 states

26. Renaissance Life and Health Insurance Company, -NY

27. Securian Dental Plans, -6 states

28. Significa Insurance Group, Inc., -5 states

29. Standard Life and Accident Insurance Company, -5 states

30. Starmark, -10 states

31. Texas Life Insurance Company, -NY

32. Transamerica Life Insurance Company, -5 states

33. Trustmark Life Insurance Company, -9 states

34. Western Reserve Life, -NY

Other insurer organizations and insurance companies

These cover most of the United States. They are American Continental Insurance Company, American Specialty Health Insurance Company, Best Life, Catholic Family Life, Columbian Mutual Life, Continental American Insurance, Eastern Life & Health Insurance Company, Equitable Life & Casualty, Guaranty Income Life Insurance Company, Kemper Investors, Pro Financial Services, and William Penn Association.

Shenandoah Life Insurance Company is not listed, as it is undergoing some difficulties. Apologies are in order to any companies catering to this market segment that were missed.

Well published author, Don Yerke likes to concentrate on what you don't know or what no one else dares to print. Tell it like it is.

Watch for his new paperback book debuting on Amazon early this summer. It is loaded with great insurance marketing and recruiting information.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donald_Yerke

Wow, what if you, as a sales person could start out with a bag of insurance success tips and tricks? If would be especially rewarding if it come make you a no pressure sales person.A insurance sales person is trained by their company to use so much pressure that both the prospect and sales person are drained. The agent is often dripping with sweat by the end of the presentation. A no pressure presentation is relaxing for sales person and beneficial for the buyer. Here are 6 proven tips to put into use.

THE ONLY INSURANCE SALES PERSON IS A NO PRESSURE SALESMAN

Until you reach that stage you are merely a trainee, hoping to last enough to become a confirmed sales professional. Too many sales are lost because the sales person financially needs this sale and is worried the presentation will end without one. If you are using the presentation your company gave you, you have reason to worry. You will be entering the combat zone where the prospect will fire out an objection, and then you must wait to fire back overcoming the objection.

THE PROSPECT BUYS BECAUSE OF YOU, NOT BECAUSE OF YOUR PRODUCT

You are ready to lose the sale before you begin if you feel you must have the best product at the best price. With a decent prospect, the way you give the presentation determines 80% of the outcome. To become a no pressure sales person you must completely discard your company presentation, which is no more than a pacifier for people that can not sell. This is an insurance success tip, that MUST be followed.

IT IS FALSE THAT CLOSING OCCURS AT THE END OF THE PRESENTATION

View a presentation like a steam pressure cooker that you must shut off if you want to get a sale. Leaving closing to the end and you certainly get burned. A super insurance agent starts to ignite closing techniques very early. No Fear. This problem of fear of not getting the sale comes from your natural fear of rejection. To stay in the sales survival game you have to learn to overcome this fear. A problem is already on the way to being solved when you identify the problem. Realize this fear isn't real, it is something you falsely created in your mind. To become a closer, you must destroy fear now. Fear builds tension causing objections to pop up. These in turn lead to losing sales.

THE MIND FRAME OF A GREAT SALES AGENT

You must desire with complete determination that if another salesman can do it, you can do it . A super salesman only becomes super upon finding this nugget of gold.. The nugget is engraved with the wording, "if you want to be the greatest you have to do what every other salesperson is not doing." Starting right now by convincing yourself why change must occur instantly. Before putting it where it will collect dust look at all the poison in your sales book. What does the picture of the home office do to help you?. Useless page after page. Your canned presentation stirs up conflict and controversy within your prospects mind.

HOW TO BECOME THE GREATEST KNOWN NO PRESSURE SALESPERSON

Start realizing your presentation must not cause your client to feel the least bit of discomfort or pressure to buy. You are never going to ask your prospect if they are ready to purchase your product., You will be persuading your prospect to invest in your product. YOU MUST be in FULL control starting when you shake your prospect's hand at the door. YOU must tell them you need to sit at the table, you must tell them to turn off the television set. If the spouse will not join the presentation, refuse to give the presentation. You are defusing all the pressure time bombs and excuses now and forever. Now when the stage is set, its time to become Mr. Nice Guy and spend a fell minutes asking about their hobby collection, which is there favorite piece and why.

START YOUR CUSTOM PRESENTATION

Before you write your new presentation, you should jot down every objection your client could give you, like cost, think it over, just comparing, etc. ALL of these objections must be covered in a third party way or story example Before they come up. How can the prospect throw you a grenade when you already detonated it? Will the world end tomorrow if your prospects do not buy? They don't need your product, so you concentrate on stimulating their emotions to want it so bad, that they won't let you leave until it is theirs. If price should ever be muttered, you stay in control and ask straight out if your prospect can't afford it. If the reply is yes or probably, respond with , "To save us both time, if I could show you a lower price option would you be ready to make room in your finances to take action now?

Remember that even an experienced agent with a personal bag of tricks and tips does not close every sale. However if your presentation went without pressure you must leave telling yourself this. "It's their loss not mine, now its time for an easy sale". There are endless quality prospects.. As you become more skillful, the only pressure will be deciding what features you want your new truck or car to have.

Well published author, Don Yerke likes to concentrate on what you don't know or what no one else dares to print. Tell it like it is.

Watch for his new paperback book debuting on Amazon early this summer. It is loaded with great insurance marketing and recruiting information.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donald_Yerke

Insurance sales questions that you never expected, start popping up early in your career. In turn you are trained to ask a selling question that will magically get you sales. Of all insurance selling questions this one is promoted as the ultimate. Find out how often it backfires and why.

When you started your insurance sales career I can predict what happened. On either the first, or second appointment you were thrown an objection. The top insurance sales question for addressing this objection was preached to you. You were told how asking this question would turn the objection into a sure sale.

What you were not told is that is was developed by someone that probably never sold insurance (or had a few sales marbles missing). Certainly, this idiot person should have been tarred, feathered, and exiled for life instead of being praised. The logic is so prone to ruin a sale, that this going down in my notes as the alltime worst sales question to ask any prospective client.

In fact, if you currently use this sales one of two things will happen. Either you will not survive, or your income will be below that of an average salesperson. Instead of sales salvation the prospect's response is often the kiss of death.

I am sure you have it deeply rooted in your mind. Your sales manager tells you this is what he and all successful salespeople use. You quickly become brainwashed into becoming a believer. Well, I had a profitable sales career, and never once used it. I quickly learned that anything the home office or sales manager praised, I should throw out. In turn, to be better than ordinary you have to say and do things better.

Here is the most praised (by morons) sales objection handler in modern history. You are told to ask this kindg of insurance sales questions near the beginning of your presentation. "If I could show you a way, where I could solve your objection, would you be ready to purchase my insurance product today?" What a dynamite sales line!

So explosive, it is ready to blow sky high your sales presentation manual. Stupidly, or unknowingly, you tried to sell before the prospect was ready. Your prospect was not yet ready for the purchasing process. Just think of the many things racing through your clients head.

These include the following silent thought reactions you could easily be getting.

1. "The salesperson is going to give me a 10 minute song and dance. At the end he is going to expect me to pull out my checkbook. No way. I think this guy might be a con."

2. "This guy is a real greenhorn. I just got that same line at the car dealership, and the furniture store"

3. "His speech is so canned, I am going to have to put a lid on it"

4. "I should say this: If there was a way I could give you $20.00 right now, would you take it and leave immediately?"

5. "What if I simply reply with this: Absolutely Not. Lets see what kind of trick this salesperson been taught to answer this."

A sales professional response, say for the prospect statement "the price seems high", would go more like this. "I completely agree with you. A quality product that provides you with all these benefits is unusual. I have had people go without this ____ product. Then suddenly things change, and they wish they had got this right away. Everyone dreads that their fears will turn into reality. Instead they could eliminate them immediately. I don't know, but maybe you can't afford this."

I never directly answered his objection. As an alternative, I presented a number of prime reasons he should not have even asked that question. You remember playing "hot potato" as a kid. You simply throw the objection right back, but not until you add a few hot sparks. Who likes to be TOLD that they can't afford something? Who sees a salesperson getting ready to WITHDRAW THE OFFER? Your prospect suddenly realizes you are a rare breed of pesky insurance sales person.

Your statements suddenly challenge the prospect, driving him into wanting your product. He respects your truth, and now has confidence in you. He can tell you are a survivor and will be around if he has any questions. Your prospect's sales objection question just turned him into a prospect convinced enough to make you a sale.

Tricks and canned lines lead to few sales. Why be a 30% closer when you can close 75% to 80%? Just display honesty, trust, tight firmness, and wide flexibility. You should know it is rare for a sales manager to earn $100,000 yearly. Would you like to earn $100,000? You can if you learn from real sales professionals how you can adapt and revise your sales presentation. The Sales Professionals income level easily outperforms most sales managers. They know how to stop a sales objection from ever coming up. If a sales objection ever slips in, it is very likely they will skillfully turn it around into an opportunity to sell.

Well published author, Don Yerke likes to concentrate on what you don't know or what no one else dares to print. Tell it like it is.

Watch for his new paperback book debuting on Amazon early this summer. It is loaded with great insurance marketing and recruiting information.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donald_Yerke

Life insurance agent leads are essential for making sales. However a life insurance agent career can be squeezed into non-existence without insurance agent leads. Find out how the company agency controls the insurance agent career longevity.

What is the life insurance agent career agency attempting to do to lure you into their trap. Besides the alluring false ad in the paper, what are you initially told? Their response reflects a no worry approach. They are going to provide plenty of leads, plus ways (like referrals) to keep the leads flowing in. This a a myth in virtually all cases. Clouds of death of a new agent's career is looming overhead constantly. The demise occurs customarily within 18 months after the agent is licensed and trained.

Go into any life insurance agent career sales office with more than 30 agents. Observe that almost any seats occupied are by a newer agent. This projects rather strange and spooky feelings. (Almost like a funeral parlor). Are not insurance agents supposed to be out on appointments with potential clients writing new business applications? Numerous agents are conducting idle chatter with their associates. The strong hearted ones with rent or mortgage payments upcoming become intensively tense each passing day. The bright big bubble is bursting.

The truth sinks in if you are a new agent. The agency or company is not going to provide you with enough leads to see clients and make sales. Your sales manager has chewed you out for not getting referrals from the last sale or not talking to enough acquaintances about insurance. You are told to get your homemade list of potential clients or the phone directory and start calling for appointments. Should you be unsuccessful at setting up enough appointments, chastisement comes from the sales manger for you not being able to overcome objections.

The strange part of all this is that you never observe the sales manager practicing what he preaches. The General Agency Manager supplies the sales managers with all phone and mail in leads that come in. Effectively determining selling abilities and hiring agents that can not sell is a major reason for agent failure. The remaining agents that can sell, eliminate themselves because of a shortage of leads for sales appointments. This is directly correlated to a lack of smart agency system for producing enough prospect leads.

Back when I was a new agent I can remember spending 80% of my time prospecting. The little remaining time was spend learning product knowledge and on a limited quantity of sales appointments. At my final career stages of selling, 10% was spent on prospecting, and the remainder on sales presentations.. Early in my career I realized it wasn't me, but the company that was holding me back. Fortunately I found an agency where a fair number of fair quality leads were supplied. It was a simple formula of fair number of leads + decent quality = more sales presentations = more sales income.

After 3 years of excessively hard work and average performance, the choices were to increase sales or second mortgage the house. No insurance company manager ever explained (or knew!) how a sales lead program worked. An insurance agent with marvelous production sank reality into my thick skull. Thereby, igniting the fuse to my skyrocketing sales production by injecting quality leads.

If you want to make money in insurance you have to spend money out of your pocket. Plus time lost on prospecting is time lost on selling. When both factors are converted to realism, a sales career entirely changes. Prospecting is done in mass mailing a carefully prepared lead getting message. This is proceeded by purchasing the highest quality list to reach the preferred clientele. Unfortunately your wallet pays the expenses. You have to help yourself to survive and prosper.

If you have now yet already dug yourself too deep in the ditch, there is hope. In a very short time period, you will discover your lead cost is outweighed by increased sales, higher closing ratio, and enlarged premiums on policies you write.

The career insurance company is going to do virtually nothing to truly save you! Your ship will not suddenly come in! Make yourself the captain now.

Start your personal, out of pocket, lead program right now. Grab a lead life raft tailored to your personal perfection, and you will ever sink out of sight.

Well published author, Don Yerke likes to concentrate on what you don't know or what no one else dares to print. Tell it like it is.

Watch for his new paperback book debuting on Amazon early this summer. It is loaded with great insurance marketing and recruiting information.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donald_Yerke

Rather than chasing after the next latest and greatest way to sell insurance how about if you simply perfect what you're already doing? It's tempting to continually chase after the quick fix to fast bucks yet it's not very productive.

If you want to sell more insurance you simply have to get more productive than you are now. That means doing the right things in the right way at the right time with the right people for the right reasons. It also means you need to improve what you're doing now.

One of the biggest reasons most producers don't sell more insurance is they have diarrhea of the mouth. You think you have to talk people in to buying when that's the last thing you need to do. In fact, the more you talk the less you're likely to sell.

Think about what it's like to be in the buyer's chair. They can't get a word in edge-wise. They wonder if you'll ever come up for air. They can't possibly absorb what you're saying so they simply tune you out and think about the quickest way to get rid of YOU.

Obviously that spells disaster for you. However, the more desperate you get to sell something the worse you get about talking too much. It's a vicious cycle.

Here are 3 keys to selling more insurance:

1. Speak in short paragraphs
2. Speak in short sentences
3. Use short words

Yes, it really is that simple to immediately increase your sales effectiveness. Now let's talk a little bit about why these 3 keys enhance your sales effectiveness.

While you're very familiar with what you're talking about and the industry language the other person isn't. As soon as you use language they aren't familiar with you lose them. And the longer you continue speaking beyond this initial point of confusion the faster you lose them and the quicker they lose all interest in you and what you have to offer.

If you want to sell more you have to get the potential client to talk more and tell you more. As you speak in short sentences, whether asking a question or making a statement, focus on how the other person reacts. Then adapt the conversation moving forward to fit their reaction, interest, and level of engagement.

You may take great pride in your larger than average vocabulary; however, if your future client doesn't understand what you're saying you increase the risk of selling nothing. Rather than establishing rapport and increasing their level of trust in you the opposite happens. They increasingly distrust you.

You can take the exact things you say now and use these 3 keys and immediately increase your sales. Don't forget to focus on the potential client and adjust to fit their needs not yours. You're a few short words from more sales.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cheryl_Clausen