Many financial advisors choose to sell insurance, with life insurance, long-term care, and Medigap among the most common offerings. Some clients, however, can be suspicious of advisors who sell insurance. That’s why broaching the subject of insurance to your wealth management clients should be part of a larger conversation. Insurance is necessary to protect personal assets, and presenting it as a valuable but optional component of a comprehensive financial plan can help to promote a sale. If you’re struggling with the insurance side of your business, here are a few key tips on how to sell insurance successfully.
Good Life Companies offers advisors access to a suite of online insurance quoting tools, case design managers, lead generation systems, and more. Learn more.
Put the Needs of Your Client First
Life insurance and annuities are commissionable. Your clients know that and may treat any suggestion regarding these products with suspicion. Segue into the conversation only after discussing their needs first. Focus on potential upsides, then talk about protection.
For example, let’s say you’re managing a client portfolio and projecting a 10% average annual return until they retire. Show those projections to your client, discuss what it means in terms of their ability to retire comfortably, then explain how insurance can help to protect those assets.
In most situations, you won’t need to be the party who mentions potential death and impact on surviving family members. Your client knows what’s at stake. Let the conversation flow naturally and treat death benefits as another piece of the overall financial strategy.
Don’t Sell Insurance Just for the Commission
Pushing a whole life policy on a seventy-year-old for a commission is unethical. It’s also bad business. Successful insurance reps make good money from referrals. Selling term life to that septuagenarian might not pay off today, but his good will could certainly send more prospects your way.
Every client is different. The best candidates for whole or universal life are millennials and generation X, not baby boomers. Find the right product for each client and you’ll see a stream of referrals eventually start to come in, along with a nice passive income flow.
Build Niche Markets Based on Insurance Needs
Your financial advisor business plan should include a market analysis and mission statement. Those are both factors in determining which niche markets you plan to prospect in. Deciding to sell insurance to complement wealth management services may change your targeting.
A good example of this are workers who receive quarterly or annual bonuses. Those lump sum payouts are like lottery wins. If not invested properly, they’ll likely be spent quickly, leaving the recipient with little to show for them. These folks are good prospects for annuities.
Young professionals are another prime area for insurance sales. Universal life products with low premiums and cash value potential tend to be appealing to this niche. Younger folks also tend to be less risk averse, so there are openings here for fixed and variable annuity sales.
Prospect the Immediate Neighborhood
Show up early for home appointments and prospect the neighbors. It’s okay to arrive thirty minutes ahead of schedule and ring a few doorbells. Explain that you’re visiting a client and leave your card. There’s no need for long-winded sales pitches. Just introduce yourself.
Your outward appearance is a key element of success. The suit and tie might work at a conference, but a simple golf shirt and casual slacks is better in a residential neighborhood. The trick is to make folks feel comfortable opening their doors and conversing with you.
Don’t travel out of sight from your vehicle. One of the first things people do when they get a strange visitor is look for a car. Leave yours where they can see it, reference the client you’re visiting by name, and point out where you’re parked. That will put them more at ease.
Build a Social Media Following
Social media can be a valuable source of leads for insurance. Everyone thinks about life insurance at some point in their lives—and by positioning yourself online as the go-to insurance agent, you might just pick up some new business.
Update your website to include landing pages focused on specific insurance campaigns, and be sure to create capture forms for folks inquiring about insurance. To help generate additional buzz, consider creating blog or video content around important insurance topics. You can then share that content through your social media and newsletter channels, supporting yourself as a thought leader in the area.
The insurance industry is complex and there’s a stigma attached to it. Venturing into this area can be risky for financial advisors, so position yourself as the source for transparency. Many prospects have had bad experiences. Overcome those with good information.
For more digital marketing tips, read our post on Digital Marketing Tips for Financial Advisors.
Form Partnerships if You Get Overwhelmed
Wealth managers and financial planners don’t typically want to become insurance agents. If you’re not careful, you might just turn this into a full-time job. Understand your limitations. It’s okay to outsource insurance sales if you start to get overwhelmed.
Forming a partnership with an outside insurance agent can be a win/win for financial advisory firms. Just as you become a lead source for them, they can reciprocate by sending you prospects. If your strength is wealth management, stick to it. Let them handle the insurance side of the business for you.
Good Life Companies Can Help
If you’re struggling to sell insurance successfully, Good Life Companies can help. We offer access to a full range of tools and services to help you build successful insurance campaign. Gain access to a range of competitive carriers offering a variety of insurance products, and improve your sales process with a suite of quoting tools, lead-generation resources, case management and underwriting services, and more.