“I have only been in the financial advising business for two years. I was struggling to find qualified leads and used many lead generation systems. ProspectMatch has been a very reliable and predictable source of qualified, motivated leads. I received thirty eight leads my first month and am now more confident than ever joining ProspectMatch was a great business decision.”— Joe F., Crestview, FL

http://www.prospectmatch10.com

Insurance Prospecting Gone Wrong It continually shocks us that so many people (insurance agents, stockbrokers, financial planners) are recruited into financial services with no sense of how to grow a large business.  We think this is due to the short term orientation of the people or companies that recruit them.  These new recruits may be looked at as merely “commission generating” or “asset gathering” machines.

An example is the insurance agent who is encouraged to get his securities license, specifically, the series 6 license.  If one is taking time to study, why not study for the series 7 and gain a broader exposure to the securities markets?  This is not in the insurance company’s best interest as the insurance company only wants their agent to sell the products they offer (mutual funds, variable annuities) and not have the flexibility to branch out or pursue other investment or insurance marketing and sales opportunities.  In an ideal world, what’s good for your employer is good for you but many times, this is not the case.  Your employer’s short term interest may be adverse to your long term career.

As a consequence, many recruits into financial sales are taught the caveman method of insurance prospecting, to hunt and kill: find a prospect and make a sale.  This approach will not result in maximum long term earnings. To maximize career earnings, you must evolve your insurance prospecting as the caveman did from hunter to farmer. To grow a big business, use the farmer formula: plant, cultivate, nurture.  In other words, you have a method of prospecting or method to generate or buy life insurance leads which produce insurance prospects who meet your criteria.  These prospects enter your pipeline as they may not be ready to buy today.  They are cultivated in the pipeline (e.g. invitations to seminars, receipt of your newsletter) and they are nurtured into new clients.  These insurance prospects are then further nurtured to produce repeat business and referrals.

Insurance marketing and insurance prospecting is for the purpose of placing a prospect into your pipeline.  While some insurance prospects may be ready to do business today, the majority will not.  But how can you make a living while you fill your pipeline and convert these cultivated prospects into clients?  You need to enter the business with a 90 day financial cushion while you pack your pipeline.  Again, your first employer may not have told you this because this would have dissuaded your entry into the business. Rather, the employer may have opted for some fast-turn system for insurance leads that you call and close that day.  The long term result is similar to the drug addict looking for today’s fix.  You spend each day looking for a hot insurance lead while the true professional is continually and easily gaining new clients from the prospects in his pipeline.  You may have become an insurance  huckster rather than the professional you had envisioned.

If you want to build the large business that has eluded you, it’s time to change your model from hunt and kill to plant, cultivate, nurture.

Insurance prospecting

Financial Planning Professional Unlearned Lessons A decade or two ago, those who sold financial products and services realized that consumers did not want to be sold stuff. Around the same time, the Internet became a significant competitor to stockbrokers and insurance agents by offering $10 stock trades and term life insurance at rock bottom prices.  So the stockbrokers and insurance agents became “financial planning professionals” as a way to reposition the value they could deliver to the client. The new mantra was to “do financial planning” and in that manner, gather assets and make more sales.  The intent of these financial plans was selling product, but the financial planning approach was the soft sell solution to paint the sales person as a professional and not as a sales person.  In fact, Ameriprise has adopted this branding as their unique selling proposition: “we have more certified financial planning professionals than any other firm.”  In fact, these financial planning professionals continue to sell Ameriprise products and serve as conduits for product distribution.

However, the purpose of this article is not to address whether all of this planning is merely window dressing and question its value, it’s to suggest that there is even a “next level” of positioning that will assist the financial planning professional in their sales efforts.  In the current paradigm, the sale of the financial plan has replaced the sale of the mutual fund or the insurance policy.  But consumers don’t want a plan either.  A plan is abstract, a body of recommendations.  For the consumer, it’s not clear that this advice for a so-called financial planning professional will have any value.  In fact, there is evidence that it will not.  I had a financial planning professional admit to me last week: “over the last 10 years, my clients have earned exactly zero working with me.” What consumers want is not the plan but the potential benefits of the plan: an early retirement, more ways to financial pamper the grandchildren, the ability to take two nice trips each year, etc.  If you as the financial planning professional sell those payoffs, then you will find more consumers want the plan.  In fact, don’t even use the term “financial plan” when meeting with prospects.

Rather, you want to communicate that you are a “dream weaver.”  If you say you are a financial planner, that connotes someone who offers an activity but does not necessarily produce a result. A dream weaver makes dreams come true.  Your conversation with a prospect needs to focus on what they want i.e. What would you like your retirement to look like Mr. and Mrs. Smith? Of course, this starting question is to be followed with several other questions about how they want to spend each day, where they want to travel, how often do they want to see family, etc.   Once you know what they want, you make them an offer:

“Mr. and Mrs Smith, would it be worth $2,000 (or whatever you charge for a plan) to you to have answers to how you will:
a) retire before your 65th birthday
b) have 2 trips a year as you desire
c) be able to help the grand kids with their college education?

(YES, they blurt out).

If so, I would like to study your situation, put together recommendations and actions on how to have what you want and meet again next Tuesday?

Instead of selling a plan, you are now a more valuably perceived financial planning professional selling prospects their financial dreams come true.

http://www.prospect-match.net

How the Prospect Matching System Works ProspectMatch is designed around you, the financial professional, to help you grow your business. It is a completely automated system, accessible 24 hours day, 7 days a week via the Internet. This allows you to easily manage your account at any time, just like your online banking institutions or email accounts.

Registration. Register online by selecting your prospect types and geographical area (zip codes). Once registered, you can access your matched prospect information through your ProspectMatch Advisor Center. This is where all account information is available, including your prospect information, account settings, billing statements, booklets, and training resources.

Orientation. After account activation, you attend an Orientation Call (offered daily at 10am PST) to learn how to manage your account settings and prospect volume. You want to attend this call as soon as possible. This is not a “set it and forget it” system; it is a real-time continuous service and requires your active involvement, just like your bank account or other online service. You may need to adjust your initial settings (radius) until you "dial-in" the settings that produce the results you desire.

How our Marketing works. Once you register and your completed agreement is accepted, your account is activated and our marketing efforts in your local area begin. We registered your zip codes with our advertisers, and from that point it takes from one to seven days for your advertisements to start rotation. It is important to note that the marketing is not a gradual process; it is either on or off. For this reason, it is very important that you stay actively involved with your account and check your account DAILY to ensure your prospect flow meets your needs.

How we gather prospects for you.

1. Natural Search Mature investors searching for financial information on Google, Yahoo, or MSN find one of our many informational sites, and respond to advertisements for free informational booklets directly from the site. They fill out a form with their personal information, we get that information to you, and you fulfill the request.
   
   
2. Pay-Per-Click Seniors and pre-retirees respond to our Internet advertising on Google, Yahoo, or MSN for free, senior-specific educational information (booklets). They fill out a form with their personal information, we get that information to you, and you fulfill the request.
   
   
3. Co-registration / Banner Advertising Our partner publishers run ads on hundreds of web sites daily (CBS Marketwatch, NYtimes, Orbitz, etc.), and in the course of registration or response to offers for products or services, the mature investor opts-in to receive free financial information. We match this prospect to you, and you fulfill the request.
   
   

In all cases, the prospect has taken action to receive the requested material, and has shown interest in our specific offers.

> Click here to see a video on a “live” Internet Search to see how prospects find our ads

Consulting Calls. Once activated, you'll have access to the ProspectMatch Advisor Center and our twice-weekly consulting calls. You must attend at least one consulting call to be eligible for our guarantee. You are able to ask questions and get answers from our highly skilled, in-house ProspectMatch consultant. Even if you have been in business for 20 years, you will learn new ways to follow up on your prospects from this call. We encourage you to trade ideas, tips, and hints with other advisors to best approach prospects and use the system and materials to your full advantage. Click here to see comments from advisors who have attended one or more calls and have had great success with the system.

Account Management. Once activated, you'll have access to the ProspectMatch Advisor Center 24/7. Here, you can edit your radius (travel distance) at any time to control you prospect flow. You can ADD additional prospect types at any time, and remove prospect types on the 1st of every month if you desire. You'll also find complete instructions on how to follow up on your prospects for optimal results. You may cancel anytime after your first 15 prospect matches.

How You Get the Prospect Information. All prospects are delivered directly into your Advisor Center. We also send out courtesy email notifications as a reminder; however, since email is often unreliable, we recommend you check the Advisor Center DAILY for new postings.

Exclusive Prospects. Each prospect type is assigned to ONLY ONE advisor, based on the zip codes selected during registration. It's first come, first served.

Prospect Types. On the menu to the left, you can see the available prospect types. You select these when you register for the service. You must select at least one "generic" prospect type (Pre-Retirees or Retirees) on registration, which remains selected for the term of your account.

Item Fulfillment. After receipt of the prospect, you mail the requested item (or your own material if you prefer). It's critical to send the item BEFORE you call so the prospect knows who you are and are perceived as an expert, not simply a salesperson. You can also elect to have material emailed directly to the prospect as soon as you get a request, but you'll want to follow up with a physical response to get the best results.

Investment. There is a one time, non-refundable investment of $149 to start your advertising campaign. Each prospect match is $18 (bulk discounts are available).

Please review the site thoroughly and call with any questions:

866-952-4065 (office hours 6am-4pm Pacific but leave a message for a call back anytime).

At Javelin Marketing, we provide a range of services and tools to assist financial advisors recruit quality clients at the lowest cost.

Financial advising as a discipline arose in the late 1960s and early 1970s as investing transitioned from an activity largely for businesses and high-net-worth individuals to become a key aspect of every American's retirement plan. Prior to the advent of financial advising as a career, investors received financial "advice" from business colleagues or their stockbrokers. Fewer types of investment vehicles were available, and the tax implications of any given investment were straightforward.

This situation changed in the late 1960s, however. The first academic program in financial planning launched in 1969, with the first students graduating in 1973. The 1970s saw some of the most tumultuous financial markets in recent decades, increasing investor interest in obtaining professional financial advice. Changes in the tax code and retirement rules also led to an increased interest in financial planning. The introduction of individual retirement accounts in 1975, and of the 401(k) in 1981, gave both individuals and businesses an incentive to maximize their investments and to develop individualized investment plans. Financial advisors synthesized the new investing landscape and provided their clients with personalized roadmaps to achieve financial goals. Recognizing the need for regulation, certifications began appearing in the early 1970s.

The best-known and oldest financial advising accreditation is the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) standard, which is recognized worldwide. A number of institutions arose to provide educational services for this certification and others, including the American College and the Registered Financial Planners Institute. In recent years, financial advising has increasingly emphasized trust and personal relationships with clients.

The full-service model of years past has given way to a scenario in which boutique firms provide personalized service for individuals, taking into account taxation, retirement planning, business goals, and a wide range of additional financial considerations. Ups and downs in the market have taught investors to take a cautious approach to any advice, and financial advisors today must therefore make a greater effort to understand the unique circumstances of each client.

As a company that pairs financial service professionals with potential customers, Javelin Marketing generates many leads for its clients with individuals seeking retirement plans. With so many plans available on the market, it often remains easier to hand over the reins to a professional who can help individuals to find the perfect plan for their needs and resources. Below we have compiled a list of some common types of retirement plans on the market today.

1. An Individual Retirement Plan, know as an IRA, serves as an individual account in which a person can contribute up to $4,000 per year (the contribution limit will adjust annually for inflation in $500 increments). Individuals over 50 can increase their contribution limits. Each contribution remains tax deferred until it is withdrawn at retirement.

2. The Roth IRA originated as a result of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. It remains similar to a regular IRA except that the original contribution is not tax deductible. However, following the withdrawal of the money at retirement, the investment earning on the Roth IRA is not taxed.

3. An employer-sponsored 401(k) Plan is typically funded with before-tax salary contributions. Employers will often match employees’ contributions and growth in the account remains tax-deferred until it is withdrawn.

4. A Profit Sharing Plan serves as a retirement plan in which only the employer contributes. The company can contribute and deduct between 0% and 25% of eligible participant’s compensation up to a maximum each year.

5. A SIMPLE Plan remains a type of pension plan for self-employed individuals or employers with 100 or fewer employees. This plan work similarly to a 401(k) plan.

6. An Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP, offers a contribution plan that involves primary investments in an employer’s stock.

7. A Money Purchase Pension Plan provides a retirement plan that requires fixed annual contributions from the employer to the employee's individual account.

8. An SEO, or Simplified Employee Pension, serves as a retirement plan for self-employed individuals and small businesses. It consists of a group of IRAs, and allows employers to make contributions to their own IRA and to IRAs that their employees set up and control.