Using Negative Advertising to Acquire Annuity Prospects

How do you buy toothpaste? Is it because Colgate protects you with fewer cavities or because Crest has been shown to be effective in preventing tooth decay? What about cars? GM has just the one for you however; Ford claims their car is rated higher than the others.

Have you ever noticed that advertising is either negative or positive?

Negative advertising focuses on elevating an existing concern. Positive advertising focuses on the positive attributes of a company or product.

How are politicians elected? Do they emphasize their positive attributes? Do they play above the board and respect their opponents? Do they let the election stand on the record?

No.

They attack, attack, and attack. They harp only the negative qualities of their opponent, both factual and perceived. The results pay off: Negative campaigning wins elections.

Negativity not only wins elections, it also sells products. By instilling distrust and fear into prospects, you can offer solutions to their worries. It can make you an enormous amount of money.

How do you use negative advertising to make money? It's easy. It requires a different approach than is traditionally used by insurance companies and agents. The Insurance industry focuses on establishing an image that comes across as professional and experienced. Agents emphasize how much training they have, how many degrees they've received, and how active they are in their communities. Typically, such advertising is a waste of time and money.

Look at your own experience. When was the last time you ran a company approved advertisement? How many calls did you have from it? We both know the answer to that question. If you had any at all, it's unlikely the results even began to pay for the cost of the ad.

Negative advertising is the key to your success. By talking about how good your company is with the usual claims in insurance advertising, you offer your target audience exactly what everyone else does: a boring sales pitch. Your target market doesn't want a sales pitch. They want solutions to their concerns. Emphasize what they're worried about, and you?ll grab their attention. By offering solutions to their problems, you offer them security and peace of mind.

Security and peace of mind is what is most important to seniors. How do you go about it? Recognize the enemy.

Who is the enemy? Old thinking! Here is an example, LTC salespeople.

Have you ever attended a LTC insurance seminar or a LTC sales meeting? Have you ever listened to a LTC ad on the radio? Do you ever wonder why sales for LTC insurance are so low, when it's so heavily touted as the next great market?

LTC is in fact a great market. It?s a market where an enormous amount of income can be made. However, it?s not easy to sell the insurance.

Selling annuities to seniors who are concerned about LTC, to protect their assets makes the money.

Nothing else is worth the effort.

Let's go back to advertising. When an LTC salesperson advertises, what is the message conveyed?

1. The many benefits their policies have to offer 2. The necessity for seniors to protect their assets 3. Fear: Seniors who don't own LTC will likely be confined to a nursing home where they won't be taken care of properly.

You've heard it all, no doubt. You may have even used some of these points yourself.

The goal is to attack the fear the LTC companies and salespeople instill. Structure ads which plant questions in the minds of our target audience about the competition, and attack LTC as a solution to their fear. This gets your prospect thinking about other possible solutions, other than LTC.

The goal is to create fear, uncertainty and doubt about the enemy.

The following are examples of negative ad headlines used to accomplish this:

? Find out why very few seniors need LTC insurance!
? Find out what LTC insurance companies don't want you to know!
? Find out what your LTC salesperson isn't telling you!
? How to cut your LTC insurance premiums in half!
? Save 50% on your LTC insurance premiums!
? Don't be a sucker! Find out if LTC really works!
? Get informed. LTC insurance isn't for everyone!

The ad provides information on how to contact your office.

Remember you don't want to jump into a sales presentation with these people. They need to be educated. When they schedule time with you, they'll be receptive to a solution that addresses their concerns: you in turn will have used your time productively.

Bill Broich is a 30 year annuity salesman who helps agents generate annuity leads. Visit his website to learn more -- Annuity.com.