Thursday, May 1, 2008

More Bottom Life Profits by Hiring a Specialist to Evaluate Your Annuity

While watching golf on TV the other day I was inspired by the name on the hat that Phil Michelson wore. I Googled them and found out they were business consultants. Their expertise was consulting with medium to large companies to evaluate their business practices and to locate bottom line methods to increase profit. I thought how in the world did I miss this for my little annuity business.

I hired a business consultant to look at all aspects of my business and help me make better business decisions so I can be just like GM, Boeing and United Airlines. The overall cost was a little more than $5,000 and I spent about 2 days answering questions and filling out questionnaires. All the information was entered into their computer and it must have cranked on it for at least a day. The report was mind-blowing; things I had never even considered were introduced to me.
They had evaluated all my expenses and the bottom line were these ideas.

? Send E cards and save on postage.
? Buy all my stationary in bulk based on a 12 month need.
? Use only ATMs that have no fees.
? Cancel magazine subscriptions and use the internet for my news.
? Cancel my whole life insurance policy and replace it with term.
? Make my 2 employees coshare their health insurance cost.
? Cut back on Starbucks and make coffee at the office, quit going out to the coffee shop.
? Buy copy paper in bulk one pallet at a time and make the stationary company store it for me until I need it

I read all 99 of their suggestions and thought... not no, but Hell No!

Who wants to live like that? Who wants to be that extreme. What should I do if I want to have a better bottom line? It was very easy, see only 10 more people in a year and this will result in 1 ? more annuity sales. Based on my average care size of $77,000 this would provide an additional $10,000 to my bottom line. Only 10 more new seens a year! How simple is that?

Here is my plan for expense reduction?.DON?T!!! Life is way to short for this type of bottom line drive.

When your whole focus is on reduction and not sales you become very negative and not proactive. We are annuity salesmen and we need to be active and proactive.

One terrific tax benefit I did receive from my consultant, I got to write off his consulting fee. My attitude is that it is much simpler to sell than to reduce.

Bill Broich is a 30 year annuity salesman who helps agents generate annuity leads. Visit his website to learn more - Annuity.com
#BREAK# #TITLE#Attention Annuity Salespersons - Control Your Own Destiny#/TITLE#

Sales organizations love to sign you up. Contracting you is one of their greatest joys and why shouldn?t it be. You do the work, you invest your money and they get the cream of the overrides. What do they invest in you?Oh yes I know?.Service! In my book, service is a synonym for greed.

Answer these questions:

? How many times have you had an annuity marketing company attempt to recruit you?

? How many telephone calls and emails do you get each week from annuity marketers?

? How many times has a marketing company offered you free leads as an incentive to contract?

? How many times has a marketing company offered you their ?secret? CD to learn what how the big boys do it?

    Insider Secret Number 1:
You control your contracts Here is my very first rule and one I hope you will adopt. Get a pre-release letter! When you contract with a marketing company they forget to tell you about being released in the future!

? What if your situation changes?

? What if you found a marketing system better suited to your personal situation?

? What if you wanted a change?

? What if we did not satisfy your marketing needs?

? How do you get released?

Do not become a slave to your FMO, demand the pre-release, they all will do it!

    Insider Secret Number 2:
Most annuity sales marketing organizations do not know how to sell annuities. It is the old saying.. Those that can?t sell, TEACH!

Learn how to sell annuities and how actually market yourself and your business from ?those that do.? This is an easy topic to check out, just ask your FMO how they would make a sale in a specific situation and their answer is always based on product. Try it and see for yourself. If you are committed to working with an FMO, also hire yourself a coach, one who has sold and who can sell. This is the very easiest direction.

    Insider Secret Number 3:
Insurance company products are designed for only one reason, to maximize profit to the insurance company.

The newest, latest and greatest annuity is just a new wrapper around the same old product. The insurance company buys bonds to guarantee the performance and no matter how you look at it, the yield and the annuities are all in the same arena. Just more sizzle. If you chase the new products you will be just that ?a chaser.?

Chasers never build a practice, never have anything worthwhile to sell to their clients other than the newest wrapper on the same product.

Be different! Sell annuities based on the benefits they can provide to the owner. The real reason to buy an annuity is not based on yield but on benefits.

Learn these secrets and do as much for yourself as possible. Rely on the FMO as little as possible.

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

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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Annuity Marketing By Radio

I know what you are thinking? I must be kidding - right?

Think about our target market. Who are they and how do they access their information? It is a statistic that only 7% of people over age 65 are online. That means that 93% of our target market is accessing information by other sources such as the newspaper, television and the RADIO!

How do you do it? There are many options available to you. Offer your services to the Saturday Morning local interest station. There are many of these and your cost will be zilch. They are always looking for guests and if you offer a newsworthy topic it is very easy to get yourself on the air and it will be a clever annuity marketing tactic.

A possible target may be, ?Uncover the facts about Long Term Care Insurance? or ?How to manage your IRA for maximum income.? There are so many topics available to you that a little imagination will leave you with endless possibilities.

How about pay to play? Easy to do and lots of sources. I like the idea of a Saturday Morning slot and if you can get it close to 10:00 it is perfect. Buy the air time for 30 minutes and talk about your list of topics. Have you ever thought about doing an annuity seminar on the radio? Just repeat the strong points of your seminar over the air and invite people to call in for questions.

Have the station capture the caller?s information like address and number.

Offer a booklet to mail out after the show. The callers are all solid prospects and because you are on the ?RADIO? you are a perceived expert!

Trade air time for commercials. This idea really works, offer the station an advertising commitment for air time. Trade $1,000 of commercials for the ? hour of air time.

What do you advertise?

Your radio program! How about peripheral annuity marketing? Ask the station for permission to use their name on your web site or your printed materials. Have fun with this and be informal while at the same time being the local ?EXPERT.?

Your radio show can be cross marketed to your existing client base and to all new prospects you meet. ?Oh, you are the radio guy.? Instant credibility!

There are numerous ways to find annuity leads, be different and be creative and your annuity marketing results will explode.

Bill Broich is a 30 year annuity salesman who helps agents ramp up their annuity marketing efforts. Visit his website to learn more. Annuity.com

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Monday, January 7, 2008

Annuity Rates

 Annuities are the series of payments made by an institution like an insurance company to the annuitant (annuity holder) over a fixed time period. The payments are fixed by the company. Annuity rates are the rates of return that the annuitant will. Rates will depend on the nature of the annuity.

In the case of fixed deferred annuities, the rate of return is guaranteed over the life of the insurance contract. On the other hand, variable deferred annuities will not give any guaranteed return on the annuity. This is because; the amount obtained by the insurance companies from fixed annuities is invested in low risk government securities and bonds that guarantee some income. But the amount from the variable annuities will be invested in high-risk securities. However, the main advantage of variable annuities is that the excess income above the premiums from these annuities is exempted from tax. The two important factors that affect the annuity rates are gilt yields and life expectancy. In most of the countries, annuity rates have been on the decline. Sometimes the annuity rates depend on the market conditions and the monetary policy of the Government.

Every annuity holder wishes to have higher rate of return on the annuity. In order to achieve higher annuity rates of return, one needs to shop around for a good insurance company. Moreover, the potential holders need to have an idea of what types of securities the company invests in. If the investments perform well, then the likelihood of enjoying higher returns is possible. Potential holders may seek professional advice from annuity brokers or agents.



Cash For Annuities Web provides detailed information on cash for annuities, annuity brokers, annuity buyers, annuity payments and more. Cash For Annuities Web is affiliated with Cash Out Refinancing Scams.

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Friday, November 30, 2007

Can Your Annuity Do This?

Many people buy annuities according to their agent's recommendations. However, many people do not even know what they own. It is a good idea to take inventory of your investments, and particularly your annuity. It is important to understand what your annuity can and cannot do and what features it has. Here are some of the things you definitely must be sure to know about your annuity:

1. What interest rates are you currently getting?
2. Are the interest rates getting worse?
3. What is the rating of your insurance company? (Critical)
4. What are your surrender charges?
5. Is your principal ever at risk?
6. What retirement & income options does your annuity have?
7. Is your annuity Medicaid Friendly?
8. Did you properly designate your beneficiary annuitant and even ownership of your annuity?9. How safe is your annuity?
10. Is your annuity subject to double taxation?
12. What is your minimum guarantee?
13. Are you eligible for a 1035 exchange?
14. What happens in the event of your death? Are your beneficiaries entitled to all of the money or are there penalties?

This is a good beginning inventory list. These questions are important in assuring you are doing what is right for you. As we said before, the best annuity is the one that is best for YOU. And by taking inventory of what you own, you can now assess it against your own goals and make sure there is a match. By the way, this is a good process to go through periodically. As you know, your needs change over time. And as they change, you must make sure your investments are always in line with your goals. If they are, great. If they aren't, well, change your goals---or change your investments! But make sure there is a match.

Hopefully this helps. And remember, it's not what you know; it's what you do with what you know. If this makes sense, then pull your annuities out and take inventory. There is no better time than the present.

Ignorance is not bliss...
Tony Bahu is the author of the controversial document, 'Annuities: The Shocking Truths Revealed', which reveals the secrets that the banks and insurance companies don't want you to know. For more information on his document, visit www.annuitymd.com

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