This article details the conduct of business by insurance agents, marketers, financial planners, and trusted advisors who have been in this business long enough to know that they are succeeding, that they enjoy it, and have crossed over into senior citizenship and are choosing to remain active, competent and engaged. There is an ever increasing number of us out there who are very much in the game. Some are full time, others are semi-retired, and there are still many who have voluntarily cut back to part-time practice.
For me, I consider myself semi-retired. Our points of view and reflections are quite intriguing in that we who have remained have realized the promises to which we were challenged decades ago by recruiters, probably long gone, by staying the course, changing with the times, economic conditions, laws, compliance, and all other requirements and strategies, along with continuing education. We have seen the evolution from just selling insurance to the attainment of a full-fledged profession, which is very demanding and rewarding. We have much to pass along to others of our peers and to practitioners of all ages.
In 1964, less than a year after I signed my first life insurance contract, I found myself in an audience of perhaps 300 agents in the Grand Ballroom of the Rice Hotel in Houston, Texas. On stage was a veteran agent by the name of Ben Feldman, probably the most successful insurance agent in the history of the Republic. Ben spoke of many things that day, and one thing I remember to this day, was this great admonition and prediction: He asked how many of us had been in business less than two years. Lots of hands were raised, as many as half, maybe more. He stated that within 5 years, more than 90% of us would no longer be in this industry. It is that tough. I made a promise to myself right there and then that I would be in that 10%. To make such a thing happen, one has to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. The rewards along the way, overcoming the inevitable ups and downs that occur in any sales profession, make it all worthwhile. But what exactly does it really take?
At 71 years of age and 44 years of agency practice, the retrospective view shows a variety of techniques, methods, and strategies, ever changing, from which agents can profit. The view forward certainly looks inviting, even exciting, and is filled with benefits which come with and from all this. Further, it might well act as motivation for those at younger ages to fulfill their own promises, realizations, and dreams.
To begin, I have found that much of an established agency's new business comes from its own book of clients, largely unsolicited, and supplemented by some of the usual and customary methods of lead development and conservation efforts. One such idea that can work would be contracting to buy leads from a vendor delivering them to the office via the Internet. There are at least 6 to 8 other and various prospecting methods available, as many of you already know. You deploy the ones which work for you. There is lots of trial and error in this; nonetheless, it is necessary. In our case, nearly all new prospect leads are phoned or emailed in. In the early years, this was most certainly not the case.
We do have one person, our office manager, who has been cold-calling into businesses in yellow pages for years, about an hour per day, for about 9 years. She never gets tired of it and consistently produces new, quality leads. We have always gotten a number of new and valuable prospecting situations arising from the process of conservation and annual telephoned service contacts. I follow the strategy of sequential selling to existing clients. Thus, the customer becomes a client, whether individual, family or business. Anyone who does not do this is leaving chips on the table. We have developed an inbound telephone arrangement which trades on directory assistance, the methodology of which is beyond the scope of this article.
Finally, over the years, as times and circumstances have changed, I have tried all of the ways and means of developing steady flows of fresh, qualified leads, just as most of the readers of this article have done. With a commission sales business, one is always on an eternal campaign to produce leads and thus business. Failure to do this means failure in the entire effort and ultimately leaving this industry. In summation, I have found that the longer one remains active in the agency operation, the more inbound fresh quality leads, client conservation new business, and referral calls one receives. This is a major benefit of staying the course. The key is turning prospecting problems into processes. Finally, the selection of IMOs, FMOs, and BGAs that suit the practitioner is an imperative. These organizations provide value-added services, education, marketing strategies, and new coverage rollouts. Take advantage and make sure that any and all contracts entered into go through these organizations and are direct with the insuror.
Of utmost importance is to treat your selling effort as a professional business. This means everything from a modern office, fully furnished with the latest equipment, computers, phones, fax, national call plan capability, client and supply files, printers, copiers, staff, detailed annual business plan, advertising budget, fringe benefits of all kinds, commission accounts receivable controls, website, ledgers of pending and issued business, E & O insurance, General Liability Coverage, and Pre-paid Legal Protection, written procedures covering lead and new business acquisition, compliance and suitability files, continuing education, membership in professional organizations, annual daytimer book, so that you conduct a business as opposed to just selling.
Here's a most valuable point: The income streams received from insurance companies through agent contracts create value for us. Vesting with right of beneficiary selection is the major element. This is so important that it needs to be emphasized that this is in fact the development of asset and income for the producer, and that at a certain point, our businesses can be looked upon not only as our work, but as an income-producing asset. That is the power and uniqueness, not only of adding new business and conserving existing business, but of preserving renewals and trailing compensation. Properly selected and arranged, they provide retirement income while we live, but also for our families beyond our deaths. Read your agency and agent contracts carefully, especially the vesting, beneficiary selection rights, and for-cause/breaching provisions. Take special notice of the language regarding proprietary ownership of policyholders. This is obviously a joint venture between insuror and agent, each with an interest. In event the contract phrasing includes, say, that inducement to change policyholders of the company to another company because it is clearly in the best interest of the client is considered a breach, that is probably not your company.
In a word, we have proprietary rights and obligations to act in our clients best interests and cannot be contrained to leave that client to the mercies of some company because doing otherwise would allow the company to cancel the contract for cause, to our loss and the client's loss. Good examples would be moving a medical insurance or term life insurance policy elsewhere because the coverages became too expensive. If the client can pass new underwriting and achieve comparable or better coverage in so doing, then it needs to be done. The client's interest comes before everything else. Practicing this principle will keep you around to reap the benefits of remaining in our field for the long term.
Here is a primary point. We are agents, marketers, financial advisors, consultants, and mainly we are and always have been, our own bosses. Imagine that. We can remain in practice just as long as we wish, are healthy enough to do so, and are not educationally obsolete. All this lies in our very own hands. These are our own choices, decisions, enjoyments. In my case, at age 71, I have no immediate plans to fully retire anytime soon. As long as there is no burn-out and the passion continues, there is simply no reason to close up or sell out. I'm sure many of my peers will readily agree. Reducing your time and effort makes perfect sense and then to blend your overall activities with retirement, travel, and other leisure pursuits and avocations. Best of all, there is in this business no age discrimination; there is not going to be anyone informing me that my services are no longer required, or that my job has been exported to some other state or country. Nobody is going to be promoted over my head. Communications and offers of contracts from IMOs and insurors keep rolling in. After all, why not, in as much as they want a piece of the demonstrated productivity.
Think about all of that. How different this is from those in the corporate sphere who work, frightened, intimidated, and insecure, figuring that one day, perhaps soon, they will be called into the boss's office for a little hear-to-heart talk regarding job performance, cutbacks, or some other such thing, all of which leads to being demoted, transferred, uprooted, terminated, and resulting in far too many cases of unemployable and talented individuals, perhaps 40, 50, or 60 years of age looking in vain and desperation for anything that will pay their bills and provide for fringe benefits and retirement. The only ones who can fire us are ourselves.
With changes and advances in the way we complete insurance applications, the advent of computers, the Internet, methods of communication via email, nationwide phone calling service, faxes,electronic access to interactive insurance company websites, most business can be completed right in our own offices and tracked. No more looking through your car windshield and burning up gas and no more no shows when you get there. For many years, I have enjoyed a very comfortable gross income taking advantage of all of this. And this has increased yearly since semi-retirement some years ago.
This brings us to a very interesting financial and tax strategy for ourselves. As senior citizen agents and practitioners, we commonly receive social security income, no small piece of change. Some of us may even be receiving pension income from previous employment. Many of us have established our own IRA, SEP, and 401(k), plans. I know I have and with good reason, especially the 401(k). Here resides a great technique. It is this last plan into which can be contributed rather large sums of money(provided you have it), even while these tax-qualified plans are subject to RMDs. In a word, we can continue creating assets, keep our social security income completely or largely income tax free, and build up funds for our own living security. This should certainly resonate with lots of you out there. Compare that with regular employees and corporate retirees with significant pensions, but little or no business deductions and no active tax-advantaged plans. They get hit hard on all their income. We don't have that issue, at least not until we have decided to tap our plans and/or close up shop. This is nice work if you can get it.
The verdict is in: seniors actively involved in work and/or non-work activities for which they have active interest, tend to be more alive and to live longer, healthier lives. Finally, this kind of end-game, which quite frankly rather surprised me, should motivate not only other senior practitioners but all of us at all ages. After all, independence is why we entered this field in the first place.
Roger G. Bensman, CLU, ChFC, is Principal of Bensman & Company Asset Strategies , LLC, of Houston, Texas. He can be reached at 281-895-9428(fax) for more information. He has been established since June, 1963, conducts his insurance and retirement business statewide in Texas, contracts with some 40 insurors for which he holds authorized agent contracts. He earned his bachelors degree at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He completed his post-graduate studies at The American College, Bryn Mawr, PA, consisting of two diplomas and resultant professional designations of Chartered Life Underwriter(CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant(ChFC). He remains actively engaged in the business practice of financial planning and consultation in single, multiple, and comprehensive need modes and sales, well beyond normal retirement age and presents valuable tips, techniques, and methods unique to insurance agents and marketers from the point of view of one who has himself benefited from longterm active experience in this field. His Website address is http://www.bensmanandcompany.com
