As the roll out of Obama health care sweeps across America the changes that were predicted are now coming to fruition. There have been several carriers who have entirely pulled out of the health insurance market while others have drastically cut commissions to agents. If employers have more employees that are electing not to sign up with the company sponsored plan that also means less commission. This is basically the government’s plan already taking shape. The point is if it is not profitable for the agents to sell health insurance they are going to have to find something else to sell. There are several health insurance campaigns always running here at 4More, both consumer and employee benefits. There is definitely a need out there and if you are selling group or individual now is the time for acquisition of new clients. You might not make a fortune acquiring their employee benefits but you also might find they have other needs other than just health insurance for themselves or their employees.

Ever think about selling annuities? With fixed interest rates around 1% the 3-4% offered by most insurance companies in their fixed annuities is compelling. 50% of all seniors have money in CD’s. The call is pretty simple for business owners. “I know you are probably not real happy about a lot of the premium increases going on now with your health coverage but I would like to let you about a little good news piece regarding your retirement planning. Would you be interested in doubling your income?” Then we ask a couple brief fact finders wanted by our client and then transfer the call live or set up the appointments.

We recommend calling business owners for a couple reasons;

1. They have the cash and the need.
2. We can leave messages on their answering machines
3. Exempt from Do Not Call compliance
4. Most are feeling some sort of pain right now and a good 2nd opinion is warranted.

Best wishes with the 2nd Qtr. 2011!

We would like to congratulate Team Piersanti and our Cedar Rapids team for finishing first in the President’s Club Soar For More Contest. Steve’s team specializes in setting appointments for insurance and financial campaigns. We know there was a lot of controversy involving the final score related to the March Madness contest. The contest outcome created a one week overtime shoot out between Team Piersanti and Team Lind. The title, the travelling trophy and the trip to Stockholm, Sweden go to Steve, congratulations. As a consolation prize Team Lind received a complimentary team builder at the local establishment of their choice. Better luck next time, Erik.

The Numbers

1. Team Piersanti (7,487 total points, 421 appointments, 338 live call transfers)
2. Team Lind (7,440 total points, 441 appointments, 301 live call transfers)
3. Team Murphy (5,881, 330 total points, 244 appointments, 219 live call transfers)
4. Team Dumont (5,114, 311 total points, 211 appointments, 189 live call transfers)
5. Team Hegland (4,241 total points, 179 appointments, 160 live call transfers)
6. Team Wood ( 2,110 total points, 101 appointments, 94 live call transfers)
7. Others (419 total points, 22 appointments, 14 live call transfers)

2Nd Qtr 2011 we have our NBA Finals Contest. One manager will get the chance to go to one game of this year’s NBA Finals. The manager must win out on total points and have the winning team already picked from the beginning. The following teams have qualified for the NBA Finals this year.

1. Chicago
2. Indiana
3. Boston
4. Miami
5. Philadelphia
6. New York
7. Orlando
8. Atlanta
9. Los Angeles
10. San Antonio
11. Memphis
12. New Orleans
13. Dallas
14. Portland
15. Oklahoma City
16. Denver

Where do we go from here? We have the Dow Jones back above 11,500, an imminent health care overhaul, unemployment around 9% and 10 years later we have over a hundred thousand American troops fighting it out in the Mideast. Although we choose not to take political sides on business we do understand the sensitivities that insurance, financial and mortgage professionals face when looking at the future. If we are not going to offer job security, rising wages and a healthy pension for families then it gets down to financing the American dream. We saw the last attempt at that go down the drain with the creative financing on home loans. That debacle, although not completely finished, took America to the brink of economic disaster. Our short term wants often trump our long term needs. We believe the realistic picture is those jobs are not coming back and the rich will get richer.

For sure, if the government charges employers $750 per head for some form of a government insurance option there will be a mass exodus from the company sponsored health plans. If you make your living in the employee benefits arena you might be getting a little nervous, and rightfully so. Less participants in the company plans also means less commission dollars in the pockets of the agents. Some folks balk at the idea of a government health plan, some say it is long overdue and some could care less as they are satisfied with the coverage that they have now. The agent still needs to get in front of new employers or families to create transactions. The good news is there are now more employers and families looking for a second opinion on health coverage than ever before.

We do receive several questions about indexed annuity campaigns. Do we run them? Yes, and if you are not selling these products to your clients you may be missing out on a unique arrow in your quiver. We get a lot of best practices from agents and reps in the field about the industry in general. Indexed annuities are one of those products that a rep either likes or doesn’t like. Insurance agents without a series 6 license like them because they don’t have to have a securities license to sell them. Most RIA’s and CFP’s see them as money that is outside of portfolio they manage for a fee. There are several property and casualty agencies that are looking at ways of increasing their life and annuity revenue without a lot of licensing and compliance.

In all fairness, here is the link from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity-indexed_annuity

1. In an environment where fixed interest rates on CD’s and savings accounts are around 1%-2% people are opting out of CD’s for savings account to avoid withdrawal penalties…by the billions. There is a lot of money out there right now that is not subject to penalties and surrender charges.

2. One thing we like about the campaigns is that we have the ability to ask prospects “Would you be interested in an 8% guaranteed income for the next 20 years?” Obviously the first thing people want to know is what we are talking about. We explain these products are offered by A rated carriers and backed by the state they are issued in, above and beyond the $250k limit imposed by the FDIC on bank accounts.

3. These products get families talking about the whole enchilada. When you can offer guarantees on income in this environment the question becomes “How much cash do you want to a have a guaranteed income on?” The next step is the needs analysis or the financial profile.

If you are interested in learning more about an indexed annuity campaign please contact one of our marketing consultants.

For 2nd Qtr we are now rolling out our E Newsletters with our pilot programs. These are simple email pieces that tell some general introductory information about you and notifying your data base that we will be calling this month. If your prospects would like to opt in prior to the call they can easily click a link to your site or call your phone number. Most clients will put the following information on their E Newsletter.

• Introductory Info
• Companies Represented
• Broker Dealer Info
• Industry Designations
• Local References
• Contact Info
• Website Link

These attractive and simple contacts are a great and inexpensive way to increase the performance for your campaign. If you are interested in adding the E Newsletter to your campaign please contact a marketing consultant.