Recently, I had an agent ask me if I knew just one marketing strategy that was so powerful you could use to write 5 Million in annuities in 12 months.  My answer was, "I don't know one strategy that will get you that 5 Million in annuities, but I know of at least seven strategies to get you moving in the right direction.

There really isn't "one" way to succeed in the Insurance business - There's no one miracle strategy or widget that'll do it all.

But from nearly every top agent I've ever met,  I've found that ultimately they generate most of their clients through some type of credible relationship - whether the client already knew them (or knew or them) or was referred to them from a trusted friend or source.

Established agents generate as much as 85% of their business this way.

But what about the rest of agents who don't have massive lists of past clients and huge market awareness?  I s there help for the new or hungry agent wanting to get to the next level?

For most agents, the biggest stumbling block is generating enough client flow to make the Insurance business a lasting business – it’s all about marketing and sales generation.   So here are 7 important tips to consider in creating a stellar marketing and sales generation system…

#1. Nothing Worthwhile Was Ever Achieved without a PLAN.  If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.  Smart agents think through their marketing strategies, examine where their current business comes from, and plan the future strategically. 

For example I’ve been mailing a 1,000 postcards every week from my office for years.  It’s just one of a half dozen spokes of marketing we use to generate business.

You can do the same thing too.  Just number out 3 or 4 major marketing efforts, set a goal for them, and focus like a laser beam.  Here’s an example of a super-simple 2 Million a year in annuity premium production plan:

1. Goal: 2-3 new prospects daily. Build my “house list” to 500 names in the first year and create monthly contact.  Make it a goal to delivery a monthly client newsletter to 2-3 new prospects everyday.  Use the tell-a-friend referral form. Drop off financial articles with special notes.

2. Goal: 4 annuity sales per month. Mail  1,000 postcards or direct mail piece every week to a quality list of seniors age 65-75 with incomes over $40,000.  Currently we have a direct mail piece for our members that has been pulling 3% all across the country.

Russ, dated May 15, 2007

I just wanted to send you a short thank you about your Social Security tax reduction program. Out of the one thousand piece mailer you sent out I got back 15 leads which were okay results. The good part though is that I made 8 appointments, and wrote two annuities for over $440,000 which will make me over $37,000 in commissions. I would say those are some pretty good numbers for my first week using your program. Needless to say I am ecstatic and I will be ordering more leads every week because these leads are a great door opener and this program works!

Thanks,

Dave Bramwell, AZ.

3. Goal:  200 postcards a week.  Mail 200 postcards a week to a list of CD Holders, annuity holders or IRA holders.

4. Goal: Quarterly Newspaper insert.  Do a 8.5 X 11 newspaper insert on a quarterly basis in your newspaper.  Statistics show us that a newspaper insert will out pull an ad in the newspaper every time.

#2. Prioritize Your Marketing Time, Money and Effort According To the QUALITY of the Prospect or Market.   “Quality” is defined as how well the prospect already knows you and is most predisposed to use or refer you over any other agent. 

You’ve only got a limited amount of time and money to spend, so you need to spend it on the highest potential prospects.  Don’t go chasing cold prospects at the expense of higher potential prospects. 

Without a doubt, your highest priority market is going to be past clients or friends who have already sent you a referral.  The second highest priority will be the rest of your “house list” (friends, family, etc.) who already know you and have the ability to do business with you or send you referrals.

The third highest priority would be inbound transactional leads.  These are people who have called you from postcards, direct mail , flyers, and other “pull” marketing – most agents fail to follow-up properly and convert these people to clients.   Everyone should be given a free monthly client newsletter.

Your fourth highest priority would be leads or clients generated from cold outbound sources: phone calls to a telephone list that has been cleaned for do-not-call lists. 

#3.  When Starting Out (or starting over), Spend 80% of Your Time on Prospecting and Client Acquisition Strategies.    Whether it’s cold prospecting or establishing marketing systems, ads, sales letters, press releases, dropping off free benefit packages, etc., focus your resources on getting business.  Don’t allow distractions (self imposed or otherwise) to interfere with this task. 

Too many agents are busy doing the wrong things.  They spend their time doing needless paper work during prime selling time or anything except nose-to-the-grindstone prospecting.   If it ain’t going to bring in more business, it can wait.

In addition, too many agents won’t invest $400 in direct mail to write one annuity worth $3500 in commissions.  We have determined that today’s market place requires you to  spend $400 in direct mail to generate one annuity sale with the average commission being $3500.  So, how many $3500 sales do you want to make in a month.

At the same time, don’t neglect establishing marketing “pull” systems so you can quickly stop manual outbound prospecting.  You only make money when you work with clients and close deals, so anything you can do to automate your ability to generate leads and clients is going to naturally increase your income.

#4.  Create a “House List” and Market To Them as Your Primary Marketing.  You already know that 84% of all Insurance  transactions occur from a relationship – they know the agent or are referred. 

Here’s something you don’t know: If you built a “house list” (database of personal contacts) with 300 people (seniors) on it, and if you eventually close one out of four prospects you have a very valuable list of future business – not including the referrals they could send you. 

That’s what I call “market share.” Get your house list going, and start bringing them welcomed, value-oriented contact.   If you need a monthly client newsletter that is ready to go for you every month check it out at www.pmrsystem.com   You can also have a annuity lead capture web page for only $39.00 per month.

#5.  Get a Hotline and Use it.  Your hotline will become the foundation of your marketing systems, and will become the “mechanism” that generates leads and clients automatically from ALL your other marketing, so you can do your job: working clients, closing deals and cashing commission checks. 

You’ll use it for all your marketing: postcards, direct mail, ads, free reports you pass out, and lots more.   You can even program your hotline to page you so you’re getting a hot lead.  And don’t forget to follow-up immediately on those leads.

Go to www.fvsystems.com/33019  and check it out.

#6: Use Direct Response in ALL Your Marketing.  There are many elements to direct response, but remember this: No one will reply to any of your marketing without a specific, self-serving REASON to respond. 

95% of the agent community is hopelessly ignorant of this fact and they keep using “image” advertising with the same lousy results. I’m talking about making an OFFER to prompt response from prospects: a special report, a CD alternative Report, your “11 Biggest Mistakes Retirees Make Report,” a “Hot To Protect Your Assets From the Federal Government Report, a "Senior Citizen Benefit Package and Kit."  

All of your marketing should include an irresistible offer and call to action to prompt response.  Want to learn more about how direct response can revolutionize your business?  Go to:

 www.UltimateInsuranceSystem.com/specialreport.htm  and get our free 26-page booklet.

#7.  Market Off Your current prospect with follow sequential mailing of postcards and letters.  I’ve had dozens of agents who used this  our "3-Step Postcard System™" and consistently add $300,000 to $1,000,000 per year in extra annuity business. 

So listen up.  You need to have at least 3-4 spokes of marketing going for you on a weekly basis.  The reason is if one of your spokes of marketing doesn’t produce you will have another lead generating system in place.

Imagine how your business would grow if you had 20-30 annuity leads coming in every week?  That’s what I mean by “leveraging” your efforts for more business. 

In closing, let me repeat, you need to think of your marketing as building “systems”.  Systems act like spokes on a wheel, with each spoke being one system.  The more spokes you have working for you, the stronger, more powerful the wheel.   Most agents have only 1 or 2 systems working for them, so if they lose a system, the whole wheel collapses. 

Plan your business around these 7 simple strategies, and you’ll see an immediate and lasting improvement in your production and your life.

 RESOURCES TO REVIEW

"How You Can Make Well Over $200,000.00 Per Year as Insurance Agent Working Less Than 15 Hours a Week....Have a Top Income AND a Life..... And NEVER Have to Make a Call You Dread or Waste Your Time On"

Unrealistic Prospects or unqualified Prospects, Ever Again."

The quickest and most efficient way for you to get all my ideas at once so you can start seeing changes in your business right away is to visit my site at http://www.ultimateinsurancesystem.com/specialreport.htm  and read my 16 page FREE CONFIDENTIAL REPORT.

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"FREE LIST COUNT" The number one secret you need to know about marketing is having a quality list of prospects to mail your postcards and letters.

The most important marketing tip I can give you is have a good list. Our company uses a list broker that has been doing

lists for over 12 years. Just click here and download a free  list count. Click below:
Http://www.ultimateinsurancesystem.com/ultimate_insurance_lead_system.htm 

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Http://www.fvsystems.com/33019