Unlike other insurance products, many annuities producers are certified financial specialists and planners. There’s a reason for this – annuities sales often require a complex understanding of money markets. Marketing annuities can also be a nuanced process – one producer told us, “Most of the annuities I’ve sold are on the back end, once I’ve gained trust from the client and have done an extensive fact finder on them.”
Producers who maintain a book of clients with whom they conduct financial planning are already well positioned. These producers can use fixed annuities as a CD alternative, or suggest FIAs and VAs with GLWB riders for retired clients.
To market annuities, these producers can help their chances of making a transaction by doing an annual review with financial planning clients – these reviews may serve as reminders to evaluate assets. In a similar vein, many successful producers choose to conduct workshops on annuities options for their financial clients.
Producers don’t have to be financial planners to have an edge in marketing annuities, though. One agent told us, “Every annuity I ever wrote came from a fact-finding session of another product in the life or health markets, or from a referral. Don’t forget cross-selling – too many times, agents leave other policies on the table.”
