Using software to see more prospects and convert more clients
By Jon Salomon
Over the years, agents have tried a myriad of systems to get the clients to say, “Yes.” There’s Missed Fortune, LEAP, Infinite Banking and the Circle of Wealth systems, along with various college funding, equity management and buy/sell arrangements. However, in today’s economic state, the client still can’t find enough money for your plan. Sound familiar?
Out of control consumer debt, declining real estate prices and the mortgage mess create plenty of reasons for prospects to put off implementing your well thought out and suitable strategy. Who hasn’t had a prospect use these tough economic conditions to rationalize why they can’t afford to change their current situation?
While many producers want to revive their business, they continually try the same old approaches and expect different results. A better way to generate new leads and convert them into clients is to try new models, technology and concepts. Even with all the doom and gloom in the insurance industry, some agents are generating significant life premiums. How are they doing it? The shift from equity management—which recently imploded—to debt management has generated the new sales opportunities. Agents who focus on time-tested principles like restructuring debts to free up cash for retirement planning are seeing dramatic improvement and sustained sales. But this concept can be difficult to illustrate and communicate, which has created a market for technology and software programs specifically focused on this concept.
Lead by example
Most people learn best through examples or storytelling. Imagine being able to show clients how to implement—and more importantly maintain—a plan you designed that entitles them to pay off all of their debts—including their mortgage—in eight to 12 years and still have money left over at the end of the month for your insurance products. You can then position yourself as the one individual that helped them address their two biggest financial hurdles—paying off their home and being adequately prepared for retirement. Hundreds of agents have been creating these exact plans for their clients over the past five years—even as real estate prices dropped and credit issues exploded.
The perfect storm
On average, Americans carry more debt than any other civilized nation, which is what makes the concept of debt management appealing to so many. With this approach, as an industry we’re no longer focusing our efforts on the top 10 percent of wage-earners. The producers that are seeing the biggest gains in this market are those that are working with the middle to upper middle classes.
Many Americans feel pain due to poor decisions and know they haven’t been as frugal as they should have been in the past. Those seeing the greatest success with the strategy are working within a proven system, but not every system will be the right fit for you. What’s important is finding a company you trust that offers debt elimination and wealth creation software.
For the concept to really pay off for your clients, they need to see the benefits of eliminating all debts and building wealth at the same time. Clients who engage in this strategy will appreciate the advice, education and support and it will result in more referrals than you can imagine—especially as you teach them strategies that will put dollars back in their pockets. With the right timing and the right system you can clearly illustrate important concepts, earning your client’s confidence and creating insurance or annuity solutions as well.
The power of expanding your practice
Some of the results of adding debt-elimination software to your practice include:
- Seeing more prospects: Debt elimination is a hot button right now and will open more doors—even with the wealthy. Your elevator pitch evolves into “I help people pay off all their debts—including their mortgage—in less than 12 years, enhance their retirement and all with little or no change to their current lifestyle.” People are eager to speak with you if you can help them where it hurts today. Retirement is a long way away for most, so start where it hurts.
- Creating comprehensive plans: Show your clients a financial solution that addresses virtually every facet of their financial situation. Demonstrate the financial drag created by lost interest charges, taxes, consumer purchases, etc. Create a plan that assists them in eliminating debt and recapturing lost interest charges. Utilize software that shows the financial benefit of minimizing interest charges and redirecting those savings toward retirement. A sound software system will deliver a visual graph along with data information for the client to dissect.
- Teaching comparative analysis: Demonstrate the economic “cost” of paying off debts versus saving for retirement. For example, the first option a client sees could demonstrate paying off their debts, including their mortgage in 10 years and saving $150,000 in bank interest. Now, illustrate how, if they decide to put $1,000 a month into insurance (which is the average premium these agents have been writing), instead of toward debt, they may save only $130,000 in interest and be debt free in 12 years instead of 10. The question you can answer is whether it’s worth the additional $20,000 in interest charges to begin a retirement plan today that could generate a significant projected income at retirement.
Do your homework
While you can search the internet for debt management software systems and find dozens of available options, of all the companies we’ve researched, only one has designed their software and a packaged sales system specifically for life insurance agents. That company is WeXL Financial. The offering from WeXL is a true turnkey package. Agents using their MCA system follow a simple process where clients can see how to pay down debts and recapture lost interest dollars. Agents like the fact that they don’t have to “sell” the system. Instead, the agent simply shows a video explaining how the system works along with a sample of a completed plan. The agent then enters their monthly budget into the software.
With the introduction complete, the agent schedules a webinar with the WeXL corporate office to explain all the details of the system and close the sale. As part of the process, the WeXL rep will show the client the value of adding some of their reorganized budget into the retirement section of the software, where a visual graph illustrates the benefits of each financial option. The client can compare their current strategy and the new strategy under a “scenarios” tab in the software. The WeXL rep then refers the client back to the referring life agent to assist in creating a solution for the found retirement dollars.
WeXL has been using the system with its own life agents for a few years and have now opened it up to agents around the country. It appears to be the most turnkey system of its kind and agents using the program have been writing larger than average life premiums.
The next steps
Breaking into a new market doesn’t need to be a lesson in trial and error. If you take the time to learn more about the available software systems that can assist you in uncovering new opportunities, you should find great success. Your clients will appreciate the extra tools you provide and will be more likely to refer friends your way.
At the end of the day, if you decide to incorporate debt management tools into your practice you should see more qualified prospects, convert more prospects into clients and enjoy a stream of ongoing sales. It’s all up to you. You can either be an early adapter and one of the first to market debt management solutions in your market, or be left behind, wondering why you aren’t seeing more prospects and closing more cases. The least you can do is explore the debt management systems out there to see if they can work in your practice.