Implementing a Policy Review System to Generate Income (and Loyal Clients) Paul Silva, CLU, ChFC psilva@nyltcb.com NY/NLTCB 11Executive Park Dr. Clifton Park. NY 12065 1-800-695-8224
No matter how good you are at what you do, almost everyone in our business could benefit from more opportunities to generate revenue. My simple definition of marketing is the activities that lead to having a chance to make a sale. This whitepaper will focus in on how to systematize the most effective and cost-efficient method of marketing ever known in the history of financial services. You ve heard of it ever since your first day, no matter who trained you. It s called The Policy Review. Before you quit reading in disgust that we would insult your intelligence by recommending a second look at something so elementary, you need to ask yourself some questions: Have I consistently gotten the most out of this method? Do I know what percentage of my business comes from this source? Can I calculate the cost in both marketing expense and time consumed for my results produced from policy reviews? (Versus other marketing methods I use.) Do I have a system in place that makes sure none of the review opportunities are missed? Do I have a list that identifies all the ways these opportunities can be spotted? Does my process include prospecting for policy reviews among NON-clients Have I simplified this system to the point where it can be delegated? Unless you can answer an unequivocal YES to all those questions, reading this whitepaper can be the most profitable thing you do this month. Of course this system won t fulfill its potential unless you actually implement it. But isn t that true of every marketing project? 2
Where to start? The very first change that needs to take place is in your head. You might need one or two adjustments to your mindset regarding policy reviews as a marketing method. You may just need to be reminded how much easier it is to find and then deal with people who already trust you. Or you may just need to recognize that for this to work consistently you have to have a system in place that prevents this activity from being over-looked. May I assume that we don t need to prove either of those propositions to you? 2 Basic Steps Just like much of the work you do for your clients, there are two basic steps to taking advantage of this marketing technique. Excuse the simplicity, but it sure beats systems that are so hard to set-up and maintain that you won t even take them seriously. The two steps are Planning and Implementation. Planning The planning step involves using a project management approach. I suggest looking at your practice, or book of business, on an annual planning basis. Make a plan for the next year, and gradually fold in each element of this system as common sense indicates for your particular business model and resources. (See Appendix 1) Specifically, go through the available parts of this system with a critical eye toward what would do your revenue flow the most good in the least amount of time. Sounds obvious, but it will yield highly preferable results to just doing whichever tactic that comes to mind first. (Although even something as hap-hazard as that would certainly outperform any advertising campaign you might be tempted to invest in.) Once you ve drawn up your prioritized list, put each of these techniques on an annual calendar. Starting with the highest profit maker and descending, fit them into one year. Be flexible with yourself in the scheduling of these activities. If it takes you a year and a half to do what you hoped to accomplish in the first year, you still get to spend the extra revenue. 3
Implementation Now that you have the annual calendar giving you the big picture, it s time to focus on the short term. This is where you allocate a specified portion of your weekly activities calendar to accommodate the highest priority form of policy review on your list. It s not additional workload. The less productive activities will automatically fall by the wayside. For example, let s say it s already September and your practice includes people who are motivated by taxes. You would set up each task related to generating year-end tax reviews on your calendar. You might focus on doing policy reviews that would discover tax moves that need to be accomplished before year-end. Then you d switch focus to those clients who are more likely to benefit from tax strategies that only need to be implemented before the April 15th filing date. You get the idea. Just apply this kind of thinking to whatever holds the highest profit potential first. Don t worry if you can t make a well-timed offer regarding taxes prior to the end of this year. There is also a window of opportunity to capitalize on the feelings of pain a taxpayer has from the filing date to the extension deadline. (You ve probably noticed that not all CPAs head for the tropics on April 16th.) The point is this: just because you may have missed a season this year doesn t mean you have to miss that season every year. That s what the annual calendar-planning step is for. Let s say it is January, and the next most profitable step for you to implement is policy reviews based on policy anniversaries. If you have an assistant, just have them pull a list of each month s policies with an anniversary and print a summary. Put each one into a file folder marked for that month. (You remember actual, physical files right? Hint- they are manila colored.) Please resist the urge to make this a completely computerized activity. Call me old school, but it is easier to ignore a to-do or task list on my virtual desktop than it is to overlook a real object on my real desk. I get tired of moving aside the things I haven t done, so I do them. But suit yourself. This also makes some of the tasks more able to be delegated. You get the idea, just rinse and repeat until you have done at least some of the available policy reviews for each of the tactics. In the next annual cycle you will no doubt have picked up on the number of reviews you do in each category for two very predictable reasons. You ll have had more fun by meeting with people who already trust you during the last year. AND, you ll have made more money, and spent much less of it on marketing. 4
Tools and Resources (See Appendix 2) You ll need a basic tool for doing a policy review. Prior to asking for the most recent statement on their policies, I like to send the client a quick What s changed in your life? type of review form. This will give you a heads up as to what might be relevant to your client in doing the policy review. Next I ask them to gather the latest statement from each of their policies for when we get together. Depending on the nature of your practice (how well you ve trained your clients) you can ask them to send them to you prior to your office meeting. That way you are better prepared, and the occasional reschedule won t tempt you to goof off. Insisting on seeing the actual policy can be counterproductive. Likewise, a statement that is over a year old is not a deal breaker. To be thorough, you ll often need to order an in-force illustration anyway. Clients are consistently impressed, and appreciate, your willingness to take the extra effort to make sure their policies are performing up to reasonable expectations. This will motivate your client to back up and reconsider what is appropriate going forward. You ll need a tool to help them access the size and type of their need. (See appendix 2) For a more automated and major timesavings, I strongly recommend the use of a system called The Virtual Sales Assistant. In fact, we at New York/National Long Term Care Brokers so strongly endorse its use, that it is available on a discounted basis on our website under Partner Perks (http://bit.ly/nyltcbperks). I bring it up now because doing more policy reviews will expose you to more new situations than you are used to keeping up with. Having a collection of pre-formatted one page concepts that you can email to a client to get a new sale rolling becomes much more valuable. 5
Conclusion Hey, thanks for making sure my policies are still appropriate. I m much more comfortable knowing I won t be making my ex-wife rich. Now I know the money will go to protect my kids the way I wanted it to. By the way, I still need to get that buy-sell funded. Could you get that taken care of for me as well? I m assuming you re a nice guy. I think you d probably be glad to supply whatever new insurance your clients need. Having done the review, you have earned the right. Now your next step is the same as it always was. Just call your trusted friends at New York/National Long Term Care Brokers to take care of the policy design, quoting and underwriting follow-up. I m available to answer questions about any of the steps or tools in the appendices. Just let me know how I can help make your life as a broker/advisor easier and more satisfying. 6
Appendix 1 Sample Calendar of Priorities Commit 10 hours a week (previously used for other, less profitable prospecting techniques). Month January February March April May June July August September October November December Priorities New Year (non-client) Pre 4/15/13 deadlines- Tax issues 2 nd Notice on 4/15 deadline Post 4/15 PAIN- plan for next year to be different Term Conversions (can do each month) Liberalizations for Non-Clients Pre-B-Day Conserve Age (can do each month) Crash and Burn Prevention, Non-Clients Defensive Industry Trends First Year End Planning Notice 2 nd Year End Notice Let s Make Next Year Better 7
Appendix 2 Size and Type Resources - Virtual Sales Assistant see our Partner Perks - Visit www.nyltcb.com for discounts. Advisys- (Old Kettley Back Room Technician) www.advisys.com Best for working with CPA s and Attorneys- Trust Liability control on under-performing policies Carriers for Fact-Finders Metropolitan Life, for either short or long version Genworth has whole soup to nuts program called Life Jacket - See www.genworth.com and search LifeJacket 8