Calling For Backup

by Holly Taylor Annuity Sales Consultant

When approaching an annuity sale, you’re ready to present your clients with options and recommendations based on the needs they’ve communicated. The appropriate due diligence in combination with trusted relationships you’ve built can certainly make the process flow more smoothly. Yet, there are times that you may wish you were prepared to do battle as clients blindside you with concerns or negative talk you didn’t see coming. It’s times like these that can really underscore the importance of having an experienced, trusted team on your side to call in for help. Whether you need assistance in case design and product selection or providing just the right ammunition to counter concerns, Creative Marketing has your back.

THE FACTS

• Male client, age 70
• Married
• Looking to take money out of the market and lower risk tolerance
• Concerned about life’s “what ifs”

THE GOAL

Find a safe-money solution for repositioning a portion of the client’s assets to protect his principal from any further losses. At the same time, provide the potential for growth, and address concerns that surface throughout the planning process.

THE COURSE OF ACTION

After years of aggressively investing in the market, the client experienced significant losses during the recent financial crisis. With his confidence shaken and his desire to maximize the value of his assets for retirement, the client contacted his financial services provider for help. The agent met with the client and his wife to talk about their retirement and legacy goals, and to evaluate the next steps for creating a solution that would match their shrinking risk tolerance levels. This opened up a conversation about the features and benefits of fixed indexed annuities (FIAs).

The clients were unaware that an indexed annuity could protect the couple against the market’s downside while offering a portion of its upside potential and later be used to create an income they couldn’t outlive. After discussing a couple of product solutions, the three determined just what the couple needed and scheduled a follow-up meeting to come in, fill out the paperwork, and complete the transaction.

THE SOLUTION

Feeling both pleased and confident that the clients left the meeting excited about the solution presented, the agent was caught off guard when he received an email from the client stating they wanted to reconsider their decision based on the information attached – a link to an article titled “Index annuities are a safety trap” from MONEY magazine. The agent immediately contacted Creative Marketing for help with a rebuttal to the misinformation provided in this piece. That same day, we provided him with our direct response to the article, in addition to information from NAFA and other industry leaders highlighting the truth about FIAs. After prompt follow up with the clients, they decided to move forward with the next meeting. However, they had one additional concern: What if one would end up needing care assistance? Would their money still be accessible?

Creative Marketing helped the agent determine that Aviva’s Income Preferred Bonus in combination with the Income Edge Plus Lifetime Income Rider would be just the solution for addressing all of the clients’ concerns. At the next meeting, the agent showed the clients how they could enjoy a premium bonus upfront as well as 6% growth in the income account. More importantly, the Income Doubler feature would provide the clients with double the amount of income should one of the two be confined to a care facility for 180 days or more.*

THE RESULT

For the client: Despite their evolving concerns, the client and his wife knew that the agent had created a solution that would address their safety, accumulation, income and potential confinement needs. They felt educated and respected after reading through a variety of materials that clearly identified how FIAs work and how one might fit in their portfolio.

For the agent:

The agent was once again reminded why a partnership with Creative Marketing is so critical to his success. No matter what kind of challenge presents itself, he felt confident he wasn’t going into battle alone.

The next time you’re in need of backup to solve a client issue, case design puzzle or contract problem, remember that we’re always on active duty. Contact your Annuity Sales Consultant and we’ll round up the troops.