Category Archives: Blog

Do You Know Your Why?

July 20th, 2023 by

Do you know your what, or do you know your why? Are you doing this just for money (business)? Or, are you doing this for partnership (serving others)?

I just returned from three days of leadership training hosted by Integrity Marketing Group and served by Tom Ziglar, son of the famed Zig Ziglar.

One of the main themes of the training was “knowing your why.”

We are probably ambitious enough to accomplish our “what,” but if we sacrifice or don’t know our “why,” our accomplishments will only be on paper. No happiness or joy can come from only accomplishing the “what.”

When you build your business, I promise the money is insufficient no matter how much you make. In the end, to have true satisfaction, you must know that you brought people with you for the journey and achieved mutually beneficial accomplishments.

If you don’t know a “why” or you do, watch the video here.

Our Key Partner: Clear Spring Life

January 6th, 2023 by

Clear Spring Life, formerly Guggenheim Life, has been one of our key partners for almost eight years. Karen Maginn and her team are some of the best people to work within this industry.

Contact us to get access to their limited distribution FIA, the TriVysta. Excellent growth potential, unrivaled renewal rates, and a very unique increasing income rider.

See the post here.

Annexus & Integrity join forces

July 28th, 2022 by

We are now owners/partners with the largest Annuity & Life product design company in the U.S. This partnership will bring a massive value to our agent partners, and we could not be more excited for what will materialize from this. Watch the video to learn more.

Is Your FMO Just a Distribution System?

July 21st, 2022 by

Our annuity branded lead volume has increased by 300%.

  • Get listed on Annuity.com as an agent partner
  • Automated email drip on leads
  • Leads respond directly to annuity branded solicitation
  • Leads are scrubbed by phone staff
  • Priority access distribution
  • Producing partners are eligible for free leads from Annuity.com

Single cases closed are in the multi-millions using our proprietary case design and software.

Click here to request more information.

How do you describe an indexed annuity?

January 26th, 2022 by

The best explanation I have heard to describe an indexed annuity is that “It is an insurance contract that provides and better than average chance of a better than average return without the risk of market loss.”

That is compelling enough! Don’t oversell and with a proper factfinder that identifies income gaps, using income riders to create income floors turns the account value into no more than a potential death benefit.

Original post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/annuity-agents-alliance_mytwocents-indexedannuities-software-activity-6887375750081630208-__QC

Got ‘Dry Powder’?

December 3rd, 2021 by

Annuity Marketing | Annuity Leads
  • Higher-risk investments tend to pay higher returns.
  • Using an annuity to create a stable income floor can help a client be more aggressive with investments.
  • Access to guaranteed income could help you invest more in your own business.

I have been spending a lot of time lately working on my retirement finances. After working with fixed annuity agents for over a decade, I have noticed that sometimes we help other people more than we help ourselves. This is a huge mistake because we should lead by example.

Around age 48, I started practicing what I preached with the purchase of annuities with income riders (seven annuities and counting). At age 53, I am looking at second-to-die life with long-term care riders and making some decisions about cash-value-building life insurance as well as some other things to create long-term tax-advantaged cash flow.

When I am looking for inspiration and on the concept of income floor planning, one of the people I like listening to is Tom Hegna. Tom was a keynote speaker at the Round-Table Radio Marketing Conference. I spend nearly every working day of my life designing annuity-based income plans for the agents I support and sometimes forget about the importance of life insurance, but Tom was able to get me motivated to add more life insurance to my portfolio.

For risk-based investing, one of the investors I listen to is Rick Rule, who specializes in precious metals and fixed assets. Rick, unlike many precious metal investors, does not turn his commodities investing into a religion. He approaches investing from a pragmatic, Warren Buffett-style philosophy: Only invest in what you understand. Turning investing into a religion is very dangerous because it can blind you to the various angles of risk.

What I also like about Rick is that he constantly talks about being capitalized and having “dry powder.” In other words, money that sits around and does nothing until there is a market crash, so you can take advantage of below-intrinsic-value prices on equities and assets.

So what does any of this have to do with annuity sales? More than most people realize.

Dry powder can only be used with certainty when you have an income floor. An income floor allows you to have the confidence to allocate capital to risk when everybody is running from the fire.

Think about this with respect to your personal finances. What if you had all the residual lifetime income you would need guaranteed for the rest of your life and then had a bunch of cash sitting on the side? How would that make you feel?

One, you would have a massive amount of pressure released from your shoulders.

Two, you could confidently take advantage of buying opportunities in fixed assets, commodities, and equities when everyone else is liquidating. You would also feel great freedom and less reserve to invest in your business. This could create massive amounts of wealth over the recovery period, which is typically a short period of time.

That leads us to some very important questions:

  • Are you attacking this business knowing the potential of building an income floor for yourself and having a bunch of dry powder waiting for the right opportunity?
  • Are you allocating capital to marketing and working your sales process considering the massive demographic opportunity to share this strategy with others?
  • Are you selling the income-floor and a dry-powder philosophy with passion and enthusiasm to your clients and prospects; not just as a planning philosophy, but from a belief rooted in your own personal finances?

I am not a fan of man-made religions, especially those that are rooted in money. But, unlike risk investing religions, fixed annuity agents get to believe in something that has guarantees. In my book, that makes what we do worth believing in.

Just like adherents of all religions:

  • We have to believe in something.
  • We have to demonstrate that belief through personal practice.
  • We have to share that belief with passion based on the confidence we achieve from our practice and the experiences and testimony of those that have the same belief.

Are we sharing a religion or a cult? A cult is a religion with a belief based on a lie.

For myself, and I hope for all my fixed annuity agent partners, I truly believe that having a guaranteed income floor is the best insurance someone can buy on this earth other than life insurance. I think it makes people happier and live longer by removing stress.

For me, that is a fact, not a theory, because it is something I practice, not just preach. I have seen the impact in my life and all those I have shared my beliefs with. They are happier and more secure in their retirements. Not only is the guaranteed lifetime income annuity religion is worth believing in, but it’s also a proven way to live life with less stress while providing the flexibility and opportunity to allocate liquidity to take advantage of undervalued assets.

If you need more faith, listen to Tom Hegna. It will help you become a believer. Sometimes when your faith is lacking it doesn’t hurt to utilize the faith of others.

Reprinted with permission from the 2021 online edition of ThinkAdvisor © 2021 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. For information, contact 877-256-2472 or reprints@alm.com.

Are you ready for 2022?

November 24th, 2021 by

What are you doing now to make 2022 the best year in your business? FIA sales were up 30% in the 3rd quarter this year.

Two of our top producers this year told me, “I am having my best year ever but I didn’t work any harder”.

I believe 2022 will represent an even better situation to fit that statement.

Inflation and people’s concern over our economy are going to drive the motivation for yield and security which will stimulate FIA sales. If we have any slips in the markets, VA and RILA sales will shift to FIAs.

Now is the time to expand your marketing for 2022. Get committed to a sales process that drives case size and closure rates and decreases the number of appointments to close.

No matter how big your business is, your biggest cost in 2022 will be opportunity loss. Whatever share of the $60 billion + FIA business is not yours, that is where you are losing the most money. Let us help you take advantage of that opportunity instead!

We are always here for you to help with Marketing, Sales Process, and Case Design. Click here to learn more.

Personality or process?

November 8th, 2021 by

I was just talking to a prospective agent partner and he asked me about a top seller he had been listening to.  He said he was having problems even coming close to duplicating the results of the top seller.

I told him, “Duplication of someone else’s success requires that you separate the personality from the process.  Once you have the process, duplicate that and use it to create the best version of yourself.”  I literally could see a giant lightbulb turn on above his head because it turned on above mine too. That was the first time those words ever came out of my mouth, so it was just as much of an epiphany for me as it was for him.

As a marketer, I love nothing more than to parade success stories in front of our agent partners or prospective partnerships.  “Hey, look at this guy or gal, they used our program, and look what happened!” The truth is that many times that is what people want to see. We want to see that someone else achieved what we are trying to achieve.  It gives us hope but it can also be very discouraging when we try to “copy” someone and things don’t work out.  I think this discouragement typically comes from trying to be someone else instead of doing what they do.

I was listening to a Warren Buffet video yesterday where he told an Ivy league graduate class, “If you have an IQ of 160, find a way to sell 30 points of that.  You won’t need it.”  He then went on to say that investing is about rules, discipline, and temperament, not about intelligence or something unique to any individual.  In other words, he was saying that what he does is duplicatable if you have the same proven process, follow that process, and have the temperament to be patient with the process.

Some of you annuity wizards have personalities that I would literally write a million-dollar check for, but the reality is I couldn’t buy your personality if you gave it to me for free.  I think a lot of us feel that way.  I wish I was just as charismatic as some of you.  People are always telling me I should smile in my pictures which makes me want to smile even less.  I am terrible at starting a conversation from scratch, especially with someone that I can’t find common ground.  Sometimes, I just don’t even want to be around people and the last thing I want to do is sell someone on something they don’t want to buy.

Can you relate?

What is a personality dud like me supposed to do? 

In my early 20’s I went to a conference with a bunch of successful people presenting.  One of the presenters talked about how important it is to be enthusiastic.  After he spoke, I approached him in the lobby and told him I am not an enthusiastic person and I feel helpless trying to duplicate what he talked about.  He told me something I have never forgotten, “Talk louder and faster, it’s the same thing as enthusiasm”.  That is when I first learned that I didn’t have to have a personality of “being enthusiastic”, but I could have a process of “being enthusiastic”.  I learned that I could duplicate a process instead of a personality.  That process, over time, has become part of my habitual personality.  For the most part, I talk louder and faster anytime I am in a sales environment.   It is not in my nature, but it has become a habit.

The next time you find an example of success, put aside the personality and take note of what they do.  What daily habits do they have that you can duplicate?  What is the step-by-step process they use with a client?  What activity do they do on a daily basis to turn the process into a habit?

  • Write the process down
  • Organize it
  • Memorize it
  • Define it
  • Test it
  • Revise it
  • Give it time for the process to become a habit
  • Give it time for the process to become productive
  • Don’t quit!

The best thing about focusing on the process is you can start duplicating it today while duplicating a personality could take a lifetime.  When you duplicate the process, you will find your personality.  Success will breathe confidence and confidence will turn you into the best version of yourself.  Just remember to stay humble in the process!

Ready to get started on the process? Learn more here.

Annuity Agents Alliance Jed Award

November 5th, 2021 by

In honor of William “Jed” Mayfield, a long-time partner, we give away an award to one agent per year that exemplifies integrity, honesty, and always working in the best interest of their clients. We are proud to select Al Martinez for this year’s award. Watch the video here.

What are the numbers for success?

October 29th, 2021 by

I was just having a conversation with a business partner talking about how much activity is required to hit appointment and conversion goals. So, how much is enough?

I don’t know what the math for each partner would be, but what I do know is that it has to be enough.

I was watching a keto fitness expert on Joe Rogan a couple of years ago and Joe asked him something to the effect of, “What is the most someone can eat on a keto diet and not gain weight?”. In response to that question, the guest said, “You are asking the wrong question”. He then went on to explain that in his diet plan he tries to find the least amount he can eat while providing adequate nourishment for his body and avoiding the permanent stress of hunger. In other words, he was not trying to get away with something as a lifestyle, but rather he was erring on the side of overachievement to achieve a formula for success.

The reason why we ask “how much do I need to do…” is often motivated by trying to find the minimal amount of effort to accomplish our goals.

Instead, why err on the side of too much? We need to create that formula of success of having too many leads, too many calls, too many appointments, too much fact-finding, too much problem selling, too much solution selling, and too many annuity applications. Wouldn’t it be easier to find out how much is enough if you overshoot your target goals?

If you try to do the minimal approach to success, it will be pretty much a guarantee that you will miss your mark.

Learn more about Annuity Agents Alliance here.