Key Components to Running a Successful Annuity Business
How do you sell millions in annuities? How do you grow your business?Annuity sales is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Establish a marketing budget and increase it constantly. Even if you start out modestly, say $1,500 per month, and increased your budget by $100 per month your annuity lead budget would more than double in two years to over $3,900. That budget, in most cases, would be enough money to run a Safe Money Radio show and buy six Pre-Qualified Leads or two Annuity.com Lead orders.
The point is to always grow your annuity marketing and reinvest your capital to buy annuity leads. Marketing capitalization works just like compound interest; a small increase in your annuity marketing dollars can have a huge impact on your gross revenues. If you look at 2009 to 2010 (see data below) you will see only a .6 increase in Chad Owen's (co-founder of Annuity Agents Alliance) annuity lead count. This would have been even higher except for the lack of Annuity.com leads in 2010 but regardless, Chad's sales increased by over 5 million. In 2011 his lead count increased by 3 leads per week and he is on track to grow his volume by at least another 5 million. If I went back to 2008, 2007, and 2006 the trend would continue; less leads and less sales.
You will also notice that we are constantly adjusting our lead marketing to get maintain our lead counts. The most expensive lead is the one you don’t have. We look at your business constantly and shift and/or increase our marketing dollars for what brings the highest return on investment but more importantly brings us a consistent flow of annuity leads.
Growth is an exponential formula made up of the following components:
Consistency: Never turn off your annuity leads.
Incremental Marketing Increases: Too little annuity leads is better than nothing. To many and your will blow your budget. The key is to always be increasing your marketing until you are consistently receiving a slight annuity leads surplus (in other words, a few more leads than you can get to).
Reinvestment: Pay your your business first. Strip every luxury out of your life, if needed, and feed your business with marketing dollars.
Faith: The annuity business is not for cowards. All successful businessmen are risk takers. You need to spend money on marketing and trust in your abilities to convert your annuity leads.
Data: If you don't know the numbers of your business you don't know where you have been or where you are going. At the very least keep track of the number of annuity leads you receive, now much you spent on your leads, and how much revenue they produced.
Effort: Show me your calendar! If your calendar has as many annuity appointments as our calendars, watch out, success is around the corner. There is no such thing as a 9-5 business when you are the owner.
Time: Success doesn't happen overnight but if you follow these suggestions you will be amazed how quickly success will come.
Education: If you are an annuity salesman then you are in college for life. Always be studying products, strategies, sales concepts, etc., etc. The amount of TV you watch for entertainment purposes has a direct correlation to how much money you are not going to make. Leaders are readers.
Relaxation: Smell the roses along the way. Schedule mandatory vacation even if you can only afford a low cost break. You need to recharge if you are working as hard as we do.
Small Things: Don't make the mistake of stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime. I have partners that don't have their Retire Village website set up or don't use the Safe Money Book or Kit. Are you serious?
