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Overlooked Sources of Annuity Sales Leads

Published on November 21, 2014 in annuity marketing by Bob Richards

There is no doubt that life annuities are one of the best ways to secure a steady income for anyone of retirement age. The number of companies and agents offering life annuities is continually increasing with time as the US population ages and demand increases. With this increased competition, the chance that a prospect will choose you decreases. If you want to boost your company's reputation and get new clients, you must understand how to acquire good quality annuity sales leads.

Finding a good annuity sales lead makes all the difference

If you're coming into this and thinking that it's a bit overwhelming, you are right! There is just so much contradictory information out there and so may potential ways to generate leads: direct mail, Internet banner ads, Internet text links, pay-per-click ads, telemarketing and host-beneficiary relationships. Getting the good leads can be easy but only after you do the hard work of finding that "easy source" or "simple method". Despite what we'd like to think, there are certain places we tend to forget when looking for annuity leads. However, if we look at the right place, maybe even at the right time, we might be surprised with the results. Outstanding annuity sales leads may not be everywhere around you but you never thought to look at a particular niche.

Where to find your next annuity sales lead?

People who own annuities

  1. Why it's overlooked: At first it may seem like a silly idea to look for annuity leads among people who already own annuities. We'd think they got what they needed and that's where it all ends.
  2. Why it's actually a good idea: Annuity owners are probably the people who'd be most confident about what they would buy. Their firsthand experience shows they understand the value and the process. So you can sell them indexed annuities, variable annuities, etc...  Because the prospect is already familiar with annuities, they are likely to buy more than buy something that is unfamiliar.  In my own experience, I found
  • annuity owners were more likely to respond to my annuity marketing
  • existing annuity owners were easier to sell
  • these people made larger purchases (likely because they already had familiarity with the product)

Internet Marketing

The Internet is one of the greatest sources of annuity leads If you don't realize the power of Internet marketing, here's a simple way to understand it. Internet marketing gives you the ability to directly market to people who are looking for something. If  someone goes searching for "advice on weight loss" and your website has this advice, then it might just be your website they end up on. In fact plenty of people searching for such advice will end up on your website. And if on your website you push your own weight loss product, some are going to buy it. The same works for financial solutions such as annuities and that is why Intenrt marketing can be such a rich source of annuity leads.  Think about how important this is. Most people in financial sales chase after prospect - with Internet marketing, you position yourself so the prospect finds you AND the annuityprospect must take the first action to express interest.

  • Why it's overlooked: The reason why most tend to dismiss  Internet marketing as an option is because they associate it with all sorts of seedy and spammy operations.   Additionally, they don't understand.
  • Why it's actually a good idea: Precisely because most are leaving this source untapped. The competition is low (most agents don't get it), and yet the leads are good, different but incredibly high quality. Think about it. The prospect discovered your website while researching annuities and developed respect for your opinions. And then they become a customer. That's how it goes.  Take as an example your reading this post.  We provide some value to you and develop some trust with you.

Effective Direct Mail

  • Why it's overlooked: You might think it's overused ( or old school) and overdone by everyone but notice we're talking about effective direct mail, which is different than the stuff most are doing out there.
  • Why it's actually a good idea: Most do direct mail without spending too much time to bother what works. Whereas if you take the time to study envelope colors, sending patterns, message differentiation - you will be in a whole different league.  Again, most producers don't take any time to learn how to write great copy that motivates action and the printed collateral you get from annuity companies is garbage (so don't use it).

Print ads

You'd be surprised to hear how effective print marketing really is

  • Why it's overlooked: We're in the habit of ignoring print ads for the sole reason that we think that kind of marketing is outdated. In truth, ads like these reach more people than we think.  In fact, the group most likley to read a daily newspaper are those age 60+ - EXACTLY the market you want to reach for annuity prospecting and annuity sales leads.
  • Why it's actually a good idea: Print ads are the core of advertising and to this day their effectiveness still remains. Newspaper advertising enables you to target an audience in a particular area. Publications like the daily newspaper or senior magazines are perfect for annuity lead generation.

Live Presentations

  • Why it's overlooked: It's not uncommon for open presentations and meetings of this type to be misinterpreted by the public. Many companies and organizations give out the aggressive vibe of only wanting to pitch products.
  • Why it's actually a good idea: With live presentations you get the best chance to gain trust when you do not pitch a product. My annuity seminars were called "Six Ways to Cut Taxes in Retirement" and all I showed the attendees was how annuities can be used as tax reduction tools. My illustrations were not a sales pitch but rather an education.

Factors that influence both sales and lead generation

It's always good when prospecting the prime annuity buyers (those age 55+) that you have some gray hair.  However, it is not essential and the approaches below can help even the new annuity agent make significant sales.Show people your company is the best

  • Your company's brand

A business brand is very commonly referred to as a brand promise among professionals. This is because the brand isn't merely a logo, a name, or a tagline - even though these are also items that represent it. A company's brand is also its word of honor towards clients, an unofficial guarantee of excellent service or product quality. In order to be able to determine your company brand's promise to clients, there are a few things to consider.  Most importantly, know your prospects.  Too many financial services professionals think they understand their prospects but have done zero research.  I highly recommend that you do a focus group.  You will then uncover opportunities to target your market that you had not previously considered.  Then, you can go about branding yourself using local media (often free), seminars, writing -- both online and in print and of course, social media (free).

  • Marketing

We know it's been said a million times. "Just because you have a better mousetrap doesn't mean the world will beat a path to your door."  In other words, just because you're a great person, are honest, use the best products and treat your clients with the greatest diligence, does not mean that anybody will find you.  Marketing is the key to annuity sales success.  Your company will make significant progress Marketing is the process of distributing your company message to your target audience. Implementing good marketing is distributing  your message in ways that is most likely to get the word across to the right people. Marketing that would make a difference is about thinking things through, finding a sound game plan and the right approach.  Take some insights that you've gathered here and incorporate them into your prospecting for annuity leads.

2 thoughts on “Overlooked Sources of Annuity Sales Leads

  1. Curt Zacharias says:

    I am interested in variable annuity owner lists.

  2. Candido says:

    Just want to know how much per lead , is there a minimum to buy?

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