Advanced Marketers Move Sales Ideas From Birth To Rollout

"If we see something that we know doesnt work, were not going to do it–but we do recognize that there is risk associated with everything we do," added Samuels.

Once the research on an advanced marketing concept is done, and it is deemed to be a viable idea, the next step is to "quantify the riskwhats the premium coming in, and if were wrong, whats it going to cost us?" said Samuels.

Moving forward on an idea then requires the consideration of which product to use. ONeil stated that this can be a difficult step due to the long development cycle for products in the industry.

In the event the appropriate product is not already part of the carriers portfolio, the development of a new product must be considered. In addition to pricing a product, adding the administrative systems and developing marketing materials, getting state regulatory approvals for this new product can delay the companys time to market.

In this case, when new product development is being considered, "you may want to use another carriers product," explained Samuels. The right product for the concept may even already be available to the field through an existing selling agreement, so its important to explore those options, he said.

But probably the most important part of taking an idea to market, ONeil explained, is getting "a buy-in from everybody in the home office. Make sure you keep everybody in the loop."

Since many of the advanced marketing sales ideas are so complex, Samuels added, it is important when working with other departments to "make sure you find someone in that department who really understands the concept and work with that person as the point person throughout the process."

According to ONeil, the legal and compliance areas are of particular importance, since compliance is looking closely at National Association of Securities Dealers and state regulations, while legal is looking at tax issues.

Another issue that may come out of the legal department is the determination of whether a credential requirement is necessary for field agents to market the idea and what that requirement should be, ONeil explained.

"There are a lot of sophisticated concepts agents dont understand," added Samuels.

Finally, once the sales concept has been researched, developed and approved, a rollout to the field is needed to get the concept into the hands of the agent–where new business can start to be generated. Most agree that the rollout is a continual process. "You need to be out in the field on a regular basis," said ONeil.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Life & Health/Financial Services Edition, December 8, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.