During LIMRA International's Advanced Sales Forum, held here last month, Maggie Mitchell, the Advanced Sales Committee conference chair and a vice president of advanced sales at Windsor, Conn.-based ING, met for an exclusive interview with National Underwriter Senior Editor Warren S. Hersch to explore the forum's evolution and continuing challenges that advanced sales professionals face.
The following are excerpts.
NU: How has the forum's membership numbers changed in recent years?
Mitchell: Our membership has grown tremendously. The number of committee members has almost doubled in the last 3 or 4 years; and our attendee registration hit a record this year. The bigger numbers have entailed more responsibilities for the committee leadership, but it's all more fun when you're in a growing organization.
NU: To what do you attribute the growth?
Mitchell: Part of it is better marketing, but I also think carriers are putting more value on advanced sales. They realize that, given all the industry's challenges, they need our expertise. And because we're more valued, there needs to be a forum for exchanging information and educating advanced sales professionals about new, cutting-edge techniques and best practices.
As advanced sales departments evolve, we're also taking on more of a consultative role with senior management, legal and compliance reps to help them understand what techniques work and where potential dangers lay. Carriers have deep pockets. And when someone promotes a new concept, the potential liability often comes in our direction.
NU: Does the committee endeavor to track how effectively best practices advocated at the forum are being leveraged by members and their carriers?
Mitchell: We don't now do this systematically. But I can tell you, for example, that beginning 2 years ago we started talking about red flags involving investor-owned life insurance. Over the last 2 years, almost every carrier has adopted our recommended checklist or a similar version to try filtering out bad business. That says to me that attendance at our forums has had a tremendous impact.
NU: Are there nonetheless certain carriers who in your view are not doing their part to encourage their advanced sales people to apply best practices promoted at the forum?
Mitchell: There may well be people who are not fully versed and can accelerate their learning curve by participating in our meetings. With one notable exception, which I'll leave unnamed, every major carrier is represented here.
NU: Is it asking too much of individual advanced sales reps to have expertise in both life insurance and annuities?
Mitchell: That depends on the carrier. Some companies have separate advanced sales divisions that handle only annuities or life insurance products. Other carriers have departments that support both product lines. But more often, a carrier that is a major life and annuity player will have separate advanced sales departments. Sometimes, also, the separate divisions are the result of a merger between carriers.
NU: Does the forum advocate a certain position as to how carriers' advanced sales departments should be structured?
