A Matter of Trust
HENRY VAZQUEZ is no stranger to fighting battles. In 1990-91, he served in the first Gulf War. Today, as managing general agent of the Henry Agency of Georgia, his mission is to help his clients, particularly senior citizens, avoid financial ruin by providing them with products running the gamut from annuities, life insurance, Indexed Universal Life, final expense, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement plans.
Vazquez spends about a quarter of his time as a producer. The remainder of his job involves training and mentoring agents associated with his agency, which is based in Douglasville, Ga. He says about a quarter of those agents, who work across the U.S., are Hispanic.
Senior Market Advisor recently caught up with Vazquez to ask him about serving the Hispanic community as an advisor and why it's important to establish trust before selling a product.
Senior Market Advisor: When you're working with people in the Hispanic community, what marketing strategies and sales techniques seem to work best?
Henry Vazquez: Well, I think that the Hispanic community, it's a little bit different community. We have been reaching out to them the old-fashioned way, just by going to them, introducing ourselves and providing, for example, a brochure of what it is that we can do. Establish rapport, and then call them three to five days later to schedule a benefits review. It's more effective simply because the senior market is a little bit more relational, if you will. I mean, it's not like the other markets where they're just bombarded with people. These folks have an appreciation for somebody that speaks their language that will be able to help them. So it's the face-to-face, old-fashioned way to get out there, shake their hand, greet them, and give them information before you request something. That's the most effective method, I've found.
SMA: Once you meet them, once they get to know you, how does the relationship progress?