How to sell an annuity, from A to Z

3. How do you educate prospects about annuities?

In my opinion, Social Security is the ultimate annuity. A majority of people receive pay-out at age 70 and at a rate higher than any commercial carrier could ever offer. We educate our clients regarding the maximization of Social Security and then use other guaranteed income sources such as a pension, if they're lucky enough to have one, as well as rental income or other sources of annuities to supplement Social Security. Once we've defined a client's need in retirement, we work to fully fund that using single premium immediate annuities and variable annuities to create a level of guaranteed income that allows them to sleep well at night. With any additional money they have, we create a traditional portfolio.

4. Is technology changing the marketplace?

Yes. Technology is changing the way we market annuities. A good example is tied to a major corporation in our community that recently decided to shut down their pension. They are offering current and former employees who had not yet taken their pension benefit the option of taking a lump sum payout, versus taking a guaranteed income. Many of these people are too young to lock in an option they may not receive for another 10 or 15 years. We have been using LinkedIn and our network of existing clients within that company to market ourselves as experts in the area of retirement income planning. This word of mouth or viral marketing has been successful. We have a steady stream of people who are contacting our office to have us analyze what would be the best option for them, lump sum versus an annuity payment. By taking a lump sum, we can offer them additional options, which would include liquidity. We can really dial in exactly how much money they need in retirement after they've maximized Social Security. In many cases, it will free up additional capital which can be optimized over the long-term in a traditional portfolio. We feel this is a tremendous opportunity, and by referring people to our websites using word-of-mouth through the company, referrals and social media, we've been able to reach many more employees within that corporation. We feel we'll be quite successful this year in capturing assets and selling annuities where appropriate.

Also, we are able to use our digital tools to tailor our messages to clients regarding guaranteed income and the use of annuities. Whether they are single premium immediate annuities, deferred income annuities or variable annuities with guaranteed living benefits, we are able to customize a message demonstrating how these products can be beneficial to a client planning for retirement. Customizing messages and websites was not available to us years ago; it makes it easier to educate our clients on Social Security. Something as simple as an email with third-party articles in PDF form allows us to get information to clients regarding annuities. Additionally, we create videos with an iPhone that are linked to an email and sent to the client to raise their awareness regarding annuities and their use. They can forward this email (which, of course, includes links to our website) to other colleagues they may work with.