The landscape of Indexed Universal Life (IUL) illustrations will be changing once again effective May 1, 2023. This is the latest in the Actuarial Guideline 49 (AG49) saga that dates back to 2015 when the first version was introduced.

Things I learned the last 9 months after presenting 5 Signs it’s Time to Sell Your Agency and unveiling Escape Velocity—our 5 point platform for agency success. 

If you recall, we walked through the lives of two special individuals in our industry who created agencies that are well recognized.

If you are reading this, you have heard of the 5 Forces for business growth. But which force will be the most impactful to the industry? Talent? Technology? Model? Experts? Funnels?

Marketing Funnels.

Marketing Funnels enable the industry to connect the need to the professional by offering guidance on products. The introduction of AI and machine learning will create stronger relationships both to the firm and product solution at a faster pace relative to traditional marketing efforts (mail, email, phone calls).

Are you like me? If we’ve ever met, you’d know I’m a “cup half-full” guy. I feel the pressure of all that is happening in our industry – economic uncertainty, fewer agents coming into the business, the average age of advisors nearing retirement – and know the challenges agencies like yours are facing every day. Then, my mind races as I think of all the opportunities these challenges present.

Let me share some solutions with you in this post.

Consider who you partner with to bring your strategic plan to life.

You know how important it is for an agency or financial professional to establish trust with clients. It’s the key for being the firm agents come to for large or complex cases and to staying in business for the long-term.

In my last blog post about creating a profitable business model, I discussed the potential in niching down and serving a select group of clients in all areas. But that only works if you can demonstrate your expertise in doing that.

Keep reading to learn how to leverage expertise to grow your practice.

Just imagine if… You no longer had to worry about a key account calling you up and saying they were a) leaving you for a competitor, b) retiring, or c) selling…

That sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach? Gone.

Instead, your agency would continue to flourish.

But what about right now—would this situation concern you?

This is called concentration risk, and your business model is at the root of it. In this article, I tackle this topic. Keep reading to discover how choosing the right business model can help eliminate this potential threat and others.

Have you ever wondered what “improved tech” for your agency really means? Or where you should make investments to build a better agency management system or sales enablement system? How about which solutions offer the most seamless experience?

I'm tackling these questions and more in this article, so stay tuned.

The common approach to hiring top producers and key employees is no longer sufficient. 

Recruiting and hiring individual producers (and employees) is the “average” agency’s approach to finding the best talent in the business.

Too many agencies are still thinking about talent acquisition this way. But the fastest growing agencies are going in a different direction, as I'll explain in this post...

We think you’ll agree with us when we say:

It’s REALLY difficult to break through the marketing noise and reach high-value clients.

But as it turns out, there ARE ways you can dramatically increase the chances of prospective clients approaching YOU.

In fact, the five ways we’ll share with you, all help increase your authority. And according to this Forbes article, “trusted authorities who consistently provide insight to the marketplace affirm the need (and desire) to hear from them, follow them, learn from them and work with them.”

Most financial professionals would love the opportunity to work with high-net-worth clients, but as you may have experienced... it can be a challenge to get in front of these individuals and also a feat to actually make it to the end of the sales process.

Selling life insurance can be particularly tricky because of the many aspects outside of your control. For this reason, having specific strategies for closing IUL sales with high-income clients can be important to the success of your practice.

Keep reading because you may benefit from adopting the strategies we outline in this blog post.