How Professional Designations Can Help You Sell Annuities
The business of selling annuities is very competitive. Not only are you competing with other annuity agents, but also with the possibility that the money from a potential client could be deposited into an IRA or a different retirement plan altogether. Obviously, you want to be the one that the client entrusts with their money, so you need to find a way to make yourself stand out to sell annuities.
One way to show that you’re an expert in the financial field is by earning specific professional designations. Think about it – when you’re looking for a new health care provider, would you trust anyone without the “MD” designation? If you’re an annuity agent and you don’t have a professional designation, you may find yourself losing clients to agents with better credentials. Just having your insurance license may not be enough to make a living selling annuities.
Some of the better known professional designations include:
• CFP (Certified Financial Planner)
• ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant)
• MSFS (Master’s of Science in Financial Services).
Each of these designations has different requirements you must meet before you can begin using it. The CFP designation is one of the most widely recognized in the industry, although you’ll need to take several courses and pass a board exam before you can use the credential. The ChFC, on the other hand, requires some coursework, but no exam, while the MSFS credential comes from completing a two-year graduate level program. All of these will make you a far more competent financial advisor and significantly impact your annuity sales.
In addition, there are many professional designations for annuity agents who focus specifically on selling to seniors. Some states don’t allow annuity agents to use these designations – depending on the wording – so it’s important to check with your state board before you pursue them. These designations include:
• CSS (Certified Senior Specialist)
• CSRS (Certified Elder Planning Specialist)
• CLTC (Certified in Long Term Care) – this professional specializes in planning for care in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
For more information on the specific requirements of each credential and the schools that offer the necessary training courses, visit www.brokerworldmag.com. Depending on your schedule, you may be able to find courses can be taken either online or by correspondence.
At first, these courses may seem expensive – especially to someone just starting out in the annuity business. But by earning a professional designation, you give yourself several advantages:
• You learn more about selling annuities and marketing annuities. The classes go beyond what you can learn on the job or in a basic college course. For example, if you earn the CLTC designation, you’ll learn much more about long term care and nursing homes than you would just sitting behind your desk.
• If you want to market to a specific group like seniors, a credentialing program can help you learn more about how to tailor plans to them and their unique needs.
• Professional designations build trust with clients. When a certain set of letters appears after your name, clients know you’ve taken the time to learn more about how to help them with their financial needs, and will reward you with increased business.
• Often when someone sees a designation after your name, they’ll ask you, “What does it mean?” This gives you a perfect opportunity to market your services to clients you never would have met otherwise.
If you sell annuities, compare earning professional designations to the steps an educator takes to advance in their career. Most school principals begin as teachers with bachelor’s degrees. Later on, they earn master’s degrees – usually in administration – to learn more about working as school principals. As you progress in your career, you may find that you need the additional education and qualifications provided by a professional designation course to advance in the field of selling annuities.
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April 27th, 2009 at 3:50 am
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June 7th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
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July 1st, 2009 at 3:33 am
Thanks for the advice on Annuities, i personally prefer to use qualified people. In fact, even if i dont know what the letters after the name stand for, i still am impressed by it! Perhaps that is silly, but most people think like that. For this blog, which i think is excellently written, you could make use of the breadcrumb plugin to bring all these insightful articles together.
July 14th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I have been marketing and advising on structured settlements which are an annuity product for several years and while I have received disignations I have never really included them on my marketing or business cards. I find it is up to you to engender trust and you can only do that by being trustworthy and by always recomending the right solution to your prospect even if it means sending them elsewere.
Never chase commisions, build relationships and the revenue will follow.
July 18th, 2009 at 8:43 am
Yeah, i agree with previous comment - in Annuities, as with most other businesses, customers are not generally too informed about the industry and give alot of trust to those with the right brand and image.
August 6th, 2009 at 3:34 am
to TwitFan: They are more informed than you think. Maybe you had too little contact with the population.
August 21st, 2009 at 10:46 pm
I guess one of the most important aspects is that those who are selling have a great understanding of what they are doing and can break everything down in to the terminology the rest of us can understand. When something can be explained in real terms it makes it a lot easier to make an informed decision.
August 31st, 2009 at 7:38 pm
I am all for education. The more knowledge someone possesses is usually a great benefit. The fact that the designation have been earned would not be the end all for me in the investment industry though. More importantly I would want to see what the advisers track record is in the annuity arena. Has he or she provided sound advice and a good return? That would be my #1 concern.
November 4th, 2009 at 11:31 am
find it is up to you to engender trust and you can only do that by being trustworthy and by always recomending the right solution to your prospect even if it means sending them elsewere.
Never chase commisions, build relationships and the revenue will follow
December 11th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
I don’t think it is as much about the number of letters you can put after your name as it sit the ability to develop trust. When the client comes to trust you then they will invest with you.
December 12th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Annuities are confusing for the average consumer and the provider must focus on the education of the consumer of the product and benefits. Focus on benefits - it is easier for us laymen to understand.
January 31st, 2010 at 4:25 am
Well selling of annuity is really hard job and one has to face very tough competition but the way you ve mentioned that designation can help you in this and make an ease I think!
February 25th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Talk to an expert on annuities or structured settlements depending on your situation.
February 27th, 2010 at 8:43 am
I feel like financial certifications have taken a bit of a hit lately with the Madoff scandals and whatnot, but you’re definitely right it is so much easier to sell annuities when you have some kind of certification backing you.
March 9th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
I would have to agree with Fred. I am pretty astute when it comes to investing but I have never really gotten the whole annuity thing down. It seems there are a lot of things you need to be aware of.
March 26th, 2010 at 9:04 am
Good post. Thanks for the opinion on Annuities; I personally favor to use skilled people.
April 5th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
I’ve never really known what to think about designations. In the real estate world, you see a zillion different designations. I don’t think the general public knows what to think about them all. I cringe when I see a realtor with 10 different designations and they still don’t have their brokers license. I think the general public recognizes a brokers license as being superior to a handful of designations. I realize that the designations make the professional better at what they do, but I think the main objective is to make your self more marketable.
April 29th, 2010 at 2:03 am
I would have to agree with Fred. I am pretty astute when it comes to investing but I have never really gotten the whole annuity thing down.
June 15th, 2010 at 10:08 am
find it is up to you to engender trust and you can only do that by being trustworthy and by always recomending the right solution to your prospect even if it means sending them elsewere.
Never chase commisions, build relationships and the revenue will follow
July 13th, 2010 at 5:47 am
Thanks for the advice on Annuities, i personally prefer to use qualified people. In fact, even if i dont know what the letters after the name stand for, i still am impressed by it! but all most people think like that. For this blog, so i think is excellently written.
RFT14
Xp62
July 20th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
I am a psychotherapist and have many different designations. Mine is a very specialized field and these designations are needed so that the public can identify the correct professional for their needs. I would assume this is true for many different services when someone is trying to hire a professional.
July 27th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
The majority of professional designations in insurance have continuing education requirements. None of them guarantee that the designation holder is a financial expert.
July 29th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Letters after your name will add up more annuity sales. Most people would rather hire or believe people who are expert on a certain that field. We can actually consider that this as a lifetime investment.
This is a good post. We are learned a lot from it.
August 6th, 2010 at 8:08 am
There is still the need for additional education and qualifications for one to achieve mastery of skills. But there is also the side of building a relationship of trust and confidence between clients and agents that no prospecting system can replace.
August 6th, 2010 at 8:46 am
A designation, while perhaps educating you beyond the lame training you got from your company or broker-dealer, will not generally create an instant rapport with your clients or allow you to set appointments more easily. It will not make you infinitely smarter than the competition, nor will it make you well-known and admired by all.
August 26th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Good post. Thanks for the opinion on Annuities; I personally favor to use skilled people.
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