Differentiating Yourself in a Crowded Annuity Market | 7 Figure Annuity Sales Podcast | Ep. 251

All right, this week I'm going to talk about differentiating yourself in a crowded annuity market. If you've been in the industry for any real period of time at all, you've probably recognized clients that are meeting with or have met with numerous different annuity agents or advisors. They're getting advice from a bunch of different people, some of which are not even qualified to give the advice that they are giving. But that's. That's another conversation in and of itself. The point is, it's crowded. There are a lot of people trying to do what you're doing. And so it's important to be able to differentiate yourself from the other people that you're meeting with. And that's what we're going to talk about today. If you can't effectively differentiate yourself, if you can do it, you'll find that your closing rate will be higher, probably your average case size as well, because people are more likely to work in larger capacity with people that have set themselves apart, kind of set themselves higher than the competition, the rest of the people around them. So you should see very positive impact on your bottom, bottom line. But ultimately, it's about helping people. And I personally think that if I were an agent in the field like you, that the emphasis for setting myself apart would be for the sake of me being the one that gets to work with them, not because then I get paid. Although that's important, is because I can only control my due diligence. I can only control my effort. I can only control my expertise. I can only control the intentionality that I'm willing to have with people. I can't control what other agents are willing to do for clients, but I can control it for me. So when I look at it, I have an inherent bias toward them working with me because I can ensure that what I'm doing for them is actually in their best interest and they're not getting, you know, the wool pulled over their eyes by somebody that maybe doesn't have the same ethical or moral standards. And so for you, as an agent as well, I would encourage you emphasize differentiation on the same basis. Right. It can be easy to look at it from the standpoint of, I'm trying to write more business. And of course you are. That's natural, that's normal, that's good. But at the same time, if you truly believe that you're the most qualified and most equipped to actually work with them and help them and get what they need, meet the needs that they have, address their concerns, and hopefully help them even get their desires met, then you should compete for it. My name is Caleb North. I'm the Vice President of Agent Development for Retirement Realized, and I'm rolling solo today. Those of you that have listened in for some time or even just the last few weeks, you know that it's typically Chad and I. Chad is out this week, so I'm running solo. But I'm excited to talk about this topic just because it's. It's something that I'm passionate about. I mean, it's something that I've seen consistently impact the agents that I've worked with. The agents that have been able to effectively differentiate themselves amongst other agents are the ones that write more business. Those that can't differentiate themselves or they get differentiated from. In other words, the other agent that maybe they're in competition with has differentiated themselves. Now all of a sudden, that agent is not writing the business. So a couple of notes that I've seen. I've got this podcast segmented up into some different.

Kind of overarching areas, themes for different pieces of this and creating differentiation. And the first one is creating a unique value proposition. So basically, you need to determine what is the unique value that you're bringing to the table for the client, right. What is it about you or the way you do business that is unique? It's special. Now, obviously, you doing it, that's one piece because there's not another you on the planet. We get that. But really it goes to the depth of how it impacts the client, right? So the things that you do, the way that that's impacting the client, that's the unique value proposition. And I want you to think about that. Right. If you're looking for some homework, think. Think about what is your unique value proposition. I'm going to list some out here in a minute, but think about that and really process through which one or multiple are you bringing to the table that you can emphasize to help build that differentiation. There's one other piece I want to talk about here, and that's niche targeting. And this is kind of a secondary piece here. But when the more niche you get, the more differentiated you become, right? Because there are often more general practitioners than there are specialists. And I think that in the current market landscape, in the current environment, working with professionals, there is a lot of value. There's a lot of logic in being a jack of all trades and being able to help a vast demographic of clients with varying needs, Right? And often in our world, that equates to selling multiple lines of business. Maybe you're selling Medicare, maybe you're selling life insurance, maybe you're selling PNC or health and annuities and all these different things. But the challenge with doing all of them is the question of can you ever truly be an expert specialist in any one of them? And so if you can create an. Kind of a niche market where you're specialized in something historically, from the data that I've looked at and the numbers that I've seen, the agents that are willing to do that, they forego a little bit on the front end, probably, but on the back end, long term, it positions them to do much better. It's kind of the opposite of diversifying. It's becoming more specialized. But I don't think that we should be concerned about specializing in annuities. I think they're going to be here for a long time. We've got another decade or so of working with some of these baby boomers. And there's just the rate at which people are coming to retirement is pretty phenomenal. And so if you can specialize in something that is geared toward that, it is a smaller demographic now, it's a smaller age range, but there's a lot of value in being able to do that. And that one piece can help differentiate you from the jacks of all trade. Right. So if you're meeting with a client and they're meeting with another agent that happens to be positioning an annuity logically, I would be curious, is this agent an annuity expert? Is this other agent, what do they. What else do they do? Are they primarily a life insurance agent? Are they primarily a Medicare agent? Are they doing other things and then they just happen to stumble across an annuity opportunity? And so now they're in the hunt, so to speak, for this deal. If they're not, that plays in your favor if you are. So if you do have that niche market carved out, you've positioned yourself a leg up. If you can articulate that well. See, the beauty of being in a niche market and doing things very specialized is only there. The beauty of that is only there. If you can articulate that and the clients can pick up on that. If they're working with a jack of all trades that knows more and is a better expert than you in an area that you're specialized in, they're more fit to do the thing even though they happen not to be niche. So if you're going to go specialized and you're going to go into a niche market set, definitely spend the time to become a true genuine Expert, capable of having very high level conversations, but simultaneously taking very high level concepts and explaining them in ways that clients can understand simply and easily. The third piece here is just simply personal branding. I mean, I think you guys would be shocked at how few agents out there actually have the identity of a business. There are more agents that I've seen historically in my time in the industry that operate as just individual sales representatives for an insurance company than they do business owners of their own company. The agents that will go the step of whether it's a legal entity or not, but at least creating this image or this perception of being a company owner, a business owner, they tend to do better. And with that comes the need for branding. Logos and websites and folders and email signatures and business cards and all these things that convey that brand image to the clients. That's a really, really good way and often low barrier to entryway of creating some immediate differentiate differentiation. Most agents are not. I can tell you that, you know, for Chad, the leave behind kit, for those of you that are a part of the academy and you've seen the documents that he leaves behind with his clients after he meets with them in the first appointment. The whole idea of the leave behind kit came about because he was up against another individual that had that and he didn't. And so this other individual ended up getting a sale, getting a deal that I don't, if I remember the story correctly, was not the best product for the client. Like the best product was the one Chad actually had. But because this other agent differentiated themselves better, the deal went that way. And so that kind of sparked the idea of the leave behind kit. And the more you can think about those types of things and at least being on par with, if not differentiating yourself, the better you'll do. So branding super important on that. Another piece that you could differentiate yourself with is just particularly good customer service. I can tell you for Chad, he gives all his clients cell phone number, which for some agents would be like, oh, no way, Jose doesn't end up being a problem for him. If, you know, an issue arises with a client that's being over the top with whatever, then you set boundaries, do what you need to do there. But he's creating that perception that he's always accessible. And I think that for individual that's looking to move potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars of their relationship retirement savings into a product with an individual that they don't probably know very well. That idea of accessibility is really, really big. It conveys that idea of customer service. You could in theory develop the similar type of model just with a great team, if you have a great staff. I know agents that do this where maybe they aren't the ones that are actually interacting and interfacing with clients all that much. They're doing the initial sale and the annual reviews and things like that. But as far as the ongoing needs and touc points and the little notes and letters and birthday cards and Christmas cards and anniversary cards and you know, all these different things that just create those touch points and create that sense of connection. They've got a team that's doing that, but again, it creates that sense of good customer service. So that's another way that you could differentiate yourself. What's interesting is that if you're going to go that route, you would want to find a way to incorporate that really, really good customer service on the front end of the working relationship. So not even post transaction, right? So before they've ever even purchased the annuity from you, before they've ever even done the application policy has been issued, all that stuff in the beginning stages, you would want them to get a taste for the customer experience that they're going to have in working with you. They want them to be able to kind of get an idea for that high level customer service that you have before they actually become a customer, so that that differentiation can actually have an impact on the buying decision. That's, that's a big piece. Another one is tech and innovation. This one is one that I believe will be more prevalent in subsequent years from 2023. Not to say that it's not important now. I mean, Chad's been saying for years, I've got software that compares everything in one shot and it's super simple to develop a plan for what's actually best for your situation. So I don't need to be a product pusher, right? So tech has kind of allowed for that type of statement to exist. Tech's allowed for pretty automated contact points that again, create that sense of connection. So use those tools and those methods. I think when I'm talking about technology and innovation, a lot of times agents start thinking about virtual appointments and whatnot. And I think that there can be value.

In virtual appointments. I think we'll see more value in them in subsequent years. From all the data and things that I've seen so far, talking with agents that are doing things in person versus agents that are doing things virtually, I tend to see agents doing things in person at a higher level. They tend to have a higher closing rate. They tend to have larger average case sizes. Now again, the virtual as a result of COVID in 2020 has kind of become more commonplace since then. But really, I mean, you go back to 2019, which is just at this point four, four years ago, it was pretty few and far between. I mean, just about everybody was doing the face to face. Covid brought about the need for the virtual world. And it's been adopted by some, it's been rejected by some. And oftentimes some of the people that are rejecting that are clients. Maybe not on the front end, but often on the back end and where they actually do business. I've seen numerous occasions agents working with a client virtually and then all of a sudden they just drop off. It seems logical to me that that agent got some good information or that client got some good information and then found somebody locally that they could work with. I've had agents tell me that they've tried to do things virtually and clients prospects, potential clients told them that, you know, they really valued the input and the ideas, but they prefer to work with somebody that they could see in person and go to their office and shake a hand and all that type of thing. So you got to recognize that while you as an agent may be in a younger demographic than the clientele, and so you might be a little bit more naturally inclined toward the virtual world of things, sometimes the clients are not. There are clients that will close and do great virtually, and that's all fine and good, it's the future, but there are going to be those that don't. So just something to keep in mind, it's almost to me, the technology and innovation piece as a differentiator is incorporating it where it can be adopted and accepted and valued at mass. Right?

The touch points, for example, everybody can get behind an email, a text, things like that. That's a nice gesture, a value add or whatever. Regardless of their thought on the virtual world of things that can be adopted at mass. The virtual has not quite been adopted at mass amongst clients. So when I encourage you to use technology and innovation again as a differentiator, look for those areas, those pieces, those parts that can be received and valued by the majority of the clientele, not just the minority.

And then the last one that I want to hit on here is this idea of thought leadership. It's no mystery. I mean, there's so many studies and numbers that prove that when people are looking to do business, they look up that business or that individual online before they do. If you've called somebody, you've Called a lead. You've booked an appointment, you're getting ready to run that appointment. You can just be about 85% sure that they've looked you up if they know who you are or they know your company name. And if they don't, they've probably tried to find you in some capacity, some way, shape or form. People do that. They want to know that the person that they're meeting with is legit. Well, if in that search they come across an individual that's promoting good things, high ethics, morals, wisdom, those types of things, this kind of this thought leader Persona on the Internet, that's only going to build up your trustability, your ability to be trusted by the client. So I would encourage you to start thinking about that. How can you leverage the Internet in a way that promotes you as kind of that thought leader type? And I'm not talking about becoming the next, you know, Grant Cardone or Gary Vaynerchuk or, you know, those types of guys. I'm just saying in general, what, what is your, what does your web presence look like and what is it promoting? People don't need to find you organically in this sense. If you're got people coming in, leads inbound, whether you're doing some marketing systems or some just purchasing individual leads, whatever that referrals, it doesn't really matter. They're coming in, you're reaching out, they're hearing who you are, what your name is, what your company is, and then they're looking for you. When they're looking for you, can they find you and what do they find when they do? Is it good, positive, impactful things or is it kind of scummy things? Be mindful of that. So those are six different areas, six different ways that you can try and create this, this differentiation amongst other agents. And the more of these that you can do and do at a high level, the better off you'll be. I think it can be challenging to try and do all of them at the same time. So maybe pick one that resonates the most or if you have another idea altogether, certainly run with that. I mean, if this is something that's intriguing to you, I'd love to have a conversation. You're more than welcome to reach out to me. I work with agents all day, every day, during the week and so I'm in. Give me a call, send me an email. 512-798-3500 extension fives my direct line. You can email me caleb c a l e b north n o r t h retirementrealized.com Again, love to connect with you. It's always a good time to get to connect with podcast listeners. We certainly appreciate the fact that you tune in every week. We certainly appreciate you watching us on YouTube and we'll see you next time next week. Thank you.