The key to landing a sale or closing a deal, is first to ask questions.  Ask a lot of questions, and be sure to ask questions surrounding a need or problem for which you have a solution.  Many sales people are always searching for the magic bullet when it is most likely in front of [...]

In a recent article by Jill Konrath, she discusses key questions to ask in a sales situation and why.  First start with a question about their current situation, then move onto finding out what their challenges have been recently and what hurdles they’re currently facing, and finally, what have they been doing to combat these [...]

 Those of you who are parents and have clients that are parents eventually come to the topic of paying for college. Whether in a social setting or during the discovery process, it is one the of the highest needs clients are looking to have met.  They can be younger and wanting to grow their money [...]

A survey of retirees asked “What is your greatest fear about retirement?” The most common answer given was “out living our money”. This is a major factor in why over 80% of annuities sold in 2010 had a guaranteed lifetime income rider attatched. There are more variaties of these riders today than ever before. This is [...]

Many advisors and agents that I speak to INSIST that their older clients simply “aren’t online” or “don’t use Facebook” but this naive statement is just like saying “I know where all of their assets are” or “I have all of their money.”  Our clients, young and old, are using social media on a regular [...]

I remember very early on in my insurance career hearing a salesperson say: “Get the money first and straighten out the details later.” Being the type of person that believes the money is in the details, I struggled with this thought process then, and I still do today. I am one of those detail-oriented people [...]

New surveys show that women continue to trail men when planning for retirement.   That makes it all the more important for most married couples to make retirement-planning decisions with the goal of leaving the spouse with greater longevity — typically, the wife — in good shape financially after the other dies.   After the [...]

“The risk that retirees will outlive their assets is a growing challenge,” according to a study from the Government Accountability Office scheduled for release today. Increased life expectancies and health-care costs coupled with declines in financial markets and home equity over the last few years have “intensified” workers’ concerns about how to manage their savings [...]

Tom Groenfeldt is a contributing writer for Forbes.com and recently wrote this piece regarding today’s Financial Advisor and their use of social media.    Keeping up with social media is not easy, says Sarah Carter, vice president of marketing at Actiance, a California communications compliance firm that was known as FaceTime Communications until January.   [...]

Last week I presented some lead generation mistakes to avoid, including banking on the “one-contact close,” mistaking email for a CRM system and not purchasing qualified leads. Here are three more. 1. Failing to nurture a “colder” lead. Leads need to be nurtured. Difficult economic times slow buying decisions. Those decisions will be made eventually, [...]