Stop Selling... Start Helping People To 'Find The Money' To 'Live Debt Free And Truly Wealthy!'

Featured Article - Have We, As An Industry, Lost Our Way?

Message from Jeremy - 10 Tips to Achieve Anything You Want in Life

Coaches Corner - People Like The Feeling Of Power And Being In Control

Featured Article

Dear ~Contact.FirstName~,

Are you an experienced advisor, with over 4 years in insurance sales, making a net income of less than $100,000 per year? Are you working long hours, struggling to find enough prospects, to set enough appointments, and close enough sales? Are you really where you want to be? What are you missing that is keeping you from earning $200,000, $300,000 or more each year?

In December of 1999 my father and I created the Insurance Pro Shop, because as he put it... "I'm tired of seeing so many people constantly struggle and fail in this business! I'm tired of seeing clients being given bad advice from agents, advisors and planners who are poorly trained on what their job really is! They can and should be really help people, instead of just making a sale!"

Here is an article that my father, Lew Nason, wrote in 2010 that explains why most agents, advisors and planners entering this business struggle and eventually give up.

________________________

Have We, As An Industry, Lost Our Way?

In a recent discussion, with a financial advisor who was seeking help to grow his practice, I brought up the legendary Mehdi Fakharzadeh, 'MDRT... 13-Court Of The Table, 27-Top Of The Table' "The most successful living and active insurance sales agent in the United States." As we talked, I told him about Mehdi and his accomplishments. I was surprised when this advisor told me that Medhi is not really a financial advisor! He is just a life insurance agent! He doesn't really sell investments!

Unfortunately, too many of the people inside and outside of this industry think, like the advisor above, that a financial advisor is someone who primarily offers (sells) stock market type investments, or charges a fee for (sells) investment advice. They have the wrong impression of who is a real financial advisor, what they are supposed to do, and how they can help people.

Unless and until we can change people's perception of our profession, most financial advisors are going to continue to struggle to make a decent living in this business. Because, if you don't really understand what your role is as a financial advisor, then how can you help people to see the true value of your services? So, let's start by defining what is a financial advisor?

Here are some of the definitions I found on the Internet...

"A Financial Advisor is a professional who renders investment advice and
financial planning services to individuals, businesses and governments."

"Professional adviser offering financial counsel."

"Financial advisors are trained professionals with broad mastery of diverse
finance-related topics, ranging from insurance issues to tax laws."

"A professional offering financial advice to clients for a fee and/or commission."

"Financial Advisors provide analysis and guidance to individuals to help them with
their investment decisions. They gather financial information, analyze it, and
make recommendations to their clients. Financial advisors assess the financial
needs of individuals, providing them a wide range of options."

"Professional who analyzes personal financial circumstances and prepares a program to
meet financial needs and objectives. Financial advisors, may be accountants, bankers,
lawyers, insurance agents, real estate or securities brokers, or independent practitioners,
and should have knowledge in the areas of wills and estate planning, retirement
planning, taxes, insurance, family budgeting, debt management, and investments."

"A Financial Advisor helps clients develop a plan for realizing their financial objectives
and provide an assessment in almost every financial area ranging from estate planning,
retirement, and taxes to insurance, investments, and savings."

What is interesting, is that when you look up the definitions for a Financial Advisor, you'll find that they are basically the same as the definitions for a Financial Planner.

However, what's even more interesting is that most of the definitions for a Financial Advisor, or Financial Planner go far beyond just providing investment advice and investments.

Loren Dunton, considered by many to be the "Father of Financial Planning" gave us this great definition of a financial planner... "a highly trained, skilled and dedicated professional who helps average people to learn how to spend, save, invest, insure and plan wisely for the future, to achieve financial independence." You'll notice that 'invest' is only one of the five basic functions of a financial planner.

"When Loren Dunton first envisioned a financial planning profession, it was to
serve the needs of the lower and middle classes, not to help the wealthy make
even more money. As the saying goes, healthy people don't need a doctor."
Thomas W. Johnson (Financial-Planning.com, There's Something About Gary)

Today, it seems that the vast majority of organizations who use the terms financial advisor or financial planner have lost their way. They have significantly strayed from the true definition of a financial advisor or planner. Most of these organizations are primarily concerned about gathering as many assets under management as possible. It's become all about making quick, easy money. There is very little, if any training about… helping average people to learn how to spend, save, invest, insure and plan wisely for the future, to achieve financial independence!

"Too many "so-called" financial planners are placing all of Middle American family's
assets at risk in the market with stocks, bonds, etc., based solely on reaping the
highest investment returns. This is totally wrong and highly unethical."
Forrest Wallace Cato, in his book The Terrible Truths About Financial Planning
Legendary Media Advocate To The Financial Industry

What's Caused This Change In Focus?
The main reason for this change in focus is that most of the organizations that are responsible for training financial advisors and planners are focusing almost entirely on investing in the stock market, and the technical aspects of financial planning, such as estate conservation and wealth transfer. There is very little, if any training on insurance, budgeting, taxes, etc. Or, training on the marketing and sales aspects of financial planning! The end result is that most financial advisors and planners do not understand that they are still and primarily sales people.

Consider, if you don't know how to market and sell your services, then you are forced into taking the path of least resistance. You end up giving people what they want, instead of helping them to get what they really need. You are forced into taking the easy, quick sale, in order to make a living, even when it's not really in the client's best interest! (It's one of the main causes for our compliance issues)

Without marketing and sales skills you cannot help people to see why they should meet with you. Without marketing and sales skills you cannot help people to understand the problems they face today and the value of investing in the products and services you provide.

"Loren Dunton was a conceptual salesman, one who believed
the key to the sale was sales training."
Edwin Morrow, Past CEO of the...
'International Association of Registered Financial Consultants'

This change of focus, within the financial services industry, is a major reason why we have serious, increasing financial problems in this country and all over the world. As financial advisors and planners we are not addressing the real concerns and problems that most middle-income families face today! Consumer debt is out of control. Most families have very little saved for their retirement. And, it's not going to change unless we, as dedicated financial professionals, decide we are going to do something about it.

According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute’s 2009 Retirement
Confidence Survey, 53% of workers in the U.S. have less than $25,000 in
total savings and investments. The typical American household
(headed by a 43 year old) has just over $18,000 in savings!

It's time for all of us to get back to being real financial advisors and planners. We have a duty and obligation to be actually helping people. We need to stop focusing on investment returns and transferring wealth. We need to stop taking the easy sales. We must focus our efforts on helping average people to reduce and eliminate all of their consumer debt, protect their families and then help them to start saving for their future. And, as Loren Dunton believed, that means we need to work on developing our marketing and sales skills.

The annual saving rate, hovered close to 10 percent between 1970 and the mid-
1980s; it steadily declined during the 1990s. Between 1999 and 2004, the savings
rate has averaged around 2 percent, until it became negative in 2005.
And it's still negative in 2010. Bureau of Economic Analysis

Where Do We Start?
It all starts with each of us refocusing our efforts and learning how to truly be of service to middle-income families. It's taking an hour or more each day to learn (or relearn) basic marketing and sales skills. It's reading everything we can about marketing and sales. It's taking industry courses (Such as the LUTC classes, through NAIFA) and attending industry-training events to learn about the value of the products we provide.

It's finding training and support organizations that promote working with middle-income families such as LEAP, Circle of Wealth, Kinder Brothers, Money for Life and our Insurance Pro Shop. (Finding training organizations who are not just recruiters in disguise)

It's working with real coaches and mentors such as Bill Bachrach, Don Blanton, Sandy Schussel, Maribeth Kuzmeski, Annette Bau, Jeremy Nason and myself to fine-tune your entire sales process.

Joining, supporting and actively participating in our industry organizations, such as NAIFA (National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors), GAMA (General Agent and Managers Association), MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table) and the IARFC (International Association of Registered Financial Consultants), that promote working with average people.

Can You Make Real Money Serving Middle-Income Families?
Consider all of the major insurance companies amassed their great fortunes by working with and servicing middle-income families. (Prudential, New York Life, MetLife, Northwestern Mutual, etc.)

All of the largest and most profitable businesses in the world today amassed their great fortunes by serving middle-income families. (Wal-mart, General Motors, Ford Motor Co., Disney, Exxon, Home Depot, etc.)

Industry Sales Legends... such as Ben Feldman, John Savage, Thomas Wolff and Mehdi Fakharzadeh (the beloved MetLife super agent) all initially built their practices and their fame by serving middle-income families.

Legendary Master Agency Builders... Al Granum and Norman G. Levine (past president of NAIFA, MDRT and GAMA) each built their 'Super Agencies' and their fame by serving middle-income families.

Serving Middle-Income families is where the real money is to be made... But, only if you learn the marketing skills needed to consistently attract the RIGHT prospects to you. And, you develop the sales skills needed to help people to take action, to get what they really need and want for their future!

Remember, no matter what you call yourself, you are a financial advisor and planner! You are supposed to be... "helping average people to learn how to spend, save, invest, insure and plan wisely for the future, to achieve financial independence."

If we, as financial advisor and planners, don't help middle-income families… Who Will?

___________________________

Do You Want To Learn How To Really Help Middle Income Families... And As A Result ...Double Your Annuity And Life Insurance Sales
...In the Next 60 Days?

In every one of our Specialized Insurance Marketing And Sales Tool Kits, our live training events, our private ‘Members Only’ web site and our one-on-one coaching, we focus a lot of time and effort on helping you to get better at finding and attracting the best life insurance prospects in the middle-income family markets!

It’s why the new insurance agents we train are able to consistently earn $15,000 or more per month, within just a few months of investing in our Fast Start Mortgage Insurance Tool Kit™.

It’s why established financial advisors are able to generate $30,000 or more of life insurance commissions per month, within a few months of investing in our Found Money Management™ Tool Kit.

It’s why established financial advisors are able to generate $30,000 or more of annuity commissions per month, within a few months of investing in our Annuity Sales Excellence™ Tool Kit.

And, it’s why ‘MDRT’ Top of the Table Producers and the Financial Advisors, who are serious about this business, are doubling and tripling their production, after attending our Trusted Advisor Success Training 2 day, live event!

Jeremy Nason
'The 9 Out Of 10 Guys'
Marketing and Sales Coaches
 

_____________________

We are here to help you, please drop us a 
comment on our blog or visit our Facebook page!

Updates For Our Member's Only Private Site
 Insurance Marketing and Sales Resource Center™

HC Case Study
In this case study learn about how we were able to solve all of a family's problems using only 1 thing.

Are you taking advantage of the FREE Client Newsletters in the Insurance Marketing and Sales Resource Center™? If not, why not?

Remember... People buy when they are ready to buy, not when you are ready to sell. So, if you want them to call you when they are ready, then you must stay in front of them! Using a monthly client newsletter is the best way to get those people to call you.
 

Important Message For You... From Jeremy

Dear Friends,

Here is an article I found on the web. I hope it gets you thinking and helps you, as much as it did for me!

_________________________________________________

10 Tips to Achieve Anything You Want in Life
Tackle your biggest goals with these tips from a former Olympic athlete.
Inga Stasiulionyte, (Lithuanian-Monegasque javelin thrower) August 2, 2016

I’m no stranger to feeling stuck in life.

I’ve trained with some of the best coaches on the planet during my 20-year sports career, and again when I competed in the 2008 Olympics.

But when I wanted to start my own company, to share my knowledge about motivational psychology and training with others, it wasn’t as easy as I’d thought it would be.

Launching a new business is not easy. You have to give up the comforts of a stable paycheck to delve into the unknown, an unpredictable abyss. A lot of things keep us from making the leap - things like fear and insecurity. And one thing above all the rest: motivation.

When I looked back on my days as an athlete, I understood what was different. I remembered what (or who) made me push myself even when I didn’t want to. The difference was, as an athlete, I had structured days and a coach to report to. Structure keeps us focused and a coach keeps pushing and challenging us.

Thankfully I passed this stage and I founded Onbotraining, an online coaching service that helps people achieve their goals. I decided to collect the lessons I’ve learned along the way and to share them with others, like you, striving to better themselves.

So, here are my 10 best tips for achieving anything you want in life.

1. Focus on commitment, not motivation.
Just how committed are you to your goal? How important is it for you, and what are you willing to sacrifice in order to achieve it? If you find yourself fully committed, motivation will follow.

2. Seek knowledge, not results.
If you focus on the excitement of discovery, improving, exploring and experimenting, your motivation will always be fueled. If you focus only on results, your motivation will be like weather—it will die the minute you hit a storm. So the key is to focus on the journey, not the destination. Keep thinking about what you are learning along the way and what you can improve.

3. Make the journey fun.
It’s an awesome game! The minute you make it serious, there’s a big chance it will start carrying a heavy emotional weight and you will lose perspective and become stuck again.

4. Get rid of stagnating thoughts.
Thoughts influence feelings and feelings determine how you view your work. You have a lot of thoughts in your head, and you always have a choice of which ones to focus on: the ones that will make you emotionally stuck (fears, doubts) or the ones that will move you forward (excitement, experimenting, trying new things, stepping out of your comfort zone).

5. Use your imagination.
Next step after getting rid of negative thoughts is to use your imagination. When things go well, you are full of positive energy, and when you are experiencing difficulties, you need to be even more energetic. So rename your situation. If you keep repeating I hate my work, guess which feelings those words will evoke? It’s a matter of imagination! You can always find something to learn even from the worst boss in the world at the most boring job. I have a great exercise for you: Just for three days, think and say positive things only. See what happens.

6. Stop being nice to yourself.
Motivation means action and action brings results. Sometimes your actions fail to bring the results you want. So you prefer to be nice to yourself and not put yourself in a difficult situation. You wait for the perfect timing, for an opportunity, while you drive yourself into stagnation and sometimes even into depression. Get out there, challenge yourself, do something that you want to do even if you are afraid.

7. Get rid of distractions.
Meaningless things and distractions will always be in your way, especially those easy, usual things you would rather do instead of focusing on new challenging and meaningful projects. Learn to focus on what is the most important. Write a list of time-wasters and hold yourself accountable to not do them.

8. Don’t rely on others.
You should never expect others to do it for you, not even your partner, friend or boss. They are all busy with their own needs. No one will make you happy or achieve your goals for you. It’s all on you.

9. Plan.
Know your three steps forward. You do not need more. Fill out your weekly calendar, noting when you will do what and how. When-what-how is important to schedule. Review how each day went by what you learned and revise what you could improve.

10. Protect yourself from burnout.
It’s easy to burn out when you are very motivated. Observe yourself to recognize any signs of tiredness and take time to rest. Your body and mind rest when you schedule relaxation and fun time into your weekly calendar. Do diverse tasks, keep switching between something creative and logical, something physical and still, working alone and with a team. Switch locations. Meditate, or just take deep breaths, close your eyes, or focus on one thing for five minutes.

You lack motivation not because you are lazy or don’t have a goal. Even the biggest stars, richest businesspeople or the most accomplished athletes get lost sometimes. What makes them motivated is the curiosity about how much better or faster they can get. So above all, be curious, and this will lead you to your goals and success.

Yours in success,
Jeremy Nason
Trainer, Coach, Mentor
 

Specialized, Advanced Marketing And Sales Systems
 Discover... the top ten (10) absolute best ways for you to Find & Attract your 'IDEAL' life insurance & annuity prospects ...in your local community.

Great News, we have expanded the payment plans on each of our specialized annuity and life insurance sales systems from 3 monthly payments… to 6 monthly payments. We’ve basically cut the payments in half. Because we want to make it easy for you to get the annuity and life insurance sales training you need! Additionally, we want to help you to consistently attract your best annuity and life insurance prospects. So, in the next 60 days, you will closing more and larger annuity and life insurance sales!

Each Of These Systems Come With 3 Months Of Personal Coaching,
To Help You Tailor The System... To Make It Just Right For You!

"You keep doing what you’re doing. You’re filling a vital need in the insurance training industry.
We’re all lucky to have you and your family serving the industry the way you do."
David H. Kinder, ChFC® - CA  (11 years in the business)

"I am so grateful for your expertise & your help. Again, thank you for helping me help so many families! You guys gave me hope for this business again! (And hope has a MUCH bigger payout than a paycheck!) Many thanks," Christine Lopez - CA, (12 years in the business)

"The IPS team sticks with you, gives you solid training and advice, helps with client cases, and they really are there for one main thing: the agent's success. I encourage everyone I know in this business to get their services to be successful." Audrey Sendrowski - MA (10 years in the business)

"Lew and Jeremy, thank you for all of your hard work and dedication over the years. It has been a great pleasure working with you and your team over the past 8 years. You have provided me world class training and support." "God bless you and the Insurance Pro Shop! Your Friend," 
Bill Constain, CFO, RFP - Freedom Wealth Services - FL (34 years in the business)

"Thank you for all you do and for being so sharing and kind. It’s rare in these times to find people of your caliber, who put ethics ahead of profits. You have my deepest gratitude."
Shaun C. Borden, Allstate Agency Owner - FL (12 years in the business)

"I fought you every step of the way, but you cared enough to fight back and now I make what most struggling advisors wish they could make. Thank you Lew and Jeremy."
Antonio Filippone, RFC, FMM - IL (21 years in the business)

Coaching Corner

People Like The Feeling Of Power And Being In Control

People want to make their own decisions. They want to feel they are in control. They want to know they are important. And, of course, they are!

You must let your prospects know that you know they are the reason you are in business. You know that you are there to service their needs, wants, desires and aspirations.

Remember, without them, you will have no business!

Share "everything" with your prospects. Certainly don't hide things. Be upfront and honest. Show them the good reasons to do business with you. And be open about those points that you don't know.

Acknowledge the competition. Pretending you don't have any competition is folly.

Be open! Ask questions! Shut-up and Listen!

Ask question that let people "tell" you what they want, need, will do, and won't do. Give them power. Give them control.

And then watch them respond in kind to you!

Jeremy & Alex
'The 9 Out Of 10 Guys'
Marketing and Sales Coaches
 

With This Specialized Video Sales Skills Training You Can Set Better Appointments and Close More and  Larger Sales...

Just By Learning To Ask The 'RIGHT' Questions!

Now available on a USB (Flash) Drive!
90 Day, '100%' Money Back Guarantee!

"The fact-finding, 5-minute presentations, and
2-page presentations are all invaluable!"

"Lew is one of the most genuinely kind and interested person in truly helping people I have ever met.
He is making a real difference in the lives of his clients and associates in the industry by teaching
them to get down to the basics of human communications and needs selling. The fact finding,
5-minute presentations and 2-page presentations are all invaluable! I really appreciate your
helpfulness, philosophy and ethical, non-greedy approach."
Kevin McKinney, GA

Are You A Member Of NAIFA?

IPS Home Page   Product Catalog   Newsletter Archive   Contact Us