by: Mark D. Milbrod, CLU
Principal – Agent Support Group

March Madness 17

March is here, and with it, the annual College Basketball phenomenon, March Madness begins. Every year the sports world goes crazy as this gets under way. But we in the Insurance and Financial Services Industry have our own March Madness (and every other month for that matter).

If you follow college hoops or you simply get caught up in the hype, it can get pretty exciting. We are all familiar with the visual of “the brackets” that start at the beginning of the tournament. 64 teams start off and we follow the brackets as they wind down to the infamous Final Four.

When it all starts, I find the brackets to be overwhelming and a sensory overload. There is so much happening on one sheet of paper and in the actual tournament, similar to our industry. So here’s a look at Our March Madness and how it looks in my head…

MrachMadnessBracket 2017

Wow! That’s a bit much, but it is the MADNESS that we face every day, every month and throughout the year. This has been especially relevant over the last several months for all of us. We have experienced unprecedented product, legislative and psychological changes that will permanently alter the way we conduct our practices.

What carrier do we choose? Why one over another? From our perspective, each of the carriers have their own niches, whether it is product related, an underwriting strength or a particular feature or benefit that sets them apart.

What product design do you choose? There are so many to choose from; Guaranteed Universal Life (GUL), Indexed Universal Life (IUL), Whole Life, Term , Blended Life Contracts, Life with Long Term Care Riders or Return of Premium Term (ROP), to name a few. Each has its own bells and whistles which make them so unique and adaptable to a number of planning and individual client needs.

From a legislative standpoint, we are seeing potential modifications with the Estate Tax and our healthcare system.  The industry itself is going through changes of it’s own with cost of insurance increases, carrier contractions, massive shifts in product design and a large “name brand” company leaving the marketplace. 

That all leads us to knowing where the Sales Opportunities are. In the center of our brackets, there are four areas (Our Final Four), where all of these opportunities converge, Policy Valuation Modeling, Legacy Planning, Business Valuation Modeling and Asset Repositioning.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the “brackets” we call “Our March Madness.” We scratch our heads as we try to sort it all out. It is truly overwhelming and it fosters that sensory overload I mentioned earlier. Where are the Sales Opportunities? They are all there, staring us right in the face.

Having a partner that can guide you through all of this is key.  At ASG, we have the expertise to walk you through it and help you Make Sense Out Of All The Madness. 

 

 

Find more of Mark’s Bark’s Blogs on our website: http://www.asglife.com/insurance-view/marks-barks-blog/