20150304 mdrt

ROUND TABLEOFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE MILLION DOLLAR ROUND TABLE | MARCH/APRIL 2015

the

Boost your social media 14 | Create a personal brand 16 | Master the paperless office 18

ANNUAL MEETING2015 - JUNE 14 TO 17, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

TOP OF THE TABLE ANNUAL MEETING2015 - OCTOBER 7 TO 10, NAPLES, FLORIDA

MDRT EXPERIENCE2016 - JANUARY 28 TO 30, HONG KONG

Million Dollar Round Table325 West Touhy Avenue, Park Ridge, IL 60068 USAPhone: +1 847.692.6378 Fax: +1 847.518.8921 Website: www.mdrt.org

I think change is a necessity to allow continued improvementand to keep up with technology and consumer appetite.

Susan Catherine Paterson, FChFP, Page 26

MDRT - RTT COVER DESIGNMarch/April 2015

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Enhance your meeting

experience by becoming

a PGA volunteer sign up

when you register.

Dont miss

Taking place in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA a city known for great food, music and fun.

THE 2015 MDRT ANNUAL MEETING

EARLY REGISTRATION ENDS APRIL 18

F O R M O R E I N F O R M A T I O N A N D T O R E G I S T E R V I S I T :

WWW.MDRT.ORG / 2015AM

Enjoy everything you loveabout the Annual Meeting

Main Platform

Special Sessions

Focus Sessions

ConneXion Zone

Plus more programoptions, including

MDRT Speaks

Cornerstone Presentations

Echo Sessions

32

MARCH/APRIL 2015 | ROUND theTABLE.ORG 1

One of the most rewarding and challenging responsibilities of serving on the MDRT Executive Committee these past few years has been the strategic planning process. This process has demanded significant time and focus from current and past Executive Committee members to stay on track and implement the changes.

MDRT President Caroline A. Banks, APFS, shared the five principles that guide our decision-making process in her November/December 2014 article. I would like to share how these principles are implemented and why they are important.

First, our organization has changed over the years and continues to evolve. With this growth comes the challenge of creating value for more than 42,000 individuals. We identified portions of our membership by how they use the services we provide. As you can imagine, it is difficult to narrow more than 42,000 varying levels of engagement into six distinct types. Though it was a monumental task, we believe this will help us focus our meetings, content offerings and leadership opportunities in a way that engages the maximum number of members.

Through member interviews and research, we identified the following six major engagement themes:

1. Brand2. Resources3. Meetings4. Volunteerism5. MDRT Foundation6. Leadership

These themes seem to fit how nearly all of us get the most out of MDRT. The focus of the strategic plan has helped us to maximize the benefits for each member, whether you choose to be an extremely active volunteer in the organization, or only to use the Web-based resources and read Round the Table.

All of us on the Executive Committee are excited with how this process has evolved. It has helped us structure the committees, present our meetings around the world, deliver more dynamic content when and where you need it, and promote opportunities to network and volunteer with your friends and peers.

Most of all, this process allows MDRT to take the demands of 42,000 members from 87 countries, speaking more than 20 different languages, and deliver a customized experience for a membership of just one: you! I am proud to serve!

All the best,

Brian D. Heckert, CLU, ChFCMDRT First Vice President

Providing individual value

The focus of the strategic plan has helped us

to maximize the benefits for

each member.

looking FORWARD

2 ROUND theTABLE.ORG | MARCH/APRIL 2015

WEB EXTRASmdrt.org

n MDRT PODCAST Episode two on business continu-ation planning is now available at mdrt.org/podcast.

n COST OF DOING BUSINESSThe full survey is available online.

n APPLY ONLINE To apply for 2015 MDRT membership easily, visit onlinemembership.mdrt.org.

16

ROUND THE TABLE | MARCH/APRIL 2015 | VOL 43, ISSUE 2

PRACTICE8 IDEAS10 TIPS & TECHNOLOGY12 WRITING IT DOWN Putting the process on paper

gives Engrassia a roadmap to success.

14 SOCIAL MEDIA AT THE NEXT LEVEL How you can stand out from the Internet crowd.

16 BUILD YOUR PERSONAL BRAND How to create the image you

portray to clients and prospects.

18 PAPERLESS POINTERS Two members empty out their

file cabinets.

20 6 WAYS TO MAKE CLIENTS COMFORTABLE Varas focuses on adapting to the needs of senior consumers.

22 BUYING LASTING HAPPINESS Annual Meeting speaker reinvig-

orated Round Table members passion for life insurance.

PEOPLE24 IDEAS26 TIME TO MAKE A CHANGE Sometimes the only way forward

is starting over again.

30 PAST AND FUTURE Members in Mexico rely on the

ability to adapt to changing markets.

32 YOUD MAKE A GREAT AGENT Murphy followed a suggestion to

immediate success and business growth.

34 THE DRIVE FOR COMPLIANCE AND SUCCESS How the rules of the road can guide your career ethics.

36 PLANNING WHATS NEXT Engel partners with a young

advisor to ease into retirement.

39 Q&A Glenda Miro Antonio

26

contents


IN EVERY ISSUE1 LOOKING FORWARD4 WELCOME6 IN THE NEWS7 IN MEMORIAM55 TRUE TALES56 LOOKING BACK

ON THE COVER

Read why four MDRT mem-bers decided to completely change their business model and learn the results of their overhauls.

COVER DESIGN BY MICHAEL DORICH

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ROUND TABLEOFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE MILLION DOLLAR ROUND TABLE | MARCH/APRIL 2015

the

Boost your social media 14 | Create a personal brand 16 | Master the paperless office 18

ANNUAL MEETING2015 - JUNE 14 TO 17, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

TOP OF THE TABLE ANNUAL MEETING2015 - OCTOBER 7 TO 10, NAPLES, FLORIDA

MDRT EXPERIENCE2016 - JANUARY 28 TO 30, HONG KONG

Million Dollar Round Table325 West Touhy Avenue, Park Ridge, IL 60068 USAPhone: +1 847.692.6378 Fax: +1 847.518.8921 Website: www.mdrt.org

I think change is a necessity to allow continued improvementand to keep up with technology and consumer appetite.

Susan Catherine Paterson, FChFP, Page 26

MDRT - RTT COVER DESIGNMarch/April 2015

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WEB EXTRASmdrt.org INSIDE MDRT

40 IDEAS43 DEVELOPING PRODUCTION

REQUIREMENTS MDRT creates a formula that takes volatility out of numbers.

46 REFRESHED AND RECHARGED MDRT Annual Meeting promises

more ideas, more connections and more takeaways.

50 MDRT FOUNDATION: EDUCATING GIRLS IN CAMBODIA Foundation grant helps students in impoverished communities.

52 PROFITS UP, EXPENSES DOWN Cost of Doing Business Survey

reveals industry averages.46

You have to make someone feel comfortable

and confident in the decisions theyre

making. Micheline Varas, Page 20

WELCOME

Kathryn Furtaw Keuneke, CAEEditor in [email protected]

In each issue of Round the Table, we have an article weve nicknamed Classics. The idea is that while tax laws change and regula-tions take effect, many ideas our members have shared during MDRTs history are still relevant, no matter if they were presented in 1927 or 2015.

In the issue youre holding, the presentation comes from the 1939 Annual Meeting. As I pre-pared the article on Page 22, I flipped through old, dusty books in search of something interest-ing and relevant for our members in 2015.

While we enjoy digging through the archives in search of material that might help you, we also want to provide timely, cutting-edge resources to help you do business in todays world.

In this issue, we have articles that explain how to create a paperless office (Page 18) and advanced tips for using social media differently than you may have in the past (Page 14).

As you incorporate more technological solu-tions in your office, we are working to provide content to you in different formats. When our last issue came out, we also published the first episode of the MDRT Podcast, a new series featuring MDRT members advice on the issues theyre facing. With the second episode, were exploring the topic of business continuation planning, hearing from producers who are dis-covering the realities of succession planning.

On Page 36, we feature a senior-junior advisor partnership that is succeeding at succession.

You can find the first two episodes of the MDRT Podcast at mdrt.org/podcast.

In April, the new MDRT website will launch, complete with a resource section to help you do business better. In written, audio and visual for-mats, youll find how-to advice and success sto-ries you can access 24/7. Some of those resources will be new, some Classics, but were commit-ted to ensuring you have relevant information at the push of a button not out of reach on a dusty bookshelf.

Let us know what topics we can cover to meet your needs.

Thank you for reading,

Whats old is new again


34 55

14 1614

43

DEDDY KARYANTO, CFP, QWP, shares his tips on how to be successful in business by building a name for yourself in Build your personal brand. A 13-year MDRT member from Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, he was a member of the 2014 Advisor Branding and Marketing Committee. Contact him at [email protected].

Learn new ways to use social media to develop relationships and market your brand in Social media at the next level. DAVID M. ETHELL, LUTCF, and KEN IBUKI, interviewed members about targeting their audience and fo-cusing their message. Ethell is a 13-year member from Camarillo, California. Ibuki is a 21-year MDRT member from Nagoya, Japan. They are both members of the Client Strategies Committee. Contact Ethell at [email protected] and Ibuki at [email protected].

In Developing production require-ments, author JUDY XANTHOPOULOS, PH.D., explains how MDRT determines production numbers. Xanthopoulos is an economist and a principal in Quantria Strategies LLC. She develops microsimu-lation models for tax, health and pension policy analysis. Contact her at [email protected].

Learning to drive and maintaining a compli-ant practice have a lot in common, according to SCOTT S. PATER-ICK, CLU, CHFC. In The drive for compli-ance and success, Paterick and the Bylaws and Ethics Committee outline the similarities. Paterick is a 23-year MDRT member from Wiscon-sin Rapids, Wisconsin. Contact him at [email protected].

SUSAN MEITY, CFP, AEPP, tells the true story of her husbands cousin, Nicky, who died in a car accident at a young age. In Nickys love letter, Meity writes about how life insurance helped Nickys wife and son. Meity is a seven-year MDRT member from Jakar-ta Barat, Indonesia. Contact her at [email protected].

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE MILLION DOLLAR ROUND TABLE

ROUND TABLEthe

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Kathryn Furtaw Keuneke, CAEMANAGING EDITOR: Liz DeCarlo

CONTENT EDITOR: Michael DePillaCONTENT SPECIALIST: Scott Rogers

ART DIRECTOR: Brandon Lane

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Stephen P. Stahr, CAE STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR:

Pamela Brown, CMP, CAEMEDIA RELATIONS COORDINATOR: Jennifer Schimka

MDRT Executive Committee

PRESIDENT: Caroline A. Banks, APFSIMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: Michelle L. Hoesly, CLU, ChFC

FIRST VICE PRESIDENT: Brian D. Heckert, CLU, ChFCSECOND VICE PRESIDENT: Mark J. Hanna, CLU, ChFC

SECRETARY: James Douglas Pittman, CLU, CFP

To contact editorial office:

MAIL: MDRT, 325 West Touhy Avenue, Park Ridge, Illinois 60068 USA

PHONE: +1 847.692.6378 Fax: +1 847.518.8921

EMAIL: [email protected]

WEBSITE: www.roundthetable.org

Round the Table (ISSN-0161-7125) is published bimonthly by the Million Dollar Round Table, 325 West Touhy Avenue, Park Ridge, Illinois 60068 USA. Subscription rate is included in MDRT mem-bership dues: $20 for nonmembers in the United States, $30 for nonmembers outside the United States. Periodicals postage paid

at Park Ridge, Illinois, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER, send address corrections to Round the Table,

325 West Touhy Avenue, Park Ridge, Illinois 60068 USA.

2015 Million Dollar Round Table. Round the Table is published for the use of Million Dollar Round Table members. All rights reserved. Round the Table is not to be

used or loaned for any commercial purposes or other causes, nor is any portion of it to be reproduced without the express, prior

written permission of the Million Dollar Round Table.

Round the Table is provided as an educational and informational service by the Million Dollar Round Table. The Million Dollar

Round Table does not guarantee the accuracy of tax and legal information and is not liable for errors or omissions. You are urged to check with tax and legal professionals in your state,

province or country. MDRT also suggests you consult local insurance and security regulations and compliance departments,

pertaining to the use of any new sales material with clients.

MDRT, Million Dollar Round Table, Top of the Table, Court of the Table, MDRT Foundation, The Premier Association of Financial Professionals, ConneXion Zone and Global Gift Fund are all

registered trademarks of the Million Dollar Round Table.

Round the Table is printed in USA with soy-based inks on elemental chlorine-free paper.


IN NEWSthemember news | awards | calendar | in memoriam

Mark your calendar to include these important dates:

March 1Completed MDRT

membership application must be submitted online or mailed to

MDRT, postmarked on or before this date,

to avoid $200 additional fee

April 18MDRT Annual Meeting early

registration deadline

June 14MDRT Annual Meeting

begins in New Orleans, Louisiana

Oct. 7MDRT Top of the

Table Annual Meeting begins in

Naples, Florida

MDRT CALENDAR

Specialty recognizedJustin D. Nabity, a two-year MDRT member from Omaha, Nebraska, was listed as one of the Best Financial Advisors for Doctors by Medical Economics maga-zine, a business resource for physicians. The listing, published in the November 2014 edition, recognizes financial experts who cater to the specialized needs of physicians. Nabity is one of the founders of Physician Advisors LLC.

Lifetime achievement honoredThe Charleston Estate Planning Council awarded Peter S. White, CLU, ChFC, a 51-year MDRT member from Charleston, West Vir-ginia, its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award. White was recognized for his more than 55 years of service to clients, the community and the estate planning pro-fession. He has served as a board member for civic and nonprofit organizations.

Client excellence awardMichael J. Fischer, ChFC, CLU, has qualified for the Signator Investors Inc. ACE Platinum Award. The award is one of the highest honors that Signator bestows on financial professionals within the na-tional network. ACE stands for Achieving Client Excel-lence. This marks the 16th time Fischer has qualified for the ACE award. He is a 16-year MDRT member from Fogelsville, Pennsylvania.

Cover storyWhen Retirement Advisor put together its annuities issue, it turned to an MDRT member for advice. Steven A. Plewes, CLU, ChFC, graced the magazines cover and was interviewed about marketing and selling annuities. In the article, Plewes stated that he is careful to use annuities that are tax efficient and low-cost when he can. He also explained that annuity products support his philosophy that a portfolio is only as good as the income it can consistently generate. Plewes is a 28-year MDRT member from Bethesda, Maryland. He also serves as Divisional Vice President of the Annual Meeting Program Development Committee.


Kopcinski appointedRaymond John Kopcinski Sr., CMP, was appointed 2015 chair of the Professional Convention Management Association. Kopcinski is senior director of the Exec-utive Department at MDRT, where he assists in the de-velopment and implemen-tation of cultural, physical, strategic and structural changes. He has been with MDRT for 30 years.

Management honorsDavid B. Schulman, CLU, ChFC, has been named the 2015 inductee into the GAMA International Man-agement Hall of Fame. This induction is given by the financial services industry to recognize a leader whose professional career has been building a field organization and serving the industry. Schulman is a 34-year MDRT member from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Alumnus donates to schoolDavid J. Downey, CLU, a 47-year MDRT member and former college basketball standout from Champaign, Illinois, has donated $2 million to the State Farm Center at his alma ma-ter, the University of Illinois. The donation will be used for a courtside club area that will be named Club 53, in recognition of Downeys school-record 53 points scored against Indiana University in 1963. That record still stands 52 year later.

IN THE NEWS

IN MEMORIAMArthur J. Andreoli, CLUWorcester, MassachusettsAge: 78, MDRT: 45 years

Ernest A. ChletcosHorsham, PennsylvaniaAge: 97, MDRT: 32 years

Kirk Thomas Colford, CLUFort Lauderdale, FloridaAge: 65, MDRT: 5 years

Francis A. Derby, CFP, CLUSan Diego, CaliforniaAge: 84, MDRT: 38 years

Frank B. FaustLilburn, GeorgiaAge: 79, MDRT: 48 years

Howard FergusonTracadie-Shela, New Bruns-wick, CanadaAge: 64, MDRT: 1 year

Loren GroneMesa, ArizonaAge: 81, MDRT: 48 years

William L. Heinz Jr., CLU, ChFCAtlanta, GeorgiaAge: 89, MDRT: 47 years

Fred R. Kissling Jr., CLU, MSPALexington, KentuckyAge: 84, MDRT: 57 years

Frank M. LorenzoTampa, FloridaAge: 89, MDRT: 49 years

Robert W. Meldrum, CLU, ChFCOttawa, Ontario, CanadaAge: 66, MDRT: 15 years

Warren James Whittaker, CLU, LUTCFBeech Grove, IndianaAge: 70, MDRT: 5 years

Jessica Harieke WoeibowoJakarta, Selatan, IndonesiaAge: 25, MDRT: 4 years Tony Ziehler, CLUTucson, ArizonaAge: 79, MDRT: 43 years

Between money and time, which is more important to you? For me, time is more important than money. Why? You can regain money by working hard, but you will never regain wasted time. Therefore, I strive to manage my time effectively by using a timetable, just like I had in school. Heres how:

n We all have 24 hours per day. I set aside seven hours to sleep, three hours of family time and four hours to eat, shower, read and relax. That leaves me with 10 hours. I divide those 10 hours into three time slots: three hours before lunch and four hours after lunch for sales activities (plus one hour for lunch). Then, I have two hours in the evening to review the day, write in my journal and plan for the next day.

n Within that timetable, I manage my appointments in Google Calendar for the week (two each morning and three each afternoon). My goal is to fill all of these 25 slots with quality appointments.

n I have Saturday morning saved to review the past week and plan for the next week and the future.

When you spend your time effectively, you maximize your productivity. Having good behavior and repeating an organized pattern will guarantee your success. Ken IbukiNagoya, Japan, 21-year member

When youre in a slump (psychologically or business-wise), set up a lunch or breakfast meeting with your five favorite clients. By favorite I dont just mean the ones who make the most money; I mean the ones who you enjoy being with, as well. Be prepared to respond to any questions they may have, but talk no business at the lunch. This is not a review meeting in the formal sense but rather a relationship visit.

Its a great way to get out of a slump. At the minimum, you will feel better with more confidence, and you may be surprised at what develops during a lunch with no expectations! Randy L. Scritchfield, CFP, LUTCF Damascus, Maryland, 30-year member

In a world of rapid change, we must know what we will not change. Spend time to develop principles you will

not break. David M. Ethell, LUTCF

Camarillo, California, 13-year member

TIME IS PRICELESS

SLUMP BUSTER


REMINDERI have a lead sheet posted on my wall. Whenever I hear some-one talking about a person I feel may be an opportunity, I list them on this sheet. Seeing it on my wall each day reminds me to follow up on the opportunity to meet with the prospect. Susan Catherine Paterson, FChFPLoganholme, Queensland, Australia, 11-year member


in

PRACTICE

SENIORS ON FACEBOOK

For the first time, more than half of all online

adults 65 and older (56%) use Facebook.

Pew Research center, 2014

CLUTTER OVERLOAD

54% of Americans are overwhelmed by clutter at home

and at work. National Association for Professional

Organizers and Decluttr, 2014

MORE LIFE INSURANCE

33% of Americans say they dont have

enough life insurance, in-cluding one-fourth of those who already own a policy.

Life Happens, 2013

WOMENS RETIREMENT PLANNING

More women than men (62% vs. 55%)

say they need professional advice for their retirement

planning. LIMRA, 2014

Tips & Technology 10 | Roadmap to success 12 | Social media tips 14 | Your personal brand 16Going paperless 18 | Helping senior consumers 20


TIPS TECHNOLOGY&life hacks | apps | time-savers

Just Google itYou probably already use Google to search the Internet. Now you can use some of Googles other offerings to keep track of your business and goals.

To get started, create a Google account and email. Then go to Google Drive, click Create and select Form. In simple steps, you will be able to design your form.

First, write a question and select the question type. For instance, the question might be Did I ask for referrals today? and the question type would be multiple choice. Next, edit the list of options to answer this question. In this example, the answer is going to have two options: yes or no.

The question types you can use are text, multiple choice, checkboxes, list, scale, grid and date. It is very flexible and easy to use.

Keep in mind that to create a useful form, questions must be relevant to your goals. Figure out which of your daily sales and prospecting activities will get you to your goals and measure those activities with this application.

Once you have your form ready, make it accessible. Just before finalizing your form, make sure to select the checkbox to show the link to submit another response. Then copy this link and paste it in a new event for your Google Calendar (or any calendar you use that is accessible from your smartphone) at the time you would like to fill in your form. Set the event to be repeated from Monday to Friday, or daily if you prefer.

Whenever you want the results, go to Google Drive and click on Responses. You will get the responses in a Google spreadsheet that can be easily managed to get all the statistics you need about your daily activities.

Victor Vuilleumier ValdezGuadalajara, Mexico, 4-year member

Arriving in a foreign country after a long flight and realizing you need to exchange currency can be frustrating. If you arrive after business hours, it can be almost impossible to find an open bank or money-changer, but WeSwap is trying to make life easier for international travelers through its person-to-person currency exchange. WeSwap is a new company that lets you swap money online with other people who are converting currency. To use this technology, WeSwap sends you a prepaid MasterCard that makes it easy to withdraw or spend your money wherever MasterCard is accept-ed. Select the currency and amount you want, and WeSwap will find you a match (charging 1 percent for every swap) or do the exchange itself (at a rate of 1.5 percent) if a match isnt readily available. Get more information at weswap.com.

Swapping money

Toss the Trackimo Universal ($100) in your luggage, and you wont have to worry about losing your possessions anymore. The tracker lets you use a computer or smartphone app to locate your luggage in the event the airlines have no idea where it is. You can also get alerts via text and email, and app notifications, to let you know about location changes, so you can make sure your luggage is on the same connecting flight you are. Get more information at trackimo.com.

Dont lose luggage


Finding connectionsNimble is a cloud-based client relation-ship management program (CRM) that ingeniously combines all of your clients and prospects social media accounts and activities into a searchable data-base. Nimble helps you see connections between your best clients and prospects with whom you want to connect. It can offer your clients and centers of influ-ence a way to introduce you to those prospects online. Using LinkedIn, for example, your profile can be sent from one member to another with a message to connect you to a prospect.

Nimble can also help with client and prospect research. By reading an online profile on LinkedIn or Facebook, you can learn information that can make your face-to-face interactions more produc-tive. Insights on a prospects or clients opinions and feelings can also be gleaned from their social media posts. If the key to a successful financial services practice is going to be driven more and more by your personalized approach, tools like Nimble will be indispensable. At $15 per month, it is also very affordable. For more information visit nimble.com.

Thomas F. Levasseur, CLU, CLTCDover, New Hampshire25-year member

Power at handIf youre a frequent traveler, you probably need a battery charger to recharge your devices on the go. The new Mophie Powerstation Plus fea-tures a compact design (4 by 0.49 by 2.3 inches) and universal compatibility, along with integrated charge and sync cables. When you arent charging your smartphone or tablet, the built-in ca-bles tuck in behind an aluminum cover. The Mophie Powerstation Plus charges your devices faster than the charger that comes with your phone or tablet and is good for 500 charging cycles at full capacity. More powerful models are also available. The backup battery is $80 and is available at mophie.com.

If youd like to wake with the sun, or at least feel like youre waking up when the sun is shining, you might want to try the Misfit Bolt wirelessly connected smart bulb. This light bulb lets you personalize

your home lighting to create beau-tiful lightscapes. With its sunrise simulation, Bolt also makes getting out of bed a brighter experience. And, if you need a little help falling asleep, try the soothing light and sound shows when you get into bed. You can also transform your environment with millions of colors

and combinations available through the Misfit Home

mobile app. The light bulb screws into a regular sock-

et and works directly with your phone no complicated hubs or setup needed. The light bulbs are $50 each and are available at misfit.com.

Smart bulb


PRACTICE

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A nthony G. Engrassia, LUTCF, ChFC, believes in the power of the process. Engrassia, a 19-year MDRT member with 10 Court of the Table and two Top of the Table qualifications from Battleboro, North Carolina, has not only mapped out his finan-cial advising process, but also trademarked it. His signature Strategic Freedom Process takes clients from initial meeting through regular reviews.

We all have processes. The problem is, no one takes the time to write it down and put it on paper, Engrassia said. Writing things down and having a process is a way to not lose things. And you can make things better. You can make changes, but then you know where to come back to.

Engrassia, who started out as an insurance agent with Mutual of Omaha in 1990, has seen

Putting the process on paper gives Engrassia a roadmap to success.BY LIZ DECARLO

Writing it down

Anthony Engrassia meets with a client to explain his financial planning process.


the industry change drastically throughout his career. His process takes these changes into account when planning an individuals future financial plan.

To help clients look at the larger picture when it comes to todays landscape of retirement sav-ings and investments, Engrassia formalized his process about 10 years ago by taking the time to write down each step.

The initial step in his Strategic Freedom Process is to have a starter session with the cli-ent. This is a first-time meeting where theyre getting to know who I am and Im getting to know who they are, Engrassia said. We dont talk about money, but we do talk about whats important about money to them. We talk about goals and objectives.

This initial meeting sets the tone for how Engrassia will work with the client. I tell them, Youre the CEO of your assets. You can continue to do it yourself, or you can hire me to act as your chief financial officer, he said. When people talk to different advisors CPAs, attorneys, insurance agents everyones talking in isolation from each other. They need a coach whos looking at the big picture, so theyre all on the same page. If we look at the whole picture, we can make recommendations based on whats in place and whats of most importance.

Thats exactly what Engrassia does as the second step of his process he gathers infor-mation. By the end of the second meeting, the clients know how the process will help them and what fee will be charged.

Then we analyze these facts. After that, its so easy to make recommendations, he said. Theyre no-brainers because everything falls into place.

Engrassia has each step of client interaction mapped out, from meeting with a client to contacting a client for a review. So even if you had to step in for someone else, you could get something done by following the bouncing ball.

Engrassias clients have been receptive to his process. They really love it. They love the or-ganization. They love that theres a process, and they can see the ultimate outcome, he said. It gives them excitement and creativity to see, if I do this and that, I know what the outcome will be. Things can change, but we have a roadmap.

Without a plan, any changes often mean start-ing over, Engrassia said. But if its written down, people can still keep the end in sight.

And when it comes to running his business, Engrassia uses the same process he uses with his clients. One day each quarter, he puts aside his workload and takes a look at the business.

I have to step back to work on my own goals and processes, Engrassia said. Thats the only time I can do that because I tend to let the busi-ness run me when Im here.

For other advisors interested in creating their own plan, Engrassia said the first thing to do is just go through what youre already doing. Ev-erybody whos successful in this business has a process, he said. Its just going through what youre doing and getting it written down. Then its so much easier. RTT

n Engrassia started his career in 1990 with a suit jacket from Goodwill. It now hangs on his conference room wall.

n Shortly after they mar-ried, Engrassia and his wife packed up the car and took a roadtrip to find a place to live. When he was pumping gas in Rocky Mount, North Carolina,

someone said hello. Engrassia and his wife surmised this was a friendly town and decided to live there. They had $6,000 to their name and no jobs.

n In North Carolina, Engrassia realized he would have to learn to hunt to estab-lish relationships with clients. The first time he hunted and

killed a deer, he and his wife spent six months eating it. That was almost two decades ago. She has never eaten deer again.

GET TO KNOW ANTHONY ENGRASSIA

CONTACT:

Anthony [email protected]


Getting started

1. Describe yourself on social media. Take time to craft an informative, interesting bio. Dont just list your qualifications or products sold; say who you are and what you like. My

social media bios start with the fact that I am a father and husband, and enjoy playing squash, said Ian J. Green, a 17-year MDRT member from London, England. I end with my work creden-tials.

2. Take time to post. Set time aside regularly to post to social media. For example, I update my companys Facebook page when I have a new edition of my client magazine, Green said. Also, use a program such as Hootsuite that enables you to post comments to multiple sites (including Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook) at the same time.

3. Avoid breaches of confidentiality. Never post anything that you dont have permission to, Green said. Gen Xers think nothing of posting anything anywhere when out socially, but we are professional at work. For example, dont post a picture of a clients office without their permis-sion. Green recommends that you dont check in to FourSquare, Swarm or Facebook stating you are visiting John Doe at his office, as he may not want that to be public knowledge.

4. Avoid compliance headaches. Never try to sell or make a direct offer on social media, Green said. If you think compliance might question it, just dont do it.

PRACTICE

How you can stand out from the Internet crowd.BY DAVID M. ETHELL, LUTCF, AND KEN IBUKI

Social media at the next level

When it comes to interacting with clients and prospects, it takes more than just creating a Facebook or Twitter account to make an impact. Todays consumers are often social media savvy, with multiple types of accounts and many people and businesses vying for their attention.

So, how do you reach out in the midst of the social media frenzy without getting lost in the world of wireless? A few MDRT members have found some ideas that work for them, and they may work for your business, too. Consider trying a few of these tips. AG

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Targeting your social media

1. Know your audience and how they use social media. In Japan, Line, a social media app for exchanging text messag-es, graphics, video and audio, is now the No. 1

form of communication for teens, with people in their 20s and 30s also using the app. This age group also uses email, Instagram and Facebook; those in their 40s prefer email, phone and Facebook; people in their 50s prefer phone and email; and those in their 60s prefer phone. Selecting the best method of commu-nication is always important in marketing, said Naoki Masuda, a five-year MDRT member from Tokyo, Japan.

2. Ask clients for a little nudge on Facebook. I request the client tag me on Facebook with a brief comment, but not directly suggesting the product or the fact that I have done business with him or her, Masuda said. I watch what happens to it. If anybody liked it and seems to have an interest in what I do, I may ask the client to refer him or her to me.

3. Ask clients for a boost using Twitter. I might ask a Twitter user to post Just met a guy in Shinagawa. He gave me valuable advice on my insurance plan. Id be happy to refer him to you if you are interested, Masuda said.

Using Instagram to gain exposure

1. Getting started. Down-load the free Instagram application to your smart-phone. Take five minutes to do the tutorial. Connect with your contacts who are already on Instagram, and

invite all others to join.2. Browse the days posts. Like some photos

and comment where you want to. Younger clients are steering away from email and often reaching to social media to save time while maintaining their connection to their circle. Its a

great tool to use to find commonalities and con-tent that can inform you of a clients life events, travels, etc.

3. Take a minute. Murphys average time con-necting and keeping track on Instagram is one minute per day. For me, Instagram is a great way to maintain a presence and a connection with clients, contacts and people in my circles with a limited time commitment, Murphy said. You will be amazed at how quickly you will be posting, connecting and creating a social media presence that will keep you at the forefront of your clients minds. Matt Joseph Murphy, EPC Calgary, Canada, 3-year member

Using social networking sites to build relationships

1. Stay relevant regionally. If youre in Asia or communicating with Asian clients, consider us-ing KakaoTalk, which is available in 15 languages and used in more than 230 countries. KakoaTalk has targeted countries in Southeast Asia and is a handy tool for global communication.

2. Focus on your message. Try to narrow your focus on potential clients to build an emotional relationship.

3. Share your media. When you are posting to a social networking site, incorporate software such as iMovie to share photos and videos that can give clients a heartwarming feeling.

4. Act fast. When clients post a story or photo on their social networking site whether it is KakaoTalk or Facebook instant reaction is needed. It can be a chance to enhance a rela-tionship and build a friendship. RTT

Oh Ji-Hong Gwangiu, South Korea, 13-year member

Never try to sell or make adirect offer on social media.

If you think compliance might question it, just dont do it.

Ian Green

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Successful insurance agents are not naturally well-known; they consciously make themselves well-known, both inside and outside of their profession. They know it is their reputation that really determines success in the insurance business. And a great reputation is earned by the pro-fessional insurance agent who knows the products well, serves with heart and really gives the best to their clients. This is the kind of reputation they strategically build through personal branding.

To envision the concept of personal branding, imagine yourself in a crowd of strangers. What should you do to make them pay attention to you? Your best choice, if you want strong person-al branding, is to consistently make yourself stand out in a positive manner. Consistent positive behavior delivers a vitalizing message to the people around you. Based on their good experience and positive recollection, they become eager to get in touch with you.

To achieve sustainable success and stand out in the insurance business, your only choice is to focus on doing your job professionally and building strong, positive personal branding.

It is important to keep in mind that this brand is not a coincidence. You must intentionally nurture it. The key is to be consistent throughout your work. Every time you meet or con-nect with prospects and clients, your personal branding is formed. Whether you realize it or not, prospects and

PRACTICE

How to create the image you portray to clients and prospects.BY DEDDY KARYANTO, CFP, QWP

Build your personal brand

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clients judge you, and their assessment is highly dependent on your actions, your message and your reputation. What they say about you in the future, whether negative or positive, has a great influence because they may be talking to people who also exist in your name bank. Positive as-sessment will certainly benefit you.

Personal branding is not only a matter for senior insurance agents, it is a matter for the be-ginner as well. Even if you are a student who has just graduated from college, you can still build a reputation through positive personal branding. Your newcomer status could actually become a strength if you are a quick learner and perform thorough preparation. As long as you always have a positive attitude and demonstrate your professional skills, prospects and clients will re-spect you, regardless of your age. Moreover, they may praise your entrepreneurial spirit. This is definitely a strong, positive personal brand.

The most effective ways to build a personal brand are:

1. Be a professional consultant, and always give the best to your clients.Your personal brand is formed every time you meet or connect with prospects and clients. They will judge you based on their perceptions of your behavior and actions. If your clients are satisfied with your services, they will be happy to share their good experiences with friends and relatives and give you more referrals.

2. Be focused on being the best in this profession. First of all, qualify and register as an MDRT member not just once or twice, but continu-ously every year. These achievements show cli-ents and prospects that you are part of the elite organization of the best financial services pro-fessionals in the world. You may use the MDRT member logo on your business card, which will give a lasting impression to prospects.

If you qualify as an MDRT member, you will often get some other award as acknowledge-ment within your insurance company that you can publish in mass media. That will help in-crease your profile in your community, and that

really affects your prospects and your clients, all of whom want to do business with a profession-al. It will reinforce your positive personal brand.

3. Reach every kind of qualification as soon as possible and get the word out. Higher qualifications lead to different impres-sions. This is not because the terminology is more sophisticated, but because people can predict an agent with a higher qualification level had more flight hours, worked with more clients and can handle larger businesses.

This is an important step to building your per-sonal brand almost all life insurance compa-nies routinely feature pictures in national media of agents who excel. This certainly will boost your reputation and the level of trustworthiness from your prospects. You could also put a plaque or trophy you have received in a place easily visible to your clients or prospects. Through presentations like this, your posture and positive personal brand become more powerful.

You need to career plan, set target achieve-ments and take advantage of any challenges given by your company your positive personal brand gets stronger and your business gets big-ger every time you complete one.

Aside from accomplishments, you can use the media to broadcast your thoughts and practi-cal tips. You can write an article in a magazine, book, blog or personal website. You can use a chance to speak on radio or television to share insurance insights or useful information.

All this is certainly not a matter of being narcissistic. You really do have to meet specific qualifications and aim to share information or to educate.

It is now clear that building a strong, positive personal brand is a smart move to boost your business. Fortunately, you do not need to spend heavily like a business corporation to build your brand. In fact, you almost do not need to spend money at all to do this. You just need to realize the importance of building a personal brand and doing it early. The goal of the process is to be-come a professional consultant and always give the best to the clients. RTT

Consistent positive behavior delivers a vitalizing message to the people around you.

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Minh Duc Vo, a three-year MDRT member from Houston, Texas, went paperless after realizing how much each file cabinet cost in real estate prices. With real estate at $40 a square foot, its a no-brain-er from that standpoint, Vo said. Each filing cabinet takes up about 4 feet of space, so there goes $160 a year. Take that number and multiply it times a five-year lease commitment, and its a dramatic cost savings.

Vo decided to go paperless a year ago, after seven years in the industry. It wasnt a quick or easy process.

We scanned and uploaded every single piece of paper, Vo said. It took a part-time employee about six months.

Thomas F. Levasseur, CLU, CLTC, a 25-year MDRT member from Dover, New Hampshire, also went paperless out of a desire to save space. In 2007, he moved his office into his home.

Levasseur used the transition process as an op-portunity to clean up and organize files. The first thing my assistant did was systematically scan all of my files. We have a high-quality, high-speed Xerox scanner, he explained. For our A, B and C clients, we scanned each individual document while at the same time weeding out things we didnt need. Levasseur also created individu-al files in the client relationship management software.

Deciding which software to use can be a com-bination of trial-and-error and using the system

thats compatible with the broker-dealer you use. Levasseur started with a client management system that he eventually decided wasnt the best for his workflow. Weve transitioned to Redtail because its more suitable for our securities busi-ness, he said.

Vo has found the software he uses to be cumbersome, but its what works with his broker- dealers system, so he doesnt have the option of changing. Because its a cataloged file, I have to sift through and sort it. Its not built the way you want it to be its basically like a spreadsheet program where you can sort one column. There arent multiple levels of sort, he said. But Ill stay with this because Im tied to my carrier.

The other glitch in going paperless is the fact that the industry itself requires hard copies of many documents.

Many insurance and securities companies still require paper. The industry isnt up to speed with that, Levasseur said.

Because of this, both Vo and Levasseur start

PRACTICE

Paperless pointersTwo members empty out their file cabinets.BY LIZ DECARLO

With real estate at $40 a

square foot, its a no-brainer from

that standpoint. Minh Vo


with signed, hard-copy documents. On new business files, we have to take a paper applica-tion. We scan the application onto the server, and then we can submit it to the broker-dealer for review, Levasseur said. We do the same thing on any client service document, for instance, the change of beneficiaries forms or benefit distribu-tion forms. All of these transactional-type doc-uments get scanned on the computer and then put in the clients file. Once the documents have been approved, anything that hasnt been sent out is shredded.

Computerizing client files requires careful planning to maintain compliance, especially in the securities industry. Levasseur uploads all documents to a secure cloud, where they are time and date stamped and put into an unchangeable format for the regulators.

Vo works with his compliance team to make sure his clients paperless records are impeccable. Your compliance team is your friend. I know it seems like theyre being hard about everything,

but at the end of the day, theyre trying to follow their compliance manual which is your com-pliance manual so you dont get sued, Vo said. Its protecting the company, so thats protecting you.

Levasseur also keeps compliance in mind when hes interacting with clients. In addition to keeping documents on his CRM, he writes notes from any phone calls or meetings. Before I can close out an appointment, I have to add notes about what was said and whats agreed, he said. Having the client file in front of me when speak-ing with a client or prospect gives me important names and dates. The access to other documents is very helpful and makes me look smarter than I am. In addition, its saving me time and its making me much more compliant. My files are in pristine order.

Now that they have transitioned to paperless, Levasseur and Vo have found ways to use the sys-tem for other paperwork, including fact-finding, populating forms and review planning. All of our fact finding is done on a tablet and automatically emailed to my assistant, who uploads it to the se-cure system, Vo said. We also have a paperless application for insurance contracts.

Levasseur merges his Redtail software with his financial analysis software. We dont have to put all of the clients assets into the analysis to do an annual review its already there, he said. Its helpful with prospects, too, because once a prospect comes in, we put that information into Redtail and its there forever. The software feeds from Redtail. Its very intuitive. Our strategies, our proposals and so forth, come out of the same database. That saves us a lot of time.

And, if Levasseur and Vo need to work while away from the office, having a paperless system means everything is at their fingertips.

Its a Web-based system that you can look at anywhere on your phone or your tablet, if youre in Mexico, wherever you are, Vo said.

Levasseur also likes having all of his files avail-able anywhere in the world. Its nice to know that, in a pinch, if Im on vacation somewhere and I get a call from a client, I simply have to log onto the server, open up my CRM, and everything I need to discuss that situation is right there. RTT

CONTACT:

Minh Vominhvo@ financialguide.com

Thomas [email protected]

Its saving me time and its making me much more compliant. My files are in pristine order.

Thomas Levasseur


Micheline Varas, RHU, has heard the saying that clients dont leave advi-sors because they dont like them they leave because they dont like them enough.

I want to ensure I capture enough, said Varas, a 13-year MDRT member with nine Top of the Table qualifications from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

To do this, Varas focuses on making clients comfortable from the moment they make an appointment with her. She pays attention to every last detail, from reserving parking spots to providing printed materials in a larger font for easier reading.

Our industry is one of service, and our focus is our clients needs its what we do. Varas said. The way my practice has dovetailed, those with whom Im dealing are no longer in their 20s. Understanding only too well the effects of aging, I think we have to be cognizant of what puts people at ease.

Varas recommends looking at those things that affect you personally and adapting them to whom youre dealing with.

Getting old isnt always fun, but it allows you to see life with a different set of eyes. Taking my glasses out to order at a restaurant has become an unfortunate necessity, Varas said. If Im having to do this, others within the same age bracket or older will have the same issues. It wouldnt make

much sense for me to provide documents which would cause someone to struggle in reading, whether they are in my office or in theirs.

Varas, whose specialty is living benefits, focus-es primarily on joint work with other advisors. She has more than two decades of experience in the industry and many tips for working with senior clients.

1. Know your audience. Marketing to 50-plus is more than offering products. Its also adapting your style, communication, market-ing strategies and office environment. Change printed materials to a larger font. Consider the adequacy of parking, ramp/wheelchair accessi-bility and lighting.

2. Dont stereotype these individuals as old, and dont assume advanced age is an ob-stacle to computer or Internet use 60-plus is the fastest growing segment of computer users.

3. This age group generally prefers to learn through communication that is both oral and visual, so provide documentation for them

6 ways tomake clients comfortableVaras focuses on adapting to the needs of senior consumers. BY LIZ DECARLO

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Annual Meeting speaker reinvigorated Round Table members passion for life insurance.BY KATHRYN FURTAW KEUNEKE, CAE

Buying lasting happiness

The 1939 Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, included a speaker who had never sold a single insurance policy but had an undeniable passion for the prod-uct. Charles T. Davies, a retired business owner from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, owned more than $1 million of paid-up policies. His philosophy was to purchase only single-premium policies, then use the dividends to finance purchases for his family and enjoy his retirement.

During his lifetime, he became very knowledgeable about the technical side of life insurance and gained the admiration and trust of many agents, who sought his advice. At the time of this presentation, he could directly trace his influence in the sale of more than $1 million in face value in four years time.

Addressing the attendees before Davies presentation, Why I bought life insurance, MDRT President Paul C. Sanborn of Boston, Massachusetts, said, If we only had a few more people in this world to motivate ourselves, as well as the buying public, of the type of Mr. Davies, we would have fewer headaches in pleading with people to do the things that they should do.

I would like to tell you that I am not an insurance man, although I am not bragging about that. I buy life insurance you sell it. Life insurance is the best builder of self-respect there is in the world. I believe that life insurance brings more happiness, more lasting happiness, at the right time than anything else. I am not unmindful of what religion does, but I think life insurance works a little faster.

During the last nine years, all of us have read about the Depression; all of us know about the Depression. We have heard about it over the radios. If we missed that and couldnt read, our friends told us about it. I imagine some of you know something about it, too, and so do I. But not much because I sold practically everything I had, or everything I didnt want, in 1928 and bought life insurance.

1939

Members, speakers and guests at the

1939 Annual Meeting.

1939


The buying of that life insurance is, I think, what is going to interest you.

The first policy I ever bought was when I be-came engaged to be married. It was for $2,000 and, believe me, that was some policy. It cost more to keep up in those days than you have any idea of, but it brought me more pleasure than any policy I ever bought because it taught me two things: First, it was a good thing to do; second, I had something that I could not earn myself. I was not earning enough money, so I thought, to ever save $2,000.

Then, about a year after that, my wife bought her wedding dress. When a girl buys a nice bathing suit, she wont go near the water. She will buy a riding habit and never expect to get on a horse. But, believe me, when she buys a wedding dress, she means business. So I took out $3,000 more worth of life insurance.

But the agent never solicited me afterward for more life insurance. He either thought $5,000 was my limit, both of earning and brain capacity, or he had less brains than his compa-ny thought he had. It is always easier to sell a satisfied customer than to dig up a new one.

Nobody ever sold me life insurance. I buy life insurance just the same as I buy cigars. Anoth-er week among a gang like this, and I think I would buy some more.

My life insurance does not insure my life it only insures the things I want to do if I am not here.

Mrs. Davies conceived the idea of buying a house. We decided that if it were necessary to take out a fire insurance policy against some-thing that might happen and, if it did, could be replaced, then it must be much more important to take out a life insurance policy on something that, if it did happen, could never be replaced. Therefore, from that time on, our lifes ambi-tion for life insurance started.

In 1920, I adopted a fine boy. I made up my mind that he would go to college, so we started our life insurance to provide for him going to college. I have just come back from setting him up in business in Montana. He is in business and happy, thanks to my insurance.

I never know when I may want to take some more life insurance, so I keep well. Believe me, my life insurance has kept me straighter than my religion because religion is too cheap, and I have to pay for life insurance.

I decided four years ago to take out a $500,000 life insurance policy, single premium. When I buy a policy, I go to New York, Balti-more or Philadelphia to get the best financial advice I can about stocks. In this particular case, I wanted to spend $305,000, and a fi-nancial advisor gave me a list of investments I should buy with that total. I didnt do what he said, but I kept the notes for future reference.

Four years passed, and 1932 came along. I decided to see how much of a mistake I had made. At that time, my single-premium policy was worth $311,000, and the stocks and bonds had a value of $53,310. If I had bought the stocks that I paid a man to recommend, I would have been broke.

You must have been believers in life insur-ance to sell $1 million worth, and if you have your share of life insurance, then selling it is easy because you have lived with it and know what it does. RTT

Life insurance is the best builder of self-respect there is in the world.


TRACK YOUR PROGRESS

Advise clients to sort their bills into two piles: their own personal bills and their familys bills. Then ask them, Who will pay the ones in the family pile if youre not there? Victoria Acebedo MarcaidaMakati, Philippines, 9-year member

Every week at our Mon-day morning meeting, we get a copy of our standings a chart showing how we are doing on a percentage and numbers basis for MDRT qualification (with actual business closed and pending business). Keeping track of your progress over the year helps to keep you focused on the task at hand. Dont get depressed if the numbers are down; use it as an opportunity to fix the problem.

After a few years,

you can use these charts to see where you regularly have slumps and upticks through the course of a year. This can be used to create a strategy to boost your production in down times (e.g., have a sem-inar for clients, etc.).

Travis D. Manning, CFP, CLU, Caledonia, Ontario, Canada, 5-year member

TRUST ME

WHAT NOW?

F-E-A-R

Sometimes a prospects lack of trust can delay the implemen-tation or even identification of a plan. Often, the prospect broadcasts that lack of trust by acting as if they need to know and understand every little moving piece of every product, concept or design before moving forward on any of it.

To help people understand that they dont need to know and understand everything, I ask them, Do you handle all the oil changes and repairs on your car yourself?

When they reply no, I tell them the following:I dont either. We both still drive the cars we own, but we dont always know everything about how each part works. The main reason we own the car is to get us from point A to point B. We want to put the key in, turn it on and drive. We dont have the time, the tools or the expertise to review every part of that en-gine or to understand how each part relates to every other part. My mechanic knows enough about those things to keep my car running for me so I have a safe, dependable vehicle.

The insurance plan we are putting together is like that car. I am the person who knows every part of the plan, but it would be impossible for me to explain every part of it to you. You need to trust that the plan is reliable and will get you from point A to point B. Along the way, we will work together, and you will become very familiar with key parts of the plan, just like you are very familiar with the features of the car you use regularly like the steering wheel, gas pedal, radio, GPS, etc. But we will not re-quire you to have a complete understanding of every component of the plan before we get started. If we did that, you would still be sitting in the dealer show room going over every part of your car before you allowed yourself a chance to even test drive it.

You understand the need for a safe, reliable, capable vehicle to power your financial plan, and I understand every internal component of the plan. Ultimately, you will be familiar with the most important parts to make sure you have what you need and are in the drivers seat. Theodore S. Rusinoff, CFP Hudson, Ohio, 7-year member

F-E-A-R: has two meanings: 1. Forget Everything

And Run2. Face Everything And Rise Nilesh N. Shah Coimbatore, India, 14-year member

Weve had to expand our thinking and look for additional ways to distribute our products to more people using different strategies than we have used historically.

We began to evaluate how to make this business work for the next 20 or 30 years.

Christi Daughenbaugh, CLTC (Page 28)


PEOPLEourTime for a change 26 | More about Mexico 30 | Inspiring others 32

What drives ethics? 34 | Succession plans 36

26 ROUND theTABLE.ORG | MARCH/APRIL 201526 ROUND theTABLE.ORG | MARCH/APRIL 2015

Christi Daughenbaugh, CLTC, realized change was necessary when she saw a declining revenue stream as a wholesaler. She decided to target consumers directly through a call center and a retail referral program.

For Steven P. Arengo, CFP, AIF, change meant leaving the agency where he was unhap-py to start his own business. Arengo has focused on using technology to communicate and streamline practices, while also creating a diverse geographical clientele through a virtual office.

For Bill Zimmerman, change meant literally flip-ping his marketing to educate consumers first before engag-ing, rather than the typical model of engaging and then educating.

And, for Susan Catherine Paterson, FChFP, change came as a way to meet new compliance legislation in Aus-tralia. It has meant re-educat-ing staff and trying to stay one

step ahead as change steam-rolls through the industry and the country.

Adapting to an evolving industry and consumers means learning new skills and, often, redefining your whole business itself. But for those MDRT members who under-take this challenge, the payoffs can be great.

Flipping the sales processIve been in the business since 1967. I saw other peo-ple early in my career who were pitchmen. They had sales techniques that almost strong-armed their client into buying, said Zimmerman, a three-year MDRT member from San Diego, California. I was never good at that, and I didnt want to do that. Today, we are way more of an advisor, educating and helping clients by asking them questions about their situation that help us understand and work with them on a solution.

Zimmermans marketing style emphasizes educating first and then engaging. He knew this was a different ap-proach to selling, but he didnt know how to define it until he talked to a colleague whose wife was experimenting with a new teaching approach at her school. In that new model of education, students watched online videos of the teachers lecture at home and then came to school to do the homework and work with the teacher.

They called it the flip model of education. I thought, well, thats exactly what were doing with the client: flip marketing, Zimmerman said. Youre flipping it over edu-cating the client first and then coming up with solutions.

Zimmerman describes this sales process as similar to a funnel. At the top of the funnel, you have education, and you drive people to learn more about whatever it is, Social Security, retirement planning, tax-free retirement,

Sometimes the only way forward is starting over again.

BY LIZ DECARLO

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he said. Then theres training and seminars, all on video. We educate them so they under-stand more about the concepts and why they need them. You put people in the top of the funnel, and they get smaller and smaller, and the prospects become clients coming out the bottom of the funnel.

Clients have been very receptive to the new approach. They understand the con-cepts and why the solutions we present work for them, Zimmerman said. With this new system, they learn the fundamentals before being in-troduced to product solutions.

Leaving negativity behind Four years ago, Arengo was part of a successful financial plan-ning group. But something just didnt feel right. I realized I was building a book of business, not a practice, said Arengo, a two-year MDRT member from Mason, Ohio. He wanted the flexibility to work more on his own, from a virtual office, and to incorporate his own process into the selling routine.

Arengo knew something needed to change, but wasnt sure how to go about it. Then two important pieces fell into place that pointed him in the right direction.

I read Dr. Henry Clouds Necessary Endings, which has helped me release from various habits, strategies and clients that bogged me down, Arengo said. Dr. Cloud also helped me realize that it was time to transition from one broker-dealer to another.

At the same time, he estab-lished relationships with other advisors. Four or five were


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Round Table members, and it occurred to me to look into the MDRT piece of the puzzle, he said. Through network-ing with this group of advi-sors-turned-friends, Arengo realized it was time to make a

very painful move.My biggest piece

was leaving that practice, he said. The silver lining is, through the whole process you really start to figure out

where your priorities lie.

Arengo started his own practice almost three years ago. His priority was to create a virtual office with a diverse customer base.

Everything was paper, so I had to make everything electronic, said Arengo, who hired a college student to input all the paperwork into software programs. Because he wanted to move into a more tech-savvy model, Arengo also created a marketing strategy that started with a quality website, e-marketing and increased exposure through social media.

Arengo also developed a broad customer base. From day one, I made the commit-ment to have a diversified client base from both a geographic perspective 65 percent of my practice must be accessed virtu-

ally or via plane and industry perspective, he said. I want to avoid having situations where one segment of the economy or client base diminished for whatever reason and potentially reduces the revenue of my prac-tice disproportionately.

He is working with a business coach to create an identity for his business and to develop a system for working with clients. I have more process ideas in how Im going about meeting with my clients and, depending on how my first meeting goes, what I need to get ready for the second. I never had a process before, he said.

And, while Arengo admits it has been a challenge to create a new business based on a new business model, he still be-lieves he made the right move. Its absolutely worth it.

Moving into new marketsWhen Daughenbaugh and her brother bought their fathers business two years ago, she knew big changes were needed to keep the agency moving forward. The agency had oper-ated primarily as a wholesaler, focusing on life insurance, annuities and long-term care. But Daughenbaugh realized that purely focusing on whole-saling these products through traditional insurance agents was unsustainable long term.

The reality is, the old model was really focused on wholesaling to people who were primarily selling life in-surance, said Daughenbaugh, a one-year MDRT member from Dallas, Texas. But those people are getting older and not being repopulated. Weve

had to expand our thinking and look for additional ways to distribute our products to more people using different strategies than we have used historically. We began to eval-uate how to make this business work for the next 20 or 30 years.

Daughenbaugh determined there werent enough people asking the general public any-thing about their life insur-ance. Many of the individuals who have an insurance license now are doing other things in addition to selling life insur-ance.

Daughenbaugh realized their agency had to expand the amount of sales they wrote di-rectly with the public, as well as develop more marketing and sales support for agents who want to sell life insurance, long-term care insurance or annuities as ancillary products in their practice.

More and more, indepen-dent agents who dont focus on insurance dont want to sell the products we offer to their clients. But they are very inter-ested in us doing it for them, Daughenbaugh said. They developed a retail referral program for these individuals last year. They use licensed agents internally to work with these referred clients, and they pass part of the commission earned to the referring agent as a referral fee.

With an increased demand from the public to purchase insurance over the phone or through the Internet, Daugh-enbaugh has also worked with a business partner to create a call center and become more Internet-based.

The changes have made an

The silver lining is, through the whole process you really start to figure out

where your priorities lie. Steve Arengo


impact on revenue. The call center did probably 50 percent more business in 2014 than 2013, so I think were heading in the right direction, Daugh-enbaugh said. And weve identified other cross-selling opportunities for the call center.

As her agency interacts more directly with consum-ers, Daughenbaugh said the biggest challenge has been keeping up technologically. Technology is a huge driver, and we have to continue to push ourselves to evolve and grow and not get stagnant, she said.

Daughenbaugh has also realized that, while the agency needed to change, too much change all at once made the process more challenging. We almost bit off too much a few years ago, she said. There are so many opportunities to do so many different things, weve had to push ourselves to come back and refocus on what we committed to do.

Staying ahead of industry changesPaterson, an 11-year MDRT member from Loganholme, Queensland, Australia has seen

major legislative changes in the financial services indus-try since she started in the business 12 years ago. These changes mean increased com-pliance and a trend to direct the industry to a more profes-sional model, she said.

Over the years, I have seen an increasing need to be able to not only adapt to change, but to position yourself in front of it, she said.

The increased compli-ance has meant additional time spent on files and client conversation. This has been a solid outcome for both the advisor and the client, ensur-ing meaningful discussion is held. It does, however, put a focus on time spent for money earned, encouraging me to be more commercial in client selection, Paterson said. The positive outcome is that we generally earn more from the type of business we prefer writing. By scrutinizing client selection more, we have ended up with a working book that holds more passion for advisors.

With increased educational requirements for advisors and fee-for-service now playing a major part in ongoing rev-

enues, Paterson believes it will become more difficult to sustain the same levels of profitability without reassess-ing costs and revenue streams. For the past few years, she has relied on EBITA (earnings be-fore interest, taxes and amorti-zation) to determine the value of the business.

By using EBITA as a valua-tion tool, I am ensuring we are as profitable in the market-place as other businesses that use a fee-for-service model, she said.

Paterson has also created a workplace environment amenable to her employees. I have developed a model that works well for mums returning to the workforce. I have encouraged an intern program and developed my staff from within the prac-tice, she explained. This has worked well, ensuring the culture of the business is built into the mindset of the team.

Its vital to re-educate staff and advisors to accept change rather than battle against it, Paterson said. For some staff and advisors, the increased educational requirements are daunting, she said. How-ever, by embracing these as a team, with many studying at the same time, it has been far more motivational.

Paterson doesnt see the pace of change slowing down anytime soon. I think change is a necessity to allow continued improvement and to keep up with technol-ogy and consumer appetite, she said. RTT

There are so many opportunities to do so many different things, weve had to push ourselves to come

back and refocus on what we committed to do. Christi Daughenbaugh

By scrutinizing client selection more, we have ended up with a working book that holds more

passion for advisors.

Susan Paterson


In 1954, Russel Edwin Kennedy became an MDRT member. This was only the start of what would become 57 years of member-ship, including 30 Top of the Table qualifications. What makes Kennedys accomplishments all the more impressive, though, is that he was also the first member to qualify from Mexico.

In 2014, Mexico was home to 462 MDRT mem-bers. If the members we talked to have anything to say about it, that number will only continue to grow.

Guadalupe Elvira Ayala Arredondo, an 11-year MDRT member from Mexico City, Mexico, and Hermn Coln, an eight-year MDRT member from Estado de Mexico, Mexico, had always been interested in the profession.

The career chose me, Coln said. My father was an insurance agent from when he married until he died in 2004. He aptly suggested I first work in an insurance company to see if I was in-terested in that profession, and definitely, it was a very good hunch.

Coln takes pride in providing his clients with the protection they deserve.

We protect whats valuable for each person: their health, their welfare and the future of their loved ones, he said.

Over the years, his process has changed greatly. In my first appointments with clients, we used books and actuarial tables to determine the premium and based it on the sum assured, age and so on, he said. Nowadays, all the quotes use technology. In a few minutes, we can make a presentation with prices, benefits and the advan-tages of each product.

For Ayala, the issues she faces sound very similar

PEOPLE

Past and futureMembers in Mexico rely on the ability to adapt to changing markets.BY SCOTT ROGERS

Mexico

We must look for a way to provide our

products to all sectors.

Guadalupe Ayala

Mexico City


to ones advisors across the world also encounter.Currently, one of my most important chal-

lenges is to transcend to the next generation of my current clients: their children, she said. I will continue training to stay up-to-date with the markets needs. In terms of my company, I will continue working to have a consolidated staff and develop them at the same time. All of this is a challenge, but also a great opportunity.

According to Coln, there is still a great need among the Mexican public to own life insurance.

Our job is to open the eyes of the people to the benefits that life insurance provides them and their loved ones. This is a big challenge, but I think firm steps have been taken to make people realize it is indispensable, which gives us more penetration in the market, he said. As an emerg-ing country, we must realize that a common issue in those economically important countries and those that are growing is that their insured levels are higher.

Even with this continued growth of life insur-ance, Ayala still sees issues in the profession.

Insurance culture has permeated more easily among the population; however, financial prod-ucts in Mexico remain for the middle and upper class, she said. There is a big challenge in this

country. We must look for a way to provide our products to all sectors.

These issues, combined with the possibility of Mexico switching to a commission disclosure system in the near future, make the country a unique study in adjusting to trends. Changes in the profession have never been an issue for MDRT-level producers in the country, however, as Kennedy shows.

At the 1982 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Geor-gia, Kennedy was a part of a panel discussion on international trends in the business. During his portion of the presentation, he touched on the issues advisors in Mexico were facing at the time, including inflation and the government repealing an inheritance tax. Kennedy noted that these issues forced other advisors back to the drawing board. Rather than go out of business, he said, they innovated. His message, three decades later, remains just as relevant today.

Perhaps we had something even more im-portant going for us: a readiness to adapt to new challenges and take advantage of new opportu-nities, he said in 1982. No plan can substitute for that. It had kept us prospering amidst years of change, and thats the one thing we dont intend to change at all. RTT

Our job is to open the eyes of the people to the benefits that life insurance provides.

Hermn Coln

CONTACTS:

Guadalupe [email protected]

Hermn [email protected]

Teotihuacan, a Mesoamerican pyramid outside of Mexico City.


PEOPLE

to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. After attending col-lege in the area, he went to work for a bank.

Initially starting out as a teller, Murphy slowly moved up the ranks. His goal was to end up as a stockbroker, but after a few years, his desire began to wane.

In 2009, a life insurance agent by the name of Glenn Turner talked to Murphy about joining the field. Youd make a great insurance agent, Turner told him. This suggestion dovetailed with a growing disillusionment Murphy had with his banking career.

I wanted to genuinely help people. I felt my position at the bank was more about doing what was in the banks interest, Murphy said, noting how in school he had been trained to preach fiduciary responsibility.

Murphy also wanted the level of independence that comes with running your own business, something he knew he couldnt get if he contin-ued at the bank. So he made the switch.

Almost immediately, Murphy saw some suc-cess. With a goal in mind qualifying for MDRT and a receptive market, Murphy had a strong start to his career. After only a few years in the field, he was able to reach MDRT levels of pro-duction, qualifying for membership in 2012.

After working for the first few years as an advisor for Freedom 55 Financial, Murphy struck out on his own in 2011, forming MYLIFE Financial Group Inc. His business has substantially evolved since then, he said. He started out as a one-man operation. Murphys business now has three agents on staff, all of whom have qualified for MDRT.

Murphy takes pride in this, knowing that his staff members have obtained membership at such early stages in their career. Each agent Ive added since Ive started, in their first full year, has qual-ified for MDRT, he said. These members include Paul Jorge Botelho, a two-year MDRT member, and Christopher Lee Van Tornhout, a one-year MDRT member, both from Calgary, Alberta, Can-ada. A lot has been me coaching my teammates to aspire to qualifying, Murphy said. I tell them, Its going to cost you $2,500 to attend the Annual Meeting; itll cost you $125,000 if you dont.

Individually, Murphy would like to reach the higher levels of MDRT, including Court of the

Getting started in this business isnt supposed to be easy. Its not supposed to come naturally. You hear it again and again success comes after youve paid your dues.

This is not how things went for Matthew Jo-seph Murphy, EPC, a three-year MDRT member from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

After spending the first 10 years of his life in Boston, Massachusetts, Murphys family moved

Murphy with his wife, Hailey.

Youd make a great agent Murphy followed a suggestion to immediate early success and business growth.BY SCOTT ROGERS


Table and Top of the Table. As far as his business goes, Murphy would like to grow MYLIFE into a five-agent, one-principal firm.

We want to reach deeper into the communi-ty, serve our community in the way we know we can, he said. Too often, people plan, but not well enough.

When it comes to prospecting, Murphy said his firm is very selective about whom they take on as clients. Though he wouldnt describe his business as being picky, he said their clients need to fit their model.

Murphy primarily targets small-business owners along with oil and gas executives. To reach these prospects, Murphy believes the best marketing is word of mouth, and thus he relies extensively on referrals. I am very confident that every single prospect we have today came from referrals, he said.

Murphy credits MDRT with motivating him to grow his business. Being a part of something on this scale is tremendously important for any individual who needs to stay motivated, he said. Its impossible in this business to get anywhere on your own. You cant find a better level of colleague than with MDRT.

Specifically, Murphy points to an idea he heard years ago from Bruce W. Etherington, CLU, CH.F.C., a 45-year MDRT member from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and then reheard at the 2014 MDRT Annual Meeting in Toronto.

The idea concerns a method Etherington

developed to boost his performance. One of the tenets of this plan is to focus on reviewing your top 20 clients on an annual basis. This was the idea that originally drove Murphy to achieve MDRT levels of production, and hearing it again at the 2014 Annual Meeting reminded him to revisit his top 20. So he made a note, posted it on his bulletin board, and went back to the well that got him on track in the first place.

Make sure you get to the meetings, Murphy said. RTT

CONTACT:

Matthew Murphymatthew@ mylifefinancialgroup.com

Murphy with his two children, Jacob and Savannah.

To read all of Bruce Ether-ingtons tips for improving performance, check out The 12 Ps in the July/August 2014 issue of Round the Table. These were developed by Etherington throughout the course of his career, leading him to 37 Top of the Table qualifications.

LOOK INTO IT

36 ROUNDTHETABLE.ORG JULY/AUGUST 2014

JULY/AUGUST 2014 ROUNDTHETABLE.ORG 37

4. PreviewWhen we go into an automobile dealers showroom, we are there to see the best examples of their productivity and manufacturing capabilities at that time.

Our preview is exactly that. We say this is a preview of what we do and how we do it. And if you like this particular example, then we will take a step back and design one with everything you like or want that will fit and be properly integrated into your overall financial portfolio. But only if you like the sample. Be-cause if you dont like the sample, if it doesnt whet your appetite, then lets not waste our time in pursuing something that wont go anywhere.

Were showing prospects what we do, and a little bit about how we do it.

5. PatienceThe major objective in deal-ing with our clients is to build a trusting relationship, which does not happen overnight. It happens only with time, where the confidence factor outweighs the uncertainty of where they should place their trust. And once the trust factor is in place, then we are quite capable of put-ting wisdom and knowledge on the table and helping others help others. Be patient, because it will certainly separate you from most of the clan.

6. PersistenceThere is no substitute for persis-tence. Over the years, I have found that the best cases usually require the best efforts on my part and a great deal of persistence.

In fact, we have several cases in progress today, each of which has been ongoing for more than five years that I believe will eventually lead to a sale. Persistence there is no substitute.

7. PassionWithout passion, you are either average or dead. With it comes greatness; without it comes, at best, mediocrity. My father, Joe, who was a 40-year icon and sales manager in the life insurance busi-ness, told me that for the prospect to become lukewarm about an idea, the salesperson had to be red hot. We fuel the flame with passion. What are you passionate about in our profession?

8. ProsperityFind a product or service that can add the prosperity factor to your clients lives, and then passionately proclaim it to the people you see in accordance with their goals, objectives and finances.

9. ProfessionalBe a pro and let it show. Let it show in your dress and your shoes, in your pressed shirt, your crisp tie, your polished briefcase, in your prepared showroom, your clean and efficient office, and the setup your prospects see when they enter your boardroom or office.

These are all professional putts little things that add up to a winning round and make you look like a pro. Be a professional resource for your clients. Enhance their education and knowledge about what you do and how you do it, and do it in a friendly, pro-fessional manner.

10. PathThe path to MDRT and to quali-fying for Top of the Table and beyond is clearly defined and will be revealed to you one step at a time. It took me three years of taking the stairs to qualify for MDRT the first time in 1969. If it werent for my friend George R. Merchant, a 49-year MDRT member from Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, who encouraged me to get on the MDRT path with a simple sales idea, I may never have qualified for and been ex-posed to the worlds greatest sales organization.

11. PrioritiesList your priorities daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually. By focusing daily and weekly on your most important goals, your priorities will become part of your DNA. By focusing on our priorities, we are effective with our prospects; enhance, create and refine our process; and regularly prepare for our meetings with an effective preview.

12. Personal faithThis is an important P for me, as it has helped me

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Documents

mdrt executive committee

t i o n

mdrt foundation6

o r e i n f o r

dollar round table marchapril

mdrt president caroline

table annual meeting2015

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