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Originally Posted On: https://www.trkingim.com/selling-annuities-online-how-does-it-work/
Are you interested in selling annuities online?
According to reports, 96% of independent insurance agents say that their customers are looking for more digital tools and processes for buying insurance.
Surveyed agents also reported an 11% increase in the number of people making insurance purchases fully online.
Up until recently, a lot of insurers and agents have focused their efforts around offline sales. Even though customers are turning to online channels, a lot of agents are still lagging behind in their online strategies.
If you can effectively sell insurance online, you could gain an advantage over your competition, reduce costs, and better serve your customers.
But how does one start selling insurance online? Continue reading to find out everything you need to know.
Getting Licensed
The first step to selling insurance online is to make sure you are licensed in the right states.
One of the advantages of selling annuities online is that you can target a much larger area.
Instead of being confined to your town or city, you can sell insurance across your entire state or even multiple states.
However, if you want to sell annuities online to consumers in multiple states—you will need to hold a license for each state.
If you are just starting on the road to selling insurance, and haven’t yet gotten licensed, the process is relatively simple. There aren’t any educational prerequisites.
You will need to do any pre-licensing education required by the state.
For selling annuities you will first need to sit your state’s life insurance licensing exam.
Once you have passed this you can then move on to completing the product certifications from the applicable annuity companies and possibly do annuity-specific state-required coursework.
Getting Contracted
If you have yet to get contracted, this is the next step on the road to selling annuities online.
Although you can contract directly with carriers, the easier route is to contract through an IMO like TR King.
IMOs are there to streamline the contracting process and provide agents with the tools and resources they need to meet with success.
However, a lot of IMOs out there fall short of this standard. Instead of supporting their agents, they offer little value while locking agents into disadvantageous release policies.
Therefore it’s very important to vet potential IMOs thoroughly. What resources and tools do they provide? Is their site populated with free information?
Here at TR King, we know that your success is our success. Because of this, we give agents access to comprehensive training, agent discounts, free tools, and more.
Acquiring the Knowledge to Start Selling Annuities Online
Are you new to selling insurance?
Before you start selling annuities online it’s essential that you thoroughly understand your products and annuities as a whole.
If you aren’t yet experienced at selling annuities, then we’d recommend that you invest in a good training program.
This will help you understand the ins and outs of annuities and teach you valuable sales techniques and strategies.
Marketing Yourself
Once you have the basics in place it’s time to start working on your online sales funnel. Building a sales funnel can take time, but is something that can drive leads and conversions far into the future.
Site Design and SEO
One of the first places to start when building out an online sales funnel is your website. If you don’t have a website, now is the time to put one up.
If you already have a site, it might be a good idea to overhaul it and make sure that it has strong SEO in place and is easy to navigate. You should aim to create well-crafted landing pages that are optimized for conversions.
Content Marketing
Another important part of building an online sales funnel is content marketing. If you publish relevant, helpful content that is optimized for search, this can attract prospects to your site.
From here you can further engage with visitors. You can invite them to sign up to your mailing list, reach out to you for help around annuities, follow you on social media, etc.
Pro Tip: Creating informative content also helps to establish trust and position you as an authority. Research has revealed that up to 71% of consumers conduct online research before buying insurance.
If they come across your content during their research process, this will cement you in their minds as the expert.
Email Marketing
Speaking of email lists, creating email marketing campaigns is another integral part of most online sales funnels. You can use lead magnets to drive sign-ups to your email list, and nurture the relationship through drip email campaigns.
You can also share promotions, discounts, and informative content via your mailing list.
Paid Ads
One of the quickest ways to attract leads when selling annuities online is through paid ads. The above online marketing strategies we’ve listed attract organic leads and build on themselves, but these avenues can take time to mature.
Providing you structure your ads correctly, paid online ads should generate leads right away.
Social Media Marketing
Social media can also be a powerful way to drive online leads. Like other organic marketing methods, social media marketing is a long-term game.
However, if you consistently post content and engage with your audience, social media platforms can be a valuable source of leads.
Buying Leads
One of the easiest and quickest ways to acquire annuity leads is through a lead provider.
By buying leads from a lead provider you get instant access to a guaranteed number of leads that you can start working on right away.
Meeting With Clients
If you are selling annuities online, it’s important to have a virtual way you can meet with clients.
Some clients might still want to meet with your in person or via the phone, but others might prefer to meet over a video call.
Do You Want to Start Selling Annuities Online?
As more consumers are looking for virtual ways to shop for insurance, selling annuities online is a smart move.
Whether you’re a seasoned agent looking to break into online sales or a new agent worried about where to start—TR King can help.
We are an IMO that truly cares about the success of its agents. Contracting is fast and streamlined, and we support our agents in every way possible, from training to discounts on everything you need to successfully sell insurance, both online and in person.
Interested in getting contracted with TR King?
Get appointed today and experience the benefits of having an upline who cares.
