The foundation of many sound business planning techniques and strategies that insurance professionals typically recommend generally starts with two components.
The first is an accurate estimate of the value of a client’s business, and the second is a review of their business continuation plan, to the extent one exists.
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Smart insurance business practices are incorporating buy-sell reviews and business valuations into their practices as a way to keep them one step ahead of the pack and get deeper penetration in the business planning space.
Why a Formal Buy Sell Review Program Is Important
Having a well drafted buy-sell agreement is critical, but how does a client know whether what they have is any good? Many closely held business owners turn to their trusted legal advisors to help them execute buy-sell agreements, and then they put those agreements “on the shelf” where they can languish for years. Oftentimes, those agreements call for the value of the business to be reviewed annually, but that frequently never happens when the agreement is on the shelf collecting dust.
Statistics from the Small Business Administration indicate that 40 million business owners expect to sell their business in the next 10 years. By failing to review their buy-sell agreement, they can be doing themselves, their families and the co-owners a huge disservice. If the buy-sell agreement doesn’t contain the right triggers and valuation method, they can be short-changing themselves and their loved ones, particularly if the business is undervalued.
One way to grow your business is to seek out and work with law firms who have established formal buy-sell review programs, which can be a win-win for everyone. The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America recently established a buy-sell review program in conjunction with a national law firm. The program is free to producers.
This program has uncovered a number of common things that are often not addressed in buy-sell agreements:
- The agreement does not provide for buyouts upon an owner’s disability, divorce, or retirement, bad boy and other triggers.
- The agreement uses book value as the buyout price.
- Specific payment provisions aren’t used, so it’s unclear how a buyout purchase will be paid for.
- The agreement says nothing about insurance and what happens to policies upon lifetime exit.
In today’s challenging business insurance market, a buy-sell review program is a key differentiator that can set producers apart from the competition.
By providing producers with a customized and personalized report that provides an analysis of your client’s or prospect’s buy-sell agreement, specific recommendations can be reviewed with the business owner’s legal and tax advisors.
As there’s a full suite of materials to support the recommendations in the buy-sell agreement, including insurance illustration support, this can help keep producers one step ahead of the pack and get deeper penetration in the business planning space.