Top Annuity Advisor Shares a Sales Secret
Part of the John Olsen way: Know your way around the financial services toolbox.
John Olsen, one of the people who wrote the book on annuities, says the secret to selling annuities is to give up on trying to sell annuities.
“Rule No. 1,” Olsen said in a recent email interview, “The planning engine is always driven by the client’s needs, and never by a possible product solution.”
Olsen is president of Olsen Annuity Education in Kirkwood, Missouri, and an author of “The Advisor’s Guide to Annuities.” Earlier in his career, he was president of Olsen Financial Group, which sold annuities, and president of the St. Louis chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.
Today, he works as a consultant and expert witness, and he does not sell annuities. But he has sold many annuities in the past, and he notes in his biography that he is not for or against annuities. “They’re just tools,” he says. “Like a screwdriver or a hammer.”
What It Means
From Olsen’s perspective, it’s important to look at the client’s situation to decide what tool can do the job.
The Thinking
Olsen has two more rules for deciding whether an annuity is the right tool or whether some other product or strategy will work better.
The second rule is “financial and estate planning is 90% emotional,” Olsen said. “Only 10% is about money.”
Olsen’s third rule consists of a three-question client proposal review process.
He recommended asking, and answering, these questions:
- What solutions did I consider and why?
- What solutions did I consider and reject and why?
- What solutions did I not consider and why?
Pictured: John Olsen