Wholesalers and Product Specialists Can Help You Grow Your Practice
Financial Services Professionals will face a grim reality in their first six months in the business…if not sooner. Are you ready for this? The reality is simply this… you cannot become an expert in every area of Financial Services. You cannot be the guru of every product that will address your clients’ needs!
What you can do is to be an expert in several areas and be the team leader in the others. To be sure, you owe your client a certain level of competency in all areas that you uncovered needs. If you are not competent in a financial services or product area, you are obligated to call in an advisor that is. Partnering With Investment and Insurance Wholesalers can help also.
Product Specialists Can Help
Product Specialists can help you grow your practice. Wholesalers were used in the independent broker-dealers, regional brokerage firms, and Independent financial advisors/planners distribution channels to enhance the sales of financial products and services. Today” most Financial Services Companies utilize wholesalers as a conduit to distribute financial services products.
In the United States, there are approximately 10,000 men and women who market mutual funds and money managers to registered reps and other financial advisors. The wholesaler force swell to 20,000 or so if you add the seven to ten thousand men and women serving life and annuity companies supporting the traditional agency system, large wirehouses, regional wirehouses, independent advisors and planners, insurers, and banks.
Who Are Wholesalers?
The general public generally think of Wholesalers as they relate to retail businesses or stores i.e. Trader, Merchant or Store Broker that deliver goods and services to stores for resale to the public. In the Financial Services industry, we utilize Wholesalers also.
Wholesalers are financial products and services professionals who travel selected territories. The Wholesalers core function is to build relationships with agents, advisors, planners and other financial services practitioners. The solid relationships they build, lead to profitable sales of the Wholesaler's product and services.
Wholesalers represent all areas of Financial Services i.e. annuities, mutual funds, life insurance, long term care, disability, work site marketing, property and casualty and MGA-MGU and E&S coverages. Wholesalers take on different names e.g. Regional Marketing Director, Annuity Director, Mutual Fund Director, and Annuity Consultant. Financial Services Wholesalers may carry impressive titles such as Vice President.
Wholesalers have become integral to the business of financial services producers who use them as resources of investment information, technical support, business case design, illustrations, marketing, new business, underwriting, advanced sales, and selling skills.
Life Insurance Selling Magazine recently carried a article titled “The Brokerage System - Making Connections…Making Sales” The articles clearly conveys that Wholesalers are very important to product distribution in all distribution channels for Insurance, Investments and Financial Planning.
"Wholesalers are the conduits for success”. They are the links between the manufacturer, the producer, and the prospect. Wholesalers play a strong role in maintaining the rapid flow of information, sales tools and localized producer support. They provide immediate answers to information, forms, underwriting rules and procedures, online illustrations and transaction capabilities. On any given day, wholesalers might spend a day training a group of newer brokers on mutual funds or variable annuities. Wholesalers also work one-on-one with experienced and new producers e.g. client seminars.
External versus Internal WholesalersThe Wholesaler that travels to assist producers are called External Wholesalers. The travel schedule of the External Wholesalers can be brutal. Conducting weekend meetings and conferences happen with a common occurrence. His or her support staff usually consists of a person who provides follow-up and additional producer support. Since this person is stationary, he or she is called the Internal Wholesaler. The lesser-paid Internal Wholesalers work in tandem with External Wholesalers. The Internal Wholesalers do less legwork and more of the back office support. Both positions are incentive based with the inside internal wholesaler compensation having less of an incentive component.
What It Is That Wholesalers Do?
The Wholesaler primary function is not to give you 100 leads, offer you the highest commission and give you free dinner tickets for two annuity, life, P&C or mutual fund applications. The wholesaler role is to help the producer i.e. advisor, agent or planner
- grow and maintain a profitable practice:
- provide training on investment strategies.
- coaching advisors on how to create meaningful relationships with wealthy clients
- help assist with risk assessments, asset allocation and diversification
- assist with conducting effective client seminars and client appreciation events
- assist with advanced markets concepts such as deferred compensation and estate planning
- Provide product and technical expertise that help the producer make the appropriate recommendations to the clients.
Wholesalers know how to cut to the chase and get to the features that really matter to the client. The Financial Services Professional workday does not allow him/her to be an expert in every product. Wholesaler can proliferate ideas at great speeds. Wholesalers know how other advisors, agent and planners have used their products to please clients. This simply means that Wholesalers tend to share great ideas that work as they crisscross producers.
25 Core Competencies For Financial Services Wholesalers
- Assist Producers achieve their financial and production goals.
- Daily contact with selected producers and sales management.
- Achieve sales goals for assigned product lines.
- Consistent and persistent follow-up to facilitate quick issue of business and open accounts.
- Consistent and persistent follow-up on underwriting (Large Life Cases).
- On-Time availability for client presentations.
- On-Time availability for public seminars.
- On-Time availability For Product Rollouts and Product Promotions.
- On-Time availability for workshops and branch meetings.
- Grow and manage the assigned territory or region.
- Follow-up on product and sales training.
- Generate referrals consistently
- Help maintain profitable producers persistency of Wholesaler company’s products.
- Effectively manage and maintain peer and business relationships.
- Assist Producers in preparing for financial service products certification.
- Assist in recruiting and developing top Producers
- Maintain effective working knowledge of competitors, new or enhanced products.
- Maintain effective working knowledge of competitors' sales and marketing principles and practices.
- Execute appropriate business plan to maximize territorial sales.
- Plan and manage the deployment of resources to maximize territorial sales.
- Maintain accuracy of client/prospect databases.
- Exercise responsibility for budgets and expenses.
- Strengthen relationships with existing key Producers.
- Ensure that all sales materials used are in compliance with advertising regulations.
- Help company(ies) execute and maintain compliance strategies.
How To Maximize The Use Of Wholesalers
When Advisors, Agents or Planners are contacted by Wholesalers, they should ask the Wholesalers the following questions:
- What are you going to share with me today that will bring value to my practice?
- Can you explain your value proposition clearly…for the client and me?
- Can you tell me how I will be paid?
- How much will I be paid for sharing this strategy or idea with my prospects or clients?
- Can you tell me what forms need to be completed and the proper way to do it?
If the Wholesaler cannot give you clear answers to the five questions…your time with this person will more than likely be unproductive. You are better off just asking him or her to send the golfballs or giveaways by mail and not waste your time.
The $100 Limit
A quick word concerning gifts from Wholesalers. NASD Rule 3060 prohibits gifts to producers or clients. The current limit is $100. Need More Info on
FINRA Rule 3060 ?