We were systematically rethinking the whole business, and we built technology behind each step in an advisor’s workflow to ensure an intuitive, efficient, end-to-end platform that completely reinvents how they do business.
Hortz: Can you explain more about your coaching component and how you structured it as a unique part of your overall value proposition?
Kelly: As a financial advisor and software entrepreneur, I spent about 10 years going to industry conferences and interacting with other financial advisors. One thing above all else was clear to me: the best way to grow your financial practice was to learn from the best in the business - the advisors who have already figured it out. The coaching program at Signal replaces marketers by taking advisors who are producing around $5 million in annual annuity production and pairs them with advisors who are producing around $30 million in annuity production. There are no more than 12 smaller advisors on a coach’s team (traditionally IMO marketers have at least 100 advisors contracted underneath them), ensuring each smaller advisor is getting personal attention. We have seen tremendous results already with advisors on pace to double their production. In addition, as coaches, top financial advisors have incentive to grow their team’s production because it can create a new meaningful stream of revenue for the coach. Through this coaching model, we have created a path for a top advisor to double their net income.
Hortz: Are there any other advisor services you built into your platform we have not discussed yet?
Kelly: Our end-to-end technology platform makes it much easier to run your financial practice, and that lift trickles down to the client because advisors are more prepared. One of the best examples of this is our in-force policy management. Today insurance producers are expected to provide annual reviews, but they do not have the tools to follow through on that expectation. As a result, advisors typically spend a huge amount of time prepping for client meetings.
We have taken the prep time from 50 minutes per client to 5 minutes. We send alerts when a client is 30 days from an anniversary date and provide the one-click annual review before the client meeting. This first-of-its-kind feature automatically provides the carrier statement and allocation change form, as well as key policy information such as average annual return, cumulative withdrawals, and potential/actual income rider income values.
Hortz: Any other comments or advice you can share with financial professionals about the changing nature of the insurance business and how InsurTech can impact their firms?
Kelly: We believe the future for financial services is in holistic financial planning. This includes tax advice, understanding the role of insurance in a financial plan, estate planning, accountability, clear communication, and trustworthiness. The future of financial advice is more comprehensive than it has been in the past. Insurance is going to play a major role in that transition and Insurtech will make that transition fully integrated and seamless into your business model and processes.
The Institute for Innovation Development is an educational and business development catalyst for growth-oriented financial advisors and financial services firms determined to lead their businesses in an operating environment of accelerating business and cultural change. We position our members with the necessary ongoing innovation resources and best practices to drive and facilitate their next-generation growth, differentiation, and unique community engagement strategies. The institute was launched with the support and foresight of our founding sponsors — Pershing, Voya Financial, Ultimus Fund Solutions, Fidelity and Charter Financial Publishing (publisher of Financial Advisor magazine).