Pacific Life Releases Guides To Social Selling

By Cyril Tuohy InsuranceNewsNet

Pacific Life, mindful of the growing value that social media networks bring to the sales process, has launched a series of resources and white papers to help financial advisors capture and master the power of social networks.

The resources are aimed at beginners as well as financial professional who consider themselves expert at using social media, the company said.

Christine Tucker, vice president of marketing for Pacific Life, said these resources can help advisors promote events, build relationships with attorneys and accountants, and remain abreast of key event s in their clients’ lives.

“Most financial professionals would be surprised at how much they can accomplish in just 30 minutes on a social networking site like LinkedIn,” Tucker said in a news release.

“It’s an efficient and cost-effective way to engage with clients and prospect for new business,” she added.

Pacific Life’s “Quick-Start Guide for Using LinkedIn,” covers four key aspects of social selling: creating a presence, building a network, learning what matters to clients and establishing expertise. Other guides provide primers on best practices in using social media.

Surveys indicate that financial advisors are well aware of the power of social media to inform, generate referrals and connect with clients.

Few advisors, however, actually use social networks to close a sale.

Closing a sale remains a face-to-face proposition for the vast majority of advisors operating in the highly regulated activity of life insurance and retirement investment transactions.

A 2013 Curian Capital survey of 2,088 advisors at 186 companies found that only 6 percent of respondents ranked social media as one of their top-three sources of new leads.

But a new generation of advisors and clients — millennials — will exert more pressure on financial professionals to adopt social media in all its forms. For many millennials, even email is passé.

A May 2012 report published by LinkedIn and FTI Consulting found that seven in 10 advisors are using social media for business purposes, and that adoption of social networks among financial professionals was only going to grow in the future.

The survey found that 71 percent of advisors reported using at least one social network for business.

In 2013, Pacific Life’s Retirement Solutions Division announced it was expanding its media capabilities for wholesalers as many financial technology experts no longer consider social media optional but necessary.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Writer Cyril Tuohy has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. Cyril may be reached at cyril.tuohy@innfeedback.com.

Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. He can be reached at cyril.tuohy@innfeedback.com.