What butterfly gardens and insurance brokers have in common

By Dorothy Bonett

I took my granddaughter to a local park recently, and to my surprise, we found many butterflies gathered in what is otherwise an open area. As we continued exploring the small area, we noticed a sign stating that this area in the park is designed specifically with butterflies in mind. It had all the flowers and plants that made them thrive.

Still, it fascinated me. The park is wide open with acres and acres of land. The butterflies were free to roam wherever they wanted, yet hundreds chose this small park area to call their home.
Reflecting on what financial professionals provide clients reminds me of this butterfly garden.

Every financial professional has a choice of which companies to work with. As a nation, the last two years have seen lots of change in businesses—and life insurance is not excluded. When we had a mandatory shift to work at home for so many of us in March 2020, it took some time to have businesses up, running and functional in a remote environment. Some companies adapted to this new digital and virtual world more quickly and successfully than others. The same can be said about financial professionals as intermediaries and end clients — no matter their age, income or occupations!

Many financial organizations today have a wide range of employee tenure. The balance of new and tenured means there are often multiple generations of people working together — all bringing their experiences and training to their work daily. The knowledge and history built within the walls of a company are incredible. Financial professionals genuinely care about their work and the clients who benefit from the products sold.

But how do they ensure their garden stays healthy and thrives under their care? Financial professionals need to find the right institutions to work with. Knowing they have a choice with whom they do business, it’s up to the institution, broker or agency they choose to affiliate with to provide the right tools and products at the right time. The right affiliation creates an attractive “butterfly garden” to ensure financial professionals continue to write business with that firm yearly. Good firms should be committed to providing financial professionals with the right insurance protection and retirement solutions to meet their clients’ needs.

So, what qualities should financial professionals look for when choosing an insurance broker to work with? Experience shows the following are key attributes to evaluate:

* Dedicated teams with personal attention.
* Broad insurance protection and retirement services with top-rated carriers and products.
* Policy review capabilities.
* Competitive compensation.
* Strong compliance and controls.
* Dedicated underwriting team.
* Ability to support challenging cases from concept to reality.
* Tools and resources that are just a click away — on a PC or mobile device.
* Streamlined business processing.
* Ability to take your cases from concept to reality.

Can your brokerage relationship meet this full spectrum of life-related insurance and retirement needs, enabling you to work with the top carriers in the country to secure insurance and retirement protection for all the clients you are looking to serve? If yes — you’ve found the right butterfly garden! If not — keep looking, as there are other gardens out there that are being nurtured and can help you thrive.

Dorothy Bonett, ALMI, AIRC, ACS, is vice president, sales development and marketing enablement, Crump Life Insurance Services. She may be contacted at [email protected].