Why Don’t Advisors Do Annual Reviews on Annuities?

It’s no surprise that the No. 1 reason advisors lose clients is lack of communication. So why aren’t more advisors meeting annually with their clients? That’s a problem Signal Advisors, a new tech-focused IMO, set out to uncover and solve. 

Based on Signal data, the average advisor plans to meet with more than 50% of their clients on an annual basis. But estimates show they actually meet with less than 16% of their clients to conduct annual reviews.

Patrick Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Signal Advisors, believes having a process for ongoing reviews and client communication is what separates average advisors from mega-producers.

“It’s difficult to keep track of every annuity an advisor has ever sold. Most advisors have policies hidden away in filing cabinets. It’s an antiquated process,” Kelly mentions. “Policy reviews tend to be reactive. Especially for advisors who don’t have the resources and staff to set annual review reminders for each client and compile policy data.”

Annuity Reporting Tools Are Lacking 

The other hurdle is that information from carriers can be difficult to find or nonexistent. Advisors are left having to do manual calculations to figure out policy statistics such as average annual returns, withdrawals since inception and income rider fee analysis. 

“It’s not that advisors don’t want to stay in touch. The problem is scalability. As a client base grows, the time it takes to stay in contact with everyone becomes seemingly impossible,” says Kelly.

Unfortunately, this problem is unique to annuities. Unlike in the securities sector, which is rich with reporting, there is a lack of tools specific for annuity annual reviews.

That is, until now.

The 1-Click Annual Review

Thanks to the ingenuity of the Signal Advisors tech-focused team, they created 1-click annual reviews for advisors within their annuity-focused platform.

In just minutes, advisors can access a client-ready annual review that is perfectly branded to their firm. With a single click, advisors can save nearly an hour’s worth of admin time and frustration.

But the benefits don’t end with time savings. Annual reviews present a greater opportunity to strengthen client relationships and increase sales. 

“A client might buy from you six or seven times during his/her lifetime, not including referrals. So keeping in touch and maintaining strong rapport with them is key. Not just when things are looking good or to get ahead of any portfolio complaints, but all of the time,” Patrick states.

Better Client Service, Better Business

Saving one hour of your time per client is one thing. But it’s only the beginning when it comes to the support Signal Advisors offers producers.

Sheila Maloney from Retirement Resources simply gushed about the level of service their firm receives. “I love so many things about working with Signal! Their review emails and notices for anniversary dates have helped our office stay on top of the client experience. Their staff does a great job of helping complete new business as quickly as possible. The client experience is overall smoother and more enjoyable. These efficiencies make sure the client is taken care of from the moment they contact our office and throughout the relationship,” says Maloney.

Automating the annual review process is an advent the industry’s needed for a long time. And it’s one that is helping advisors retain and service clients better.

To get a demo, visit BetterThanAnIMO.com.