Agent Link - November 2020

Agent Link - November 2020

NOVEMBER 2020

was suddenly so much to learn, which I love about it.There are a lot of processes and tests to go through, and as a trainee, you have to complete a lot of competency tests. I loved it so much and was so enthusiastic that I was the first one in our group to actually get to the end. When we finally became members, our very first assignment was to help find a lost hiker. It was actually on my 50th birthday, but I got to help someone out and couldn’t think of a better way to spend my day. From then, I was hooked. I was looking for something new and a way to give back, and this was it. It still is. People have a lot of stress in life, things they can’t control, and the best thing to do then is try to help other people. It’s corny but it’s true.The job we do can be tough, but it’s so rewarding in so many ways. Q: How do you continue volunteering and growing your business at the same time? A: It’s all about balance. I love search and rescue missions, and I often have a fear of missing out on one. Most people who do this have to be self-employed because a crisis can come at any point. And if you get a late-night call, you’re pretty spent the next day. So I do schedule a lot of stuff around training and missions because I don’t want to skip out on anything or let my work INSIDE 1. Interview With an Oregon Hero 2. Researcher Brené Brown Helps Leaders Find Their Vulnerability — and Succeed 2. Gratitude for the Support You Give Us 3. You've Got Leads 6. Learning to Love My Mom-in-Law

A: When it comes to search and rescue, the fires going on right now really aren’t part of our normal training.They aren’t something we help out with most of the time. As a volunteer, you’re usually in the national parks going down trails and patching up injured hikers or searching for lost hikers. But we’re essentially on-call 24/7, and these fires came up so fast that they had to ask us for help. And if you’re available, you go.The command center assigned us to check out specific areas and back roads, and we were traveling in the opposite direction of everyone else, watching the sky turn from blue to black as wind and ash came down like snow. It certainly wasn’t a normal scenario for any of us, but every single person who got the call went. We knew lives were at stake, and that’s why we volunteered to go. And we were also needed to help make people aware of what was going on. I recall knocking on the door of one couple who were watching TV and when I told them they needed to evacuate, they had no idea how bad things were because they hadn’t looked out the window recently.That’s how fast things moved. One woman was barely able to walk, so we helped her and her seven dogs evacuate her home. We volunteer because we’re truly needed. Q: How did you get into search and rescue volunteering initially? A: It was kind of random happenstance. I had an acquaintance who told me he was accepted into a trainee class, and I wanted to know more. It piqued my interest, and there

Richard Hall is a certified financial educator, an experienced top-level life producer, and is the president of Arrivus, an independent marketing organization servicing agents and advisors in the Pacific Northwest. As if he isn’t busy enough, Richard is also a volunteer for Oregon’s Search and Rescue team. So when he came into our orbit at Agent Link, we were immediately inspired by him. Luckily, he was willing to sit down with us for a Q&A and give us a glimpse into his incredible life. Q: You’ve been volunteering in the Portland area in response to the devastating fires ravaging the state. From your perspective, how grave is the situation? A: There are people who have died.That’s about as grave as you can get. Many people have lost their homes, don’t have any place to go, and some have had to leave their animals behind.The other aspect is the amount of timberland that has burned — it’s a huge recreational area of a national forest. A lot of resources have been expended, and there’s just so much loss. I drove by the area I grew up in, and it’s literally just gone. I recently spoke with someone who estimated they’ll be spending at least the next five years trying to rebuild their life.The situation was very grave at the worst of it, and it’s still grave now. Q: So what prompted you to volunteer for such a dangerous situation?

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‘Dare to How many leaders do you know who will admit to their mistakes openly and honestly to their team? How many leaders have you heard ask their team for direction? How many leaders are willing to step aside so someone else can shine? Chances are if you know that leader — or if you are that leader — then you understand the future of leadership, according to author, researcher, and teacher Brené Brown, Ph.D., author of “Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.” In this book, Brown details her seven years researching and gaining a better understanding of leadership. She interviewed business leaders at both small and large companies, asking questions that revealed what great leadership looks like. Together with her research team, she learned why certain workspaces thrive and grow while others, with seemingly just as powerful of ideas, wither and die. And it all boiled down to one thing, Brown says: courage. In “Dare to Lead,” Brown examines the four pillars of courageous leadership and how business leaders today can practice and perfect it. Brown teaches the four pillars through her consulting work and has seen radical changes in organizations that practice courageous With Brené Brown’s Bestsell A Thank You From of Agent Link At Agent Link, our company culture is so important to us, and a large part of it involves always appreciating those who help and support us along the way.That’s why so many of our core values revolve around making sure we always do what’s best for our teammates and clients. This is a time of year to be thankful, so I wanted to take an opportunity to do just that. It’s thanks to all the hard work of our team that we’re able to get through these tough times in 2020. I’m so grateful that we’ve been able to work together to face something that none of us could have predicted, yet we found a way to stand strong against it. We've survived this together, and I’m so unbelievably thankful to the entire team for that. I also want to thank our clients for supporting Agent Link through all these years and especially during a year when mustering the energy to follow through with that support was more difficult than ever.This year, we were fortunate to have so many producers join our initiative by way of our Top Producer Summit. So many knowledgeable people were generous enough to share how they continued to find success this year as a means to support and lift up other producers during their own times of need.This is a truly wonderful community that we work in every single day.

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suffer. I’ve been in my career for 27 years and love what I do, but at one point I wasn’t sure how much longer I wanted to keep doing it if it meant I had to sacrifice missions. But then I realized that if I found a balance between my work and search and rescue, it would help to keep me doing both jobs longer.That balance means being okay with taking a random Tuesday afternoon off to go on a mission and having a team you can rely on to take care of things while you’re gone. If you don’t have those systems of balance set up, it’s really hard to do both things to the level you want. Q: How does it feel to be going out there and literally saving lives? A: The thing about search and rescue is that it’s measurable. Now more than ever, everyone is out there complaining about stuff online, but to me, that accomplishes nothing except to make people more anxious. Nothing measurably positive happens from that. But with this, you can say whatever you want to me, you can disagree with me politically, but it doesn’t change what I’m there to do for you.There are people literally waiting by their doors for me to help rescue them or to make a food delivery for their starving family. I am literally saving lives, but I don’t say that to beat my own drum. I say it because there’s no question about the end result of the volunteer work I do. We help save lives. People are injured, lost, and hopeless, and we have the ability to bring them some peace on what is likely the worst day of their life. I truly believe that every day, you should find a way to do something for someone that they can’t — and shouldn’t have to — repay you for.That’s exactly what this job does. Q: What’s one message you’d like to pass along to other people in this industry? A: Everything goes back to looking to do measurable things.There are so many opportunities to serve. If you have the time to do so, you really have no excuse not to. Give something back that’s measurable. It doesn't have to be going out in the middle of the night to climb a mountain.There are so many ways to serve your community. Our business is tough, and sometimes you need to get out there and fill the other buckets that make up your life. It really will help you appreciate what you have. Our core values at Agent Link focus around the concept of helping and empowering others. Our goal is to inspire our clients in ways that allow them to go on to do good in their communities. November is a month to say thanks, so we want to thank Richard for all the good he does in his community. It’s people like him who make us truly believe in all the things we have to be thankful for in this world.

-Stu Gramajo

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to understand the products and segments of our industry.They study the different personas and profiles pertaining to the different types of agents and advisors, so they know how to engage.

Our Dashboard Interface delivers prequalified appointments to your recruiting or marketing team, empowering them with advanced tools to grow your distribution. Imagine your team of wholesalers or recruiters, depending on your organization’s role along the distribution channels, spending a lot less time and effort looking for qualified prospects and instead spending most of their time engaging with qualified ones and bringing in new business. Imagine that you and that team have access to an online referral portal that lets you see the new prospects coming in, one after the other; a portal that even helps guide them through the sales process. This is available to you right now. How much new business and revenue can this mean for you? Run the numbers yourself. How much is a new producer worth to you each month? Each quarter? Each year? Thousands of dollars? Tens of thousands of dollars? More? How long would you expect to keep a quality producer? Adding new producers to your distribution channel is an investment that gives you important returns every month, quarter, or year. This is all part of our Producer Referral Program , one of our most popular services. Through the more than 200,000 conversations that our powerful team of Producer Liaisons has had in the past and the very many agents and advisors they engage day in and day out, we have immediate and ongoing access to an audience of growth-focused insurance and financial service professionals. Now, make no mistake about it – our Producer Liaisons are not telemarketers reading scripts in a call room. Liaisons are highly trained pros with a sales background, and many of them are insurance licensed.They go through rigorous training

This team of Producer Liaisons brings your team the candidates who fit a specific target profile. See for yourself. We selected four recent appointments our team set up for different clients. We changed the producers’ names and contact info — otherwise those are the types of details your team may receive, all a click away after receiving the anticipated message: You’ve Got Leads! SAMPLE APPOINTMENTS MADE:

Target Profile: Senior Market Producers CampaignType: Telephone Appointment

Lead Name:

Thomas Hanks

Meeting Type:

Telephone Appointment

Status:

Appointment Scheduled

Meeting Date:

Sept. 15, 2pm CST

Rep: James Johnson Email: [email protected]

Phone Number:

(999) 876-5432

Comments:

1. Life and Health licensed in Ohio. 2. Independent, not appointed with CarrierName yet. 3. Focuses in Medicare Advantage. Writes some MedSupps, Final Expense, and Ancillary products. 4. Interested in the opportunity. 5. What peaked his interest were the new expansion areas.

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Target Profile: Life (IUL) Producers CampaignType: Zoom Call Appointments

Target Profile: Under65 Health Producer with a book of business CampaignType: Software-Demo Call

Lead Name:

Gregory Kinnear

Lead Name:

Dave Chapelle

Meeting Type:

Zoom Call

Meeting Type:

Software Demo Call

Status:

Appointment Scheduled

Status:

Appointment Scheduled

Meeting Date:

Aug. 30, 3:30pm PST

Meeting Date:

July 2, 10am EST

Rep: Michael Smith Email: [email protected]

Rep: Emmanuel Kant Email: [email protected]

Phone Number:

(999) 654-3100

Phone Number:

(999) 654-2100

Comments:

1. Independent, Life, and Health licensed. 2. Used to have Series 7 and 63, but dropped his BD recently. 3. Current focus is term and permanent with living benefits. 4. Main carriers are Midland, National Life, and NorthAmerican. 5. Most of his business comes from referrals but interested in new marketing ideas. 6. Because of COVID-19, he is open to a new opportunity with client acquisition support. 7. He was interested in the proprietary life products, wants to learn more.

Comments:

1. Health licensed, independent for the last two years. Used to be captive with BCBS. 2. Main carriers are National General and Humana. 3. Focuses on Under65 and Small Group. Writes MedSupps occasionally. 4. Not currently using a quoting engine. Last engine, he felt was too high a monthly rate. 5. Has a laptop he can view presentation from. Interested in access to many more options as well as Supplemental/ Ancillary products.

Target Profile: Financial Advisors CampaignType: Telephone Appointments

Less Effort, Better Results

Lead Name:

Megyn Ryan

Meeting Type:

Telephone Appointment

Status:

Appointment Scheduled

Meeting Date:

Oct. 5, 2:30pm CST

Rep: Harry Burns Email: [email protected]

Phone Number:

(999) 643-3100

Comments:

1. Dually registered, S7 S63 & S65. CRD#: %^&@#. 2. Doing mostly fee-based business, some transactional business still. 3. Under Independent BD and TD Ameritrade. 4. Life and Health licensed. 5. Focuses in Financial Planning, working on implementing a more holistic approach. 6. Wrote 300K in Life in the last 12 mo. Doesn’t write Annuities. 7. Very interested in the Asset Based LTC client acquisition system as the topic for the call. 8. Had carrier appointments with OneAmerica, currently writing with AIG and Nationwide. 9. Main interest is a new concept for client acquisition, expanding footprint in this area and AUM.

Both our referral program and the technology we provide to your team takes care of all the tedious work. When you can focus on engaging with qualified prospects, your efforts become more productive. Follow-up is a huge part of bringing in new producers and helping them write more business under your channel. Research shows that it may take between 7–12 positive interactions between your team and the producer before they sign the paperwork or bring in a new app or a new case. Frequently, recruiters and wholesalers are less able to do the required follow-up that it really takes because they are also tasked with reaching out and looking for new prospects — we can take care of that for you and empower your team with more leads, better leads, and more time to bring in business. Call now and ask for a demonstration of the dashboard and how you can take advantage of Agent Link’s services and our dashboard interface capabilities and grow your numbers and revenue generation.

Advanced Features Our Clients Love in Our Dashboard Our proprietary platform has automated capabilities that will alert both the producer as well as the person in your team of an upcoming appointment. Clients report seeing a high show rate, north of 85%. Agent Link provides your sales or marketing team with a proven “3-Day Protocol” they can use to maximize show rates. The technology in our dashboard allows for automated capabilities that will empower your team to do better at follow-up and exchange feedback with our team to fine-tune the entire process.

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Lead’

ling Book

leadership. Brown offers examples — from well-known CEOs and within her own business — to walk readers through real-life applications of courage and how to create stronger teams through vulnerability. Brown exposes how business cultures that don’t practice vulnerability are ineffective as a result. She theorizes that often, these workspaces are filled with fear, uncertainty, and scarcity. To remove these negative traits, Brown offers leaders a road map to build their courage while practicing vulnerability and creating happier work environments. Brown has spent the past two decades researching and breaking down emotional concepts into tangible goals for her readers and followers. She is the owner of The Daring Way, a consulting firm that helps businesses develop vulnerability in leadership and the workplace. She is also the host of the podcast “Unlocking Us” and has one of the most-watched videos of all time, “The Power of Vulnerability.” You can learn more about Brown’s work and find “Dare to Lead” at BreneBrown.com.

m the President

HAVE A LAUGH!

And finally, I'm thankful to my family. I'd be nowhere without my husband and our kids, and my wonderful mom, there to support me at the end of every long day. I can only hope the love I return to them is even half of what they've always given me." I also want to thank our clients for supporting Agent Link through all these years and especially during a year when mustering the energy to follow through with that support was more difficult than ever. We've spoken with more than 250,000 agents over the last 10 years, and without them, we wouldn't have the work that we love so much.

-Senia Gramajo

5 +800 535 4545

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1130 Cleveland Street, Ste. 120 Clearwater, FL 33755

Strangelove

Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Mom-in-Law

recently that travel restrictions changed and she was able to go back to Serbia to visit other family members she’s been away from for so long. Even though I miss her already, I’m glad she was finally able to do that. This is a season for counting blessings and reminding ourselves to be extra thankful for the lives we lead and the people who make them better.Thinking that way, I knew I had to write a line or two about my beloved Helena. I will be eternally thankful for the love she's given my family. And I will forever think twice about falling for stereotypes.

Mother-in-laws have it rough.They’re the punchline of countless jokes and the object of less-than-flattering stereotypes about them being mean, overbearing, and intrusive.That's why I was less than excited when my lovely wife first proposed that her mother come and stay with us for a few months. I cringed on the inside — it was all I could do to maintain my poker face. A few months? How would I survive? My wife is originally from Europe, and her mother lives in a beautiful country called Serbia, part of former Yugoslavia. Her mother, Helena, really is as friendly and positive as anyone can be. She’s generous and practically lives to help others. She's also intelligent, speaks several languages, and cooks like you wouldn’t believe. But see, these are all things that I know now. I didn't know any of those facts at first. So back then, thinking I was entirely knowledgeable about the high level of diplomacy that comes with being married, I went along with my assumptions and prepared myself for a battle. But boy, was I wrong to think that was how things would go! The more I got to know Helena, the more I grew fond of her. Not to mention, she would often side with me on disagreements I had with my wife. Man, did she score some points that way! All of the apprehension I used to have about mother-in-laws melted away because Helena is a wonderful person, pure and simple. She has helped us so much with our kids and has done countless other amazing things for me and my family. And through it all, she and I have enjoyed so many happy moments together. She has been nothing but generous, in every sense of the word. Helena regularly spends half of each year here in the U.S. and the other half of the year in Serbia. But this year, she was essentially stranded with us for a while because of the COVID-19 outbreak. When the pandemic was first announced and the public wasn’t familiar with how severe things would get or what the best safety protocols would be, we were naturally concerned for her. She is 72 years old, after all. But because of her amazing immune system and all the ways she took extra care of herself, everything has turned out all right so far — and for that I am very, very thankful. It was only

-Stu Gramajo

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