SunLife Financial to Introduce Streaming Video to Improve Sales Practices and Help its Agents Become More Productive
The streaming video phenomenon that has millions of Americans glued to their web browsers will soon make its debut in a new venue: annuities distributed through independent agents. SunLife Financial (SLF) is getting ready to launch individually personalized microsites for its agents. These microsites will promote Sun Life’s new fixed indexed annuity- SunDex Advantage- which is designed to elevate the capacity of fixed annuities to deliver lifetime guaranteed income without requiring annuitization.
The microsites that will be offered to SLF agents will be capable of streaming five separate Flash movies designed to convey the product’s applicability and features to the vast audience of web-savvy consumers. One of the videos is a 30 minute, needs-based presentation that explores the full gamut of retirement-related risks Americans face as well as how the new annuity can be used to help manage these risks. IN addition there is an eight-minute video that focuses more on the product.
The three additional video are mini-case-studies which illustrate examples of how the product can be utilized by people whose income needs vary. These case study videos are approximately five minutes in length. SLF views the introduction of the agent microsites as critically important in helping its agents tell the SunDex Advantage story in a manner that is both consistent and compliant as well as in a format that consumers increasingly value.
All financial services companies should, in my judgment, focus on SLF’s strategy because it provides a model for how product explanations can be made entirely consistent across large channels of distribution. This is no small achievement! On of the biggest challenges annuity product providers traditionally are concerned about is the inconsistent manner in which agents describe products. By utilizing video presentations as an integral part of the sales process, a way has finally emerged to ensure that realistic product performance potential, product costs, and product features are explained in a fair, balanced and consistent manner. This is not only a positive development for consumers and carriers but also for the agents themselves.
While wanting helping agents to be consistently compliant is one thing, helping them reach more prospects and close more sales is another. The microsites also fill this latter goal. The reason is that the ability to stream video to prospects’ web browsers gives the agent a powerful new prospecting tool. Talk about a compliant, convenient, low-impact and non-threatening approach to a prospect! Not only is it easier for the agent to initially engage the prospect, the microsite experience is a non-threatening opportunity to self-discover the product’s benefits without the presence of sales pressure. This empowers prospects as never before. That’s healthy.
Ironically, although the microsite strategy adds so much value to the sales and educational process it also saves the agent money. Compared to other prospecting and sales strategies- i.e. expensive sales presentations systems (which may or may not be compliant) – the delivery of the video through the microsite costs the agent nothing. And in comparison to traditional communications tools such as a brochure, the video delivers an impact exponentially greater.
It’s hard to conclude anything other than Sun Life’s agents are soon to experience a great big boost in their ability to compliantly prospect for and explain the new SunDex Advantage annuity. Kudos to SLF!
Full disclosure: Wealth2k® developed the SunDex Advantage movies for SLF and the microsites which will be hosted and managed on Wealth2k’s web-based Traject™ communications network
©Copyright 2007 David A. Macchia. All rights reserved.