When I speak with people regarding their experiences with insurance and financial advisors in the past, I generally hear one of three answers. Many have advisors that have simply disappeared. They are either no longer in the business or might as well no longer be in the business because they are nowhere to be found. Many others are frustrated because of their disappointment in the service they get. It is like pulling teeth to get a callback! Or their advisor is not offering any sort of annual consultation to review policies and explore potentially better options. On more rare occasions, I someone will relate very positive experiences they have had. Their feedback is much more positive because their advisors show they actually care! They return calls and emails in a prompt manner. They offer consultations at least annually and are always directing clients toward the best options out there. They are also willing to think outside the box for their clients even if it creates a little more work for themselves!
Please always consider the following in choosing an advisor:
1) Your advisor should be in touch with you to offer a consultation and check up with you at least once a year. If this is not the case, rest assured that you are pretty low on his or her priority list. Do not assume that you are simply being left alone because your policies and accounts are in great shape and no improvements are available. A good advisor at the very least should touch base just to give you peace of mind and answer any questions you might have. So whether your advisor is helping you with insurance policies, financial planning, or both, you DESERVE to be contacted at least once a year. Things change so fast in the insurance and financial industries that you need to be updated consistently on what is going on.
2) Make sure that your advisor is a true broker and has access to the many different options that are available for you. It is his job to keep up with the product changes and best products on the market. Most insurance companies are strong with 1 or 2 products and not very competitive with the rest of their portfolio. And many companies that are great at recruiting agents and heavily penetrating the marketplace are not competitive with ANY of their products. If your advisor only works with 1 or 2 outfits it is a safe bet that there are MUCH better options available for you through a true broker. And beware, many of these agents that are limited to one outfit will POSE as brokers, telling their clientele that they have access to all options!
3) Nothing is more frustrating than needing an answer from an advisor and being unable to get a hold of them. If you can't get your advisor to call you back or it takes them a week to call you back, GET RID OF THEM! Either they are not very good at what they do or you are not a priority for them! In either scenario they do not deserve to be making commission from you and you deserve to be a priority!