What if you could learn to sell annuities by having a proven producer mentor you through your actual client appointments?
That's exactly what happened to Shereka, a health insurance agent who went from annuity anxiety to closing her first $200,000 annuity sale.
In this article, you'll discover how our Annuity Mentorship Program works, what to expect from the commission split, and whether this hands-on approach could be the confidence boost you need to start selling annuities.
Getting Into Annuities Can Feel Very Overwhelming
A lot of agents like the idea of selling annuities, but there are two major hurdles.
- First, the product complexity can seem overwhelming – where do you even begin?!
- And second, bringing up the subject of money with clients can be intimidating.
Shereka found herself mostly in the first camp after more than a decade of experience in the insurance industry.
She's had her license since 2013 and focused mostly on health insurance – especially the under-65 ACA market. In 2024, she decided to take a broader look at insurance opportunities, and the annuity space caught her attention more than anything else.
"It was the most helpful thing I saw, especially because I've seen so many elderly clients not only lose money but have a poorer quality of life because they didn't know about the options they had," Shereka explains.
The problem? Shereka had no annuity experience and wasn't really sure how to move forward.
Enter: The Annuity Mentorship Program
So Shereka found lead vendors and marketing companies to help her get into the annuity market, but she wasn't confident talking about the products since it was her first time.
"I didn't know what I was doing exactly," she admits. "When Kirk mentioned the mentorship program, I wasn't sure if I wanted to try it. But when I got my very first potential client and saw it could be a good sale, I thought, 'Well, let me try this mentorship program.' The last thing I want to do is get a good prospect and mess it up because I don't know what I'm talking about!"
How the Mentorship Worked
Shereka reached out to Kirk, who connected her with Luke – an experienced annuity producer who really knew his stuff. The hands-on training made all the difference!
"Luke was super helpful. He did some on-the-job training with me and walked me through the products, how to present them, and how to prepare and read illustrations," Shereka says. "All the videos I watched and trainings I did finally made sense after that one interaction with Luke, the client, and Kirk helping us on the backend."
Here's what the mentorship looked like:
- Two client meetings: Luke sat in on the initial meeting and the presentation
- Two strategy sessions: Phone calls with Kirk and Shereka to plan everything out
- Tag-team approach: Shereka and Luke took turns talking to the clients, with Luke handling the questions she didn't know the answers to yet; plus, he led the majority of the sales presentation
Her First Sale: A $200,000 Success Story
Shereka's first annuity prospect was a retired couple, and they were the perfect fit for an annuity! But it was pretty intimidating – the wife used to trade on Wall Street, and they had already done a lot of research. They definitely knew their stuff!
They had a few million dollars and wanted to put about $300,000 into annuities. They wanted to layer them so they'd start paying out in 4, 5, and 6 years. So, they really knew exactly what they wanted... they just didn't know who had the best product fit.
Kirk and his team ran comparisons through Brokers International (an Integrity partner), and American Equity had the best income product for what the clients needed.
"[The clients] did so much research and talked to so many different people, but they liked our option the best and went with me," she says.
Note: The clients originally wanted three $100,000 annuities but decided at the last minute to put one of the $100k sums into a variable annuity instead. Since neither Shereka nor New Horizons is licensed for that, we couldn't help with that piece – but hey, two out of three is pretty good!
From Nervous Newbie to Confident Closer
The mentorship completely changed how confident Shereka felt – and fast!
"Watching Luke took away a lot of the nerves and made me realize it's not as hard as I thought it would be," she says.
After just one annuity sale with a mentor, Shereka now knows how to get illustrations, how to read them, how to speak about annuities with confidence, and how to go through a presentation. She has even created a complete pitch deck!
"Once I put it all together, I was so much more confident talking to folks about annuities. I'm very confident now!" she says.
Shereka's Advice for Other Agents
Shereka absolutely recommends the program, but has some important things to tell other agents thinking about it:
The best parts about the program:
- You learn hands-on from someone who knows what they're doing
- You get to work with real clients, but have backup
- Way less chance of losing good prospects because you don't know enough yet
- Your confidence goes way up right away – seriously!
Things to be aware of:
- You still have to do the work: Shereka explains, "You have to go through the trainings and understand the product and process yourself. You won't get too far if you're just relying on the mentor completely."
- Understand the value exchange: Shereka says it's important to understand the commission split, which is 50/50, and make sure it works for you.
Three Ways to Use the Mentorship Program
Here's what you need to know about the Annuity Mentorship Program if you want to try it:
What you need:
- An interested client (no cold leads – they have to actually want to hear about annuities!)
- Get contracted with the carrier
- An experienced annuity writer handles the appointment
- You watch, listen, and get your commission split
Three ways to go about it:
- Do it once just to learn the ropes
- Make it a regular thing if you need longer-term mentoring
- Hand all annuity prospects to us – you keep your client, but we take a higher percentage of the commission split for handling the entire annuity sale (perfect for insurance agents who don't want to get into annuities, but know their clients need that service)
You get paid while you learn, and you turn interested clients into happy customers without having to become an annuity expert overnight.
Conclusion
Shereka's story shows that with the right help, agents can get into the annuity market while keeping their client relationships and making money – what's not to love?!
"I'd absolutely recommend it to other agents who have put money into their business and have a potential client they think they can close but just aren't sure they can do it on their own," she says.
Interested in the Annuity Mentorship Program? Call our office at 888-780-7676 and ask for Kirk!
