Life Happens, formerly known as the Life Foundation, celebrates its 20^th anniversary next month. In this workshop, panelists Brock Jolly, Ryan Pinney and Van Muller shared some of the ways they use Life Happens materials to educate clients and grow their businesses.

Maria Ferrante-Schepis in her Saturday main stage presentation told NAIFA 2014 attendees that businesses must continually be open to change and innovation. Businesses that don’t change aren’t likely to survive. In what Ferrante-Schepis calls a “Napster moment,” named after the music-sharing web site that lost out to the more innovative Apple, businesses that are not open to change are likely to succumb to their competition.

Prospecting remains a critical skill for those wishing to succeed in the insurance and financial services industry, said Connie Kadansky in her educational workshop, “The Inner game of Prospecting: How to Overcome Sales Call Reluctance.” One survey found that 70.8 percent of advisors said they are getting most of their business through direct prospecting. Prospecting may be even more effective than in the past because not as many advisors are making calls, today, so prospects are getting fewer calls than in the past. People are getting educated online, but they are still going to a professional to buy insurance products.

The NAIFA Government Relations team's workshop at NAIFA’s Career Conference focused on the importance of building relationships with legislators. Advisors are experts when it comes to building relationships with clients. They can use many of the same communication and relationship-building techniques when interacting with Congress.

Recent surveys show that 53 percent of the American public does not know what the Affordable Care Act is. Tony Boquet, CLU, ChFC, CASL, CLF, LUTCF, told NAIFA members who attended his workshop at the NAIFA Career Conference that the job of agents and brokers is to take complexity (the ACA is 1,000 pages long and has spawned reams of regulation) and make it simple so clients can understand.

The NAIFA Government Relations Team today provided their annual update to members during the Legislative Forum of the 2013 NAIFA Career Conference and Annual Meeting in San Antonio.

Psychologist Dr. Will Miller gave a thought-provoking and often hilarious presentation from the Main Stage at the 2013 NAIFA Career Conference and Annual Meeting in San Antonio this morning. Dr. Miller used the concept of “refrigerator rights” – a circle of friends and family close enough to an individual to comfortably go through the person’s refrigerator without asking – to illustrate how Americans have smaller social circles than ever before.

Robin Mueller, motivational speaker and insurance industry insider, explained during his workshop at the NAIFA Career Conference and Annual Meeting that recent changes to Social Security laws create situations for advisors to interact with clients