If you’re looking to target the small-business market, you may find Standard Life Assurance Co. of Canada’s proprietary Business Markets Program useful.

BMP offers a comprehensive package of information and tools, including questionnaires, interactive calculators, PowerPoint presentations on insurance and investment solutions and strategies, sales and marketing materials, case studies and sample agreements that are relevant to small-business owners.

The user-friendly software and resource centre is designed to help you understand the dynamics and needs of small-business owners, saving you the valuable time that otherwise would be required to research this market, says Gerry Anthony, senior consultant of product development with Standard Life in Toronto.

BMP currently is available on CD free of charge to Standard Life advisors, but, Anthony says, it will be accessible online in May or June. It effectively uses a combination of software tools and concept-based marketing and educational materials on an extensive range of topics that you can use when marketing to small-business owners.

BMP starts out by describing the various types of business entities, such as sole proprietorship, partnership and corporation, outlining the advantages and disadvantages of each business structure. It provides client mailers and questionnaires designed to collect business-owner information that can be used in tailoring marketing efforts.

BMP takes a structured approach to providing information on a variety of insurance, investment and retirement strategies that can be used by small-business owners. In dealing with insurance, it takes the view that small-business owners “may be experts in building their businesses, but are often not experts when it comes to protecting what they have built.”

With this in mind, BMP reviews the use of collateral, key person, critical illness, universal life and living buyout insurance, in combination with applicable strategies such as succession planning, cash options, buy/sell arrangements, estate freezes and stop-loss rules.

Detailed information on each insurance solution and strategy is presented, accompanied by PowerPoint presentations, questionnaires and calculators that can be used in marketing. You are prompted to review such critical issues with their clients as: what would happen if a business partner died, suffered a critical illness or disability, or withdrew from the business; how to identify accurately and value the company’s key people; or how business owners can establish plans to fund their exit from the business.

The program then provides appropriate strategies or solutions, enabling you to discuss them with the client.

For instance, you can show the client how to put a buy/sell arrangement in place, how to use a questionnaire to collect information to be input into the Key Person Valuation Calculator to determine key person insurance requirements or how to use life insurance in succession planning.

In discussing the various strategies and solutions, you have access to proprietary and third-party reference materials, as well as applicable tax legislation, specimen contracts, case studies and calculators.

BMP addresses retirement and investment strategies in the same way it deals with insurance strategies, interactively discussing RRSPs, non-registered savings and other investments.

The Retirement Fact-Finder questionnaire is used to collect information to develop a retirement plan, while the Retirement Presentation is designed to get clients to reflect on their current situation and review their options. The RRSP Optimizer, accompanied by a comprehensive Retirement Income Calculator, is used to demonstrate and quantify various retirement options.

Using BMP, you will be able to demonstrate the level of retirement income that can be achieved through earned business income, shortfalls that may result from the limits to RRSP contributions and how clients can use their businesses to fund retiring allowances and even spousal RRSPs. BMP makes effective use of case studies to help you deal with different client circumstances.

In the area of non-registered savings, BMP focuses on investment strategies aimed at minimizing taxes and maximizing tax efficiency, tax-loss selling, capital gains exemptions and creditor protection. Various tools and investment options facilitate the execution of the appropriate strategies. For example, the Capital Gains Tax Estimator and Estate Taxes On Investments Calculator allow comparisons, forecasts and analyses of different client situations.

Essentially, BMP has a dual role. It serves as a training resource for advisors targeting small businesses and provides them with the necessary tools to service this market. Since it is proprietary to Standard Life, it makes reference to the company’s products. Barring this bias, the program is an excellent resource for advisors. IE

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