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Commentary: After a terrific phone conversation, a prospect hangs up before booking an appointment. Consider sending a handwritten note to thank them for hanging up on you, and you just may close the sale, says adviser Eric Silverman.

Commentary: Statistics show this is an industry that doesn’t believe in social selling. Too many agencies are not meeting goals at the same time they are rejecting social selling business practices.

Commentary: it is particularly curious that the DOL’s proposed fiduciary regulation seems to introduce prohibitions that will likely prevent future modernization of such plans, says The Principal’s Aaron Friedman.

Commentary: Continue to provide value-added personal service to your clients with these practical tips for marketing benefit programs, says ThinkHR's Laura Kerekes.

Commentary: Brokers don't achieve high organic growth by accident. Successful agencies and brokers have their eyes up — they consistently look ahead, and this foresight drives thoughtful planning that leads to an effective execution strategy, says Zywave's Dave O'Brien.

Commentary: Being facilitative and consultative will help you to engage the client in a discussion — not a sales pitch — and it will enable you to make more informed recommendations that are responsive to the client’s values and needs.

Commentary: A new opportunity has emerged, and we have entered another inflection point in an era of change. What each of us does next could very well determine our long-term destiny, says Digital’s Mike Sullivan.

Commentary: Although in their infancy, private exchanges have not yet met predicted adoption rates. Wells Fargo’s Dan Gowen shares why this may be the case.

Commentary: Benefit firms hoping for agency growth must manage their producers or suffer the consequences of relinquishing control of the firm’s future, says EBA columnist Nelson Griswold.

Commentary: Our focus on each item that comes along in the employee-employer relationship blinds us to the bigger picture issues.