ING introduces new business building program for corporate retirement plan market

ING's U.S. Retirement Services business today announced the launch of a new business building program for advisors, consultants and the third party administrator (TPA) community serving the small and mid-sized corporate retirement plan market.  Referred to as the ING Grow Program, the comprehensive suite of practice development tools and resources is designed to help ING's distribution contacts leverage all that the company has to offer to strengthen plan sponsor relationships and grow their business.  

Additionally, each tool and resource offered in the program is accompanied by an actionable sales idea that an advisor, consultant or TPA can immediately implement.  These proactive, business-building suggestions are a unique aspect of the program and are intended to enhance its overall effectiveness.

"It's not enough anymore to give our distribution contacts access to research and innovation – they now need something tangible to do with these resources to differentiate themselves in the market," said Bill Elmslie, executive vice president of Intermediary Sales and Service for ING.  "We're excited to be investing in the success of these retirement professionals by offering them an industry-first solution with a dozen creative sales opportunities to act upon throughout the year."

The resources offered in the ING Grow Program focus on three specific categories: (1) sales ideas and business-building tools to help grow relationships; (2) value-added thought leadership to keep retirement professionals up-to-date on important industry trends; and (3) behavior-changing technology and educational applications to help participants become better prepared for retirement.

One feature that advisors, consultants and the TPA community may find especially useful is the ability to offer current and prospective clients an outline of their Statement of Services.  This document can help retirement professionals develop a value proposition that clearly demonstrates their service commitment.  They can incorporate such details as the services they intend to provide and their philosophy relating to consulting, conversion and ongoing installation.  An advisor may also include their industry experience and qualifications, and customize the statement with a firm logo and contact information.

The distribution community is also encouraged to leverage ING's extensive thought leadership resources.  These include a series of ING practice management seminars on topics such as Fiduciary Responsibility and Trends in Retirement Plan Administration.  They can also tap into the ING Institute for Retirement Research which provides a regular stream of research, white papers and industry commentary and was recently updated with a new section exclusively for financial professionals.

"Helping these businesses stay informed is a key priority of the ING Grow Program," noted Elmslie.  "Advisors can leverage our research and thought leadership to counsel clients on popular topics such as automatic plan features and employee education.  If someone is looking to grow their business, they can invite plan sponsors in for a seminar to learn more about the latest retirement trends or developments."

Additionally, the new program emphasizes the use of ING's consumer education resources and web-tools, many of which can be leveraged at employee meetings and serve as a catalyst for important retirement planning discussions.  These include a series of participant seminars as well as a trio of unique, user-friendly retirement planning calculators:

1. INGYourNumber.com – which can help calculate the total amount of money one needs to save by the time they retire.
2. INGCompareme.com – which harnesses the power of "peer comparison" for users to see where they stand in relation to others on a wide range of saving, spending, investing, debt and personal finance matters; and
3. My Retirement Outlook – a retirement and paycheck analysis tool that integrates traditional pension plan assets, Social Security benefits and personal savings, and also identifies potential gaps in retirement funding.  Participants' can also print an instant gap analysis statement.

"For a financial professional, it's all about demonstrating value to clients while balancing the demands of a busy schedule," added Elmslie.  "This program was designed with the advisor, consultant and TPA in mind.  We believe it can be a valuable extension of their own services, helping to reduce some of their workload and make their business as successful as possible."