Why the alphabet soup of names might be important to you

The insurance industry loves to use labels and designations made up of endless letters. Each set of letters looks like someone just dumped a Scrabble game out on the table. Usually meaningless to the casual observer, but they might be more important than you realize.

Each label – (MDRT, LUTCF, NAIFA for example) represents a level of learning and continuing education that should be valuable to your insurance consultant. Constant learning and searching for solutions has become necessary in the increasingly complex world of insurance and risk management strategies.

I choose to pursue my LUTCF designation because it forced me to follow a strict guideline of on-line classes for three 9-week sessions followed each time by a closed book test to verify comprehension. The instructors had both real-world experience and academic creditable knowledge. It is just one of many professional designations designed to improve the knowledge and ability of insurance professionals.

NAIFA is the most prominent industry association for financial advisors and life insurance professionals. Membership allows for peer level exchange of ideas and experience to build your practice and your expertise. Resources are available to help each professional connect with industry experts and increase the knowledge base used for client plans.

MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table) recognizes both production efficiency and ethical behavior. The organization also creates learning modules and on-line resources very beneficial for agent development.

So, the next time you are playing a word/letter game consider this. It is not the letters themselves but rather the meaning behind them that matters. Just like the training, experience and dedication behind the letters of professional designations. They mean much more to the people who choose to access and leverage the accumulated knowledge.