The future came earlier! Already you can see more and more people wearing and using headsets like this. [visual] How many of you know what this is? [visual] This is a virtual reality headset, and it is a gateway to an amazing new 3D digital world and to endless new possibilities.

Covid accelerated by 10 the digital transformation. Facebook became Meta and is pushing social media to the virtual reality world. New generations are meeting in VR now, and not in Facebook anymore. Already in the United States, there are 58.9 million VR users, and the number is growing with lightning speed. But how can VR technology be useful for our profession?

When virtual reality headsets came out in the market, I bought one immediately. I have been using VR for the last three years with amazing results.

Zoom is already getting outdated for the new generations. Instead of Zoom, I can use my headset and invite a client to meet with me as an avatar or a hologram in a VR environment where I can shape it as I want. Of course, they have to have a VR headset also.

I can meet them in my virtual executive office or on my yacht, in the office of the president of the United States or in a space station in outer space. I can even use impressive floating 3D holographic presentations. I can also make a group presentation in a virtual space where I can land on the stage with my virtual helicopter.

I can make a handshake with the client, a high-five or even a hug, without the need for sanitizer, of course. Sometimes I invite my prospects and clients to play a virtual table tennis game before the need analysis to have some fun.

In the VR world, you know that I am very rich! Amazing, right? It’s a whole new level of connectivity and interaction. To do all that in this new 3D world, you have to own a VR headset.

There are way too many in the market. The one I use is the Oculus Quest 2 made by Facebook, and it is amazing! Also, new VR apps are now out there so you can use the headsets with your laptop or mobile.

So, do you think that by using VR you can make more millennials, zoomers and tech-savvy clients want to meet with you, brand yourself as an advisor ahead of your time and make them talk about you with admiration to other clients? If needed, train them on how they can use it. Propose to them what headset to buy and guide them through this new experiential age. It is an experience they will never forget, and neither will they forget you!

We can also use this technology for prospecting. I am finding dozens of new prospects in VR. Meta created a free VR app called Horizon Worlds. There you can go as an avatar and meet hundreds of real people in a VR conference or VR networking event and have fun at the same time. You can also create your own world. It is by far my most enjoyable way of prospecting.

I met many of my high-income clients in the VR world, and I closed my biggest life insurance policy to a client whom I met in VR — an executive at JPMorgan Chase & Co.!

I can also exercise, meditate and travel wherever I want in the world with my VR headset.

You must have the experience firsthand to understand how impressive it is. It is an immersive experience where you feel that you are in the same room with others, and nothing else is happening at that time except this meeting.

Also, augmented reality technology is moving quickly forward with hologram technology. In the near future, you can be at the home or office of your client as a hologram using simple glasses like these [visual] or, if you can imagine, wearing only contact lenses.

Some say this technology is for the far future. But not really! I was already the first hologram speaker on a stage, as you can see in the picture. [visual] VR and AR technology are redefining what an in-person meeting means.

We must not be afraid of the future. We just have to be prepared for it. By utilizing innovation, technology and science, we can make insurance great again for our profession and for society.

We can also make insurance cool for the new generations of whom, according to a study, 85 percent believe we are an old-fashioned profession with no innovation and technology.

And we have to go where our clients are going to be. Millennials want to be VR; zoomers want to be VR. So, let’s meet them where they want to be.

We MDRTers must be the pioneers and the innovators. We can have a huge voice now with technology. We just have to dare to start and dare to be different.

Let’s take our profession to the next level. The future came early, so let’s be future-ready. Let’s adapt and fly!