The Power Of
Mentorship
Ever
since I entered the insurance and financial services industry in
1982, I have been blessed to meet some great people who willingly
shared their time, knowledge and friendship. These people have had
a huge impact on my overall success in this business and in my
life. I wouldn't be where I am today, 27 years later, if it weren't
for the books I've read, the people I've met and the friendships
that developed.
In
past articles I've written about my first three mentors Mike Wood,
Phil Urbano and Ron Stabile, who helped me to get off
to a quick start selling insurance. With their encouragement,
training and true friendship I learned how to really help the people
I served. If it weren't for them, I would not have lasted two years
in this business.
In
the following years, I was fortunate to meet people like the late,
great Ben Feldman, one of the most prolific life insurance
sales people in world history. Mr. Feldman sold $1,800,000,000 of
Insurance Policies for New York Life from 1942 to his death in
1993. He once held the world record for the most products sold (by
value) by a salesman in a career, a year ($100,000,000), and in a
single day ($20,000,000). Near the end of his career, his annual
commission totals were over $1,000,000 per year. At the time, these
sales totals were equaled only by the entire sales forces of other
insurance companies, though now they have been long been surpassed.
I have listened to every tape and read every book I could find by
this extraordinary legend of the insurance industry. His simplicity
and straightforward approach to helping people to recognize and
establish their financial priorities is a lesson to all. I
recommend everyone read 'The Feldman Method.' This
book is about his prospecting methods, his presentations, his
working habits, etc. It offers a step-by-step action plan that he
used to raise himself from a $10 a week producer to over a million
dollars per year.
While
I never had the opportunity to personally meet the late Benjamin
'Woody' Woodson, for more than 50 years he wrote "The Back Page"
for 'Life Association News', a popular series of essays on life and
life insurance that earned the respect and recognition of agents
industry-wide. I read his essays on 'The Back Page' every month
until he retired. If you want to truly understand the incredible
value of cash value life insurance, then you must read his book,
'The Best Of Woody.' 
(I
would also read Money for Life by Jeffery Reeves)
One
of people who had the greatest impact on my life and my career over
the years and I consider a dear friend was the late Charlie
'Tremendous' Jones. Charlie Jones entered the insurance
business at age 22, with MONY. At age 23, he was awarded his
agency’s Most Valuable Associate Award. Ten years later, he
received his company’s highest management award for recruiting,
manpower and development, and business management. In 1965, he
founded Life Management Services to share his experience through
seminars and consulting services. Thousands of audiences around the
world have experienced non-stop laughter as Mr. “T” shares his ideas
about life’s most challenging situations in business and at home.
Millions have enjoyed two of his speeches, “The Price of Leadership”
and “Where Does Leadership Begin?” He is the author and editor of
nine books, including 'Life is
Tremendous' with more than 2,000,000 copies
in print in 12 languages. This is a book that is a must read for
everybody. I mean "everybody" in the literal sense. We all need to
have our minds established upon positive thoughts that clarify our
place in life as far as how we connect with others. This book is
worth reading once a year to remind each of us that life is a
pleasure more than a pain. We need to have our minds focused on the
larger truths rather than the smaller pains if we hope to excel at
the things that make for our lives going well. (Picture -
Rosemary and Lew Nason with Gloria and Charlie Jones)
During
the past 25 years, I’ve had the privilege of listening to, meeting
with and getting to know Mehdi Fakharzadeh, one of the very
few true legends in our industry. His personal story, combined with
his dedication and contributions to this industry, have been an
inspiration for generations of agents, advisors and planners. In an
industry that is in desperate need of real heroes, Mr. Mehdi stands
out far above all others for his superior sales achievements. Mehdi
has spoken in over forty countries and presently makes over fifty
platform presentations to financial groups each year. He is the
author of,
"Nothing Is Impossible and
Everything
Is Possible."
Over
the years I've been fortune to be introduced to the works and/or
have personally met many of our industry's greatest leaders. Each
of the following outstanding leaders has greatly influenced my
career and life...
Jack Kinder, Jr., Gary Kinder - Both of the Kinder brothers had
highly successful sales careers as agents, managers and home office
executives and were qualifying Members of the MDRT. They created
Kinder Brother’s International one of the foremost training
organizations for agencies, internationally. If you are an
agency builder, FMO or IMO, then you need their expertise.
O.
Alfred Granum, CLU, an outstanding salesperson and manager.
Granum is most famous for his one-card system and philosophy of
client building, which he has passed on to generations of insurance
professionals.
Thomas J. Wolff, CLU, ChFC, was a member of the Million Dollar
Round Table for 50 years. Wolff created the ‘Capital and Financial
Need Analysis,’ which revolutionized the way life insurance is sold
all over the world.
John Savage, CLU - Renowned for the ‘Savage Selling System,’
Savage was a 30-year Qualifying and Life member of the MDRT.
Sidney
A. Friedman,
CLU, MSFS, RHU, ChFC, was one of the insurance industries top
producing sales professionals. He served as president of the
International Top of the Table, the Twenty Five Million Dollar
International Forum, and the Association of Advance Life
Underwriting. 
Norman G. Levine
is the only individual to receive all four of
the top accolades bestowed on anyone in the insurance profession.
They are the MDRT "Top of the Table", for personal life insurance
production, "Master Agency Award", for the management of his
company, "The Managers Hall of Fame ", and the highest designation
the life insurance industry bestows, "The John Newton Russell
Memorial Award". The Million Dollar Round Table has invited Norman
to speak over 20 times. He has spoken for over 100 companies in 23
different countries.
Loren
Dunton... In 1969, a man with a dream envisioned an organization
of highly trained, skilled and dedicated professionals who would "Help average people to learn how to spend, save, invest, insure and
plan wisely for the future, to achieve financial independence."
That man of vision was Loren Dunton. After many years of
hard work and sacrifice, in 1982, Loren realized the first
part of his dream with the creation of the "Certified Financial
Planner" designation! And, a short time later, the International
Association for Financial Planning (IAFP) was born.
I'll
be forever grateful for the dedication, leadership and shared
knowledge from each of these individuals. These are the people that
have made this industry great.
However, I would be remiss if I didn't take the time to mention
someone who has never sold insurance or offered any financial
services. And, yet he has contributed greatly to the growth and
recognition of this great insurance and financial services
industry! He is why many of the above people are considered
industry legends, today. He is the one responsible for getting their
accomplishments and special message out to all of us! 
This
unsung hero of our industry is Forrest Wallace Cato. As a
Media Consultant and Image Branding Specialist to the financial
services industry, Wally played a major role in establishing
the Financial Planning Profession with Loren Dunton and later the
creation of the International Association of Registered
Financial Consultants. He has ghost written books for many
of the above legends that have made the top 10 Best Seller List.
Wally is the reason we have gotten to know these industry
legends and can study how they accomplished their incredible sales
records.
Wally is one of the main reasons the Insurance Pro Shop
has become a force in this industry, in only ten years.
If
you want to be all you can be in this industry, then I recommend you
read and listen to everything you can from these leaders and legends
of our industry. And, if you want to become known as the financial
expert in your community, attract people to you, make your career
much easier and much more profitable, then you need the help of an
Image Branding Specialist like Forrest Wallace Cato. www.CatoMakesYouFamous.com
As
Charlie “Tremendous” Jones
always said…
“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except
for the people you meet and the books you read.”
Yours In Success,
Lew Nason
'The 9 Out Of 10 Guy'
Message
to Financial Advisors…
What have you done in the last sixty
days to increase your sales? Is there any question that
during the next year, you're going to spend thousands of dollars in time, money and
effort bringing in new clients to your business? Then wouldn't
it make sense to do it the most cost effective, money-making way?
Why not learn the marketing, prospecting, appointment setting and
sales strategies that most of the leading agents, advisors and
planners on the planet use? Jeremy
and Lew Nason
