Recession… ‘Decide NOT To
Participate’
Part III
My last two articles have been
about why I was able to lead my office in life insurance sales
during one of the worst recessions in U.S. history, when
everyone else in my office was struggling just to survive. To
recap, the main reasons I was able to succeed were:
-
I sought out all
of the training I could find through the company. I attended
and actively participated in the weekly sales meetings. And,
I sought out the best producers from other offices in our
company. I wasn’t afraid to ask for help!
-
I joined NALU
(National Association of Life Underwriters) now NAIFA, and I
attended all of their monthly meetings. They always had a
guest speaker and I got to meet and pick the brains of some
of the best producers in the local area.
-
I paid for and
attended the basic ‘Personal Insurance’ LUTC courses (Life
Underwriting Training Council) offered through NALU.
-
And, I had three
mentors in my first three years in the business.
I also told you about my
first mentor, Mike Wood, who taught me the secret to setting
sales appointments is to have a meaningful conversation with
potential prospects, instead of trying to push a product, price,
investment returns or trying to sell them over the phone. It is
by asking questions to help prospects see they have a problem
that will get you an appointment… “If
the prospect doesn’t see they have a problem, then why should
they take their valuable time to meet with you?”
However, what I didn’t mention is
that while I was a sales leader in my office, I wasn’t making
the money I was used to making prior to getting into insurance
sales. And, I was spending a lot of money for training courses
and membership in industry associations. My family and I were
struggling financially!
In the beginning of 1984, my wife
was very frustrated with the money I was bringing home and she
wanted me to quit the insurance business. Fortunately, at that
same time my second mentor appeared.
Phil Urbano had been with
Metropolitan Life for almost 30 years. Unlike most of the other
‘Old Timers’ in our office, Phil had been what they called an
‘Ordinary Agent’, instead of a ‘Debit Agent’, which meant he
didn’t have a regular income each week from collecting premiums
for Debit Policies like many of the other agents. He didn’t
belong to the union. His income, for his entire career, was
totally dependent on the commissions from the sale of life
insurance policies and renewal commissions… Just like most of
the agents of today.
Phil had been a top producer for
many years with Metropolitan Life. He was one of the few ‘Old
Timers’ in our office who would take the time to talk to me. He
had encouraged me a few times when I needed it. And, he always
helped me when I had questions.
Unfortunately, for the last few
years, Phil’s production had been slipping due to some health
issues. And, he was going blind from diabetes. One day he asked
me if I would consider driving him to and from his appointments
and help him to fill out applications. He explained that he had
only a few months to go for his pension, and he wanted to make
sure he met his production requirements for the quarter, so he
would get his full pension and renewals. He told me he would
split his commissions 50-50 with me and teach me how to close
more and larger cases. How could I refuse?
It turned out to be one of the
best decisions I ever made. In those few months, I learned more
about the benefits of the life insurance products, helping
people and making sales, than I had learned in the previous 20
months in this business. And, it’s more than I have learned in
the 23 years since then. Oh, I’ve learned a lot about the
advanced sales concepts, income taxes, technical information,
etc. And, I’ve learned a lot about marketing, which I’ll go into
in my next article. But, very few insurance companies, trainers
and recruiters (if any) are teaching what Phil taught me about
real selling! He taught me how to ask thought provoking
questions about the prospect’s situation and then to really
listen to them, to help them to get what they want! I
learned you must help people to get to know you and trust you,
if you want them to do business with you. He taught me the
secret of… How to sell 9 out of 10 people you meet with!
Let me give you a simple example…
You’re meeting with a prospect
for the first time and you ask the prospect how much life
insurance they have. They tell you they have $220,000. And, at
that point most agents would begin to tell them why they
need more life insurance.
What Phil taught me was how to
lead prospects to discover for themselves, that they are
underinsured.
Agent -
“Mr. and Mrs. Prospect if you don’t mind me asking, how much
life insurance do you currently have?”
Prospect -
“Oh, I have $120,000 at work and another $100,000 that we
bought.”
Agent -
“Great, so you have a total of $220,000. If
you don’t mind me asking, is there any particular reason you
selected that amount?”
Prospect -
“It’s all I could afford at the time.” Or
“It’s what the last agent recommended.” Or “I didn’t want to
make my wife’s next husband rich.” Etc.
Agent -
“I understand! But, if I may ask how much did
you say you are currently making per year?”
Prospect -
“I make about $60,000 per year.”
Agent -
“Well let me ask you, if your family lost you
and your income tomorrow, how long would that $220,000 last
them?”
Prospect -
“I guess a little over three years.”
Agent -
“And, then what would they do?
Prospect – “I
never thought about it. But, I guess my wife would have to
go back to work.” Or “My wife will just get remarried.” Or
“I guess they’ll have to sell the house and get something
smaller.” Or “They’ll have to move in with her family.” Or
“She’ll use the money I have in my retirement account.”
Agent -
“Is that really what you want to happen? How
do you feel about that?”
Prospect -
“I don’t like it, but things are really
tight right now, and I can’t afford any more life
insurance.”
Agent -
“I understand. None of us has any extra
money. However, if I could show you how to get all the
insurance you need to protect your family, without taking
any additional money out of your pocket or changing your
life style, would you like to get the insurance you need?”
Prospect - “Of course.
But, how are you going to do that?”
Now, aren’t you in a conversation
about our Found Money Management strategies? And, can’t you use
many of the concepts found in Missed Fortune, Circle of Wealth,
LEAP and Infinite Banking to help them find the money to protect
their family?
You’ll notice that this is an
actual conversation, and NOT a sales pitch! Am I telling
them anything? Am I pushing anything on them? Or, am I talking
about what’s important to them and helping them to realize the
situation they are in.
If you learn … How to sell 9
out of 10 people you meet with, how many prospects will you
need to see each week to make the money you want to make? How
many hours will it take per week to see those people?
When you are helping people to
get what they want, instead of trying to sell them what you want
to sell, how much easier will it be for you to get referrals?
It all starts with learning
how to conduct a thorough ‘Fact-Find’ during the initial
meeting. If you want to close '9 out of 10' of your sales
calls and increase the size of each case, then gathering the
'Facts' alone is not enough. You also need to ask the
emotionally based questions to uncover the prospect's attitudes,
opinions and unspoken feelings. You need to uncover their
emotions and motivations to get
your prospects to take action today!
Both
Phil and Mike taught me many things for which I shall be
eternally grateful… like persistence, goal setting, keeping it
simple, self-belief and total honesty! But the one most
important lesson I learned from them was that to be successful
in sales, you must take the time to build relationships. People
have got to get to know and trust you, before they’ll do
business with you.
Yours in success,
Lew Nason
‘The Nine Out Of Ten Guy’
© 2007 Lew Nason,
RFC, FMM, LUTC Graduate -
All rights reserved
Lew Nason,
with his sons
Jeremy Nason, RFC, FMM and Will Nason, RFA,
FMM are the founders of the Insurance Pro Shop
®
and the
creators of the… Found Money Management™ Advanced Life
Insurance Sales System… The most endorsed and
successful Life Insurance prospecting and sales system available
for today’s insurance professional!
Lew
has been helping agents and advisors to achieve long-term
success in financial services industry for over two decades. His
unique perspective, on how to truly help clients, has enabled
scores of agents and advisors reach the top levels of their
profession. Visit his web site at
www.insuranceproshop.com or call him toll free @
877-297-4608.
“All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us
should have an equal
opportunity to develop our talents!”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Get to know
us before you invest your time and money in our systems,
training, tools or support!
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