Here are some thoughts on our business, they might help provide some perspective……….
I started the life insurance business in 1976. I was given a rate book and a phone book, and was told:
“Just make 100 phone calls per day, using this script [Dialing for Dollars]
You should get 2 appointments per day.
From those 10 meetings per week you will “close’ 3 people, and one will buy.
Let that one sink in for a minute: one hundred “cold” phone calls. Each day. Every day.
They’re called “cold” because these people don’t want to talk to you.
( The “10 – 3 – 1″ System )
You’ll go to the client’s home, you’ll show them why they should own ten or 25 or even fifty thousand dollars’ worth of whole life insurance. Then you’ll move on to your next appointment. You’ll spend all day making phone calls, and all night as well if necessary. But try to be done with your calls before 7PM because most of those ten appointments will be after 7PM. ”
Easily a third of those appointment didn’t show up – I would pull up to the house – see the curtains rustle –
ring the bell – the light might turn off – and no answer.
Sometimes my manager would go with me, which was embarrassing, because many prospects were not prospects at all,
just people who said yes to a meeting – they had not desire or intention to take care of their family or even to pay for their final expenses.
Forget about saving for the future.
Who really wanted to meet with a life insurance agent – at night – tired – kids making noise – bad part of town mostly –
I’d have to stop at a pay phone to call the client if I couldn’t find the address – although I had a “cross directory” and a street map.
There was no such thing as an “illustration” on a day-to-day basis, unless you count the fill-in-the-blank forms that Met LIfe gave us
to fill in premiums, death benefits and cash values that we got from the rate book.
If you wanted a legitimate illustration you filled out a Request for Proposal form; you snail-mailed it to the regional home office
in San Francisco – no fax machines for a few years yet – you waited about 2 weeks for the post office to return your illustration –
then you went out and presented it (if it was even correct)
We didn’t get a computer in the agency for agent use until 1983, and that was shared by 15 agents, so you had waiting time.
What a life.
I made the Million Dollar Round Table in my first year. I have made the Million Dollar Round Table every year
for over 24 years – it’s just a way to measure how much good you’ve done, and how many people you’ve served.
It’s recognized in over 120 countries.
Did I mention that I hate the telephone to this day?
In any case, I learned that one thing I’d always have to do was to make sure I had a minimum of ten people a week to talk to.
That’s ten people who actually kept the meeting, which means, I’d have to schedule 12 or 13 to allow for cancellations.
Some will. Some won’t. So what.
I cannot care about the prospect’s family (or his finances, or his future, or paying off his mortgage, or his kids’ college,
or keeping his wife in the family home)more than he does. This is the hardest lesson I’ve ever struggled to learn –
I’m sure I haven’t learned it fully, not even close.
((( Why doesn’t the client understand that this is the very best thing he can do with his money?? aaagghh !!)))
I hate rejection. When someone doesn’t buy from me, I take it personally.
My managers told me, they’re not saying no to you, they’re saying no to the insurance.
Bull. They’re saying no to ME.
They’re not buying because they don’t like ME.
They’re saying no to MY company, and MY presentation, and MY suit/dress, and MY Jersey accent, and MY car.
And MY career. And MY profession.
And you know what? That is the way it is. Some will. Some won’t. So what.
Some will die with the insurance I placed for them. Some will die (or become disabled, or reach retirement age)
without the insurance I didn’t place, because they were stupid, or selfish, or short-sighted, or wanted a better price,
or a smoother presentation.
Or because they waited too long, until they couldn’t pass the physical.
But they died all the same.
……to be continued……..
Joe
Securities products and investment advisory services offered through registered representatives/investment advisor associates of Ameritas Investment Corp (AIC) member FINRA/SIPC. AIC is not affiliated with Alpha & Omega Financial Services Inc.
