How To Sell Life Insurance In The
Upcoming Recession!
In the spring of 1982, I was fed up
with the corporate culture and early on a Friday morning, I resigned my
position as a quality control general foreman with Chamberlain
Manufacturing, a Fortune 500 company - this was not one of my most
brilliant decisions. After several months of unemployment - and spending
$3,000 for career counseling - our family finances were beginning to run
low.
So, in July of 1982, I decided to take
a temporary position as an account representative with the Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company, only because they offered me a minimal training
salary for the first three months. I accepted this sales position even
though the career counseling I had received from Haldane Associates
told me I was not cut out for sales.
Many of you were not around in 1982,
or were very young, and may not know (or remember) that between the years of
1980 and 1982, the U.S. was experiencing its worst recession since the Great
Depression, with conditions frighteningly reminiscent of those 50 years
earlier. This was a major recession with massive job loss, run away
inflation, and mortgage interest rates higher than 15 percent. Yes, you read
that correctly, 15 percent. By November 1982, unemployment reached nine
million, the highest rate since the Great Depression. As a result, 17,000
businesses failed - the second highest number since 1933 - farmers lost
their land and many sick, elderly and poor people became homeless.
1982 was an extremely difficult time
financially, for many middle-income families, and perhaps was not the best
time for me to enter the life insurance business. In many ways the 1982
recession was much worse than the recession of 2008.
However, being new to life insurance
sales, I was oblivious to the problems of selling permanent, cash-value life
insurance in a recession. And, in 1982, I led my district sales office with
only six months in the business. Every year after that, from 1983 to 1988, I
was the first or second best life insurance producer in my district office - and in
the top 10 of producers for the Metropolitan Life, New England Region.
How and why was I so successful when the
economy was so bad? It was because unwittingly, I decided not to participate
in the recession. Being new to the business, I was very focused on learning
and practicing the basics.
In 1982, prior to entering the
insurance industry, I was making more than $40,000 per year, which was a lot
of money back then - about the equivalent to making $100,000 or more in
2016. And that was what I needed and expected to earn in insurance sales.
So, I listened to everything my
sales managers and mentors told me. As they suggested, I read everything I could
about marketing, sales, income taxes and personal finances. I attended the
Life Underwriting Training Council (LUTC) classes through NALU. (the
National Association of Life Underwriters, now NAIFA, National
Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors)
I paid for and attended all of the
courses Metropolitan Life offered: Personal Insurance Planning, Business
Insurance Planning, Estate Conservation, Wealth Accumulation Planning and
Retirement Planning and more. I was a sponge, attending every course I could
find and soaking up as much information as I could.
I even sought out the most successful
insurance agents in the area and asked what made them successful. And, I
asked successful people outside of the insurance industry about their
financial situation. I listened to everyone about their problems, concerns,
successes and failures.
What I quickly learned is that to be
successful in insurance sales, the focus cannot be on selling your products.
To be successful, you must find ways to help people improve their financial
situation. It's about becoming a respected and trusted financial advisor
instead of a salesperson. I learned how to help middle-income families
become financially independent.
Consider, are most middle-income
families struggling financially and looking for real help with their money?
Yes!
If you want to be successful today and
stay successful, then become the trusted financial advisor people want to
see. Starting today, learn everything you can about marketing, sales, income
taxes and personal finances. Become a true student of your profession.
As a new agent, I did it in 1982 in
one of the worst recessions in history. And, you can do it too in 2016.
Something to think
about...
Earl Nightingale said, "One
hour per day of study in your chosen field is all it takes. One hour per
day of study will put you at the top of your field within three years.
Within five years you’ll be a national authority. In seven years, you can be
one of the best people in the world at what you do."
Albert Einstein said, "If a
person studies a subject for just 15 minutes a day, in a year he will be an
expert, and in five years he may be a national expert."
Brian Tracy said, “If
you read only one book per month, that will put you into the top 1% of
income earners in our society. But, if you read one book per week, 50 books
per year, that will make you one of the best educated, smartest, most
capable and highest paid people in your field. Regular reading will
transform your life completely.”
Charles ''Tremendous'' Jones
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. Leaders are readers!"
Zig Ziglar put it very simply...
"If you want to earn more, learn more."
How quickly you become an expert in
your chosen field depends upon how hard you’re willing to work at it, how
able you are to acquire the knowledge required, how determined you are to
succeed… and how passionate you are about what you’re learning.
Lew Nason
Trainer, Coach & Mentor
'The 9 Out Of 10
Guy'
P.S. We created the
Insurance Marketing and Sales Resource Center™ to
make it easier and quicker for people to find all of the information they need to be
successful in insurance sales... and in their life.
__________________
Not Sure What To Do, Or Where To Start?
Call us to schedule a No Obligation, Free 15 Minute Consultation with Lew or Jeremy.
Toll Free In US 877-297-4608
/ Direct Line 770-443-2852 (M-F, 9AM-5PM, EST)
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