The Will to Act: A Lesson from Batman

Much has been written about fear and the paralyzing effects it can have on achieving success.  It is important to accept the fact that every insurance agent has some degree of fear which may affect performance and results, and accept that courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to take action despite any fear.

A favorite writing of mine on the subject comes from author and speaker Keith Luscher.  I read it often to keep inspired to take action each day, despite any fear I might be feeling:

At one point over the holidays, when I should have been updating my plans for this

coming year, I found myself watching Batman Begins—the 2005 predecessor

to The Dark Knight. As the movie chronicles Bruce Wayne’s ninja-style training

on a remote mountaintop in Asia, I am often moved by the words of Wayne’s

mentor, Henri Ducard, played by Liam Neeson: “Training is nothing! 

Will is everything!” Ducard tells Wayne as they spar across a frozen lake. 

“The will to act!”

It was a pity that a character who played such a strong role in Bruce Wayne’s

transformation into the legendary superhero, turned out to be one his greatest

arch enemies. But the lesson I took from that cold mountaintop (in the comfort

of my couch!) is that training is indeed meaningless if it is not used

—if it is not acted upon.

Why do so many of us fail to act? We invest in programs, in books and

videos, yet we remain stuck in our old routines. Or worse, we go back

to doing nothing. We know what we must do; yet we lack the will to do it.

In reality, we lack the courage.

Greatness cannot exist without courage. Much of the erosion in 

business and our culture today is the result of people lacking the

courage to do what they already know they should do. Consider

that historically, many people who have fallen from grace were those who

had the highest training and ethics, but lacked the courage—the will—to act.

Courage does not come easily. Remember, when we speak of courage, we

are not referring to fearlessness or foolhardiness. Courage cannot exist

without fear. It’s human to be afraid—as is the temptation to take the

“easy” way out of a situation. However, what separates goodness

from greatness is the courage to do what is right each and every day.

Christian author Tim Kimmel, in his book Legacy of Love, describes

courage this way: “Although it takes unusual courage to die for

something; it takes an even greater courage to live for something.

Dying for a right cause takes one right choice; living for a right cause

requires hundreds of choices each day, every day.” Bruce Wayne faced

his fear, which gave him the courage and the will to advance something

he believed in. What about you? Do you truly believe in the value you

can bring to peoples’ lives? Do you know what you must do? If so,

what might be holding you back, today?

Don’t worry about tomorrow or next week. You are here, now. 

For today, identify one action for today, and take it. Summon the will.

www.jlsmarketingconceptsltd.com

This "Secret" is like gold in your hand!

Listening.  Active listening.  Not a sales "secret" in the traditional sense; all agents know how important this is in developing relationships and in effective selling.  Certainly a lot written on this topic, and its a central focus of Dale Carnegie human relations training.

But it might as well be a secret, because so few agents have actually mastered this.  The fact is that if you are skilled at asking the right questions, your prospect or client will do the majority of the talking, and you will do the majority of the listening.  This is what builds great rapport, and makes you memorable in the mind of the customer.

Many agents though mistakenly believe that they need to impress by talking about their own background and experience and educating the client, and thus do most of the talking in every encounter.

Want to really impress your client?  Get them to do most of the talking, and actively listen - not only with your ears, but your body language as well.  Get good at asking questions, deeper questions, follow up questions.....

What is the first step?  Be totally honest with yourself.  Analyze your last prospect/client meeting.  Did you fall into the talking trap?  Easy to do...after all, we all secretly want to talk about ourselves, and let the client know how much we know.  You can fix it, and be consistent with listening more than you talk.

Still waters really do run deep.  Get them talking, revealing themselves.  If they ask you questions, keep your answers brief and to the point, and keep the focus on them.  They will find you strangely credible and brilliant, even though you did not rattle off your resume line by line.  You can take that golden nugget right to the bank.

Being memorable

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Do you have an open mind?

"We cannot learn what is right if we secretly insist that we already know it. Now, this statement seems quite obvious; a man would quickly agree with it. Yet, there is something drastically wrong somewhere. If a man truly sees that he does not know rightness, his very emptiness leaves room for it, which changes the man into a freer state. If a man does not change, it means just one thing: he fearfully clings to the false assumption that he already knows rightness, which blocks entrance of genuine rightness."  - Vernon Howard

An illuminating truth to reflect upon....in fact, we have a tendency to be closed to learn anything at all in an area that we are sure we already know.  I recently spoke with an agent inquiring about various lead programs....he had done "well" trying some lead sources and not so well with others, insisting that he had good products and was very confident in his selling and presentation skills....just needed more quality leads.

"Well" to this agent was selling to 3 out of 10 qualified leads.  We know the master communicators/master closers in our industry sell to 8 out of 10 qualified leads.  But initially, this agent refused to acknowledge the possibility that he could close more leads by both diversifying his solution set and improving his communication skills.  Once he put his ego aside, he created the freedom to accept new possibilities....new ways of doing business.  He ultimately improved his results dramatically, not by acquiring more leads, but by selling more effectively to the leads he already had.

Want to make more money??  Keep your ego in check and an open mind to new possibilities.  Keep a willingness to try something new and at least see how it works out.  Good luck and good selling.

https://www.jlsmarketingconceptsltd.com/

What do you say to yourself?

Most people don’t consciously realize it, but as we go about our daily lives we are constantly thinking about and interpreting the situations we find ourselves in. We all have an internal voice inside our head that determines how we perceive every situation. Psychologists call this inner voice ‘self-talk‘, and it includes our conscious thoughts as well as our unconscious assumptions or beliefs.

Whenever you find yourself feeling depressed, angry, anxious or upset, use this as your signal to stop and become aware of your thoughts. Use your feelings as your cue to reflect on your thinking.

If you wouldn't talk to your friend the way you talk to yourself, STOP right now.

You deserve the same love, consideration, and kindness from yourself that you give others... not only that, your thoughts and words have a powerful impact on your health, well-being,  happiness, and business results.

Treat yourself like the beautiful, amazing person you are, and watch your sales results dramatically improve!

How Does Your Target Market Think and Feel?

Top Gun agents know they cannot be all things to all people, so they find a smaller market niche to serve and serve well.  Part of "serving well" includes staying on top of relevant niche data to always be gaining insight as to how your prospects think and feel.  For example, for those in the senior market niche, the National Committee on Aging recently released new survey results:

http://www.ncoa.org/improve-health/community-education/united-states-of-aging/usa-survey-2013.html

Some interesting and insightful information...in reading through the fact sheet e.g. 65% of seniors report having at least 2 chronic health conditions....of course most boomers don't think it will ever be them! The stats on financial security concerns were insightful, but not surprising. Some good stats for planners to use to further encourage retirement saving and income planning.

Lot's of good nuggets reviewing survey results like this; so when you develop a couple of questions for prospects beginning with, "Did you know that according to the 2013 United States of Aging Survey that .....", you demonstrate your credibility and connection to the senior market.

How to Close Insurance Sales from A to Z

Consider this quote:  “I have often been misquoted on my assessment of the importance of product knowledge to an agent – which I place at 5% of capabilities.  The catch lies in knowing as close to 100% of that 5% as you possibly can.  Knowledge of people accounts for 95%.  If you get an A on every exam on product knowledge but know nothing about relating to individuals, you will fail.”   -John Savage CLU, High Touch Selling

John Savage was one of the best known and most successful insurance agents in the nation, and built one of the top agencies in the nation.  He believed in the relative importance of selling skills and continual training in the relational area.  Most agents however, actually have this backwards....placing much more emphasis on product training, believing they are already great in sales (closing) skills.  Or, they don't do much of any training at all, believing that they just need more leads to grow their business.

For the top web based video sales training available on the market today, call me at 800-211-0017 EXT. 115.

Financially investing in yourself can be scary and nerve-wracking, but is usually worth EVERY PENNY.

Additionally, you make a statement to the Universe that says, "I deserve better and am committed to making it happen."

When you make that REAL commitment, the Universe responds by meeting or exceeding your investment!

 

You've Got to Believe!

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, 

Your thoughts become your words, 

Your words become your actions, 

Your actions become your habits, 

Your habits become your values, 

Your values become your destiny.”

- Mahatma Ghandi

Top Gun agents possess four critical beliefs:

1.  They totally believe in their product and/or service.  If possible, they own the product and/or service themselves.

2.  Their product and/or service is under-priced.  The "value" is much greater than the price. 

3.  If they do not sell their prospect, they have cheated them out of incredible value.

4.  Customers do not "buy"; they are "sold".

Exercise:  Write down each of these four beliefs and why they are true for you; i.e. here are the reasons why I totally believe in my product and/or service.  Next, write down what that means to your prospect or customer.

Adopting these beliefs and getting clear on why they are true will ulitmately change your destiny.

Now go forth and sell!!