In early February of this year I received a phone call from a friend of mine. It was the first time we had spoken in years and he wanted some advice. He was getting bored of his current career but didn't want to leave it completely, so he decided to get his life insurance license and was soon working with a crew of agents. Since I had been in the industry for many years he asked me to evaluate his situation.
I asked several questions about his managers, the insurance companies they carried and compensation. It sounded like this was a new agency but with some of the old familiar traits, like hiring new people with no experience, telling them they were going to make tons of money, and of course, having the agents buy their leads. Anyone that has read my book will tell you that I frown on nearly all of this.
My friend wanted me to meet his sales manager to get a sense of where the guy was coming from. A few weeks later I met with the sales manager at a local coffee shop and we discussed his agency. He had only been in the business for less than a year and I could tell was a go-getter. I could also tell he was full of crap.
As I talked with the sales manager he gave me some bogus information about some of the products. Either he was blatantly lying (which I suspected) or thought I was too dumb to do a little investigating on my own (which I did). He also gave me his own sales numbers which were overly inflated. My BS detector was working overtime and the more he talked, the more I egged him on. He story wasn't fitting any better than the skinny jeans he was wearing.
My feeling is that if this guy is going to blatantly lie to me, he's just as comfortable lying to his clients.
The sales manager also mentioned that a former "executive" of another agency was now "helping us get started". I didn't recognize the guy's name, but I was familiar with the former agency, which had a reputation of screwing their agents over by cutting commissions and selling overpriced leads. More confirmation that these guys were full of it.
My friend called me last week to ask how the meeting went. Before I could really say anything, he told me, "I think they're not really being honest with me. As a matter of fact I've caught him in a few lies and am considering leaving their agency." I told him to trust his gut and explained that, unfortunately, this was type of situation wasn't unusual.
In the span of less than 3 months, my friend had taken the time to pass his insurance licensing exam and was ready to pack it in due to the lack of honesty from his upline. Their loss was my gain because I explained how I do business, the companies I work with and how they do business, and how to create leads without paying for them. So now my friend is considering working with me and may even bring along a couple of his co-workers, who are also feeling slighted.
The insurance industry isn't the only one that has these kinds of stories. Let me know what industry you're in and how it's working for you in the comments section.
Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states.
I asked several questions about his managers, the insurance companies they carried and compensation. It sounded like this was a new agency but with some of the old familiar traits, like hiring new people with no experience, telling them they were going to make tons of money, and of course, having the agents buy their leads. Anyone that has read my book will tell you that I frown on nearly all of this.
My friend wanted me to meet his sales manager to get a sense of where the guy was coming from. A few weeks later I met with the sales manager at a local coffee shop and we discussed his agency. He had only been in the business for less than a year and I could tell was a go-getter. I could also tell he was full of crap.
As I talked with the sales manager he gave me some bogus information about some of the products. Either he was blatantly lying (which I suspected) or thought I was too dumb to do a little investigating on my own (which I did). He also gave me his own sales numbers which were overly inflated. My BS detector was working overtime and the more he talked, the more I egged him on. He story wasn't fitting any better than the skinny jeans he was wearing.
My feeling is that if this guy is going to blatantly lie to me, he's just as comfortable lying to his clients.
The sales manager also mentioned that a former "executive" of another agency was now "helping us get started". I didn't recognize the guy's name, but I was familiar with the former agency, which had a reputation of screwing their agents over by cutting commissions and selling overpriced leads. More confirmation that these guys were full of it.
My friend called me last week to ask how the meeting went. Before I could really say anything, he told me, "I think they're not really being honest with me. As a matter of fact I've caught him in a few lies and am considering leaving their agency." I told him to trust his gut and explained that, unfortunately, this was type of situation wasn't unusual.
In the span of less than 3 months, my friend had taken the time to pass his insurance licensing exam and was ready to pack it in due to the lack of honesty from his upline. Their loss was my gain because I explained how I do business, the companies I work with and how they do business, and how to create leads without paying for them. So now my friend is considering working with me and may even bring along a couple of his co-workers, who are also feeling slighted.
The insurance industry isn't the only one that has these kinds of stories. Let me know what industry you're in and how it's working for you in the comments section.
Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states.
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