Skip to main content

Are You Sick Of Hearing About The Coronavirus Yet?

Speaking on behalf of a large contingency of Americans, I'm exhausted of the amount of information, and yes, disinformation, about the Coronavirus and the numbers that go with it. Millions out of work, tens of thousands (at the time of this writing) infected and thousands dying. It's all so depressing.

As if those numbers weren't bad enough, businesses are shuttering their doors, supply chains are thinning out and rats are running amok in New Orleans. As I watch the markets each day I realize how truly fragile our economic lives are when a major catastrophe comes down the pike. Some have referred to our economy as a house of cards, which may or may not be true, but we all should take the time to reassess our own business situation. If your home suffered from a minor earthquake, you would reinforce your foundations, right? Maybe we should do that for our professional lives as well.



As an insurance agent, I suggest that all salespeople, business owners, independent contractors and otherwise self-employed take a serious look into disability insurance. Your number one asset isn't your house or car, but the ability to earn a living. And if you get sick and can't work, the bills don't stop coming.

With all of that said, there are some good things in the news. The public is seeing who the truly important people are. The working middle class, like cooks, cops and, of course, nurses and other healthcare workers, are taking the brunt of this crisis. We tell our military "Thank you for your service" all the time, but do we express appreciation to the ones who pick up our garbage, cook our food, and deal with us in this service based economy? My guess would be not often enough. Take the time to be extra nice to the person who has to ring up your groceries or deliver your mail.

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.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My Short Post On Social Media

Are you leveraging social media to help your business? Are you posting daily and creating content like the "experts" say to do? Most importantly, are you getting results? I've tried using most of the more popular platforms for my insurance business, as well as my writing and speaking business. To say the results are "mixed" would be generous. This may be because I really haven't invested much into advertising on these platforms.  The way I see it, when Facebook, for example, allows me to set up a free page for my business, that is like a "free trial" to see if I can get any interest in my product or service. After nearly 15 years of this trial period, I have garnered little to no business.  One can come up with two arguments here. The first is why would you throw money at advertising when you haven't seen any returns. The other side is that "you could have done better if you had quit being a tight ass penny pincher." Fair enough. But ...

When It Rains, It's Time To Call

If you're anything like me, you hate to cold call. Especially when the weather is nasty. But when I first started out in the business, I had to "drop in" on people because I didn't have any contacts or referral sources.  Working in a B2B setting was difficult to get the decision maker when he or she was out playing golf or "taking the rest of the day off" when it was nice and sunny. I did realize, however, that the odds of contacting business owner and manager increased greatly when the weather was bad. I also realized that the worse the weather was, my competitors wouldn't be out in it either. That left me, alone in the rain or sleet or hail, to call on prospects that I wanted to convert to customers. And it worked more often than not. If you're having a hard time trying to pin your B2B prospect down, try making an in-person visit or a phone call when the weather is bad. It may work for you.    Chris Castane s is a humorous speaker who helps sales ...

Another Fun Podcast Experience

Over the last few years I have realized that I really enjoy being a guest on podcasts. I've been featured as a guest on about a dozen and they have always been fun. The hosts are as diverse as their podcasts. One host was apparently in the Middle East while others were comedians or local entrepreneurs.  Recently I was asked to share my experiences on the Sales Hindsight with Patrick Kagan of the PK Solutions Group. I met Patrick through a group on LinkedIn and he has been a great supporter of my work, even contributing a blurb for my newest book, "Nearly Motivated".  He's an internationally renowned author and speaker as well.  We had a great talk and I wanted to share it with you. We discuss branding yourself and using humor, among other topics. Patrick is a skilled host and makes the podcast informative AND interesting.  Take a listen here and let me know what you think. Ch ris Castane s is a humorous speaker and former comedian who helps sales people succeed thro...