I haven't posted a good "dumb story" in a while, which is unusual since I have so many of them to share. To be honest, I nearly forgot about this incident until the person involved came up in conversation a few weeks back when I was having lunch with a former colleague. Here's what happened.
Several years ago I was working with a company (I will call them Company A) which had a very limited menu of insurance products to offer. The guy who recruited me, Fred*, was a tobacco chewing good old boy who looked like he couldn't get home fast enough to watch reruns of "Hee Haw". He was a member of the management team and, after meeting the rest of them, I realized this was a great example of "birds of a feather". These guys were all used to door-to-door old school selling in low income areas and expected the rest of us to do the same.
Needless to say, I wasn't about to start beating on doors in trailer parks for business. Not that there's anything wrong with these people, but when it comes to selling insurance I want my business to stay on the books, and historically this was not the case.
Instead I did business the way I was used to doing it. I called on business owners and went to networking events to find prospects and referrals. Keeping my head down I put up some decent numbers.
One day Fred insisted on doing one of his obligatory "ride alongs" where he was supposed to go with me on appointments and watch me in action. I explained my sales strategy as he sat in the passenger seat next to me, spitting tobacco juice out of the window when the opportunity arose. I even took him with me to a ribbon cutting for a new business to do some networking. He looked like a fish out of water when he was in the midst of actual business professionals.
Another thing to keep in mind was that this company, like many life insurance companies, had a revolving door when it came to agents. Every week we had a few more new faces while others mysteriously disappeared. Like I have mentioned in the past, insurance agents rarely get fired because they quit way before that happens because they aren't making money.
It was a surprise to all of us when Fred announced at one of our mandatory Friday morning meetings that he was leaving the company and going to work for one of our competitors. The other company (I will call them Company B) was not much better than the one I was currently with, but they did have a few more products. Apparently he was going to be making a bit more money and he was ready to poach as many of us as possible.
Fred immediately took a handful of agents with him to his new company. To be honest, I don't think anyone really noticed. I tried to stay out of the office as much as possible by working and producing just enough to keep from having to attend "call parties", where the managers would provide pizza in exchange for us working the phones during the evening.
About this time I had a call from a very large insurance company who wanted me to come work with them. There was a problem though. Their onboarding process took several months instead of days like most insurance carriers. This new company (we will call them Company C) paid great commissions, had higher standards and overall was more professional. I wouldn't have to worry about tobacco juice splattered on the side of my car if a manager rode with me.
And that was when I had to make a decision.
Stay tuned for the next post when I describe how Fred and I crossed paths again. In the meantime, stay healthy!
*I've changed the names to protect me.
Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. He's also the author of "You're Going To Be Great At This!", a humorous look at sales. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states.
Comments
Post a Comment