Does Training, Caoching and Being Part of a Team Work?

[Guest]

Okay, (mostly) everyone knows I started a med supp agency. I have taken a lot of time researching leads, tools, and training a few agents. I've experienced a lot of trial and error and I'm not nearly done yet, but I have to share this story.

One of my agents used to sell individual health insurance, the most she had ever written in one day (working on her own) was one policy.

She is now part of a supportive team, attends weekly meetings, gets continuous sales training (products training also), gets daily encouragement, and she has accountability & realistic goals, and she is positioned to achieve them.

What happened?

She wrote 5 med supp policies yesterday and 3 Thursday!

8 policies in two days!!

Please remember, the past does not dictate the future and there are no limits to what you can accomplish unless you impose them upon yourselves!!!

Sell like rock stars!!

 

[Guest]

She is now part of a supportive team, attends weekly meetings, gets continuous sales training (products training also), gets daily encouragement, and she has accountability & realistic goals, and she is positioned to achieve them.

I don't think any of the above is harmful but if the above paradigm was the "key to the vault" how come out of any group of 100 agents-in-training in all of the captive houses... 98 of them "crap out."

I'm convinced that hiring agents is like buying real estate. In real estate you make your money when you buy, not when you sell. You need to buy "right." Same with agents.

As for teams? Well, I was brought up in a different paradigm. At Ross Perot's old EDS** the motto (on posters all over the place) was "Eagles don't flock, you have to find them one at a time."

Perot didn't look for "team players" and people who needed a lot of motivation and "daily encouragement" as opposed to people who were basically educated and/or smart who had a good set of values, and who wanted a meaningful career, not just a job and a paycheck.

Can you turn a sows ear into a silk purse? I suppose with some folks you can, but I think it is the exception rather than the rule.

YMMV.

Al
InsuranceSolutions123 Agency

** PS: I often wished I had stayed at EDS but they had a strict policy in the employment agreement (grounds for termination) on "fraternizing" with the customers. I was assigned to the Blue Shield of California account in San Francisco where I met this major babe (face, body, brains... the whole package!) who worked in the Medicaid section where I doing analysis to automate manual procedures (back in the early days of computers... 1974.) We dated on the sly and got away with it, but when we decided to move in together I knew it would be a matter of time before EDS found out and canned my ass (as they had done to others)... so I resigned and went into biz for myself as a consultant... immediately got a contract at Pacific Gas and Electric ... and never had another W2 job since. I also ended marrying the girl... my first, current, and very expensive wife. (If you young guys think "face, body, and brains" comes cheap, think again. The cost is the same in wives... or "Vegas quality" call girls. I've had experience with both... one before the other... don't ask ... I won't tell!)

 

[Guest]

Al, not only did the PS totally crack me up but that must have been an awesome experience at EDS! So cool for you.

And yes, not everyone responds the same way which is why I was sharing the story, she has new confidence and through effort and patience, I was able to determine what her needs were and meet them, however, she deserves 100% credit for what she's accomplishing.

And also, how do we know how good and consistent the training is in the group of 100 agents-in-training in all of the captive houses? We all know most large agencies lack sales training, which is why I've been all over the country the last year or so training them.

This was also part of the reason I started an agency.

Thanks for the post Al, really enjoyed it!

I don't think any of the above is harmful but if the above paradigm was the "key to the vault" how come out of any group of 100 agents-in-training in all of the captive houses... 98 of them "crap out."

I'm convinced that hiring agents is like buying real estate. In real estate you make your money when you buy, not when you sell. You need to buy "right." Same with agents.

As for teams? Well, I was brought up in a different paradigm. At Ross Perot's old EDS** the motto (on posters all over the place) was "Eagles don't flock, you have to find them one at a time."

Perot didn't look for "team players" and people who needed a lot of motivation and "daily encouragement" as opposed to people who were basically educated and/or smart who had a good set of values, and who wanted a meaningful career, not just a job and a paycheck.

Can you turn a sows ear into a silk purse? I suppose with some folks you can, but I think it is the exception rather than the rule.

YMMV.

Al
InsuranceSolutions123 Agency

** PS: I often wished I had stayed at EDS but they had a strict policy in the employment agreement (grounds for termination) on "fraternizing" with the customers. I was assigned to the Blue Shield of California account in San Francisco where I met this major babe (face, body, brains... the whole package!) who worked in the Medicaid section where I doing analysis to automate manual procedures (back in the early days of computers... 1974.) We dated on the sly and got away with it, but when we decided to move in together I knew it would be a matter of time before EDS found out and canned my ass (as they had done to others)... so I resigned and went into biz for myself as a consultant... immediately got a contract at Pacific Gas and Electric ... and never had another W2 job since. I also ended marrying the girl... my first, current, and very expensive wife. (If you young guys think "face, body, and brains" comes cheap, think again. The cost is the same in wives... or "Vegas quality" call girls. I've had experience with both... one before the other... don't ask ... I won't tell!)