Guidance for New Life Agents

[DHK]

It's finally on Kindle! "How to turn clients into advocates" by Thomas Love.

I believe that, if you know and can articulate your WHY, then you attract more people to you based on your why.

If you attract more clients based on your why... you can easily have conversations that turn those clients into advocates for you.

This book will show you how to do that!

(I believe this book COMPLEMENTS and ACCENTUATES what Sandy Schussel teaches, rather than a replacement or competitor to it.)

Amazon product ASIN B088TVR1MP

 

[DHK]

For anybody who would be mildly curious, my friend Ron Sneller interviewed me for his podcast.

So here it is!

 

[DHK]

Lew Nason, co-founder of the Insurance Pro Shop, messaged me this yesterday:

"quick question, if you had to tell someone 3 books they have to read about questions, what do you tell them?"

Questions are important, but no book came to mind at first.

I liked the audio recording "To G.E.T., you must A.S.K." by Jerry Clark, but much of that isn't directed in why to ask questions of others. There's "The Aladdin Factor" and "Ask for the Moon and Get It"... but again, I believe those are books about asking questions of yourself and finding the answers to those questions within yourself.

But asking questions of other people? I was stumped for a bit... until I remembered "The Greatest Networker In The World" by John Milton Fogg.

So I only sent back ONE recommendation - that one and why.

Here's a link to an online copy:
https://20daypersuasion.com/greatestnetworker.pdf

It's a great story format of a book. But pay attention to Chapter 7: Teaching Kids Teaching and Chapter 8: Questions are the Answer.

The best part of chapter 7:

When they messed up (which they did a lot), he'd stop what was going on and ask them, "What happened?"

Most of the time, the kid who goofed would say, "I did this or did that," and the Greatest Networker/coach would ask, "What could you do differently next time?" Sometimes the kids didn't know what they'd done; then he'd ask, did anyone else know what happened?
When he got an answer to that one, he'd ask the kid him- or herself if that were true - and what was a different way they could do it next time? At first this whole process seemed a little strange to me, asking the kids everything.

It actually struck me as kind of phony. Why not just tell them? It would sure save time. Besides, I thought, he already knew why - so why ask them?

So, I pulled him aside, and asked him about that.

"What do you learn when you ask me a question and I tell you the answer?" he asked me. I thought about that, then replied, "I learn the answer."

"Exactly," he said. "And of what use is that?"

"Well, then I know what to do," I said.

"And of what use is that?" he asked.

"Once I know what to do, I can do it," I replied. "Yes," he said, "you can do it - but do you?"

"No, not always. Actually, not often," I had to admit.

Knowing the answer and doing something about it seemed very different. "Two things are important here," he told me. "First, when you arrive at the answer yourself, it's very different than when someone else tells it to you. Its meaning is deeper, and there isn't any question about whether or not the other person is correct. It's your answer. You own it. And you're much more likely to remember it when you find yourself in a similar situation again."

"What's more," he continued, "when you discover the answer for yourself, you not only get the answer you were seeking, but you get trained in finding answers. So, there's twice the benefit."

"Knowing the answer, having the answer, is a far cry from doing the answer - would you 33 agree?"

"Yes, I see," I said. "But the real secret is being the answer. Do you know what I mean by that?" "No," I said, "not really."

"Okay," he said. "Let's say I've got a little guy here who's learning how to hit a ball for the first time. So I tell him how to hold the bat, where to place his hands, how to stand, and I tell him the way to swing properly... I give him all the information there is to know about hitting a baseball. Now - does he know how to do it?"

"Yes," I said, "but I can see that knowing all that doesn't mean he can do it, and it certainly isn't doing it."

"Good," he said. "Yes, he knows how. He's got the information about it, and information is really great to have. But he isn't doing it - yet."

"And here's the other step: he may do it once or twice, but he isn't necessarily a hitter - yet. Being a hitter is just that - being a hitter." He must have sensed my struggle with his terminology - it sounded a bit like his verbs were getting twisted around each other. I felt my mind quipping a quick satire of my puzzled thoughts - "How do you do a being of having what you know... ?" and remembered that gloriously circular book title, 'What You Don't Know That You Don't Know...'.

He interrupted my thoughts to explain. "Have you ever heard anyone talk about goal-setting with the terms, 'Have... Do... Be... ?' Have the things you want to have... Do the things you want to do... Be the kind of person you want to be... ?" I nodded that I had.

"The way I've found that works best is to focus on being first. Once you achieve that, doing and having come naturally. If you approach it the other way around, you can spend a lifetime not accomplishing your goals. Being first is actually easier, because being begins in your mind. Anybody can be anything, anytime he or she wants."

I confess, that didn't completely clear it up for me - and I knew that he knew that. "Well, I know one thing,"

I ventured. "We're doing talk about this, but I'm also keeping you from being a Little League coach." "Right you are!"

 

[DHK]

Tom Hegna, CLU, ChFC, CASL, author and PBS presenter of "Don't Worry; Retire Happy" interviewed ME last year for his next book! Here's our conversation that he posted to his YouTube channel today!

 

[JillB]

Tom Hegna, CLU, ChFC, CASL, author and PBS presenter of "Don't Worry; Retire Happy" interviewed ME last year for his next book! Here's our conversation that he posted to his YouTube channel today!

David, link? I can't find it. Thanks!

 

[DHK]

Hit F5 (or refresh your browser). You have to do that to activate the YouTube link on this forum for some reason.

 

[DHK]

This is EXCELLENT! If you are having a tough time in your sales process, this is an excellent podcast to review:

 

[DHK]

Simon Sinek dropped this truth bomb this morning on his channel:

 

[John P]

Thanks for all the value you've provided on here over the years DHK. I've just spend the past hour or so reading all of these posts. As a new agent (non-captive), this is better than in-house company training!
I personally plan to take your advice on adding LUTCF as my first certification. Would you recommend Insurance Pro Shop prior to or after completion of that program?
And I believe NAIFA offers a discount for LUTCF, so I'm certain I should add that first before the course.
Thanks!

 

[DHK]

I personally plan to take your advice on adding LUTCF as my first certification. Would you recommend Insurance Pro Shop prior to or after completion of that program?
And I believe NAIFA offers a discount for LUTCF, so I'm certain I should add that first before the course.
Thanks!

Thank you for your kind words!

LUTCF can take 9 months to a year (roughly).

Insurance Pro Shop can help you to make more money in the next 30-90 days. Cost far less too (but no educational reimbursement from any firm). Tax-deductible though as a business expense.

I'd start with IPS and after you're "up and running" THEN you can pursue a credential around a working business model.

Just my thoughts.