Personality Traits of a Successful Agent

[rousemark]

Agree. I would add money motivation.

Plenty of gents have been very successful that were not money motivated..

 

[Markthebroker]

Plenty of gents have been very successful that were not money motivated..

I think a good sales person needs to be money motivated. A good agent often is a good salesperson, but not necessarily.

 

[DHK]

They should be initially money-motivated, yes.

But goals are for losers. Systems are for winners. Have a system that you work... that generates far greater results than simply "going for your goals" will get you.

LIFE OF A SALESMAN

Before:

Ten years later, Feldman was still working for his father. His salary had doubled—to $10 a week. "I didn't need any more money," he says. "I was living at home."

Then he met a schoolteacher named Freda (Fritzie) Zaremberg. They dated and eventually married, but when he proposed, Feldman says, she replied, "Do you intend to support me on $10 a week?" At that point, Feldman began to consider a new career. "A friend of mine was working for an insurance company and there just happened to be an opening. I knew he was earning $35 a week, which to me was a fabulous amount of money. I went down and applied for the job. The roof fell in. I didn't seem to measure up in any way, shape or form. I was shy, I was backward, I talked with a lisp. I hadn't even finished high school. They tossed me out."

But Feldman talked his way back in and was awarded one of the company's debit routes. For $15 a week, it was his job to collect from poor workmen in steel mills and pottery factories. Feldman had to scramble to see them when they had cash on hand to pay their weekly premiums, which might amount to 25 cents. "On payday, boy, you had a lot of people to see," he recalls. He made 300 collections a month and was allowed to sell all the insurance he wanted to in his spare time.

After:

The zeal for the higher quota dies hard in Feldman. "What you've done becomes passé," he said. "I have a way of dreaming big dreams. People think it's maybe like Columbus trying to discover America.... I feel that people are so underinsured it"s pathetic. We could be writing, we could be building foundations to write, much larger amounts."

He is, he confessed, a little disappointed in his fellow agents. "People aren"t thinking big enough. They"re not. A man gets to a point where he"s making $100,000 a year. Now, $100,000 a year is a livable income.... You can have a nice home. You can take a nice vacation. You can live nicely. So why should you drive for $200,000 a year, $300,000 a year, or $500,000 a year—or major amounts of money?"

"Why?" I asked.

"I"m not driving for the money," he said. "My income last year was well up in the seven figures. ... Hi, honey!" He turned to greet his wife as she entered the office. "Come on over and keep us company." They took seats side by side on a couch. "He"s asking a question. Maybe you"re better qualified to answer it than I am.. I don"t think I"m driving for earning more money, am I? "

"No," replied Ethel Feldman, a wealthy widow when she married Feldman two years ago. "I don"t think it's earning more money. He"s trying to help people. He feels he"s helping somebody.

 

[Markthebroker]

They should be initially money-motivated, yes.

But goals are for losers. Systems are for winners. Have a system that you work... that generates far greater results than simply "going for your goals" will get you.

LIFE OF A SALESMAN

Before:


After:

Yeah, that's a good point. You need to be money motivated to make it through the first few years. Or sitting on a big ole pile of cash.

 

[rousemark]

I think a good sales person needs to be money motivated. A good agent often is a good salesperson, but not necessarily.

Well, I will rephrase. Plenty of good salesmen are not money motivated but they make a lot of money because they are successful. Many are motivated by competition, recognition, fear of failure, etc. But the money isn't what makes them get out bed in the morning.

 

[somarco]

This is not necessarily a personality trait, but a good (and successful) agent is also a good listener.

If you ask the right questions, and listen, your prospect will tell you exactly what they want.

What they want may not exist, or it may not be what they need. But they will ALWAYS tell you what they want.

You can then decide if you want to help them buy it and make them a client/customer. Of if you would rather try and convince them they are wrong and they should buy what you think they need.

Guess which approach is a trait of a successful agent.

FWIW I am rarely the first agent people talk to. Most of them have been looking and talking to agents for some time before they find me.

One of the first set of questions I ask is this.

How long have you been looking?

WHY ARE YOU STILL LOOKING? (Forgot to include this earlier)

What have you found that you like?

What have you found that you don't like?

Why haven't you bought something yet?

The answers to those questions will tell me if I have a prospect or not. It's really that simple.

 

[Life Hawk]

There is something to be said about the art of "molding" a client... not for newbies but aged agents learn how mold clients... not to be confused with manipulating someone.

 

[DHK]

not to be confused with manipulating someone.

I manipulate people all the time... for THEIR benefit.

 

[Life Hawk]

I manipulate people all the time... for THEIR benefit.

Well said...

 

[somarco]

I manipulate people all the time... for THEIR benefit.