When did you stop being good?

What in the hell happened to you, didn’t you used to be somebody? 

But I thought I still was…

Signing your first big contract

Now I can put it on cruise control.

When you see athletes at the top of their game finally break through and sign the mega-deal only to have their performance dip afterwards, do you think it’s because they lost their edge?

Is a contract based on past performance more of a disincentive, or a justified reward for your previous results?

Is that how we should reward our leaders in business, for what they did or what they potentially are going to do? Potential…ha, now that’s a loaded word, right?

What is the right call? If it’s performance based only, what if you have a bad year, bad two years?

What I see in my industry

Yep, still insurance sales; two things I know all too well, me and/or my J O B…:).

Run for the hills if you must.

I have been doing this insurance gig for 30+ years. For the most part, nothing was given to me nor did I inherit anything so my survivability was solely based on somehow figuring this whole thing out. That is not to say I did not have mentors and/or help along the way, but at the end of the day I still had to make it happen.

Ooohhhh, aren’t you special….

My greatness is only surpassed by my humbleness.

In the beginning

I had the education (Risk Management/Insurance degree) and a fantastic mentor who helped create some opportunities for me.

And I was young, eager and hungry.

Over time and because insurance and the renewals that go along with it are sustainable income, I was able to build a book of business. Meaning, if I didn’t stink it up too bad some were actually going to hang around for several years and I would get paid every year they remained with me.

Also along the way, I was motivated enough to continue my education. I have several initials behind my name but the one I am most proud of is the CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter) designation which is a masters level course that at the time was 10 parts and I did it all self-study.

And I never stopped learning; so my accumulated knowledge is still very relevant in today’s insurance environment so that should be worth something, right?

And then I cracked the code

When I first started out I was paid a minimal salary that was just enough to allow me so survive, but also keep me hungry. I knew the real money was after you validated and were paid directly on what you killed sold and brought in the door.

If I recall, I think it took me 3 years to validate and I haven’t looked back since.

Oh, there have been challenges as some years will be better than others and for some unknown reason people would fire me (even to this day) or sell out or just go out of business.

The nerve…who keeps moving my cheese?

So what’s the problem?

Over time it’s easy to get complacent and lose some of your focus; at some point you just want to build a fence around what you have and rise above the scrappers.

But as soon as you do that you start going backwards.

You can’t fire me, I am a CPCU…

Oh yes they can, and they will; especially if your price is too high.

What I am trying to say from the knowledge side I am as good as I ever was, if not better because now I have years upon years of accumulated wisdom; book smarts and street smarts. Some lessons learned were harder than others, but learn I did.

However, since I get paid on commission only and theoretically was able to sign my big deal, other than losing an account here or there and not having enough in your pipeline to replace it; how deep do you do you have to keep digging to stay sharp all the time?

Is this only applicable to a sales industry or is it prevalent across the board?

Why isn’t my phone ringing?

Energy and enthusiasm wins out

Maybe; is that why you see big corporations terminate highly paid upper management with all that accumulated wisdom and hire younger (and healthier) and cheaper replacements?

It was inevitable social commerce would grow with the way the social platforms were evolving, but how many of our compatriots have given this a try because they were forced to be an entrepreneur before they were ready?

The million dollar question is then, if energy and enthusiasm win out, how do you keep that light burning brightly so you remain the rainmaker you are capable of, always bringing above average value to the job; day in and day out regardless of the challenges you have to face?

If it was too easy I suppose everybody would be trying to do it, huh? At times, it seems like everybody is though.

What is your secret sauce?

If you are not independently wealthy and you kind of have to work because others are dependent on you; how do you keep it not only fun and interesting, but do it day after day, rain or shine?

I never stopped being good, but do you have to take the blue pill or the red pill to keep your game on so people remember your name?

Sounds a lot like the hamster wheel, huh?

No selling please, I’m just looking

I’m just looking thank you, I don’t need want your help.

People like to buy, but they don’t want to be sold to.

Except for insurance and then they just want to run….away….fast….

Whoa, that could be bad news for me because that is how I put food on my table…

Bummer.

I would rather just buy it online

Yeah, at least online I can put the brakes on in case somebody tries to sell me something extra.

I get it, I am an insurance consumer too and sometimes it’s tough writing that check for a promise to pay for a future event that might or might not occur. However, I have been in this gig long enough where I see people trying to get by on the cheap or because of incomplete information, and when it’s needed they were highly disappointed in the outcome and of course blamed the insurance company and/or the agent.

But I am a gambler risk taker, nothing bad is going to happen to me; stuff like this happens only to other people.

Guess what; this is what the other guy is saying about you.

The government will take care of me then

There ain’t no free lunch and there is also something to be said for social responsibility as well. Unfortunately, too many people already have their hand out because insurance wasn’t in their budget.

It’s not perfect, and sometimes it is expensive, but it sure is nice when someone shows up with a check because you took the time to provide the appropriate information to ensure the proper amount of coverage was available; no more, no less.

I’m here to provide you with money when you need it most.

Stop it; insurance still sucks

If you put lipstick on a pig….

I am not trying to glamorize it, but if you are going to buy it (and yes, most of you will) then you might as well do it right; get what you think you are getting and make sure the expectations are established up front to minimize any chance of disappointment if and when the time comes you will need to use it.

My arena is the business world so there is less resistance here because most consider it the cost of doing business; still, most don’t relish stroking that check every month, or every year.

Well then, what good are you

Plenty good; if you want to treat us like a vendor and think the whole lot of us are interchangeable regardless of years of service or credentials or capabilities, then have at it but we probably won’t be doing business together.

I’m only interested in making your business more profitable and driving dollars to the bottom line, not having you pay the insurance company too much. We do this by helping you be as safe as possible, assist you in having sound hiring and training practices, and guiding you efficiently through the claims process if and when that calamity occurs; we make sure the risk management program you have is the program you need, not some off the shelf product that might or might not be a good fit.

My main objective is to make the business owner look good; the best of the best. This allows him/her to attract the best talent and always have a competitive advantage over the owner who thinks shopping each and every year serves them best and never takes into account the soft costs and dollars they are losing out the back door.

Why doesn’t everybody do this?

Beats the heck out of me; I guess that’s why one size doesn’t fit all and it behooves us to only work with customers who are savvy enough to understand this and walk away from those we won’t be able to help anyway.

As an industry, we have trained business owners to think shopping their insurance serves them best which ultimately turns us into only a vendor. But if your employee turnover is 2 1/2 times your competitor because your wages and training suck and you have to build at least 5 more widgets just to break even every time you have to replace an employee; if you don’t see that as a true cost then maybe you just need to keep shopping your insurance anyway.

Seriously, did you just do a whole post on insurance? 

Apparently so, huh?

Our biggest challenge is getting in front of enough people to tell our story and be able to show them why we are different. If we can get that first meeting, we establish quickly if it’s going to be a good fit or not. Sometimes however, if you are patient you can convert the shoppers and eventually turn the renewal into a continuation process and greatly reduce the stress, time and money surrounding just this event alone.

The second biggest challenge is getting the business owner to fire who they currently have so we can come in and work for them. Business owners have egos and most can talk a good game, but when it comes time to pick up the phone and tell somebody you have been working with a long time you have decided to go in a different direction; that can be a tough call to make.

Yep, there are a lot of us insurance guys and gals out there and some think this is an easy business because of all the fun that goes along with being in sales; it is what it is, probably no harder or no easier than most businesses, it just happened to be a good fit for me.

I will close by saying there is good and bad in any industry and like to think we are the good guys at Lanier Upshaw, Inc. We are not perfect and as shocking as this might sound, I too have taken that phone call where my services were no longer needed. But we are always trying to get better and we always want to do what’s best for our customer, not our pocket book; because when we do this, everything else will take care of itself.

So when can I see you; next Tuesday at 10:00 am or Thursday at 3:00 pm, I won’t waste your time…:)?

 

 

Throw this dog a bone…

Bow wow yippie yo yippie yay…

Dude, you already walk around with your hand out every where you go; what do you want now?

Show me some twitter love

I have never actively tried to grow my twitter base. My efforts have been very passive indeed and pretty much only pulling the trigger after somebody shows up and then decide from there. Essentially, if you look human, have a reasonable amount of tweets I’ll probably let you in the house.

As a result of those efforts, after hanging around this joint for approximately 3-years I only have 2,990 followers. However, that is only 10 from 3,000. Therefore, I’m giving out a $100 billy dollar each to my next 9 followers and will send 5 $100 billy dollars and a DM for a great business opportunity for number 3,000.

How can you resist?

The reality is…

Unless someone is hanging on my every word in twitterville it doesn’t really matter. I still don’t do a good job of following streams, so even as twitter has become more mainstream I still mainly just broadcast blogs of others on my tweets.

The other thing about those 2,990 followers, I only really know about 150 of them. So I suppose it could be 3,000 or 300,000 for the way I use it. Somebody might look at that and think at 3,000 you are not much of an influencer so I don’t get the free stuff like some others, but even at 300,000 or 3,000,000 if nobody is really looking at your stuff, does it really matter?

However, my tweets are certainly worthy because I am sharing the works of some really talented people and if you were to take the time to see what is linked to my tweets, it might give you a ‘wow’ moment or two.

Twitter’s days are numbered

Mark my words; after twitter and other platforms (FB) become too mainstream and manipulative something new, shiny and different will come along and everybody will jump the ship.

And that begs the question, how much stock do you put into building a network on a particular platform knowing you don’t own it and it’s not going to be permanent? I guess that means if you want people to find you, you better have your own house in order with a welcome mat out front, and just rent your ride to get there, right? It doesn’t really matter how they get there, as long as they show up.

That’s what I’m going to do

For what it’s worth, if someone were to tell me they were thinking of getting in sales, I would recommend they look into insurance as a career. At least in my world it’s not a one and done, but building relationships and a book of business that pays you year after year. This might not sound too glamorous, but I can assure you the pay’s not bad and EVERYONE will buy insurance.

The downside of this model is after a while you get tired of scrumming and just want to hold onto and protect what you have. However, you do have competition, relationships change, businesses are sold and as soon as you put it in neutral you will be going backwards; you lose an account here, lose one there and then it’s hard to get the machine all cranked up again with an overflowing pipeline.

But what if your customers are your best advocates?

If I had to do it over again

I would have been more niche focused, picked a specialty type of coverage or a specific industry class and rode that horse until it had no life left whatsoever in them. It’s not a bad thing to be known as the expert in an industry.

Putting all your eggs in one basket can be dangerous, but can also be very lucrative; you just have to maintain flexibility and know when to fold them if necessary.

With a niche I think it’s much easier to communicate a social branding message in the world we live in today, and if you become known as the guy it sure makes it easier to open those doors; and standing out certainly helps.

Look at me, look at me; it’s not bragging if it’s true, right?

What do you think?

Are you better served trying to be all things for everybody, or just identifying your ideal customer/prospect and being the best you can be in that arena? I think we know the answer and if you become the best, then your customers will sell for you. How cool is that?

It might require you to get out of your comfort zone and actually have to walk away from opportunities, but at the end of the day you will be much better off.

That’s my story for now; until next time…

Not your ESPN’s 30 for 30

In 30 days it will be my 30th anniversary at @LanierUpshaw. Hence, the 30 for 30 tag…pretty clever, huh?

Dude, that’s old.

No kidding. I do remember being the young guy around here and was always nominated to move furniture when someone changed an office. After several dings in the wall and burns on the carpet, they finally wised up and started hiring professionals to do this job. I had to laugh however, because the first two guys who showed up were both missing at least one finger where they had pinched them off moving heavy objects.

No, we didn’t solicit their insurance…

What were the early days like

Well, we had 3 channels on the black and white TV…..just kidding, but not by much and yes I am old enough to remember that too.

Lot’s of cold calling. And if you knew how few cold calls I actually converted into customers it would be laughable. But what it did do was provide training in being able to think on my feet and drop into low risk practicing when all was lost and you had absolutely nothing else to lose. And it got me out of the office…

For starters, back in the day we had no computers, cell phones or fax machines; and now fax machines have even come and gone in my work lifetime. Skype? Webinars? Fuhgetaboutit…and during breaks at insurance meetings, there would be a mad dash to the pay phones to call the office and check messages. My agency never would accept my collect calls…doh…

There were definitely clackity clack typewriters….and carbon paper. And paper files, tons and tons of paper files that you had to keep forever.

I remember we were one of the first agencies who went paperless. Some of the old timers back then just about had a cow. If they couldn’t go to the file cabinet and pull the customer’s file with all the history attached inside, they were going to be dead in the water.

Of course we all know however, paperless is a misnomer, but our paper files are definitely a thing of the past.

And the thing about insurance is everybody has an expiration date to their policy, so once we obtain that valuable piece of information we hold onto it forever…and a day. Many times in sales, timing is everything, so if you make the call at the appropriate time it might help your chances.

Fortunately, my niche now is more performance based programs that don’t necessarily go off an expiration date, which allows me to talk with a prospect at times other than renewal because that is when everybody and their brother is trying to get in the door.

What about the middle years?

It was interesting to say the least. This was the time most of the old timers had already retired but we still had a president on his way out. Since he held a significant amount of stock, we had to make a decision to absorb this purchase internally or seek buyers from the outside. It was a close vote and some top end guys would have made out quite nicely if we had decided to sell, but ultimately we were committed to internal perpetuation and found enough buyers among the partners.

This decision however changed the dynamics of our leadership structure. Whereas before it took at least 3 partners to have a majority vote, now we had a single individual with a majority interest. My way or the highway…

This is when I knew I would never be that guy; the stars would never align for me at @LanierUpshaw to run the show. So it was decision time; go out and start my own gig and control my own destiny, or always be at the mercy of someone else.

For me, the challenge was I had already built a decent sized book of business and had a wife and two young children who were totally dependent on me. I did not relish the thought of starting over with no money to speak of.

I guess it’s not too hard to tell what decision I made and will tell you my middle years were some of my most challenging under the ownership model that evolved. But I didn’t bitch and moan (too much) and always knew where the back door was if I had had enough. Somehow I survived, and can now look back and know I made the right decision.

Where are you now?

Would you believe it took 20+ years to finally feel secure in this industry? My associates joke about the cardboard box being placed outside of your door as a sign you were getting ready to get the pink slip…or your key quit working. There were certainly times I felt like it could be me.

Sales can be very fickle.

Sales can also be very rewarding, but it’s not a profession you get to let your foot off the gas. Because of this, and I am not exaggerating, I could name at least 30 salespeople who have come and gone through these doors and for whatever reason couldn’t find the magic formula to make it stick. With the exception of 2 or 3, I thought all had the same if not more capabilities than me.

30 years in marriage, 30 years with the same employer; doesn’t sound like I ventured too close to the edge of that cliff, huh?

What can I say; I take my commitments seriously and is it a bad thing to be loyal?

Believe me, I admire the people who were able to throw caution to the wind and figure it out all on their own. It would have been a much easier decision as a single man, but as the sole breadwinner I did tend to be conservative.

I have no regrets and can assure you, it’s still good to be Billy D.

Thanks for joining me on my trip down memory lane. And in case if you are curious, I do plan to make it to 40 years…

Then you can say, “that’s old.”

BTW, if you couldn’t pick Billy out of the lineup, he’s the one with the 80’s porn star mustache…:).

3 reasons insurance is a brilliant career choice

Wha? You kidding me; insurance? Tell somebody you are in insurance and that will certainly clear a room; what’s that smell, did somebody just fart? Will you check your shoes please?

Trust me, I’m a doctor; I wouldn’t pull your leg…or your finger.

Just hear me out, and then decide if I’m full of it.

Top 3 reasons why insurance rocks as a career

• Everybody, let me repeat that, everybody is going to buy insurance. You might not like it, and you aren’t going to be showing it off at the cocktail party, but you will buy it.

Most don’t actively think about the role of insurance in our society unless you are working in it every day. But life as we know it would come to a standstill without it. No money would be lent, no construction projects started, no workers employed, no homes, boats, cars or factories built or purchased. No development of new life saving drugs. Nothing. Zilch. Nil. Nada.

See, there is an economic benefit so you better be nice to it. Did I mention everybody will buy it?

I buy my insurance from the gecko, doesn’t Warren Buffet own that company…or was that Jimmy?

The gecko and it’s ilk is just the very tip of the iceberg, here is a sample list of insurances available that will be purchased by someone: life, health, auto, house, boat, aircraft, property, glass & sign, flood, EDP, accounts receivable, valuable papers, crime, equipment, cyber, workers compensation, excess liability, professional, accident, truckers, dealers, cargo, and garage just to name a few.

Regardless of what the economy is doing, people and businesses will still be buying insurance and that totals up to a lot of policies and a lot of service required. The industry is huge and somebody has to work in it, right?

Somebody is saying cha-ching.

• Insurance companies and agencies are a business. And guess what, they need people to work in this industry just like Ford, Google and Exxon. And not just any people, but the sharpest and brightest. Between technology and ever changing exposures and appetites for risk, the industry needs the best of the best, the youngest and the brightest.

The industry has done a very poor job of attracting talent; the majority of people getting into insurance do it by happenstance rather than seeking it out. The industry does a very poor job on the agency side too of not only attracting talent, but having the proper platform in-place to train them once they walk through the doors.

But I hate insurance, and I don’t want people to hate me. Yeah, they hate it until they need it, and then they can’t have enough of it. Can you say tough-love?

My point is, the industry is wide-open and it’s huge. And even though everything revolves around the insurance product, there are many, many more career fields that are applicable in this industry as well. Did you know…in addition to sales, the other career fields you will find are HR, management, marketing, IT, service, PR, social media, risk management, claims, claims management, actuarial, legal, and accounting to just name a few.

Well, why didn’t you say so…

Did I mention everybody will buy insurance?

• It’s so confusing, how could I even think about learning every product? Because the industry is regulated, most in the industry has to have some kind of license or another. And because of this, there is more than ample opportunities to continue your education in addition to the on the job training always available. Most settle into a certain specialty as opposed to being a generalist.

Because the general public is loath to actually read a policy, what a great opportunity for someone to take the time and become proficient in their niche and be able to provide credible, clear and concise advice. The person who can do that is worth their weight in gold.

And did I mention all the other career fields you will find in this industry. Become proficient in that and know insurance… priceless…

I hear you, so now convince me

If you are an extrovert and like people, do we have a spot for you. If you are an introvert and prefer being behind the scenes, do we have a spot for you. Bottom line, there is a place and job for everybody and every personality type. If you like numbers, technology, creativity, networking, any and all and some of the above, sign on the dotted line.

What is the next step

Preach it, if you know people who are struggling in the current job market, seek out the insurance companies and agencies with your skill set and see what is available.

Have patience, but it’s an industry the cream will truly rise to the top faster than most industries. And if you can show how your skill set will help their bottom line, the sky is the limit.

Not only do I have a marketing degree, but also a degree in risk management-insurance. Did you know my school of risk management-insurance had a 98% placement rate when I graduated? Well, now you do…

Most young adults probably don’t think it’s a cool profession, but once you get in you will see how much technology is involved and I can personally attest it can be a fun profession too.

Do you believe?

If you don’t, you should, the door is wide open and the water feels just right.

Did I happen to mention, everybody will buy insurance.

Bow wow, you really can teach an old dog new tricks

Hey, who are you calling an old dog?

If the shoe fits….

I used to be the young guy around my office, what the heck happened; did somebody fast forward the clock?

With age comes wisdom

In exactly 61 days from this post, I will be celebrating 30 years of employment with the same firm. Is that old-school or what? It must run in the family; my dad was with Minute Maid/Coca Cola for 40 years.

Doesn’t sound like I took too many risks along the way, does it? I didn’t get married until I was 27 but started on a family shortly thereafter. I am somewhat conservative by nature but being responsible for others, my family specifically, probably made me even more so.

Would your outlook change about work if you didn’t have a guaranteed paycheck? Out of approximately 70 employees in our corporation, there are currently 7 of us who have no income other than what our book of business produces. No guarantees. That is called 100% commission and it means for the last 25 years I have never, ever had two paychecks that were the same.

That sounds pretty risky for a conservative guy, doesn’t it?

That is why I have to laugh at times when I see certain guru’s online, these young whippersnappers who are so-called experts, telling me how to do it. Their motto really should be do as I say, not as I do.

Oh, they might have had some limited success along the way, but was it sustainable? If they were so successful, then why aren’t they doing it anymore? Do as I say, not as I do…

30 years, same job, commission only; I must be doing something right, you suppose? Or just too dumb to know any better.

However….comma….that is not to say I am too old and set in my ways that I can not still learn. In fact, I like to think I am more of a sponge and can still learn from each and every person I encounter. Some good, some bad, but it all can be processed to make me smarter.

There is usually good information in there somewhere, but sometimes you just have to take it with a grain of salt…whatever that means…

Something else I know

Sales is all about production; what have you done for me lately? You might have had a walk-off home run along the way, but if it wasn’t enough to walk away, then you have to get right back in the grind. Ideally you can parlay that shot into other opportunities, but as soon as you start to coast you are losing ground.

That sounds like hard work, you would think after 30 years at least you could slow down.

No rest for the weary and there are young bucks coming in every day taking shots at my accounts.

But that is what keeps me in the game, eager and willing to learn and know if I don’t at least get up to bat, I will never get a hit.

Age is just a number…

That’s what all the old people say…

I can assure you, the texture might look a little weathered, but Billy the Kid is who you will find inside.

For what it’s worth, my 9-point guide to new tricks

• Be all in; if you are going to commit to something, give it all you have. Do what you said you would do.
• Be persistent; not annoying, but stick with it.
• The grass is usually not greener on the other side.
• Be marketable; always continue to grow and learn to increase your worth to the organization and to yourself.
• Make the ask; otherwise, don’t complain if you don’t get what you want.
• People really do remember how you made them feel; work on making it a positive experience.
• Don’t assume I know what you do; own it and tell me who would benefit from it. How can I help you?
• Say please and thank you; that will never get old.
• Finally, you don’t have to be the smartest person in the room; just smart enough.

Almost as good as my eat less, exercise more wisdom, huh? It never is rocket science, it just seems everybody wants to put a new or different twist to it.

My lap around the track

My first quarter was very solid; but that was only one lap around the track. If I’m going to break Bannister’s mile record I will need to keep this pace for the next 3 laps as well. That means keeping my eye on the ball (hey wait a minute, I thought you were talking about track…). That also means my social activities online will be intermittent. But it’s ok because I am in a good place online and off, so it’s still good to be me.

How is your year shaping up; are you still keeping your eye on the ball?

You will probably notice I use quite a few sports analogies in my writings; since I was never going to be a pro athlete, maybe writing about it would have been a good avenue for me. Nah….I’m where I’m supposed to be; I have the greatest job in the world…really.

Unarmed but dangerous, leave your clothes in the car

Have you ever walked into an appointment naked? Would you be surprised if I told you I have? Be different, stand out, right?

A little history

In my world of commercial insurance, you (our agency) have to be appointed by the insurance company before you can represent them and sell their products. Whereas Lanier Upshaw, Inc represents most of the major players, there are one or two we don’t have access to. Which is par for the course, because if you represent a carrier they are going to want a certain amount of business and with so many mouths to feed you have to draw the line somewhere.

Because of this, you might do all the leg work and have the opportunity to work on a really great account only to find out they are already with the carrier you represent and their business is so specialized there is only one other viable market out there and guess what? You don’t represent them…….

Well, that sucks.

When I say viable, I mean not only do we have to be able to put all the proper coverages in place, it has to be somewhat affordable as well. I can find coverage for just about anything, but it might come with a scary price tag if I don’t have the right market for it.

What can be that specialized?

Actually, quite a few risks, but this one in particular builds launch towers at Cape Canaveral as one part of their scope of operations.

Two words that will send traditional underwriters running for the hills are NASA and nuclear. If your prospect does anything with either, then your market selection just became very, very narrow.

Why did you chase this account then?

One of my customers does some steel work for them so I could at least use their name to get me in the door. It was then I found out the extent of their operations and the very limited market availability.

But by then, we already had a couple of meetings and they had supplied quite a bit of information for me. And oh yeah, they are located an hour and a half away from my office.

And guess what? They had been with the market we don’t represent but recently switched to the one we did. Therefore, I did not have a single viable option for them in terms of comparison.

It would have been very easy to call them and say “sorry for wasting your time, but we don’t have anything.”

Business owners hate that. The whole insurance process is already distasteful and the fact they let you in the door they are expecting you to come up with something.

What did you do?

I left my clothes in the car. I had absolutely nothing to offer other than myself so they might as well see my fat white ass in all its glory, huh? It sure is cold in here…

Actually, I knew they had a long term relationship with their broker and it would be tough to break this relationship but I essentially had nothing to lose. I made the appointment and went over with nothing a proposal that was a duplicate of what they already had with the company we represent and advised them if they want to do business with me, they would have to fire their guy and give me the keys to the car before I walk out the door.

Pretty bold, huh?

Well, it didn’t go down exactly like that, but pretty close. They were somewhat shocked when they opened the proposal and it had no pricing, and then I commenced to tell them my plan. We had some good give and take and some good questions were asked and it turned out to be a very informative meeting.

Sounds like a waste of time, what did you learn?

First of all, my ploy did not work; they had no reason to fire their guy and me coming in bare did not help, regardless of what I had to say.

But here is what I did learn:

• Respect people’s time; if nothing else, by me showing up it showed I did appreciate the opportunity regardless of the results.
• It left the door open for future opportunities and insurance is fickle enough it can create opportunities just because…
• Don’t be afraid to make the ask. This time it was no, but I made them tell me to my face.
• E-mails and texts make it too easy at times; don’t be afraid to get that face to face meeting regardless of how uncomfortable it might be. It’s usually never as bad as you think it’s going to be…unless it’s your dentist…
• Don’t be afraid to keep swinging; you will never get a hit if you don’t at least get up to bat.
• Finally, don’t be afraid to ask “if you were in my shoes, what would you do?” You’d be surprised the dialogue you can get from this question.

Were you really naked?

Kind of as I did not have one thing to offer other than myself. But one thing I have been taught to do is when it looks like your sales call is going absolutely nowhere and you have nothing to lose, just drop your drawers…kidding of course. What I enjoy is going into low risk practicing and I might ask the darnedest thing that has nothing to do with our meeting. This too will get some interesting dialogue; try it sometime, what do you have to lose at that point, right?

We’re going streaking; everyone is doing it…

When you look at me, what do you see?

I know what I see, at least in my minds-eye. For some reason there seems to be some disconnect when that image appears in a photo because I have no idea where that old-ass head came from…must be trick photography.

Who’s perception is reality?

If I were to list the five things that I think most closely describe me and then ask 5 of my closest friends who know me best to do the same, do you think the lists would match?

If you only knew my persona, do you think that would make any difference?

What if my list according to Billy includes charming, caring, confident, funny & clueless….er uh ok, how about inquisitive instead? Inquisitive might be a stretch; I have been told I ask good questions, but sometimes just being a surface kind of guy is ok with me too.

What if my vision doesn’t match up in how other’s see me? Who’s perception is reality anyway?

Does it matter?

Is it really worth anything?

Most who stop by here know my day job is essentially commercial insurance sales. Which is somewhat of a misnomer, because our platform is so much more than just sales. However, when you get right down to it, regardless of whatever else we bring to the table it’s usually the insurance policy that pays me unless we work through a fee for services agreement.

The second dilemma is, does your 30-second commercial really describe what you do, or did it just sound good? Heaven forbid you mention salesman unless you want to clear a crowd; and you certainly want to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack, but if you try to be too cute and get too blah, blah, blah, you still end up having to explain what you really do anyway.

All I know is I am not a transactional guy; but relationship driven.

And now I’m being told if I want to be a super star salesman relationship builders are typically not that guy.

Say what? Now you tell me…

Is it too late to start over?

Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

Hey, I have been doing this for 30 years, and even with the same company no less. Something must be working, don’t you think?

But Dorman, you could have done so much more. No kidding, but who couldn’t and if you know the journey I took to even make this job possible I can truthfully say I have far exceeded my expectations.

So, how high is up? How much is enough, or is it ok to be satisfied with your body of work at some point in time and quit beating yourself up for all the coulda, shoulda, woulda’s?

I really am a sales guru

In my world at least, sales are where the real money is. I find it interesting with the gurus who tout their street cred and how fantastic they were, but for some reason got out of sales to teach. If you were so good why did you quit?

Why? Because sales is a hard profession to sustain. You are always, always judged on what have you done for me lately. At some point in time there is a tendency to want to sit back and rest on your laurels.

I’m no dummy (no voting allowed), I know and can see what works and what doesn’t and could certainly write about it if I so chose.

It’s real simple actually; make the calls, make the ask, and when you get in the door bring value. You can put all kinds of mumbo jumbo in the pre-mix but ultimately the value you bring will be the difference between a vendor versus a partner.

The more creative and innovative ways you can bring to help the customer keeps you away from a transactional only relationship. You want to challenge the status quo and make the customer think.

All I deal with are businesses, and after 30 years, I have a pretty good idea of who is doing it right. What is that worth, shouldn’t I be able to share this? There are very few situations I have not seen before.

Yes, I sell insurance, but so much more; when you look at me, what do you see?

Pardon my dust, brain under construction

Clarity, perspective, the ah-ha moment; call it what you will, but unplugging for a week did not produce the direction and vision I anticipated. There have been a few times when life and work got in the way, but for the most part I have been running on this hamster wheel since March of 2011.

Even though I was officially unplugged for the past week, I still had my iPhone so it wasn’t like I couldn’t see all the activity. And Sunday when I finally got back to my computer to clean up and catch up it brought up the age old question, “does any of this really matter?”

As I sat contemplating what to write for my Monday post, I had several topics I could have easily touched on especially coming off a guy’s golf outing, but I had nothing; no desire to even post or jump back in the game for now.

How sustainable is your success?

As you scratch and claw your way to something you can reasonably call success, how sustainable is it really? If you took a 30-day moratorium, would there be anything left when you came back? If you are a solopreneur, probably not much, unfortunately.

At least in my day job I have a highly qualified team of people that have only one job to do while they work for me and that is to make Billy look good. I say this jokingly, but to keep it real simple, if they are making me look good then everything is working like it is supposed to.

I don’t have that kind of street cred with my social platform and as I see alliances and partnerships being formed, I have to ask, “is it still just a time suck or is it leading to sustainable success?” In other words, who is going to pay me for my time?

I also like to poke fun at myself for never making any lists, but I have made plenty and most recently my dear friend Adrienne Smith was kind enough to put me on her My Blogging Friends Rock list. And I do rock in case you were wondering; hey, it was a legitimate recognition, she wasn’t just giving me a mercy nod…:).

But what does that really mean? What if you are (or are not) the featured #FollowFriday? That and $3 will get you a Venti Redeye at Starbucks. Does this kind of recognition catapult you to the next level or is it just a feel good moment?

And my friend Adam does have a Starbucks story btw…..

I’m not very social anymore

As I try to evaluate my purpose and direction I have come to realize the extent of my socialness is in the blogs. My non-social friends think I tweet a lot and should know about every current event regardless of where it is occurring because surely someone tweeted about it.

I don’t know Jack Squat……….

99% of my tweets are coming from Triberr or when I promote someone else’s post; is that really being social? Is that being effective promoting others?

Does that make me king of the hill or is it still just a house of cards?

20 months into this thing, nobody still cares if I go to Starbucks so don’t look for me to tweet about it.

What does it mean then?

It means my posting schedule could change and instead of being Steady Eddie, it could be more along the lines of when the mood strikes. This applies to my commenting as well; I really want to spend time with all my friends, but I’m looking for a hall pass as it will be on as a time permits basis as well.

I want to start interacting again with my tweets; this means I will be more selective on how I promote posts and will be looking for ways to encourage feedback or acknowledgement. It is still ok to have two-way communication through tweets, right?

A new platform. I’m on LinkedIn pretty much in name only. However, I do know it is the most robust business platform so I will be devoting more time here to find ways to use it more effectively. Out of all the platforms, LinkedIn probably is the best fit for my business efforts in social. Also, now that my son is on board at Lanier Upshaw, I think LinkedIn will be a worthwhile social platform for him to become familiar with.

Finally, I plan on taking more of an ownership interest in the Lanier Upshaw blog. There is plenty to write about and hopefully I can de-mystify some of the unknowns consumers have to deal with in the world of insurance, other than just buying a policy.

Drum roll please…

That’s it; that’s my epiphany ’cause that’s all I got. You wanted direction; well, you got mine for now.

It could change next week.

Stay tuned on Thursday as I will have Erin Feldman dropping by; I tried to give her my blog but she wouldn’t take it. However, her post will be very timely indeed. She knows how to Write Right.

This blogging gig is hard work

Ah, the ebb and flow of social; it’s interesting to see who is still around visiting, who’s around but on a different mission, or just flat-out couldn’t keep the pace.

For those no longer around but ultra-focused on taking it to the next level but no longer have time to be social, or at least social in all the wrong places, best of luck to you and I’m glad we had the opportunity to meet.

You got in social for a reason and hopefully it is still a platform you can use to help fuel your success.

I just read about this on another blog

Me too and it was someone who I spent a lot of my early days with. However, it was obvious to me since I was a few rungs below them in the perceived social hierarchy, I would not be enough of a stepping stone to advance them.

Let’s just say we both sought greener pastures.

Life in the big city.

And that’s fine; that’s their model, and they are on a mission.

I hope they make it big and hope it’s sustainable.

Sincerely.

Who is left?

I don’t need to name names, they are here on a pretty consistent basis. I know how fluid social is so anybody that has been around more than a year is a pretty big deal.

I did have a surprise though.

Jayme Soulati who I’ve known since my early days posted a repeat of her post of 8/8/11 at Spin Sucks this weekend. The cool thing was, I had commented on her original post.

I might be doing the same ol’ thing, but at least I’m still around, right?

It can’t last forever

Nothing lasts forever.

I have a few long-timers in my community I can tell are on the way out. They won’t need to say goodbye, but they keep getting smaller and smaller on the horizon.

And it’s kind of sad because you do become friends with your community. However, we all know life, other endeavors, lack of interest, or no perceived value will contribute to the exodus.

Life in my town.

This is what happens when you just show up

Even though I haven’t changed much from my early days, you certainly can’t say I haven’t been consistent.

Whereas some might think I should have grown a lot more than I have, at least I’ve been true to my mission so far.

But that has probably been to my detriment as it seems sometimes the glue is just not sticky enough to keep the community close.

The big hairy experiment

So much of a coincidence it is actually kind of scary. I wanted to reference one of my earlier posts to make my point and take a wild guess what day I posted The Big Hairy Experiment; yep, also 8/8/11.

Gives you goose bumps, huh? Must be Halloween……..:). Ok, maybe not that big of a deal but still uncanny.

What is your point this time? 

I thought my Monday post this week was somewhat witty, catchy and reverent. I also thought it was one of my better written posts, but that is only my opinion.

Monday traffic was pretty healthy; however, Tuesday looked like Saturday or Sunday traffic for some reason. And even the comments were way down.  I don’t rely too much on measurement, but is that a sign; a harbinger of things to come?

I never put too much stock in one post, but I just have a feeling it’s getting harder and harder for some to make an appearance.

The last thing I want is for people to just show up out of some sense of social obligation.

And if it’s time, it’s time and I certainly wish you well.

Was that your point?

Really?

My point is, my son’s first day at Lanier Upshaw is today; Wednesday 10/17/12.

Because he was family he probably had to jump through twice as many hoops as anybody else would. He did extremely well and I’m very proud of him.

I want to observe how his first week goes.

Next week, I’m playing in a 4-day golf tournament with 15 of my buddies from FLA, IA, WI, MI & OH. It’s 8 on 8 Ryder Cup Style format and I won’t be on social.

Therefore, this post might be my last social act until November. This is my big hairy experiment and based on every thing I touched on in this missive; the timing is probably right.

I’m sure my absence will not leave a gaping hole in the blogosphere, but have fun while I’m gone.

That.is.all.