Tuesday, May 29, 2007

We chase for new sales but forgotten the old sales.




In any selling, new sales are always recognised more than the old sales. I had been selling for 40 years and I strongly believe, the old sales are equally important than the new one.


Look at the life insurance industry of today, those who do well on the current year is most recognised and talk about by their companies. Their names would be flashed all over the newspapers. An agent can be new in the career, but if he can bring in a substantial amount of new business today, he would be the hero immediately for his company. Comparing to those who have been in the business for twenty years and above, the new overrules the seniors.


As far as I am concerned, I measure my own achievement by the respect I gained from my existing clients of 25 years I built. I promised my clients that I would be there to serve whenever they need me most. These many years, I had make countless death, terminal sickness, disability and medical claims from the minor to the major one. I had never failed to honour all these claims. Each time when a client passed away, I would be the one who stood tall at the funeral because at the end, I was the one who could offer financial help to the deceased family. Whenever my clients fell severely sick, I would be the first visitor to be at their beds to give my moral support and assistance. Many had also lived to benefit the maturing of those endowment plans taken twenty years ago. They could have spoken twenty years was a long time and the money was not worth to receive when matured. Surprisingly today, they regretted for taking too little twenty years ago. When I brought them these maturing cheques, they were almost crying in tears. They just could not believe how time flies. For those kids who had grown, the educational funds were a wonderful present for their studies.


Equally I am happy and proud with my clients who have all these years entrusted me their faith and confidence. With perseverance, patience, determination, courage, knowledge and wisdom, I still remain to be here to serve rather than to be served. In fact, I have out lived many of my clients. Most of the older one have already retired, when I am still around to encourage them to live on. Those little children whom I played with, when they were in school, are now taking my advices as my current new clients. I have kept my promise to remain as their life insurance agent as long as I live.


Currently I have one death claim still pending, another lady client is suffering with parkinson's disease whom I have to claim on her critical cover, a housewife had a severe heart attack and is under treatment in a local hospital at the moment, another housewife had a motor accident this morning and she is being hospitalised too, and an educational plan of 18 years would be maturing early next month when I have to forward the payment cheque to the deserving child. I don't know whether the above tasks are considered as achievement, but for sure in my heart I know these clients need my attention more than those who need to buy new policies from me. Thanks God, although I work silently within myself, I am not disturbed or distracted by chasing for new sales.


Sad to say, what I had written is not important to my company. As I mentioned earlier, new sales are more important than the old one. For each new sale, there is always a cheer but for each claim make, nobody would be bother to hear. If you bring in a million policy, there would be a big hoohaa but if your client cash out his maturing policy twenty years later, no agent would be there. You may sell a new medical plan of today, but whether the agent who sells can still be around when the client is admitted. Can't blame the agencies because they can only see the present, when the past are never highlighted by their companies. New sales are important but if you don't appreciate the old one, how could agents be serious in keeping and servicing the old cases.


May be this proverb is correct, "New broom always sweep well." That is why you seldom see senior veteran agents who could stay long enough to sell and be committed in the career. Without the past, there would be no present and without the present, there would no brighter future. All three seasons have to work hand in hand for the betterment of our industry.


"Every body is attracted by beauty and quality of the present. It is a rare quality to help the ugly and unqualified of the past."

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