Selling tips...

30 years ago when I was drawn into the Life Insurance business was mainly due to the noble profession of it. All our briefings, seminars, trainings and sharing were on saving lives. There were unaccountable testimonials and experiences of how life insurances gave hopes and dreams to those who had lost their breadwinners. The husbands could have passed away but the miracle of life insurance brought life to the deceased families. The wives needed not to beg, the children could still continue their studies and they could live in dignity and respect. And as life insurance agents we were the preacher of love. I was indeed proud to be one.

But sad to say, today our business recruitment doesn't talk on selling insurance as a noble profession any more but rather on the glamour and benefits out of the selling. The career allows you to earn as much as you like, free trips and holidays are offered, awards and recognition are given. To capture new recruits' interest and attention, expensive cars are driven by those successful agents as testimonials for their achievement. All seminars and trainings come with incentives and more awards to the pleasing ears. Yes! The senses of our eyes is usually too tempting to resist. Today just in our company alone, we have 15000 agents selling life insurance, comparing 30 years ago when we had only 300 agents. Those days we had to use the heart to sell, while our current agents applied the brain more. 

Moral of the story... Sight again is more effective to decide. Though the heart is slower but the passion is permanent and more sincere. Thanks God! I used my heart to come into this business, and that's the reason why I could still remain as a humble agent. 

Food for thought - "I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble" - Helen Keller

Selling needs plenty of Enthusiasm....

Selling tips...

Steph has been selling life insurance for almost 10 years. Prior to taking up this career, she was a Private Secretary working in a large corporation. Seeing many of her friends doing well in insurance, she jumped over to the selling world without hesitation. For the first four years in the business, she was doing well, qualifying several incentive trips given by the company. The desire to earn money and other awards, drove her to work extremely hard then. From the fifth year onwards, things started to change. She could not sustained and maintained the constant aggressiveness in achieving her targets. Her income is dropping and she has to live on her saving. Over a chat with me, she sounded her fear with me over her career now. She is wondering whether she should continue selling, or to look for another job instead.

This was what I told her... In any selling, the first few years could be an easy stage of work. Money is the prime mover, and with so many friends around to see, you literally need not look for new prospects to sell. Approaching and selling to friends are different from meeting total strangers. Selling to friends is a joy, while meeting strangers you need guts and courage. Not only this, you need to enjoy meeting people all the time and at the same time love to talk endlessly. Steph doesn't like to meet people, except closing cases. Steph doesn't like to talk, except chatting with old friends. She is failing on her career because she has lost the drive to meet people, and more so she doesn't know how to create an excitement conversation, other than talking about her products. 

Conclusion... Unless Steph could enjoy and have fun out of selling, the career of selling life insurance in a long term is definitely not possible. 

Food for thought - "Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Philosopher

The West & The East......

I was laughing over these few cartoon posts. They said, "A picture is better than a thousand words!"

These are the differences between The West and The East. U can laugh but that's the true facts of life. 

To outwit the evil, you have to be smarter....

During the last school holiday, my eldest grand son, Brandon visited his father who is working in Shanghai. Brandon is an intelligent student who is 14 years old, and studying in Singapore. Being an independent child he is capable to move around most of the time by himself. 

While he was in Shanghai, something devastated happened that broke his heart badly. He was taking a taxi to visit his friend. Upon arriving there, he gave a one hundred note to pay for the fare. And the taxi driver told him that he had no small change for the hundred. He suggested to the boy to change it from the nearby shop and instructing Brandon to put his hand phone in the taxi. He said he would wait for him there. Without hesitating Brandon rushed out to attempt changing for those loose change as a favour for the driver. However when he came back to the same spot, that taxi wasn't around any more. No driver and no taxi!!! He was shocked. He couldn't believe that the driver had drove off. He waited! Finally he realised, the driver had cheated him. The driver had taken his expensive iPhone, a present the mother had bought for him only 8 days ago. A gift he wanted so much for doing well in his studies. He was so upset, he would not even care if he died that minute. He cried walking home and the entire holiday wasn't a happy one.

Later I was told about this episode and of course I felt bad and sad for my grandson I love so much too. I could only say to him... Brandon, for anything to happen, there is always a reason. Try to take it as for a good reason. You could have been a nice boy, and being naive, you tend to trust everyone, especially the adults. But the world isn't that as rosy as you thought. There are the good and the bad people around. From the outside they look good, but if you could see them from the inside, they are the worst off people you could not believe. Yes! You might have been cheated by a man, but that sad experience was a teaching you would not forget as long as you live. I'm sure you are going to be more careful in trusting people from now onwards. You can be smart but there are smart people who might be evil and cunning. So to avoid those evil smart, you have to be a greater smart person to outwit them. Books can't teach you but the mistakes you encounter in life will make you stronger and greater in smartness. Yes! You will be because you are my grandson. 

Food for thought - "A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them" - John C. Maxwell.

Jewish Deal Maker..................

An Old Jewish man is walking down the street one afternoon when he sees a woman with perfect breasts.

He says to her, "Hey miss, would you let me BITE your breasts for $100?"
"Are you nuts?!" she replies, and keeps walking away.

He turns around, runs around the block and gets to the corner before she does.
"Would you let me bite your breasts for $1,000?" he asks again.
"Listen you; I'm not that kind of woman! Got it?"

So the little old Jewish man runs around the next block and faces her again.

"Would you let me bite your breasts, Sandra - just once - for $10,000?!"

She thinks about it for a while and says, "Hmmmmm, $10,000... Ok, just once, but not here. Let's go to that dark alley over there."

So they go into the alley, where she takes off her blouse to reveal the most perfect breasts in the world. As soon as he sees them, he grabs them and starts caressing them, fondling them slowly, kissing them, licking them, burying his face in them - but not biting them.

The woman finally gets annoyed and asks, 'Well? Are you gonna bite them or not?'

"Nah," says the little old Jewish man... "Costs too much!"

"If God would have wanted us to live in a permissive society He would have given us Ten Suggestions and not Ten Commandments." ~ Zig Ziglar

A Good Boss motivates his staffs.....

Wong is a 70 years old business man, whom I have known for more than 40 years. From a big engineering company many years ago, he has down sized his operation to less than 10 workers. Being a hot tempered  man, nobody darns to tell him his wrongs.

Over a coffee chat with him, he poured all his anger over his working staffs. Complaining that they are insincere, not working hard, stupid and worked without cooperation among themselves. At the rate he works, I am afraid my friend might fall sick, and if worst off he might even get a stroke for his stressfulness in his face. 

Directly I told him.... You are a grumpy old man, prideful and stupid yourself. Just imagine, if all your staffs are willing to work independently, intelligence and smart, they would have been a boss to themselves already. Why are they working for you? Because they do not have those qualities as a boss! Being that you are a boss, rightfully you should be motivating them. A good manager inspires his workers to work harder, giving encouragement to instil enthusiasm and offering incentives to create excitement. You did nothing, except scolding and more scolding. 

Three Golden Rules for managing people. Either by threat, incentives or the heart. Wong only knows how to apply the first rule... Threat all the way and he has failed.

Food for thought - "By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day" - Robert Frost

Is money the most important thing in life.....

I can sleep, can you?

Continue from yesterday title. 

After advising Ho in the rest room, we could see two of our fellow club members, Mike and Henry were sleeping beside the spa pool. Both Mike and Henry are in the early sixties, semi retired and spending most of the afternoon exercising, steam bath and finally dosed off on the cement floor with towels covering part of their bodies. I showed Ho how peacefully our friends could sleep. Mike was only a factory manager and Henry was a bar captain with the Hilton before they retired. They are ordinary people with no creed in them. They are satisfied with what they have and they live a very simple life. They carry no hatred of others and they live happily with no worry. Unless you have peace and calmness, you would not be able to sleep in the afternoon like both Mike and Henry.

Ho is rich and successful in business but find it difficult to relax or even sleep. On the other hand, Mike and Henry are not but they could doze off any time of the day. Ho is stressful and sad, while Mike and Henry who are much older are healthier and their faces shine brightly. 

Moral of the story - Is money that very important in life??? You have to decide yourself.

Eleanor Roosevelt said...

"He who loses money, loses much; He who loses a friend, loses much more; He who loses faith, loses all"