Are You Using All Your Resources?
Today I learned how to make the A-List as an insurance agent, should I ever have the urge to become one. Helen Thompson at Advisor Today interviewed a very successful California based agent, Robert Fakhimi, and picked his brain for some helpful tips for new agents.
He shared what made his agents successful and I really took notice of the fact that he encouraged teamwork. "Work with other stars" was number two on his list of tips. Not only do I believe this to be true, I have witnessed what an impact it can make.
A few months ago I called a prospective client (we'll call him John) and after spending close to half an hour answering questions about our service John expressed his concern about signing up. He had been selling insurance for more than 20 years and was not completely convinced that internet leads were successful.
I got in touch with another agent (we'll call him Bob) that I was sure would be willing to speak with John and made sure both had the other's contact information. When I spoke to both of them later in the week I was very pleasantly surprised at what I heard.
John decided he would sign up with us and also gained some very good advice from Bob, who has been with us for quite some time. John felt much better equipped to handle internet leads.
Bob also received some great new ideas from John, who is a veteran agent. He was very thankful that I had asked him to speak to John and asked that if I ever had another agent that wanted to speak with someone to please give that agent his phone number.
As the old saying goes, two heads are better than one. At Fakhimi's agency they bring this a little closer to home. There are a group of agents in the office that meet every few months to brainstorm and bounce ideas off each other. The agency has more than tripled in size in the last five years so something is definitely working.
Feel free to leave your feedback and if you try it out, let me know how it goes.
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Comments
Excellent post. I think it is true in any industry that stars are attracted to other stars.
And if you are the smartest person on your team, find a smarter team to join ;-)
Posted by: Jr. | July 18, 2006 08:15 PM
Exactly! And who better to learn from than a team of stars?! :)
Posted by: Laura | July 18, 2006 08:42 PM
I agree. In the sales game, there's no kid who gets picked lastâ€â€seek out the teams you'd like to join and start exchanging information.
Like Robin Paquette (InsureMe COO) says, Together We're Better.
Posted by: Megan Mahan | July 18, 2006 08:48 PM