Time of Reflection
BY Mike Corente
AMC - December 2007
Another new year is upon us. This is the time that everyone sets those lofty goals of losing twenty to thirty pounds and going back to the gym seven times a week, even though they haven’t been to the gym in ten months or for sure their going to buy that winning million dollar lottery ticket. People have a tendency to set unobtainable goals and by the end of January they give up because they haven’t reached them.
This year I recommend taking a different approach. Take a couple days alone in a quiet place like a small cabin in the mountains or a nice hotel room on the beach or a resort in the desert. Get away from the rat race for just two days and reflect on where you’ve been and where you’re going in the insurance business.
Some of you may be doubting yourself. Questioning is this the right career for you. If you’ve been in this business more than two years you have made it through the most difficult time. Goal setting is imperative. That is why authors write hundreds of books a year about it. Remember to set goals! If you want to make $100,000 a year in commission you need to break that down weekly and allow yourself two weeks vacation. That means you would need to earn $2,000 a week in commission, so depending on your commission level, determine how many sales a week you need to obtain in order to reach that goal. Reflect back to last year and figure out what your average sale was. We do that as an agency for example our average premium per sale is $900.00 of annualized premium, so if our agent makes 100% commission he would need to close two sales a week to meet his goal of $2,000 per week in commission. If for some reason he did not make any sales one week, he would then have to make four sales the following week to catch up.
I always stress to producers that they can’t fall way behind and try to catch up at the end of the year. I’ve polled ten agents who met their goals last year and found that they met or exceeded their goals in March, June, and September through the end of the year. They were consistently examining to make sure they were on pace so they could reach their annual goals. I also polled ten agents who didn’t succeed in meeting their goals and asked them to be honest about why they didn’t meet their goals. Six said they didn’t even set any and the other four didn’t follow up weekly or even quarterly to see they were on track or not or they simply got discouraged when they fell to far behind to catch up.
I encourage you to find that marketing company that will give you the proper training to help you sell in whatever market you have chosen, i.e. mortgage leads, final expense, etc. Also, get the highest commission you can get. Call around and see what compensation marketing companies offer along with renewals. You deserve the top commission because you are the one out in the trenches daily so get compensated for it. Good luck in 2008 and remember, “ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE”.
