Yes, AppMan wants to take this
opportunity to WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS! Let us not forget that the
Congress of these United States of America has declared December 25th
a National Holiday – CHRISTMAS.
No, AppMan is not going to sing “The 12 Days of Christmas", or itemize the
cost, which in today’s prices comes to $21,465 (a 1.8% increase over 2008).
AppMan would like to present you with "OPEN ME FIRST" GIFTS!
There are six gifts for
2010.
First, the most successful agents in 2010 will be those who see themselves
first and foremost as entrepreneurs, who also happen to have capabilities
in life insurance industry.
Second, in order to be successful, agents must systematically solve a
fundamental problem that AppMan calls The Ceiling of Complexity.
Regarding the first point, I don’t think it's news to any of you that the
global economy is going through a profound transformation caused by the
application of micro technology to every area of human activity. The
global collapse of, and in some cases growth of, bureaucracy is opening a
tremendous window of opportunity for entrepreneurs in every field of
business. Nowhere is this truer than in the life insurance industry. Those
life insurance agents who establish themselves as true entrepreneurs over
the next five years will be big winners over the next 25 years.
That brings me to my second point, the problem of The Ceiling of
Complexity, which is the fundamental reason why entrepreneurs in all
industries are failing to take advantage of their unique opportunities at
this time in history.
To examine this problem, let’s go back to the beginning, back when you
started your career as an agent.
All agents start off in business inexperienced. They all go from
inexperienced to experienced through “the school of transactions,” that
is, through a process of asking for and receiving checks in the
marketplace. If they get a check, they learn one thing. If they don’t get
a check, they learn something else.
After hundreds of transactions in this school, both successful and
unsuccessful, agents graduate to a point of being experienced. I contend
this occurs when agents become comfortable with their ignorance, when they
realize that future success does not lie in having the right answers so
much as having the right questions. At this point, the newly experienced
agent is suddenly able to see big opportunities. He or she can feel them,
can taste them, can almost reach out and touch them. In fact, he or she is
so confident of these big opportunities, there is a temptation to spend
the commission money before the prospects write the first check. But — and
this is where The Ceiling of Complexity begins — somehow the agent can’t
get to these big opportunities. All of the rapid success of the first
several years comes to a halt. The income which had been increasing
exponentially for several years comes to a standstill, which means there
is enormous frustration, because the agent now discovers that working
harder and longer does not produce higher results.
The problem is caused by complexity, created by a never-ending
proliferation of "stuff" — administrative details and obligations —
that accumulates from all previous transactions and now prevents further
growth results and performance.
There may be a burning desire for greater results, but there is no
capability to pull this off. At this point in a life insurance agent’s
career, a totally different approach is required — one that is radically
different from the training provided by life insurance companies. AppMan
has found that FINANCIAL MARKETS, INC has the gifts (answers) for us. Like
any gift, we just have to accept it and use it.
No, it’s not the “partridge in
a pear tree” and the rest of the 11 items. But it's 6 specific
strategies (gifts) that are needed to break through The Ceiling of
Complexity.
- Strategy (gift) 1:
Focus on vision and multiply progress.
When you hit The Ceiling of Complexity, it means you’ve run out of
vision.
The solution to this part of the problem of complexity is to equip you
continually with a powerful three-year vision of the future that calls
for much higher results and performance.
- Strategy (gift) 2:
Focus on free time and multiply productivity.
When you hit The Ceiling of Complexity, you’ve run out of productivity.
Increased rejuvenation equals more money. With more money, you can buy
more free time, so that your productivity can increase endlessly.
- Strategy (gift) 3:
Focus on delegation and multiply income.
When you hit The Ceiling of Complexity, your income is at 100% of its
potential.
The average $50,000 agent spends 80% of working time on stuff and 20% on
money-making.
The average $500,000 agent spends 60% on stuff and 40% on money-making.
To become a $1 million agent and greater, the proportion needs to be 20%
stuff to 80% money-making. The only way to decrease the stuff in our
business is through proper delegation. Gift: FINANCIAL MARKETS, INC is
very good at handling your stuff.
- Strategy (gift) 4:
Focus on relationships and multiply opportunity.
When you hit The Ceiling of Complexity, you’ve run out of opportunity
that can be created within your existing client base.
We need to cultivate our 20 best clients as a unique market niche. The
secret here is to understand — and believe — that the smaller the niche,
the bigger the market. Cultivating our 20 best clients means that we are
increasingly represented in the marketplace by 20 superb salespeople who
prospect, qualify, present and close. In this way the sales cycle is
drastically reduced in terms of time, effort and cost.
In order to break through The Ceiling of Complexity, our market must
become the marketer.
- Strategy (gift) 5:
Focus on strengths and delegate weakness.
When you hit The Ceiling of Complexity, you are stopped by your
weaknesses.
The big mistake that many agents make in delegation is to delegate
weakness to someone with the same weaknesses. But when everyone in your
business operates from strength, it creates a powerful team. Work
becomes enjoyable and energy-producing when we operate only from our
strengths — surrounded by a skilled team of other people who are doing
the same thing. Gift: are the skilled personnel at FINANCIAL MARKETS,
INC on your team?
- Strategy (gift) 6:
Focus on habits and forget about discipline.
When you hit The Ceiling of Complexity, you are stopped by your habits.
The truth is that everyone in the world is completely disciplined —
always has been, and always will be — to his or her existing set of
habits. The only significant change that can happen in our lives must
come from a fundamental change in our habits. Unless you change habits,
the future will be the same as today. Ah, the FUTURE!
In an essay titled “Good Guys Finish First (Sometimes),” Andrew Bagnato
told the following story:
1995, following a
rags-to-riches season that led them to the Rose Bowl, their first in
decades, Northwestern University’s Wildcats met with coach Gary
Barnett for the opening of spring training 1996.
As players found their seats, Barnett announced that he was going to
hand out the awards many Wildcats had earned in 1995. Some players
exchanged glances. Barnett does not normally dwell on the past. But as
the coach continued to call players forward and handed them placards
proclaiming their achievements, they were cheered on by their
teammates.
One of the other coaches gave Barnett a placard representing his
seventeen national coach-of-the-year award. Then, as the applause
subsided, Barnett walked to a trash can marked “1995". He took an
admiring glance at his placard, and then dumped it in the can.
In the silence that followed, one by one, the team’s stars dumped
their placards on top of Barnett’s. Barnett had shouted a message
without uttering a word: “What you did in 1995 was terrific, lads. But
look at the calendar, it’s 1996.”
It’s great to celebrate the
accomplishments of the past. But with God, our best days are always ahead.
Ah, the FUTURE — 2010! Each day comes with its own gifts, untie the
ribbons — that is why we call it the — PRESENT!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Written by: AppMan© |
