Does This Account for Your Lack of Success?

Our company has interacted with thousands of life insurance agents.

Many are financially successful. We observe that those who lack success lack a skill that is fundamental to success as an agent. We call it “sense of other.”

These agents who lack the skill, as do most people in America, see everything from their point of view. However, financial success in our economy depends on seeing things from the other’s point of view. We call it “sense of other.” In fact, this is likely the one skill that accounts for the difference between financial success or failure.

An Illustration

Let me give a general example and then I will show how this “sense of other” determines an agent’s success or lack of success.

We hire telemarketers for our business. We ask in the interview about their prior positions and why they’re no longer in those positions. I hear these answers frequently:
• I’m not in that position anymore because I wasn’t earning enough.
• The company moved and I did not want to relocate.
• The company had a layoff.
• It wasn’t a good job for me.

These people answer the question from their point of view. Few of them realize they have an opportunity to answer this question in a way which will make them more attractive to our company as a new hire. They could answer as follows:

• I’m no longer at that company because I’m looking for more opportunities which your business seems to provide.
• The company moved and I have decided to only pursue remote positions, and your company seems to be a perfect fit for my desires and the value I can provide.
• The company had a layoff of the entire department, even though I was in the top 20% of performers as I would be at your company.
• The past position was not good for me, but your company has an environment where I can make a substantial contribution to your goals.

Rather than take the opportunity to display a sense of other, by explaining why they should be of interest to pour company as a new employee, they miss that opportunity and explain only from their point of view why they are no longer at a previous position.

Now let’s see how this applies to life insurance agents.

I Want Prospects for IUL

Life insurance agents approach our company seeking prospects interested in IUL. But this desire to find prospects interested in IUL indicates no sense of other. Let me explain.

If we ask a thousand people at random, “what is IUL,” maybe two out of the thousand can tell us. In fact, in nation with 197 million adults age 21+, Google reports this volume of average monthly searches on its search engine:

how to buy IUL: less than 100

what is indexed universal life: less than 100

where to buy IUL: less than 100

The data shows that there are very few searches about IUL. People cannot search for a product of which they are unaware.

My question to these insurance agents, “how can somebody be interested in IUL when they don’t even know what it is?” Agents that have a request for IUL prospects see the world only from their point of view and have no sense of how others see the world. I assert that this failed “sense of other” can be the single determinant in financial success or failure.

A Strong Sense of Other

Let me relate this anecdote from a very successful agent who had a strong “sense of other.” Jack asked us to find him prospects interested in 11 different financial products and services. We asked if he sells all 11 products and services. He answered, “No, I only offer a couple of those services. But I know that when a consumer responds to an offer for information about a financial product or service, they do not understand that product or service or how it works. Their interest expresses some financial insecurity or concern, and I am happy to speak with anyone interested in alleviating their financial concerns. “

So rather than seeking prospects “interested in IUL,” this producer sought out prospects with financial insecurity and had a full calendar of appointments and a significant income.

Other Examples

An agent is interested in finding new prospects. His email address is [email protected]. If I navigate to the site annuityadvisors.com, no website exists. It never occurred to this agent that a prospect might see their email address and navigate to that domain to view their website. Not finding the website, the prospect reaches the immediate conclusion that this agent must be fly-by-night and not a true professional.

Agents spend a lot of their time calling prospects. How many have considered the appearance of their caller ID on the prospect’s mobile device? Many do not know the following fact. The information which displays on the prospect’s mobile device is determined by their mobile carrier. The display will be different on an AT&T phone versus a Verizon phone versus a T-Mobile phone. The only way to standardize one’s caller id display is through a service called branded caller ID. Yet most agents have never considered that their number could show up as “spam caller” or “telemarketer” and that’s why prospects don’t answer their calls. It's another example of failing to have a “sense of other.”

If we extrapolate this agent’s low sense of other to their marketing and sales presentation, we can conclude that this agent will not be very successful. His communication is from his point of view which makes it very difficult to sell anything to anyone.

Poor Language Facility

Closely related to the sense of other is realizing that one makes a first and lasting impression in language. We quickly assess one another based on how well we use language (the ability to listen accurately and respond appropriately).

The Human Engineering Laboratory, at Central Florida University concludes, “If you are not earning enough money, perhaps it's because you don't know enough words. More than any other single factor yet known, vocabulary can often predict financial success!” The 30,000 vocabulary tests given each year by the Human Engineering Laboratory prove that big incomes and big vocabularies go together.

The Human Engineering Laboratory started in 1922. In its 101 years, it has consistently found the same result in its testing. Here is one such study.

A group of college seniors selected by a large industry as executive material was hired by the company to go to work after graduation. Each was given a group of vocabulary tests. Five years later, all of those who tested in the top 10 percent on a vocabulary test had become executives. Not a single person who had tested in the bottom 25% was an executive!

The Institute’s research does not explain why vocabulary is correlated with success. Is it because those who read widely have larger vocabularies? Is it because prospects have more respect and credibility for those with large vocabularies? We don’t know.

I suspect that much of the communication with prospects is so dependent on using language, that those who have facility with language and vocabulary are better at interpreting prospect desires and expressing how the professional can be of value.