Your success depends on your point of view

My company has interacted with thousands of life insurance agents. Many are financially successful. We observe that those who lack success also lack a skill that is fundamental to success as an agent. We call it “sense of other.”

These agents who lack this skill, as do most people in society, see everything from their point of view. However, financial success in our economy depends on seeing things from the other’s point of view — having a sense of other.

How it determines success

Let me give a general example before I describe how this sense of other determines an agent’s success or lack of success.

We hire telemarketers for our business. During the interview process, I ask applicants to tell me about their prior positions and why they’re no longer in those positions. I frequently hear these answers:

» 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 that will make them more attractive to me as an employer. 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. Your company seems to be a perfect fit for my desires and the value I can provide.

» My company laid off my entire department, even though I was in the top 20% of performers, as I would be at your company.

» My previous position was not good for me, but your company has an environment where I can make a substantial contribution to your goals.

In other words, rather than take the opportunity to display a sense of other by explaining why they should be of interest to me as a new employee, they miss the opportunity and explain only from their point of view why they are no longer in their 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 indexed universal life. 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 a nation with 197 million adults over the age of 21, Google reports the following numbers of average monthly searches on its search engine:

How to buy IUL — fewer than 100 searches per month.

What is indexed universal life — fewer than 100.

Where to buy IUL — fewer than 100.

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

A strong sense of other

Here’s an anecdote from a very successful agent who had a strong sense of other. Jack asked us to find him prospects who were interested in 11 different financial products and services. 

We asked him whether 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 instead of seeking prospects who were “interested in IUL,” this agent sought out prospects who had financial insecurity. As a result, he had a full calendar of appointments and a significant income.

Let me provide 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 a 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 that 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 services called branded call display. 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. Their communication is from their 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 language helps you make a first and lasting impression on others. 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 number of college seniors selected by a large company as executive material were hired to begin work for this company after graduation. Each senior was given a group of vocabulary tests. Five years later, all of those who tested in the top 10% 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 extensively have larger vocabularies? Is it because prospects have more respect for and impute credibility to those with large vocabularies? We don’t know. 

I suspect that much of our communication with prospects is so dependent on using language that those of us who have facility with language and vocabulary are better at interpreting prospects’ desires and expressing how we can be of value. 

Bob Richards is the vice president of marketing at Senior Leads. He may be contacted at [email protected].