June The Georgia Atlas
Issue 6.16
TOP 5 OF THE MONTH - MAY 2016 DISTRICT PREMIUM
OPENER PREMIUM
Douglass District $535,535 King District $230,000 Barganier District $68,797 Scales-Miller District $41,006 Perkins District $33,299
Mark Moorhead Anita Horton Sheri Mitchell Rebecca Bowden Sharon Lindsay
DISTRICT WELCOME CALLS
DISTRICT CONTRACTS
King District Graham District Chastain District Duggan District Scales-Miller District
6 4 3 3 3
DISTRICT 5K PRODUCERS – 2Q King District Graham District Douglass District Joiner District Scales-Miller District
$129,124 $55,089 $36,575 $28,429 $18,732
Barganier District Graham District Mehaffey District Joiner District Scales-Miller District
5 1 1 1 1
DISTRICT 10K PRODUCERS – 2Q 4 3 2 2 2
Douglass District King District Chastain/Graham/ Hill/Lindsay Districts
4401 Northside Parkway NW, Suite 710, Atlanta, GA 30327 770-392-8581
2 2 1
FROM THE HEART OF TSM JESSE DAVIS Success does not carry the same meaning for everyone, but no matter how much the definition of it may change for every person, the difficulties on the road to success remain the same. Facing difficulties is a common denominator for every single one of us pursuing our dreams and passions. Anyone can dream day and night about being successful. Accomplishing the difficult tasks to reach a simple goal and still continuing to work is the difference between people who just dream and people who put their dreams into action. This is also the difference between those who give up and those who carry on. Here are a few thoughts on how to carry on towards your dreams: • Prove the doubters “right” by making mistakes. Prove them “wrong” by learning from those mistakes. Don’t be afraid of your mistakes. Instead, be afraid of victories that may shut down your creativity because you think you’ve reached a level of success where you don’t need to work on it anymore • Talk about ideas not people. Smart people discuss ideas, small people discuss other people.
• Accept insecurity and fear as emotions that cannot be avoided. You will be insecure and you will fear the outcome sometimes, but the thing is – never quit. The emotions will pass, the results will stay. • Do not seek credit for success. You will get the credit by doing the job well. Thank you for what you do day in and day out. Wishing you all a strong close to the end of 2Q.
THE CAPTAIN’S LOG
• Admit you need help. Ask for guidance – smart is the one who asks a question, the stupid one does not, thinking they know it all.
THE COMPETITION I was listening to a conference call presentation the other day and the host started to talk about how many competitors we have. Now, we always focus on the two competitors that we know most of all – A & A – but did you know that we have over 30 competitors that do something similar to us? Which led me to the question How do we beat them? The answer may lie in Jeffery Gitomer’s “ Little Red Book of Sales Answers”. Read this, learn and then apply. What’s the Best Way to Beat the Competition? All of you are hoping for some miracle answer. Well there is one. But it will take some
understanding to get there. And after this short piece you still may not get it. It’s subtle and requires more work than your doing now. The reward is that sales will become easier to come by. Take a look at the options for dealing with the competition and you’ll get a clearer picture. You all know the options: over under, around and through – well almost. Consider these: Around the competition. Getting around the competition requires connections, inside information and stealth tactics. Not to mention a bit of masterful political play. OK, OK it’s manipulative. And borders on sneaky. You have to “pull a move” to get the business. Is that bad? Depends. To get the order no. To get future orders is where the “depends” comes in. Depending on your “around” tactics, you may have gained a poor reputation. Be careful that your tactics don’t overpower your ethics.
Under the Competition. Bad strategy. All bad. Undercut them by lowering your price? A onetime win where everyone loses. Low profits. Market deterioration. And the next lowest price wins the same way. Through the Competition. Fighting has it’s place. And sometimes a fight will produce a win. Tenacity is great, but beating them down by talking trash is a losing position. Fighting them is a good philosophy. Sales is often a fight. But too often a fight for no reason. Some of the fight is based on the dreaded fear of loss, or desire-to-gain, rather than the less combative one preferred by the customer: desire-to-help.
Over the Competition. This is the ideal way. It assumes that you take the high ground. Now don’t get me wrong. It doesn’t mean sit back and
wait. It means rise above in a way that the competition has to respond or lose. Here are a few “over” ways. E-zine (electronic magazine). Seminars. Referrals. Build value by building profit. Earn testimonials and use them to get over again. Others speaking on your behalf is better than any sales pitch “against” someone else. I’ll give you one promise: if you invest the time and effort to go “over” the competition, you will be
qualified for the highest level.
competition. Building my own skills and writing. They keep reading my
weekly article in their hometown. Do you know them? Some. Most I don’t. Sales and competition share the same adage. “It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.” Sounds a bit stuffy, but let me assure you that it’s better to build your skills than to try and “beat’ someone. I go for “best” not “beat.” It’s a better, cleaner win. Do I always win? No, but I always feel I should have. I have a self-confidence that keeps me ready for the next opportunity. And I wake up the next day and go to work sharpening my skills.
Epilog: I’m not giving you a simple solution as I usually do. Rather, I’m presenting facts and philosophy and letting you make your own decisions on how you want to handle the competition. Some of you reading this will think my way is foolish, idealistic, or worse – not doable. That will only help the people you hate – the competition.
My ways of dealing with my competition (over or ignorance) are the hardest ways – but they work. And the longer you go over them, the more you can ignore them.
ACTIVITY BREEDS SUCCESS
Ignore the competition. I have spent the last ten years going “over” the
CHRIS COTTRELL
more fun. And once you reach a high level of “over” you will be
Regional Instructor
rewarded beyond your wildest dreams, and sales will be easier and
Territory Coordinator
COORDINATOR CORNER
TODD LEE
Integrity, it is a word in the insurance industry often neglected or outright ignored. The longer one works in our industry, situations will arise that will test all of us. Most all of us have learned the Golden rule; treat others the way in which we would like to be treated. To quote C.S. Lewis on his definition of integrity; “Doing the right thing, even when on one is watching.” Let’s face it, the insurance industry (sales people especially), get a very bad rap. There are times insurance sales people are on the same level as members of Congress. Service and integrity go hand in hand with every one of the accounts, policy holders, and employees we come in contact with on a daily basis. We may field phone calls from policy holders, or plan administrators that we have nothing to do with. Our contact with these individuals should be seamless in trying to help them, or put them in contact with the right person. Passing the buck, should not be an option. Think of it this way, we all hate the automated phone system that ask us to press 1 for this, 3, for that, etc. We throw our hand up and scream out loud, “Just get me a live person.” I know I do this more than I would like to admit. Nothing frustrates me more when someone does not make a concerted effort to help me, not just pass me off to some ones voice mail. If you tell someone you will call them back, do it! Service has always been a sticking point with everyone I come in contact with, I only wish everyone took this as serious as I would like. Service is as dying art, everywhere we go. If I go somewhere and get
bad service, you have one shot to rectify the situation. If the issue cannot be corrected, or an attempt to make things right, I am done. Then, I am going to tell everyone I know what my experience was like. I fully understand, getting involved with a policy holder that you may have had nothing to do with is time consuming. But, if the situation were reversed, how would you want to be treated or helped? Showing someone you care, or simply eager to help them, will pay off in the long run. Never lose sight that courtesy is free. It is impossible to be in our line of work, and not have service issues (and problems) come up. How we handle these situations, can and will have a major impact on how long we can keep a group, or policy holder happy. I often tell people that the voluntary benefits insurance industry has a “new car’ mentality. Meaning, I hope I can sell you a policy, but never have to deal with a claim or service issue. This is wrong on all levels. Service issues, claims, etc. will come up. How quickly you handle these situations will set you a part from the crowd. Since perception is reality, the next time an issue comes up, with an account, or policy holder, go above and beyond to show the individual what you are doing to help. Especially, if you end up speaking with someone that’s not our group, or policy holder. Show this person(s) what you will do to assist their needs. Then, make sure you make the person aware on our end, how you have helped this individual. You will be rewarded in the end. Service before, during, and after the sale.
Hello my name is Rachel Strickland the new Territory Recruiter. I want to thank everyone for welcoming me to the team and helping
me meet my first quarterly goal. I am here to assist each of you to achieve your goals and get you excited for recruiting! I want to remind the DGAs of the recruiting contest that will be held from June 6th- August 26th. It has many prizes that can help out their district in many ways. Lets finish this quarter out with a bang and
RECRUITING
Territory Recruiter
RACHEL STRICKLAND
start a new one with a head start! Thank you!