April 6th, 2007 → 8:43 am @ terry
Read this article and see if you can find an opportunity.
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I can’t remember where or when I first heard it, but this is one of my favorite sayings:
There’s two ways to get to the top of an oak tree – you can set on an acorn, or you can climb the tree.
Gotta go. Vickie is actually going to make me go work today. According to her, “We have miscellaneous stuff to do”.
April 5th, 2007 → 10:35 pm @ terry
Here’s the question:
how does someone get in contact with those that do the hiring and choosing. Like you said, the insurance companies and mortgage companies already have someone that they are using and they are using them because they are satisfied with them. So why would they choose us, why would they even waste their time looking at our ‘newbie’ flyer?
There are, of course, a few variables that will modify each contact attempt but there are some very basic and consistent steps:
Do not assume:
Do assume:
I talked with Jay Loeb, VP of National Creditors Connection, Inc., and he reaffirmed a statement I remembered from a previous talk, “If we have a good rep in an area, it’s her/his area to loose”.
What did Jay mean by that? It means that NCCI is not going to drop a good rep to try an unknown.
So what does that mean to a new rep trying to get work? It means that if and when you get assignments from NCCI, you want to be that good rep! It also means you have no idea if the good rep is in your area. It means you don’t know how many new clients NCCI might be taking on. It means you don’t quit trying to get assignments – ever!
Jay also repeated his belief that “bigger is not necessarily better. We would rather have a fantastic relationship with 1,000 reps than a so-so relationship with 50,000 reps.”
I felt extremely lucky to get in touch with Hank Cossingham, VP of Contractor Services at National Field Representatives, Inc.” Wow! Two VP’s in one day!
I tried to get Hank to tell me he did not need any new reps. Well, fat chance on that! We wound up talking a bit about how I might help him with his recruiting needs.
Then, I really had some fun. I talked with a vendor manager that wants to remain mysterious! I’ve always loved talking with this manager and always feel I get the real story. What did s(he) have to say? S(he) really appreciates the reps I refer their way and hope I can continue to recommend good people. By the way, Terry, can you consider working some additional areas for us?
I spent another four or five hours talking to people around the country. Not every company offered good conversation but most did. What did I find out? I found out that the three items in the “Do Not Assume” list were true today but only six of the items in the “Do Assume” list were true today.
If you are going to get in this business, then do it!
April 4th, 2007 → 9:56 pm @ terry
I have been agonizing all day over tonight’s post to the blog. I finally came up with a solution – it’s called procrastination.
I feel obligated to answer your questions to the best of my ability knowing my words may influence your decisions and actions.
The following inquiry is what initiated a sincere effort on my part to enlighten you on the topic of who and how to contact.
In order to complete this task, I have started calling “those that do the hiring and choosing“. I talked with one senior manager and one vice president today and I have pages of notes.
Tomorrow I will continue gathering information “from the horse’s mouth” and preparing my answer. Tomorrow night I will have the best answer I can assemble from the phone calls and notes.
Here is the e-mail inquiry I received. I have removed personal information and identifying comments.
Terry -
Thanks so much for the discussions. I’ve been busy (had a late night inspection last night) so I’ll be sending you the ad later.The biggest obstacle that my wife (and I to be honest) are having a hard time seeing is how does someone get in contact with those that do the hiring and choosing. Like you said, the insurance companies and mortgage companies already have someone that they are using and they are using them because they are satisfied with them. So why would they choose us, why would they even waste their time looking at our ‘newbie’ flyer? We are really having a hard time seeing our way over that hurdle.
Still in the middle of getting our ducks lined up prior to putting out our first flyers, it will take a couple more weeks to set up a LLC, get our fax machine and answering machine set up, etc. I’ll probably be bugging you more – thanks for the talks so far.
M.W. – that guy from Oregon
If this had been the only e-mail or phone call I received lately, I probably would not be taking it so seriously. But, I have had three similar discussions already this week. Clearly there needs to be some effort put into finding a satisfying answer. I hope to have that tomorrow.
(1•25)+(7•6.50) Finally a break!!