Fail Your Failures Fast

One the biggest challenges facing the small business owner, or agency owner, is the challenge of hiring competent talent and training them to do the job well. Talent acquisition is one of the most difficult processes for an agency owner to undertake for a number of reasons, least of which is the time and money invested in recruiting, interviewing and managing a new employee in order for them to bring in a positive return on your overall investment in them.

Acquiring the right staff, for the right position at the right time can be the difference between continued profitability and viability as a presence in the marketplace or a slow, financial death for an agency owner.

As the old sports cliché goes; “You can’t win championships without good players; but you can lose championships with good players as well.” In other words, staffing issues for the agency owner exist in two distinct realms; the realm of recruiting good talent and the realm of managing good talent. The successful agent owner has to learn to operate in both spaces in order to thrive or even survive in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace.

The following principles regarding talent acquisition & assessing the hired individual for continued employment purposes is from a “high level” perspective. I leave it to you to decide on the details of how you can execute on these principles and develop an effective agency team.

1. Take your time in screening and interviewing candidates when looking for talent to work in your agency. Hiring is a significant commitment; it’s nothing you should hurry along. Be patient…

2. Recognize that your first hire into a position may not be the last hire you make for that position. Oftentimes, it takes several hires before the right fit for the position is discovered.

3. Never be in a hurry to commit relatively large sums of money and additional emotional and intellectual equity into someone…The process of hiring must be a deliberate process and not random. It must also be a cautious process…without urgency if at all possible. So, always be on the lookout for talent. Keep a scouting book with you that will contain a running list of names and contact information of possible future candidates for consideration. Keep resumes on file for that day when you find yourself in need of a staff person unexpectedly.

4. Fail your failures fast. People reveal themselves rather quickly as a general rule. If the “omens” are not good; that is, if the new hire’s performance is subpar early on in the on-boarding process as a new employee, make the decision to fire them quickly and decisively.

Recruiting and hiring is a lot like buying and selling a stock on the
New York Stock Exchange. Too often, once an investor decides on a stock and purchases it, they become “married” to it, in a sense. That is; an investor often holds on to the the stock even though it is performing poorly. Even though every indicator is suggesting that the investor minimize their losses by selling at a price lower than they had originally purchased the stock, the investor can’t let go.

As a result of “hoping against hope,” the stock does not “come back” and the losses the investor might have sustained yesterday, pale in comparison to the losses they face now from waiting too long to sell.

Don’t do that to yourself or your business. It’s okay to fire someone who is not performing in the position they were hired to fulfill…

Fail Your Failures Fast…Or else suffer the consequences of a bad decision turning into a disastrous decision for the entire business venture.

Copyright © 2010 - Tony Cefalu

Dating Taught Me a lot About Success in the Sales Profession

I was never a “babe” magnet…And “mojo” was a “no-go” for me when growing up. Okay; who am I fooling, it is the same for me even today as an adult! I don’t possess that ‘X” factor when it comes to meeting women or getting a date.

Experience has a lot to do with maturity and an understanding of circumstances and the facts of how life is and works. For me, I have looked at my past…as pathetic it may seem to others, and have been able to interpret it in a positive light as best as I can.

The sum total of our experiences is only relevant and valuable to the extent that we interpret and apply correctly the lessons of the past to the present time. For me, looking back at my dating experiences proved to be the best proving ground for my future success in the sales profession.

I Heard “No Thanks, I’m Not Interested,” a lot…Unfortunately.

Yes, that is true; I would ask girls out on a date only to hear them say back, “No thanks, I’m not interested.” It got so bad that when I would approach a girl to ask her out, I would say something like this, “I know you’re probably busy, but would you possibly be interested in going out tonight for dinner?” 

Of course with such an approach to women, I was predisposing myself for rejection so that the “let down” wasn’t so painful. It wasn’t a good tactic, but then, I’m not the first person to have ever behaved that way. I’m sure of that…I was so used to rejection that I helped set it up whenever “prospecting” for a date.

How about with you; are you guilty of the same behavior? Maybe it isn’t in the dating realm that you can be accused of applying the same logic and tactics, but what about in the sales arena? Don’t do that to yourself…Don’t predispose failure and serve up rejection for yourself by the very things you do or even say to people. Be hopeful, be positive and expect…success. Expect that you will get “the date.”

Lesson #1: Expect a date when you ask for one. Don’t predispose yourself to fail…If you do…then you guarantee failure will happen.

Even a Blind Squirrel Finds a Nut Every So Often

Then it happened; she said, “Sure, let’s go out.” Crap; “What do I do now?” I really hadn’t expected to get a “yes” from anyone! Then it hit me; I should have expected a “yes” all along.

Why; because I kept asking women if they would like to go on a date. It stands to reason; the more women I asked out…and the more often I asked them, eventually someone was going to say, “Yes.”

Lesson #2: The secret to “mojo” is to ask as many women…as often as possible to go on a date with you. The Law of Large Numbers is the secret to “mojo.” So work your mojo and be persistent in asking people to meet with you about insurance. Ask a lot prospects…as often as possible, and eventually someone will say “yes,” I guarantee it.

You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don’t Take

Hockey legend, Wayne Gretzky, is credited with the above saying. He is right. If you don’t try; you don’t get…what you want. After becoming numb to hearing,  “No thanks, I’m not interested,” I decided that I would employ my process of asking a lot of women as often as possible if they wanted to go on a date.

Not being particularly gifted with a lot of mojo, I figured my persistency coupled with simply “asking” for a date to as many women as possible would pay-off; and it did.

Lesson #3: Sometimes you score…sometimes you don’t. You never know until you take the shot. So take the shot and talk to that prospect you have always wanted to talk to but haven’t worked up the nerve to do so yet…Ask for the sale even if you think they won’t buy…If you don’t take the shot, you can’t score. (I know; I am going to catch all kinds of crap for using this analogy.)

Fish Where the Fish are Swimming

Obviously, this is another analogy I am going to pay the price for…In any event, what I mean here is that if I was going to be asking women out on a date, I had to go where the women were located in order to do that…Sounds logical, doesn’t it?

Well, if it is so logical, someone please explain to me why so many agents sit in their offices expecting prospects to just magically appear so they can sell them something? I can come to no other conclusion than that some agents must actually think that way; expecting “the sale” to walk right through their agency doors.  

People are not like that; they don’t come to you to buy…you have to go to them to get them to buy. So, fish where the fish swim. Seek out prospects actively. Think about where they are and how you can approach them to start a sales conversation.

For me, I never waited around aggressively for a date to show up at my door or to call me on the phone. I knew it wasn’t going to happen. So, I went out to where they were and I would meet them and talk to them. That’s how you get to know people and that is how sales are eventually made. It is the same with our industry and our customers.

Lesson #4: Swim to where the fish are swimming. Don’t randomly wait for opportunity; seek opportunity out. If you want to get a date, go to where the dates are waiting. If you “wait aggressively” for something to happen; you will end up “aggressively lonely.”

Just Having Fun

The point of this entire message is not to disparage women or reduce them to something less than “human.”  Women are to be respected as individuals. I hope that I am clear on that point.

Women are to be revered as the civilizing force in the world. They are our equals, our partners, companions, friends, soul-mates and loves. As my “idol” and mentor, Mr. T would say, “I pity the fool” who would think otherwise! (I am sure I lost some people on that last comment.)

So, I do not want to be misunderstood when I draw parallels to dating and the sales profession as if I am discounting the place of importance women have in our lives both personally and professionally.

I draw the parallel of dating and prospecting in the insurance industry all in fun with no intention to belittle or offend anyone. With that said, I did learn a lot of lessons while dating that unwittingly prepared me for a successful career in sales; those lessons summarized are:

Lesson #1: Expect a date when you ask for one…Or else, why bother asking.

Lesson #2: The Law of Large Numbers is the secret to mojo. Therefore, anyone can have mojo, or sales success, if they are willing to be persistent in approaching as many people as often as possible in engaging sales conversations.

Lesson #3: Sometimes you score…sometimes you don’t. But you’ll never know if you could have scored without first taking the shot and trying. If you never take the shot, you can’t score and win. It’s impossible…So take the shot and find out what sales success feels like.

Lesson #4: Swim to where the fish swim. Get up; and get going to where the prospects are swimming; else you will never make contact with them and will never get the opportunity to sell them anything.

That’s what dating taught me about being successful in the sales profession. Now get out there and find yourself a date; I mean, find yourself “a customer.”

Copyright © 2010 - Tony Cefalu

Ideas are a Dime a Dozen...

“Action is the measure of intelligence.” Napoleon Hill

Too often we are in search of that secret marketing formula that gets the phone ringing and customers coming in to buy. We hold seminars, showcase the “big hitters” in sales production at conventions, host discussion groups, and publish “best-practices” all in the hope of discovering the hidden treasure of sales success thought to be cloaked among the privileged and the elite class of sales professionals.

But for a nominal fee of $600, or some other ridiculous amount, it can be made available to the “masses” either by book or CD/tape. I heard it said that instead of learning the tricks of the trade, why not just learn the trade! This is sound advice for all of us—sales professionals and non-sales professionals alike.

Learning should Lead to Action. Simply "Knowing" Means Nothing.

"Action is eloquence.” William Shakespeare

There’s no substitute for the sales professional who “gets is done” in terms of results and sales growth and profits. Getting it done reigns supreme over the sales professional with ChFC, CLU, FLMI, AIC, CFP and any other designation the insurance and financial services industry can envision.

Please do not misunderstand me. Professional designations are important. They lend a lot of credibility to the competency of an insurance & financial services professional. But they mean absolutely nothing beyond proof of an individual’s ability to pass a test if the knowledge gained in these courses is not applied to everyday life as a professional.

Don’t confuse your classroom attendance and book learning with accomplishment and results.

One is simply the means to accomplishing the other if put in proper perspective. I have known people to be involved in all kinds of activities, attending sales seminars put on by marquis named sales experts who hold every designation imaginable. But they fail to link learning to results.

I believe in being a lifelong learner of the sales profession and the insurance industry. I am one of the biggest advocates of personal development and growth, particularly through the many opportunities our industry provides for its people. What I am an enemy of is knowledge for knowledge’s sake. For me, the display of real genius is in the application of what we know and have learned to the benefit of customers and the industry.

“I can’t spare this man; he fights.” Abraham Lincoln on Ulysses S. Grant

One of the most frustrating things facing President Abraham Lincoln was the failure of his generals to “execute” on the battlefield. As brilliant and learned as they were, their weakness was in failing to place their best efforts into how to execute those battle plan strategies and ideas on the field in order to defeat the enemy.
Of the military leaders President Lincoln could have chosen to lead the union forces; he chose the unpolished, but accomplished and results driven, Ulysses S. Grant over other learned and sophisticated generals of the time. Why; because Grant linked knowing...with doing. That was genius.

I know for many sales managers and agents managing their sales teams this frustration is all too familiar. Yes, ideas are precious, they are generated often times out of adversity or the need to overcome some difficult obstacle and they are not to be taken lightly when conceived and envisioned.

But, ideas are a “dime a dozen” if not executed.

Do not put your best effort in coming up with or co-opting the next big sales or marketing idea. Put your best effort on the execution of those ideas you already know to be effective and successful. The real “magic bullet” solution to most sales problems and slumps is the simple need for execution.

Examine your in-book and out-of-book customer base and marketing strategies. Write down the two to three strategies you know to be successful if executed. Be careful not to overburden yourself with too many strategies. Simply choose the top two or three strategies that will work. Once that is done, now work them! Execute. Invest your time; your energies into making something happen.

Act, Do, Execute.

While others continue to rack their brains and search the endless horizon for sales ideas and strategies, you’ll discover the true secret to success . . . execution.
In regard to those circumstances that you can control, stop the excuses that are so common to other sales professionals who are not growing or experiencing increased customer retention. Quit delaying the time for action on those things you know to be effective marketing processes and sales techniques that you can employ.
No more reasons why you aren’t doing something, or aren’t growing. No more searching for the answers to business success; you know the answers . . . They have been presented to you countless times through training, experience, books, colleagues, and observation…

Don’t think me insensitive or out-of-touch when I challenge you in this manner. I do understand that business ventures vary, that they are not the same and that no two markets or their demographics are the same either. Yes; I do understand that many variables come into play in order to drive the success that many of us dream of in life.

What I am challenging you to do is to reflect on your efforts, consider your circumstances and look at them through the prism of honest self-evaluation. It takes courage to do that and I applaud anyone who makes an honest assessment of their agency efforts.

In those instances where you have a measure of control to act, do and execute on a process or idea…I say, “Do it, and you will be glad you did.”

The choice is yours. If not for any other reason, “Do it for…you.”

Copyright © 2010 - Tony Cefalu