TAKE THIS JOB AND LOVE IT

Rough Notes, Feb 2005 by Weinberg, Michael J

No matter what your age, insurance sales offers opportunities and rewards

Admitting to being in the insurance industry for 35-plus years is bittersweet. On one hand, those years have harvested a depth of experience and knowledge. On the other hand, it's hard to admit to growing older. (It should be some consolation to know that my contemporaries are getting older, experienced and knowledgeable along with me!)

Throughout my career, I've remembered a lesson learned in my early insurance days. I, like everyone else, had my rough days, weeks and even months. Industry veterans encouraged me to keep my chin up with the assurance that with experience, the business would get easier each year. I never forgot those words as my career progressed and my time in the business lengthened.

Fast forward to 1998.1 was turning 50 that year and going through the same crisis that I seem to have endured in every new decade of my adult life. I was still trying to decide exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up. No, I wasn't unhappy with the insurance business; it was just something that I had been doing for 30 years, and I wondered if there was more to life than I was experiencing.

During that same period of time we were facing a major change in our agency because one of our partners (there were three of us) reached the age where he was ready to retire and take his capital out of the business. My other partner and I weren't sure what to do and what effect such a large cash outlay would have on the future of the agency.

Not sure exactly where we should be heading, we hired Bobby Reagan of Eeagan and Associates to help us formulate a future growth path. When I spoke with Bobby personally about my own career, he gave me perhaps the wisest advice anyone has ever given me.

Bobby emphatically told me that of all the options open to me, the one with the greatest potential was to take advantage of the decade of my 50s. Bobby carefully explained that I was at the point in my career where I, like others my age, presumably had more knowledge, more experience and more contacts and friends than ever before. And likewise, my contacts and friends were in the best career positions they had ever been in and hence had the most opportunities to send me large accounts.

Bobby also pointed out that the Forbes 400 List of Wealthiest Americans reveals that when you factor out those who inherited their wealth and those few dot.com-ers who made incredible fortunes almost overnight, the average self-made wealthy individual enjoyed most of his or her success after the age of 50, and it was no coincidence that wealth came with experience.

When I examined the Forbes list, and the many local millionaires with whom I was acquainted either personally or by reputation, I found Bobby's words to be entirely accurate. In fact, some of my wealthiest clients did not truly accumulate vast amounts of wealth until their 70s!

Drawing on my own experience, both my partner and I have written accounts in the last six years that we previously only dreamed of writing. And virtually every large account and policy came from a referral from one of our friends or clients. The accounts that we previously assumed could only be written by the "big boys" are now appearing on our client roster.

And most of all, it is not just profitable-it's fun. Our organic growth rate has topped 25% per year for six successive years. That's a lot of insurance from referrals! We're having more fun than we ever did, and as a result we are as committed to remaining in this business as we have ever been.

So what is the lesson in this story?

I think it is twofold. For younger agents, remember that your business does indeed get bigger and better every year. And with greater success comes greater enjoyment. You should use each workday to its fullest, knowing that you are building your own stepping stones for future sales and success.

The second lesson is for older agents like myself. There are two ways in which we can look at our sales careers. We can look back at the many years and think about how long we have been doing the same job. Personally, I get tired thinking that way for even for a moment.

Or we can look forward to the many opportunities we still have and be invigorated by those potential challenges and rewards. For me, there is only one choice.

My partner and I regularly work 60-plus-hour weeks. We are fond of saying that you can't put in those kinds of hours unless you really love what you are doing. Johnny Paycheck sang, "Take This Job and Shove It"; the better alternative is to take this job and love it.

Those of us in insurance sales are in one of the very few professions that allows entry with virtually no capital investment, offers absolutely unlimited income potential, and rewards the older agent who has longevity rather than penalizing or threatening him or her with younger replacements.

The bottom line is that this is a great business. If you are a relative neophyte, you have so much to look forward to. If you are a seasoned veteran, the business just gets better and better each day.