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It was January 24, 1848 when James Wilson Marshall, a carpenter from New Jersey,
picked up nuggets of gold from the American River near Colona, California. Marshall
was building a sawmill for a Swiss settler named John Sutter when he made the find.
As word of his discovery at Sutter's mill spread rapidly throughout the world, over
100,000 adventurers were lured to the area by the end of the following year for a
chance to get rich quick. The "Rush" was on! Some actually did get rich
quick, but for the majority searching for gold proved to be a long and painful process
just to barely manage a meager existence.
Most of the new arrivals rushed to the many mountain rivers and streams to do what
is known as panning for gold. These new arrival "panners" were called what?
PROSPECTORS! These prospectors knew after a certain number of hours panning
the streams they would find a small amount of gold in the gravel if they were lucky.
These prospectors also knew they could increase their take only by doing one or more
of the following:
1. increase the time spent doing the back breaking panning,
2. discover a richer or stream, or
3. stake a claim and become a "miner".
A minor was considered to be a little more up-scale than was the prospector and
his chances of finding the large valuable nuggets were enhanced. In part, I guess,
because large heavy gold nuggets don't wash down streams. Makes sense to me! In order
to achieve greater rewards in a more efficient manner than the prospector received,
the miner had to:
1. specialize, and
2. invest in his business (purchase a stake)
A few of these miners, upon uncovering a rich vein of gold or finding the "Mother
Load":
1.hired several employees
2.invested more money
3.began their own full scale specialized mining companies.
Reading of the gold rush days, as I took a four-hour flight to Eugene, Oregon a few
weeks ago, I couldn't help but equate the scenario to our own insurance sales careers.
The new agent is the panning prospector. He must put in long hours and tell
the "insurance story" over and over to nearly everyone who walks. Just
as the prospector finds little or no large nuggets, the new agent will experience
relatively small size cases resulting in low earnings. Not unlike the prospector,
the new agent must increase his activity level or upgrade his target prospect (change
streams) to increase his income.
The miner can be likened to a veteran agent who invests in his or her
business by hiring an administrative assistant and gaining the education necessary
to earn a professional designation such as LUTCF or CLU. Armed with this assistance
and education he now specializes in the business and professional markets, for example.
The highly specialized full scale mining company can be compared to the
advanced agent in our business who concentrates his or her efforts in one particular
arena such as estate planning. These agents invest their money and resources usually
working with older people who have numerous assets and who may face a substantial
Federal Estate tax liability when they die. As the "forty niners", which
they became known as, raced westward in search of their riches, foothills and mountains
soon came into view.
In their excitement these rugged opportunists did not see these elevations as obstacles
but rather as opportunities. Feeling their dreams were now close at hand, they often
cried out, "There's gold in them thar hills!" How true! By the end of the
Gold Rush nearly $2,000,000,000 in gold was taken from the earth!
And so it is in the sales profession. We encounter "foothills" and "mountains"
from time to time but we must keep our enthusiasm and focus on the rewards to be
successful. A national study conducted in 1994 revealed that the highest annual money
earners by profession were Sales People. There really is "gold in them
thar hills" -- for those who are willing to prospect! The freedoms offered in
the insurance industry today allow us to choose where we wish to concentrate our
efforts. The common denominator, whatever the area we choose, is that prospecting
is a never-ending journey for the successful sales person.
Successful sales people constantly prospect and maintain high levels of activity.
I am reminded of a chance meeting I had with a gentlemen about four years ago as
we waited together for the Super Shuttle outside the baggage claim area in the Dallas/Ft.
Worth airport. As we stood waiting, I couldn't help but notice his slightly oversized
bar-style tie clasp. On it was engraved two lines of block-style letters. The first
letters "YCDB". On the line directly below were the letters "SOYA".
Inquisitively I asked what the letters stood for. The gentleman replied that he was
in sales and at one time his manager gave the tie bar to each of his salesman to
constantly remind them of his one sure rule for sales success. . .
YOU CAN'T DO BUSINESS SITTING ON YOUR ASS!
So there we have it. Maintain a high level of activity no matter where you are
in the business of sales. Always regard prospecting as a never-ending journey and,
remember there is "gold in them thar hills"
You will be happy you did!
Jim McCarty, CLU, RHU, LUTCF, is the author of the fast selling book "Above The Line...Scorching Strategies for Sizzlin' Disability
Insurance Sales Success". For the past 25 years, he has been
a professional sales trainer, speaker and consultant specializing in the insurance
industry. Jim frequently appears as a main platform headliner and has been a presenter
at three Million Dollar Round Table annual meetings. Jim recently was presented with
the coveted Ernest E. Cragg Ambassador Award by the Life Underwriter Training Council
(LUTC). He shares his experience through dynamic speaking engagements, hard-hitting
audio tapes, and informative, nationally published sales achievement articles. Jim
is Vice President of Insurance Sales for the Eastern United States at Express Financial
Advisors.
SIZZLIN'
SALES SUCCESS
jimmccarty@ix.netcom.com
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