Life insurance agents arguably have one of the most difficult jobs in the world. After all, most people don't want to think about their own death, and considering purchasing life insurance forces them to do just that. No one understands this better than David Douglas Ford. As a life insurance expert who's been in the business for more than 30 years, Ford realizes that life insurance is a "very unusual profession," not to mention a challenging one.
In his book "Whole Life: Looking Back While Looking Ahead" (Glenbridge Publishing Ltd., 2006), Ford offers life insurance agents an abundance of valuable advice to help them navigate this strange and demanding industry. He explains that his book is "not really a history so much as a personal memoir." Through a series of amusing stories about his personal career experiences, Ford aims to "solve the mystery" of the life insurance business with his book. Here are some of the lessons he's learned during his lengthy career.
Don't forget to laugh
Ford explains that the life insurance business can seem particularly dismal, but if you take the time to "laugh and sing," you'll start to see the bright side of things. He says, "This life insurance selling profession is never truly as grim as it sometimes appears and we often just need to remind each other that our challenges are not unique to us as individuals." Ford points out that the best way to accomplish this is through a "nice shared chuckle."
Stop acting like a loner
"Enough with the Lone Ranger routine," Ford says. He claims that if you don't look to your fellow agents for support every now and then, you'll face a long and lonely road in this profession. "Okay, most of us life-insurance-selling folks are all stuck working predominately on our own," Ford says, "but there is no reason we can't occasionally buck the system and pretend that we have a partner to turn to for support."
Use your voice
Ford emphasizes that you must speak up both for and against things in the life insurance industry. Specifically, he says agents need to speak up against unethical behavior, unreasonable expectations, and above all else, mindlessness. "Mindlessness is when I find people in the insurance business just spouting off bromides and truisms that they have no reason to think might actually be true," he says.
Offer some support
"Not a single day goes by that I don't find someone in [the life insurance] profession who is downcast and discouraged," Ford claims. He says that agents should offer one another encouragement and support to help each other through the rough spots.
"I look back and realize that I have often received powerful motivation from others in the past at just the right time, and it has made all the difference at several junctures in my life," Ford explains.
Keep complaints to a minimum
"I really do complain a lot," Ford admits. He says it's easy for life insurance agents to complain that premiums are too high, underwriting is too strict, commissions are too low, and home offices are too "home officey." However, he says, we should all try to "tone it down a couple of notches" and see the glass as half full instead of half empty.
Ford gives readers a humorous, true-to-life examination of the life insurance industry by sharing his own experiences. He never takes on a preachy or condescending tone as he guides his readers through his stories and his perspectives on the business. Rather, Ford shows that he, like many life insurance agents, is imperfect and often becomes frustrated with this difficult industry. Throughout his unassumingly entertaining book, Ford reveals "a little about [his] life, a little about the life insurance business through the years, and a little about what it all has meant, or might yet mean."
"Whole Life" can be purchased at www.daviddouglasford.com. Amy Bell is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to the Agent's Sales Journal. Visit her Web site at www.writepunch.com or email her at amy@writepunch.com.
