If my writing has any value at all, I attribute it to my wife of 52 years, my dearest Sharon. When I was in the service during the Korean War in the early 1950s, we wrote letters to each other every night for three years. We did not miss a night. On some occasions when I was on duty into the wee hours, I still found a spot to sit down at 3 a.m. and dash off a letter. Sharon did the same, making the time to write.
My themes this month are two: love and communications. They go together, and Sharon and I have been blessed to have so many years experiencing that truth heart-to-heart and hand in hand. But it's not limited to marriages; the connection should flow over into all our relationships.
First, in our business, we must love what we do. I grant you, some days our work is tedious, burdensome, and even frightening. But our goals and drive can be strong enough to help us press on and keep doing what we do for others. We can't do things for people that they cannot do for themselves, unless we first care about them. The name of the game is "client first."
As I've said before, the commissions we earn are the advance rent for the service we must deliver to our clients, now and in the future. We owe the service, even though some days, the job is overbearing and seems like it will never get done. Some days, after frustrations crop up with clients and home offices, we may mutter to ourselves, "Why do I keep doing this?" We may look at other people and think their occupations are better than ours, and wonder why we aren't doing that.
Some days, the commissions wax large, and some days they wane. Some days, we can conquer the world, and some days we wonder why we stay in this line of work. Some days, we make countless phone calls, and the whole world is out or busy, and no one calls back. But the overriding fact is that we love what we do.
When we talk to children, we get one-word answers. We ask them how school is going and they say, "Fine." We ask them whether or not they have homework and they say, "Dunno." The generation gap is really a communication gap. So we keep asking questions. It's the same in our business. We cannot survive, let alone thrive, unless we intentionally communicate, with energy and compassion. We have company fact finders and our own methods of talking to clients. The key is to find what works for you to keep the dialogue flowing.
For our clients, the top priority is their families. We can talk all we want about price, product, and profit, but the fourth "P" trumps them all -- people. If we serve them well, we not only gain the confidence of a satisfied client, we get professional and personal satisfaction ourselves. And then the communication will go both ways -- they will call us when they need something.
Contrast that with what we hear in TV and radio commercials. Technically, I suppose that's communication, but in reality it's just a cannonade of words. Think of the disclaimers many companies use. In the tag lines of radio spots, the announcers resemble auctioneers, machine-gunning whole paragraphs in seconds. Same thing, only visually, in TV spots -- the words scroll up at ridiculous speeds. That's what often passes for consumer disclosure. I find these impossible to understand, but they contain all the required limitations and contraindications, and communication is presumed.
Real communication is entirely different. You have to touch someone's imagination. Commercials and illustrations alone will not do the job. It requires making sincere contact with your listener. We can communicate in myriads of ways, from e-clutter to phone to mail to anything. Whatever methods we use, the important thing is the manner in which we use them. Our business depends on being forthright and upright and always there. We must speak to our clientele personally and with sincerity.
We also have to stay in touch with our clients on a regular basis. It is important to call them "just to talk." If we stay in touch in an informal way, our clients will be more receptive when we want to make annual summary reviews or discuss additional products or services that may benefit them. We can turn those important conversations into routine, regular calls when our clients are used to hearing from us routinely and regularly. Imagine the opposite case: what are your clients going to think if you only call them once in five years? (If they remain your clients for that long.) Annual meetings and regular phone calls in between are vital.
Let me tie this back to my main point. We have to love what we do. Enthusiasm and energy sell, and I do not mean just products. Lack of enthusiasm and energy will be obvious to clients and they will respond in kind. The love we have for our profession, or the absence of that love, will show through in our interaction with our customers. It goes on all the time, whether we realize it or not. And it makes a difference how we choose to communicate. Which do you think a client would rather get from you -- a letter, or a phone call so that you can converse and maybe set up a meeting? Paper is bloodless and lifeless, and I hate it. Meeting with clients is camaraderie, familiarity, and friendship, and I love it.
After 52 years, I love this business more every day. People ask me when I am going to retire. My response is that I am working on "OJR." They ask what that is, and I tell them, On the Job Retirement. You veterans out there who read this column know what I mean. There is extreme joy in being able to help people when they need us.
I once had a client call me in desperate need of a policy loan. His CPA was on the line, almost begging me to get the money within a few days. My client's business was struggling and he needed it for Friday payroll. I arranged for the company to wire transfer it to his bank within two days. Afterwards, the client called me and said, "I could be a poster boy for your company." I did not do much except make the phone call. But through the years I had helped set up a sizable amount of insurance so that the funds were there when they were needed the most, more than anybody could have expected.
Another asset of relationships is the friendship that develops as we grow close to our clientele through the years. We have become tremendously close friends with many of our clients. Only a couple of days ago, a widowed client was in my office reviewing the work we had done and asking about some new investments. She was only 52 years old, too young to be a widow. Her husband had died in a car accident about five years ago. With tears in her eyes, she thanked me for the work we had done together so that she and her children were not in dire need. We had done a full program and her standard of living was adequate. She made me feel superbly grateful, because she loved the work we had done, and that simply reinforces the love I have for my work.
We truly serve a noble cause and carry a personal responsibility for our clients. Just last weekend, I drove 50 miles to deliver a claim check to a long-time client whose wife had died. The check had arrived at my office the day before, and I immediately called the client to make an appointment for delivery. The family was not destitute, and it could have waited for a few days. But these people were good customers and friends going back more than 20 years, and I loved doing business with them. I loved going to their office, or having them visit me in mine. Now that one of them had died, I owed the service. Commissions are the rent you receive for the service you will give in the future.
I have heard agents say, 'Why not just mail the claim checks?' I cannot do that. I have never mailed a claim check unless the beneficiaries were out of town. Even so, my worst days in this business are when I deliver a death benefit. I know it is part of the business, and if I have done my job properly, the proceeds will serve the family well. But a client, or someone close to a client, has died and that affects me.
Which brings me back to communication. For those of you who have heard me on speaking engagements, you know I love to explain things right down to the bone. But the far more important skill in communication is listening. Your clients' stories are more important to them than your stories. Listening is a fabulous way to get the other party involved. Then they owe you the time for your conversation.
I close with a tribute to Sharon. All of you should do the same for your loved ones. She has loved me partly by encouraging my love for the business, even going back to the times when we sold policies at the oft-quoted "two dollars a week." She has been my backbone for all these years in the insurance business and more importantly, for our family. Love you, Sharon.
Love on and sale on!
This article was prepared by I. Burt Meisel. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. These opinions are not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. I. Burt Meisel is a registered representative of and offers securities and investment advisory services through MML Investors Services, Inc., 33533 West 12 Mile Road, Suite 295, Farmington Hills, MI 48331, Phone 248-324-9337.
