 
By Helen Thompson
Behind every success story, there are a few situations that are partly motivation, partly determination—and often a few that are the “right place at the right time.”
For Greg Bailey, the 31-year-old founder and president of Bailey Partners, LLC, in Omaha, Neb., that success story began with a life insurance agent named Sandy Jo Goddard. She was the one who pointed Bailey in the direction of the life insurance industry, putting him in touch with a recruiter who got him into Northwestern Mutual’s college intern program. But the real story is how they got to that point in the first place, and it’s a story that continues to inspire Bailey today.
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“Granted, something is better than nothing, but all too often we give in too early and too fast.”
— Greg Bailey |
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“At that time, my dad was superintendent of my hometown school district in Elsberry, Mo.,” Bailey recalls. “Sandy Jo was in a neighboring town called Louisiana. She had a new client who was the superintendent of the Louisiana school district and referred my dad. She called my dad, and he hung up on her.”
If at first you don’t succeed …
A superintendent from another neighboring school district again referred the senior Bailey to Goddard, and she made another call. He heard her out this time, but said, “No thanks; have a nice day.” But when a third neighboring superintendent gave Goddard his name, Bailey’s dad relented. “She was building quite a nest of school superintendents,” says Bailey. “Third time’s the charm, I guess, because finally he agreed to have lunch with her.”
Through a progression of subsequent meetings, Goddard uncovered several insurance needs—not the least of which was that the life insurance policy Bailey’s dad had in place was with a carrier that had just gone into bankruptcy. They haggled over how much to buy, but ultimately, she persuaded the Baileys to get a $150,000 policy by mentioning the medical exam that would be administered free of charge with the higher policy amount. Life insurance saves lives, too
“We know today that was just part of the underwriting requirements of that company,” says Bailey, who serves as YAT Chair for NAIFA-Nebraska. “There wasn’t really anything free. Fortunately for all of us, he did buy the higher amount, he did go to the doctor, and he did get that ‘free’ medical exam.”
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Goddard uncovered several insurance needs—not the least of which was that the life insurance policy Bailey’s dad had in place was with a carrier that had just gone into bankruptcy. |
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The reason they were lucky? The results of that exam weren’t exactly routine. Bailey’s dad was referred to a dermatologist, who determined that he had stage 1 malignant melanoma. A few months later and the prognosis might have been profoundly different. But they had discovered it in time, and so he was treated successfully and has had no reoccurrences. “Sandy Jo persuaded my dad to buy more life insurance—and it saved my dad’s life,” says Bailey. Foot in the door
The Baileys had pictures of all their kids on the wall, and Goddard couldn’t help inquiring after them. Bailey’s parents proudly mentioned that he was an outstanding business student at the University of Missouri at Columbia, and an “entrepreneurially minded kind of guy.” She recognized the fit, and that landed him at Northwestern Mutual, where he stayed for the next seven years.
Now comfortably ensconced in his own brokerage firm, he still looks at that experience as the thing that drives him. “It goes to show the importance of the products our industry provides,” says Bailey, whose mother recently survived cancer that was diagnosed soon after they took out a new long-term care insurance policy. “But it’s not just the products; it’s the process,” he adds. Don’t give up
It’s easy for advisors to relax and fall into the mindset of “I’m just going to give them what they want,” Bailey says. “Granted, something is better than nothing, but all too often we give in too early and too fast, and we don’t stand up for what we believe and know to be the ultimate right thing for the client.” Bailey always thinks back: What if Goddard had said, “OK, Mr. Bailey, you can just buy the $100,000 policy.” His dad would not have gotten that medical exam, and they would not have caught his cancer. Or what if she had said, “Well, this guy hung up on me; I’m never calling him again,” or what if she had given up at any other stage in the process?
It’s possible to be persistent without being overbearing. Just remember—your clients are the ones who get the payoff when you succeed.
JANUARY 2006
Don’t Buy That New Computer (or Software)
Five Steps to Success
Becoming a Media Resource
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