By Kamal N. Daya, CLU, CFP, ChFC
Here are the lessons I have learned in my first 100 days … and the following 10,850 days.
Lesson 1: Rejection is part of our business. Accept it; it’s not personal. Top producers know that prospecting is a numbers game, and that it is always the right time to prospect. Top producers do not view making calls as being pushy or intrusive, and they are not afraid to call on people of wealth, power and prestige. They also understand that the anticipation or fear of rejection (call reluctance) is always worse than the reality of rejection. If you have a good prospecting system and database, you’ll always have people to call on.
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Top producers know that prospecting is a numbers game, and that it is always the right time to prospect. |
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Lesson 2: You can and should define and design your target markets. Don’t let your natural markets define, limit and design you. Jerry Sacks, a multiple-time MDRT Top of the Table producer (and friend) emigrated from South Africa to Houston 30 years ago. He didn’t know a single person in Houston, yet he successfully defined and designed target markets that took him—and still keep him—at the top. (For Daya’s tips on developing a market that may be outside your comfort zone, read “Don’t Do What Comes Naturally.”)
Lesson 3: Be the best you can be. That means you need to:
- Keep your product knowledge and skill set sharp through continuing education and the pursuit of professional certifications and designations.
- Protect your credibility and image zealously.
- Deliver what you promise—on time. Finish what you start—on time.
- Avoid wasting time on activities that you can pay others to complete for you.
- Protect your confidence by surrounding yourself with a circle of friends, i.e. other agents who can serve as mentors and sounding boards for you.
- Join a study group. Form your own if you can’t find one to join. My group of 10 has been meeting for 20-plus years. I couldn’t ask for better shoulders to give me a boost when I really need it.
Lesson 4: Systems are your parachutes and safety nets. Adopt systems for every aspect of your practice. Systems allow you to extract maximum value from your database. Systems allow you to provide platinum service to clients. Systems save you time, money and aggravation.
Lesson 5: Invest in yourself and your practice. Spend dimes and reap the dollars.
Lesson 6: Markets always change. Always be open to new markets and new challenges. Remember, complacency is death.
Lesson 7: Understand your unique gifts. That means you need to honor your unique style and build your practice as an expression of that style.
Lesson 8: Don’t take yourself too seriously. Keep balance and humor in your life. Be grateful for the riches you have.
Lesson 9: Act. To quote hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” Take the shot. Pick up the telephone. Make the approach. Act.
For more ideas from Daya, be sure to listen to the podcast “Set Up a Prospecting System That Works.”
This is an excerpt from a much longer speech given at the 2006 MDRT annual conference. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Kamal N. Daya, CLU, ChFC, of Kamal Daya and Associates, is a 27-year MDRT member with eight Court of the Table and four Top of the Table honors, and a member of NAIFA-Dallas. Contact him at kdaya@ft.newyorklife.com.
March 2007
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