Month: October 2009

by Jacques Werth

One morning last week, I took a call from Josh.  He told me that he bought our book “High Probability Selling” and read it 8 times.  However, he hasn’t been able to sell anything.

“What have you been selling?” I asked.

“A network marketing business opportunity,” said Josh.  “I must be doing something wrong, because I know High Probability Selling has to work.”

“High Probability Selling doesn’t work for network marketing.  How did you get into that?” I asked.

“I was invited to a seminar and the presenter explained how you can make a ton of money in network marketing, I mean two or three hundred thousand a year.  A lot of people are making more than one hundred thousand in their first year.”

“Do you really believe that?” I asked.

“Yes, is there something wrong with it?”

“Well how are you doing?” I asked.

“I tried to sell the opportunity but nobody is interested,” he said.

“That’s probably because you’re not very good at lying,” I said.  “You must realize by now that the presenter was lying to you and to everyone else in the seminar.”

“I kind of suspected it, but they must be very good liars,” he said.  “So, what kind of business can I get into where I can make a lot of money without lying?”

“Do you have experience selling anything?”

“No, but I think I can learn to sell,” he said.

I asked, “Why do you think that?”

“Because I read your book and I just know I could sell that way.”

“What kind of work have you done in the past?”

“Mostly light construction, like home improvements.  But there are no jobs now because all of the skilled construction workers are fighting over the home improvement jobs.  And, there are not enough of those jobs around.”

“Some people make good money selling life insurance.  However, only about ten percent who go into that field survive.” I said.

“Do you think I could make it selling life insurance?” said Josh.

“I have no idea.  If you have the money, you could have a behavioral profile done that is a very good predictor of how well you will do in almost any profession.  But, the good profiles are expensive,” I said.  “Can you live on very little commissions while you are learning the business?”

“Yes, I could do that for at least six months, no problem,” he said.  “How do I get that kind of job?”

“By doing High Probability Prospecting, just like you read in our book.  But, now the product you are selling is you.  Can you do that?”

“I guess I’ll find out”, he said.

“Most insurance agencies will not give you a salary.  You only get commissions on what you sell,” I said.  “Also, make sure that they will let you sell the way you want to sell.”

“Thanks very much,” he said.

I said, “You are welcome,” and we both hung up.

Josh called again a day or two later.

“Well, I got a few job offers.  I just need to pass the licensing test,” said Josh.  “They told me that it is okay for me to use any sales method I want, as long as it is legal, ethical and does not get them in trouble with the compliance rules of the insurance companies they represent.”

“How did you get the job offers?” I asked.

“Right after I spoke to you, I wrote out a prospecting offer, and called all of the insurance agencies listed on the Internet that are within twenty miles of where I live.  On most of those calls I could not even get to talk to anyone in charge.  But, I did talk to about ten or fifteen agency managers and three of them asked me to come in for an interview.”

“So you had appointments for 3 job interviews after your first day of prospecting,” I said.  “What happened on the interviews?”

“When we met, the agency managers all asked me how I was going to find prospects.  I told them that I was going to use the phone to find prospects the same way I found them.  They thought that was great, and they all offered me a job.”

“Have you accepted any of the job offers?” I asked.

“No, not yet.  I want to finish prospecting my list first, and then decide which job I want.”

I thanked him and asked his permission to write his story on our blog.  I also asked him to keep in contact and to let me know how well he does selling life insurance.