I remember when I started my career as a Brokerage Supervisor for The Paul Revere Insurance Company, my job was calling on life insurance salesmen for other companies to persuade them to sell our disability income insurance to their clients.

We sold a great product and I was calling on the top earning agents in Boston at the time.  And most of these heavy-hitters, as we called them, would say, “I want what is best for my clients and don’t care about commissions…  By the way, what are your commissions?”

One of the reasons why I became successful at that job was because I understood their behavior and knew the truth.  I talked up the policy features and appealed to the agent’s desire to provide the best policy for their clients and in the process would subtly convey that they would enjoy a large commission too.  However, I did it without actually saying it.  I learned early on, it isn’t what people say that matters, it is what they mean.

###

© 2012 Steven M. Stroum