Crisis Care Network recently produced this Inside Crisis video entitled "The Unique Impact of Violence." It addresses how violence affects people differently from other tragedies and outlines how Critical Incident Responders and leaders can facilitate resiliency. It was not created specifically for the Aurora incident, but Crisis Care Network and Insurance Thought Leadership hope it proves helpful in the days ahead.

We are deeply saddened by the sudden death of one of Insurance Thought Leadership's most signficant contributors. Yesterday, Harry Griffith was tragically killed in a traffic accident while traveling to a court hearing in Indio, CA.

Harry Griffith was a man held in high esteem by his family, friends and professional colleagues. He was a recognized expert in construction defects and insurance law.

Harry and I spoke on the phone weeks ago as he was preparing another series of articles for Insurance Thought Leadership. He and I enjoyed a virtual relationship on the phone and via email. I never had the privilege of meeting him face to face but my interactions with him will be remembered for years to come. He had a quick wit, a wonderful sense of humor, and always provided powerful insights into provocative matters.

We will miss his contributions to InsuranceThoughtLeadership.com, and the marketplace has a deep and wide chasm to fill.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Julie and his two daughters during this very difficult time.

Dave Dias
Founder
Insurance Thought Leadership

With more than 25 years of successful business and entrepreneurial experience, InterWest Insurance Services, Inc.’s founder, Tom Williams, has a diverse and colorful background, including an early career as a decorated Psychological Warfare and Propaganda Officer in the famed Special Forces Green Berets.

Throughout his career, Tom has lent his expertise to a broad range of insurance related activities. Following his Special Forces duties, Tom entered the insurance industry as a claims manager/investigator for a national claims organization. He later went on to form and run several successful insurance management entities prior to founding InterWest Insurance Services, Inc. in 1992.

In addition to his depth of experience founding and running insurance brokerage firms, Tom is also an accomplished author and viewed by many as an industry expert. He is the author of Dynamics of Selling 2000, a "boot camp" for property and casualty salespeople. Dynamics of Selling has penetrated over 80 percent of the 32,000+ independent insurance agency organizations in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Today, Dynamics of Selling is considered the standard sales and marketing training within the insurance industry. He is also the author of numerous trade articles on sales and management for the insurance industry.

• How many people are buying lottery tickets?
• How many people are at the gambling casinos hoping to cash in?
• How many people shipwreck their lives pursuing fame and fortune?

Perhaps a more subtle pursuit relates to this question: How many sales professionals are hoping to land the “big deal” so they won't have to work as hard, or ever again? Yes, big deals do occur, but they can seldom be planned for nor counted upon to deliver.

Then, there is this reality which brings us back to earth — “Steady plodding brings prosperity, hasty speculation brings ruin.” Proverbs 21:5

... and that's why we call it work.

Sales Ethos excellence compels the pragmatic reality that it takes time to build long term client value. There is no shortcut to building long term, sustainable, and growing relationships.

Why is this true? And, if it is true, how can I shorten the timeframe in order to win new clients?

It's true because prospects and clients long to work with people they wholeheartedly trust and are constantly testing our character and our competence. In order to shorten the sales cycle, one needs to ask and answer these questions:

• How does one engender trust?
• How is character developed?
• How is competence demonstrated?

Trust is defined as “confidence in and reliance on good qualities, especially fairness, truth, honor, or ability, or, the position of somebody who is expected by others to behave responsibly or honorably.

Building trust with a prospect is established by consistently behaving in a way that is consistent with what has been communicated. In other words, as ascending a stairway, each time you, as the sales professional, does exactly as you said you would do, then credibility and trust is built upon and movement up that stairway is a natural progression. Each time the prospect or client observes behavior which is inconsistent with what has been communicated, then trust is violated and descending the stairway, rather than ascending, becomes the reality. Trust is never static, but rather is ascending or descending the relationship.

Character is defined as “the set of qualities that make somebody or something distinctive, especially somebody's qualities of mind and feeling."

“Proofing” character with a prospect is how you differentiate yourself. How do you demonstrate your differentiation? Is it knowledge, access to unique deliverables or something else? Ask yourself this: What is unique about who you are and what you bring to the table? Character is also, according to definition, the way or manner in which you convey the message of who you are in order that essence of the message is delivered with maximum impact.

Competence is defined as the ability to do something well, measured against a standard, especially ability acquired through experience or training.

Demonstrating competence takes time. Your prospect or client must be willing to let you demonstrate competence in one way shape or form. However, sales professionals can sometimes create ways for the prospect to see your competence by the use of references or examples of work you have completed for another party.

At the end of the day, there are no shortcuts to the hard work of building long term client value. However, maintaining focus, whether or not you multi-task or not, is the key.

Your Homework Assignment:

• Rehearse building trust by practicing “trust” with your colleagues. Be willing and vulnerable enough to ask 3 co-workers to rate your “trust” and honesty factor on a scale of 1-10.
• Ask and answer as to why someone should choose you (your character) over your competition.
• Ask 3 colleagues how they would rate your competence.

Here's one provoking quote on the topic:

"Multi-tasking is dead. It never worked and it never will. Intelligent people love to sing its praises because it gives them permission to avoid the much more challenging alternative: focusing on one thing." Timothy Ferriss

I'm not here to debate either position, but the challenging nature of the matter does beg the question, "How are you doing at being focused in sales?"

Are we more successful in sales with a laser beam focused approach, or is there benefit to multi-tasking?

Here are some related words:

• Procrastination
• Distraction
• Tangents

Procrastination, distraction, and tangents are certainly the enemy in a sales driven, results oriented economy. Sales Ethos excellence demands vigilance and fortitude. If we're endeavoring to build long term client value and we're procrastinating, distracted or on an unproductive tangent, our clients suffer. We must conquer this sales and service buster. It's imperative that we get this one right!

So, how do we battle these obvious hurdles to sales ethos success?

Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:

• Clarity of vision
  • Do we really have a long term strategic vision toward our objectives and a plan for implementing that vision?
  • Are we in relationship with those who can team up with us to achieve those goals?
  • Is my plan written down and do I review it daily?
• Structured processes
  • What controls and systems are in place which will allow me to create mechanisms which move me toward the goal?
  • Who are those around me that I can communicate with what I'm trying to achieve?
  • How do I quickly identify a fruitless conversation so I can re-deploy my activities to those which will become fruitful?
• Understanding the roadmap of success
  • What senior personnel can I tap into for personal coaching?
  • Who is the most successful sales professional in the organization that I can begin to emulate?

Your Homework Assignment:

• If you have never written down your goals and vision for why you're a sales professional, do it now. Even if you're not satisfied with your answers, do it as an exercise of discipline. Vision and goals can always change but they are non existent unless they are written down and reviewed daily!
• Identify the top 3 "prospect" conversations. Evaluate their readiness for "client" conversion. If they rate low on a scale of 1-10, terminate the conversation immediately and continue prospecting for a more productive, qualified candidate.
• Ask the most successful person on your sales team to spend 30 minutes with you once a week. Ask them if you can shadow them one day a month for the next three months.

• "I will start exercising when I feel better.”
• "I will feel better when I start exercising.”

It's been my experience that I will feel better after the activity rather than preceding the activity. Hoping to feel better and somehow at that point being motivated to exercise is kind of like the saying "bass ackwards/" At least that's true for me. Sometimes I have to force myself to workout because my personal motivation is zero. After working out, however, I am re-energized for the day and the activity ultimately leads to better physical, mental and emotional well being.

The point is this: sometimes we must do the "hard things” first — before we see results — rather than hoping for results and then committing to do the more difficult task. I find this especially true in a sales career. The biggest difference between achievers and receivers is their willingness to do what the under-achievers won't do. Sometimes it's as simple as that. The achiever is not necessarily superior, intellectually advanced or far more educated than others. He or she simply decides to act on the disciplines in front of him/her. This even applies to our expectations. If we believe that we can achieve outstanding results, we're more likely to do so than if we don't believe we can achieve them.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about the easy "positive thinking” mentality that does exist in some circles. But I do think there is a correlation between envisioning what we can achieve in contrast to just going through the motions and accepting mediocrity. I think this is why goal setting is imperative and Sales Ethos excellence demands nothing less.

If someone really understands why they're behaving in a certain way, they can unleash all of their resources toward that goal. The right goals can provide huge motivation for setting in motion behaviors intended to achieve the intended goal.

Human performance, at its core, is motivation and ability.

Once motivation is understood the next step is goal setting.

Envision the long term idea of where you want to be using a 10 year horizon. Then, work backwards by asking yourself what milestones are necessary to achieve the ultimate goal. Breaking the milestones into bite-sized morsels is always easier than trying to eat the entire elephant all at once.

Your Homework Assignment:

• Specifically identify those tasks related to sales activity which you dread. What are they?
  • Cold calling?
  • Identifying prospects?
  • Organizing your day timer?
  • What else?
• Identify which part of the day is your "power time” or highest energy of the day, versus the time when you feel a lull coming on.
  • Early in the morning?
  • Mid day?
  • Right after 5 pm when the support team exits for the day?
  • Late into the evening?
  • When else?
• After you have identified those activities and times you dread most but know are necessary for peak performance, identify a "goal setting coach” that you can begin meeting with on a daily basis for the next 2 weeks.
  • Who is this person and how can they best serve you?
  • Communicate your assignment.
  • Establish a meeting frequency.
  • Identify which objectives are most important first.

I won't name specifics but it's easy to do an internet search and find many of these provocative sales words:

• Intimidation
• Get what you want
• Make more money
• Wake up
• Win
• Killer
• Etc.

Is that the right motivation for sales professionals — to do what is in their own best interests? Is this the reputation that you want to build — using one or more of those words to position your value proposition? I would adamantly say "Not"!

A better way is to listen and learn from your prospect exactly what it is that they're looking for in the product or service that you can deliver. Another way is to take a long-term view of the people you're working with and build a relationship that will stand the test of time. Building a strong relational foundation takes time. Sales Ethos professionals embrace the reality that nothing replaces quality and quantities spent with valued prospects and clients.

Having said that, listening is a lost art. Most sales professionals are so set on rehearsing and communicating their sales pitch that they forget to listen. Or, after a prospect is getting close to giving the order, I have seen many sales people talk the prospect right out of the sale — because they were talking instead of listening.

It reminds me of this ancient, enduring truth: "... he who holds his tongue is wise." Proverbs 10:19b

To effectively listen one must hold his tongue and:

• Actively listen and focus exclusively on the one speaking.
• Long for understanding and repeat back to the speaker what they have just communicated for clarification.
• Let the speaker finish their comment before responding. The unforgiving sin is interrupting the speaker to make your point!
• Don't let your biases and opinions get in the way of the speaker's point of view.
• Position your body language in a way that communicates your interest in what they're saying. In other words, lean in, make eye contact, and don't cross your arms!

In other words, as sales professionals, we must listen for the benefit of our prospect or client, and not listen merely for our own benefit. Benefits may certainly follow for the sales professional, with emphasis on the word "follow," but our first and highest mandate is to seek their best interests, not ours.

I have been in sales settings where I could not meet my prospect's needs. I neither had access to the product nor the service that would lend value to their current desire or need. I have discovered that those meetings are never in vain. I strongly believe that "timing is everything." One never knows when circumstances may change and value added.

Many years ago I was encouraged to meet a person who had just moved to our community. I was very interested in meeting this person, not only because of shared values expressed by the brokering party, but also because Paul worked for a very large, name brand organization that I longed to call my client. For some period of time we met, I listened intently, and we developed a very meaningful friendship that lasts to this day.

About two+ years later I discovered that changes in his work environment would now allow our organization to provide a very compelling value proposition. I morphed my friendship with Paul into an even more meaningful client relationship, largely because of timing, patience, caring and listening.

Your Homework Assignment:

• Define and study the word empathy to improve your listening skill. How can you immediately apply this learning at your next sales prospect or client meeting?
• Study and develop 5 dynamics of "body language" and how it affects interpersonal relationships. What can you conclude from your study as to the immediate application of your learning in your next prospect of client meeting?

In January 2001, Larry Broughton founded Newport Beach, CA-based Broughton Hospitality — a comprehensive management and development group, specializing in the hospitality industry.

The Broughton portfolio currently includes more than twenty hospitality projects throughout California, and Chicago, IL. Larry is an experienced, upbeat leader skilled in building companies and organizations. Prior to forming Broughton Hospitality Larry served as Vice President & Partner of San Francisco-based Joie de Vivre Hospitality. Since forming Broughton, Larry's creative approach to business has been featured in news articles and on television and radio nationwide.

1. "The truth will set you free." John 8:32 (NIV Bible Translation)
2. "It's amazing what you can accomplish when you do not care who gets the credit." Harry S. Truman
3. "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." Teddy Roosevelt, "Citizenship in a Republic," Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Guiding Principles are foundational for building long term client value. These tenets are so important that if a sales professional doesn't fully embrace each one of them, then failure is certain to follow. Adhering closely to each principle is like a rudder on the ship that keeps it steadily on course.

Let me dissect each one of the three Sales Ethos guiding principles for further clarification, understanding and application.

The Truth Will Set You Free
If this is true, and I believe that it is, then the opposite is also true: error and/or falsehood will keep you enslaved. Here are some elaborating thoughts on the truth.

• Truth always stands the test of time.
• When you speak the truth you never have to hide; in other words, you never have to look in the rear view mirror to remember what was said.
• Truth puts a skip in your step because it is liberating and emotionally validating.
• Truth shines like the light of day.
• The truth will, sooner or later, became known to all parties.

Vast amounts of information are required and maintained in the insurance industry. The colossal amount of information that an insurance buyer must provide to the brokerage and carrier can be overwhelming and exhausting. Repeated requests for information from multiple sources out of the buyer's control, over an extended period of time, can fatigue even the most diligent professionals. It's easy to become discouraged, take a shortcut, or long for the easy way out. Sometimes it's tempting to not pursue all of the information requirements or, in some dreadful cases, prevent information from being learned or going so far as to deceptively conceal information that might be compromising for the placement of a policy. In other words, full disclosure and reporting of all truthful information is a Sales Ethos value.

I have seen underwriting decisions adversely influenced by not having all of the information because it wasn't appropriately disclosed. I have seen individuals hurt as a result of this unprofessional behavior. Sooner or later, however, the information was learned by the various parties involved. Reputations have been damaged by these disclosures because the information should have been made public. Relationships have been forever altered because trust was violated. Sales Ethos advocates for the truth to always reign ... every time and in every circumstance. Long term value can never be fostered when trust has been violated.

It's Amazing What You Can Accomplish When You Do Not Care Who Gets The Credit
Sales professionals who give credit to the supporting team can achieve astounding results. I find that many sales professionals want to get all the credit when things go well and cast all the blame when things go bad. That's a huge mistake. Most of us in sales have a very high ego drive which is one of the reasons we're driven for sales success. However, that drive must be tempered with a humility that only comes by letting others take credit for what they do best ... which is usually supporting the sales team. I have discovered that when credit is given to the support team they are:

• Very surprised to get the recognition
• Incredibly grateful
• Highly motivated to deliver more value

I have seen this circumstance over and over again. The best example I can give to you is one of my associates named Chuck. Chuck is a very capable account manager. In fact, his technical expertise is well regarded. Chuck has always been more than willing to support sales professionals. His past experience, however, was that the sales professional rarely gave Chuck appropriate credit for his work. It was very dishonoring and de-motivating.

I began working with Chuck about 6 years ago. When we began our relationship he was tentative and categorized me as one of those conventional sales people who gave no regard to the supporting team. When we began working on our first prospects Chuck did an extraordinary job and we converted several prospects into clients. When I publicly acknowledged Chuck's very good work to the converted clients and internal team members, Chuck was really surprised and grateful. Our relationship blossomed and Chuck's work ethic ramped up to a new level that I had never seen before. He was motivated more than ever before to serve the clients needs and to support me. Chuck realized that I didn't care who got the credit (especially myself) and that my motivation was what was best for our client. Sales Ethos promotes a culture where each contribution is honored and individual egos are checked at the door.

The Credit Belongs To The Man Who Is Actually In The Arena
I love the business of sales but have always felt it's a very, very competitive environment ... and more competitive than most people realize. As an insurance broker, not only must the prospect be convinced to buy from you, but the prospect must terminate (or fire) his existing advisor. This is no easy task for most prospects because relationships are placed at high risk when someone loses.

It takes great determination and focus to engage in the sales battle, especially with the degree of rejection that is definitely part of the work. But there's no greater feeling than that of closing the deal. Sales euphoria is the best way for me to describe the emotional win of a new client relationship because you realize how hard you worked to secure the relationship.

I relish the discipline and focus required in sales. Facing rejection is likened to one, “whose face is marred by dust, and sweat, and blood, who, strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again." That's kind of what rejection feels like, doesn't it? We get up and go into the new battle every day because we know we're spending ourselves on a worthy cause. We know we're building long term client value. I love daring greatly, even when I face rejection and defeat. Sales Ethos recognizes that a sales profession can be an ongoing “battle” but willingly engages the challenge.

Your Homework Assignment:

• If the truth sets me free, and error and/or falsehood keeps me enslaved, then what is it that is keeping me enslaved right now? What are the top three behaviors that I need to change right now? Identify areas where you have been less than truthful with a client and rectify the situation.
• Do I care more about who gets the credit than accomplishing the goal of building long term client value? Do I find myself taking credit for other's good work? Who on my support team should I acknowledge today for their valuable contribution? Acknowledge one support person's contribution to a client relationship, both to the client and internally.
• Do I embrace the disciplined and focused challenge of the daily battle in a sales career? How can I stay motivated and better engaged in my professional endeavors? What resources are available to me today that will take my emotional engagement to the next level?