TO GOD BE THE GLORY
I would like to share how the Lord blessed me soon after my accepting Him as my Savior, John 3:16, and how I applied Scriptural principles to my professional life. However I think it is important to know my professional experiences prior to my salvation, so you can see the tremendous difference. Those days were not as successful as I would have liked; they were the days of uncertainty, frustration, and fear of failure. It was like living in a pressure cooker, always wondering and concerned about where my next sale or new recruit was coming from. People weren't as receptive to life insurance sales people as they are today. It was difficult and failure was almost the expected, only 8% of the agents hired survived, and average income was approximately $2,000 to $3,000 for new hires in their first year. I believe my fear of failure got me through the early years until I was promoted to management with Mutual of New York. My second agency with MONY was in Whittier, Ca, an agency that should have been closed long before I arrived on the scene. I spent 4 long years in Whittier, did everything right and still the agency did not do well. The only good thing that happened in Whittier was the day I hired George Geftakys as my assistant manager, and he led me to the Lord.
How it all came about is interesting, at the time I was drifting spiritually and was looking for something that I could introduce to my two boys. I was a religious person at that time, but something told me that this was not the way to continue. My responsibility was to choose a way that I could be part of, along with my family. When I interviewed George I noticed in his resume he had a very extensive education in religion, and I thought he might be a person with whom I could sit and discuss things and get some answers. I told him of my searching and he suggested something that almost made me regret asking. He said he would be glad to discuss things and we agreed to meeting the following Wednesday at 7:00 AM for an hour. He then said he would like to bring along a friend and introduce me to him. When I asked who that might be, his reply was Jesus Christ. That surprised me and concerned me as well because I already knew who Jesus was; after all I was born and raised in a religious atmosphere. My Mother and Father tried unsuccessfully to get me to change to their Jesus but I told them I already had my Jesus and they should not bring up the subject ever again in my house. Pardon me for drifting but for those who haven't heard my testimony, I thought it necessary.
Let's get back to George's request, I reluctantly agreed and we met. He came with his 'friend' Jesus who was contained in a Bible and we had our first Bible class, one of many that would last for years to come. George suggested we would study a chapter each week, meet and discuss what it was saying and how it applied to our lives. Needless to say, when I discovered that Jesus wasn't dead and what He died for on the cross, I became a born again Christian in accordance to what Jesus told Nicodemus in the garden, John 3:3-6; and that changed my life. As I look back now I can see that in all the years I was a religious person I was looking to the doctrine of the religion as my salvation, and not Jesus Christ. The single most important thing George impressed in my mind was that if it isn't in the Holy Word (Bible) then forget it. Opinions are plentiful and cheap but the Bible is not an opinion of anyone's imagination; it is the inspired word of God Himself. Some say it takes faith to believe in the Bible and I do not disagree with that, however, I believe one should consider the Bible in its entirety, and perhaps they may find it difficult to arrive at any conclusion, other then that the Bible is truly inspired by God and therefore inerrant. I am not saying they must believe in it, just that they should admit to its accuracy if they were honest with themselves. I live and read the Bible with that thought and is the reason why I emphasize the zero value of personal opinions and real value in the Bible. I do believe I got on my soapbox for a moment, so please forgive me and I'll jump off.
Soon after my conversion I believe the Lord was closing the door on my career with MONY and opening up a new door with another company. My former partner, Ben, called me one day and told me that Ralph Lindop was interested in hiring me as a General Agent for UNAC in the Orange county area. I jumped at the chance to work for Ralph because of a system of marketing he had developed many years ago in New York city that earned him a tremendous reputation, and I was very familiar with it but was never able to fully implement it. When I fully implemented the system, which was called the Cycle of Success, it was then I realized this system was based on Biblical principles. It encompassed the sales presentation, the delivery of the product, the referral process, the transitional interview and the definitizing of appointments. In the following paragraph I will attempt to demonstrate how the Cycle worked and why I dedicated my professional career to it. In my agency, it was use it or lose it (your job). My people believed me when I terminated a person who was earning a pretty decent living with me but was not using the system. You know the theory about one bad apple.
The first step in the sales process was to make or definitize an appointment. I would stress this to my agents, as the Lord did to His disciples, i.e. to look for someone with whom you were able to immediately establish a rapport, or a meeting of the minds, if you will. Without this the interview would be a waste of time, if the prospect showed up at all. Jesus told His disciples to leave the village and shake the dust from their feet if they weren't welcomed, Mark 6:11. Open-minded people were necessary. If the agent quoted the appointment making process verbatim there would never be a need for sales pressure. It's similar to quoting the Bible, no deletions, no additions, let the power of the word spoken be the convincer. When the system was followed it worked.
The sales presentation was a masterpiece created by Ralph when he built his agency in NYC and was the leading producer for Monarch Life. It was composed of third party material in anticipation of every legitimate objection a person could think of. Third party material gave the prospect unbiased, convincing and motivating information with which they could make an intelligent decision. This is much the same as a person sharing the good news of the Bible and using it as the source of information from which a person with an open mind and sincere heart can make an informed decision. Each anticipated objection was overcome by using unbiased third party material to prove a point at least three times in advance of the objection. Again, this is the same as the Bible saying and proving things time and time again, 66 books I believe do lead up to the cross. If the sales agent delivered the presentation verbatim, all he had to do at the end of the interview was to ask for the application to be filled out. Just like the Bible when it is quoted, let its own power be the closer. We cannot force conversion, if they believe they will buy. One of our favorite statements was, "Buy don't buy, just listen." My agents were taught to leave the interview after the presentation with or without the sale being made. The idea here was that if the presentation were made verbatim, there wasn't anything to be done except irritate everyone. We learned pressured sales usually resulted in a lapsed policy. A forced commitment to Jesus was not what Jesus wanted. People who listened and purchased had peace of mind and the security of knowing, should the need arise, they were protected, and as we all know that need will arise, we just don't know when. When people accept Jesus they have peace of mind and the security He provides and they know that when the need arises He will be waiting; guaranteed, see John 3:16.
The delivery interview was very important, you wanted the client to be absolutely sure he got exactly what he expected. This follow up interview was similar to the follow up new Christian converts should receive. We are to help them understand the importance of reading and understand what it is that Jesus did for them and what He plans for them in the future,
Getting quality referrals from clients was very easy, people who are satisfied and excited want to share the good news with their friends and they did. Naturally a little prompting was necessary. The Cycle had a referral talk that was extremely effective, when used in its entirety. The weekly reports told me who was using the system and who wasn't. Woe to those who weren't.
Finally the transition interview, as we called it, was merely another appointment with the client to discuss other needs they might have or to just review the rest of their insurance portfolio. Like the new convert needs to know what to do with their newly found life. Jesus tells them to share the good news with others, always be ready to do that.
You might be curious as to the results of the cycle: 1-6-3-1…3-2-1. Each sale resulted in 6 quality referrals resulting in 3 appointments resulting in 1 or 2 sales (experience made the difference). Every 3 deliveries resulted in 2 interviews resulting in better than 1 sale each. Average income was $35,000 annually in a time when $12,000 was average. Manpower retention was 65% vs. the industry's 8%.
One last spiritual application was in the hiring and training of agents. Jesus told His disciples to travel in pairs and that concept was how I trained my men. Two of us (me and the agent) would go into the field for training, following office training, and I would complete the Cycle for them until I was satisfied they knew it as second nature. My agents knew what to expect if they followed the Cycle and what to expect if they didn't. Not following the process was heresy, just like in the Bible and it had to be dealt with in much the same way. Shape up or ship out was my motto.
As for me, I tried very hard to employ the principle of servant to my agents. I was very concerned for them and always gave them everything they needed. I always supported them; after all, they were determining my income. The better they did, the better I did. We were with UNAC for 6 years and led the company in every category each of those years. Unfortunately the company went bankrupt in 1972 and one day I found myself unemployed, no income and a family to support. Hello Jesus, here I am. I trusted in Him and He didn't fail me. At what I thought was the pinnacle of my career turned out to be nothing more than a stepping-stone to a greater and more satisfying career. I gave Jesus all the glory then and I do more so now. Praise the Lord.
We had a company meeting planned in Puerto Rico and I was asked by Ralph Lindop to address the company echelon and the sales people. One day Ralph was in my office and he began to suggest my speech content. Knowing what he probably wanted me to say and my knowing that all the glory was going to Jesus in that speech, I interrupted him and told him that he would be pleased with what I was going to say. I was quite surprised by his immediate agreement to keep his thoughts out of it; if you knew Ralph you would know why. No one ever told Ralph anything and lived to tell about it. A miracle indeed. Ralph wanted the glory and I wanted the glory for Jesus. An easy task actually. I told the audience how the Cycle was founded on Biblical principles and explained how just as I have told you in this article, and why it was so easy for us to adopt it and follow it to the letter. I saw Ralph's face beam with pride. Then I began to lean more to Jesus and gave Him, in no uncertain terms, all the glory. I told them about the parable of the seed sower (Matthew 13:18-23) and how we applied it in our professional lives; some don't listen, some do listen briefly, some get excited but fade away and then some become our clients, buy and give us referrals and keep the process growing. I got a standing ovation and as I said then I now say, Praise the Lord.
Your friend and servant, Nick Number 22
I hope this message was not too long and I hope you received it as a tribute to God and not to me, as this was not my intention. Thanks you.
