Time to Commit



For any plan to work there must be a real commitment from the players. In this case the key player is you. One way to help build this commitment is for you to sign the plan. A signature often has a strong psychological impact that compels people to act. In a word, you are the action in the action plan. To lock in this commitment, share it with someone you can be accountable to, who can hold you to the promise you made to yourself.

In many companies, the goals of the salespeople complement the goals of their sales manager, whose goals complement those of his or her manger, all the way up the organization to the very top. Make sure that your goals are in tune with those of the company, and that your mentors and managers know what you're aiming for, so they can help you get there.

What you expect is what you get

Your positive expectations have a definite impact on your behavior, causing you to behave and react in ways that are more likely to produce the desired results. This type of behavior also influences the behavior of the people you meet and interact with professionally. If you are positive, confident and optimistic about the way your product and services will meet your prospect's needs, your client is more likely to react in a similar way. At the same time, if you enter the same situation with the same goals, but with less than positive expectations, your behavior is going to show it and your customer is going to see it. Most importantly, your income is going to show it as well.

Program Yourself to Win

It is one thing to say to yourself that you are going to have positive expectations, and quite another to make it happen. There are three quick and easy steps you can take to increase your positive outlook:

1. Visualize yourself dealing comfortably and persuasively with your prospect and see yourself closing the sale. The best time to do the visualizing is when you are at the edge of awareness, just before you are about to fall asleep. It is one thing to see your goal outcome. It is another to rehearse the good feelings you will have right NOW. You always know how you want to feel right? Let that be your anchor to a positive outcome.

2. Leave some upbeat notes for yourself that reaffirm your strengths, effectiveness, competence and aspirations. These notes are similar to the advertising messages you constantly see and which gradually work their way into your subconscious. Reinforce your own personal brand identity.

3. Set realistic, quantifiable goals, such as a certain number of sales or a volume of business. Be sure to set a deadline for yourself! Put up a note or graphic that shows how much progress you have made toward reaching your goal and how much is needed before you reach it. Track your progress on intermediate landmarks on the way to your goal.

When people have a clear idea of where they are going, they are more likely to demonstrate behaviors that will get them there. The motivational impact of goals is even more compelling for those individuals who have either participated in the goal-setting process or have established the goals for themselves.

Bottom line, as an insurance agent we have control over two things in our professional life: our attitude and our activity. Strive to be the best agent you can be and good selling!