What motivates people is different for each individual.

 

For Boise agent Andrew Meyer, the fear of not being the best he can be is what drives him to succeed. “My sales the month before last were not as good as they could have been,” Andrew says. “So I promised myself that would never happen again.” Andrew set a sales goal of $40,000 for the following month. “I ended up hitting $50,000.” This self-motivation has served him well. 29-year-old Andrew became a Farm Bureau agent just eight months ago, but he is already one of the company’s top performing rookies. He believes any agent can do what he’s done and grow their business. “Some agents are comfortable where they’re at with their business. I never feel comfortable.”

 

A NEW CAREER

Andrew spent six years in the Marine Corps before going to work as a health insurance broker.  “I did phone sales – up to 200 calls a day – to an area covering 13 states.” Although not his ideal job, he stuck with it for three years, and it eventually led to an assistant position with a State Farm agency in Boise. “That’s when Brent Hunter [Regional Executive for the Treasure Valley] called and invited me to lunch.” Brent thought Andrew would make a good agent because of his insurance sales experience. Andrew was interested because he enjoyed helping people, and the idea of a monthly income from policy renewals appealed to him. But it wasn’t until after he got a feel for the company culture that he decided to apply for the agent position. “I realized Farm Bureau was a great company.”

 

INITIAL MISSTEPS

Being a successful agent wasn’t a walk in the park for Andrew; there were some initial missteps. “I tried cold-calling out of the phone book,” he recalls. “It just didn’t work. Plus, if you call someone on the Do Not Call list, you can be fined.”

 

He also got off on the wrong foot with his referral sources. “My referral partners weren’t thrilled to help me. I didn’t understand why, and then I realized the problem was me, not them.” It occurred to Andrew that he was coming across as being more interested in what they could do for him. “I wasn’t showing them enough gratitude.” Since then he’s tried to become friends with his referral sources. “I connect with them several times a week and thank them. I’ll take them out to show my appreciation. Now they’ve become steady sources of clients.”

 

Andrew adds that the Refer A Friend program “absolutely seems to help” him build relationships with referrals sources. “It’s also nice because most companies wouldn’t pay for this. The agents would normally have to pay for this kind of program themselves.”

 

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES

Andrew also had to overcome obstacles beyond his control. “I wasn’t able to sell life insurance when I first started due to conflicts with my previous licensing.” While he waited for his new licensing to take effect, he says he became complacent. “I didn’t ask about life insurance and it took some time to get into the habit. Now that I’m licensed, I’m asking people in every situation about life insurance.”

 

To overcome the ever-present obstacle of closing sales, Andrew tries to earn a prospect’s trust by talking to them as a friend. “I talk to them like I’ve known them for a long time, like they’re a buddy. This helps them trust me and they stop shopping.” This approach helped win over one prospect who had had a bad claim experience with Geico. “We were $400 more a year, but I was able to make her feel comfortable and confident that we would take care of her. She’s now a client.” Andrew believes that not being the least expensive insurance option doesn’t mean you can’t bring value to the table. “The fact that we might cost more hasn’t cost me sales.”

 

Once a prospect becomes a client, Andrew stays connected with them. “I’ll call, text, and meet with clients. I’ll check in just because.”

 

OUTSIDE INFLUENCES

A little friendly competition has also helped motivate Andrew to succeed. “Jacob Andrus in the Idaho Falls office and I were in the same agent school at the Home Office. Now we talk a couple of times a week. Jacob is doing well with life and I’ve done better with P&C.” Each month the two agents track each other’s progress and compare notes. “My goal is to beat Jacob in life sales.”

 

Other people who have helped motivate Andrew are Brent Hunter and Keefan Caron. “Brent, my boss, is also my mentor. And Keefan has also been very helpful. I was new to P&C when I started and Keefan has taught me a lot.”

 

THE BUCK STOPS HERE

While other people have helped him out, Andrew believes his success is entirely up to him. “The hardest part about being an agent is having the self-discipline to work hard. It’s your business. You have to put in the effort. You don’t just clock in and clock out. It’s not that way.”

 

The financial rewards that all this motivation and hard work has brought him has been his biggest surprise as an agent. “I had no idea I could make this kind of money. Not to this degree, anyway. I like the financially independent lifestyle. It’s been a blessing.”

 

But Andrew says the best part about being an agent isn’t the money. “Being able to help people is the best part.”

 

In order to better help people and be the best agent he can be, Andrew is considering hiring a production assistant. “If I had a PA it would make things easier. I probably will hire one. I’m not sure when, but it’s on my radar.”

 

MOTIVATIONAL ADVICE

Until he can hire some help, Andrew looks for other, less obvious ways he can improve his sales process. One thing he’s tried that he thinks might help other agents is the following:

 

“Record and listen yourself talking to an imaginary prospect or customer the way you think a radio announcer would sound. Then, record yourself as you think a salesman would sound. Finally, record yourself as if you’re talking to your mom or best friend. Try to imitate this mom or best friend approach when speaking with prospects or customers. It works for me but it’s not a universal rule. Something else might work for someone else.”

 

For agents who are struggling to grow their business, Andrew has some motivational advice that probably is a universal rule. “Don’t give up before something happens.”

​

MARKETING TOOLS