Have you ever thought, “I know I have what it takes to reach my highest professional potential, but I have no one to guide me who has already achieved the type of results that I want”?
If you have, you are certainly not alone. There are many, many insurance producers with the talent, work ethic, and desire to earn six figures or more but who are unsure whether they should stay in the business or get a “real job.” Remember two things:
- This is the hardest business to make $30,000 a year in and the easiest to make $100,000
- In this business, your pay raise becomes effective when you become effective.
There are too many producers today who are just getting by. If they would only partner with the right individual, they could not only make those goals a reality but actually reach those income goals much more quickly and easily.
If you are hoping that a fabulously successful producer will suddenly call you up and say, “I’ve been looking for someone to share all my secrets with,” don’t hold your breath. You have to look for them — but how do you go about finding a mentor who is willing to invest in you? How can you make sure you are picking the right mentor? And what can you offer your mentor so that your relationship is a win-win?
Step 1: Commit to finding a mentor
Write this down as your No. 1 goal. Tell your spouse or your best friend or your closest business colleague to hold you accountable to this task. Like planting a seed, committing to this goal is the first step toward reaping the fruit. If you fail to make this commitment, you could miss out on reaching your fullest potential.
Step 2: Decide what success looks like
Success means different things to different people. If you have not defined success for yourself, you could end up wasting a lot of time with a mentor who is leading you down the path to a type of success that you don’t want. Also, decide how you want to grow professionally. What market do you want to serve? What prospecting methods fit your strengths? You want to find a mentor who has succeeded in the way you want to succeed.
Step 3: Seek values
You want a mentor who not only claims to operate with honesty, integrity, and professionalism, but who actually does these things, based on your experience and the person’s reputation with others. You want somebody who lives the Golden Rule, because only a person with that level of interest in others will actually provide a benefit to you.
Step 4: Prepare to make a win-win offer
When I first got started in the seminar business, I gave one-quarter of my commissions to my mentor for four years. Look at that investment in the same way you would view paying for college. It aligns your mentor’s interests with yours, and it compensates your mentor for sharing their time and expertise with you. It sure paid off for me – while I gave up a portion of my commissions for a few years, the knowledge I gained propelled me from a $25,000 income to a multi-six-figure income. Another alternative is that you can become an assistant staff member to your mentor for a period of time so that you have an opportunity to learn how they operate.
So, go find a mentor — doing so can make all the difference in your career.
Eric Scoggins is the executive vice president of Marketing Resources Inc. He can be reached at eric@mktres.us or 800-330-5801 ext. 306.