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Guest post by: Donald F. Pooley Become an Author

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My first year in the life insurance business was hell! I thought my Dad could supply me with leads as he was the Superintendent of Agencies for a large insurance company. So when I started my life insurance career I waited for Dad to phone me with leads.
Well Dad called, but just to see how I was managing and give me a pep talk. He'd call every day and end every conversation with "Remember everyone is a prospect". The leads never came! Not a single one!
"Everyone is a prospect." What a great deal of help that was! Where were the leads? When he called every evening it was all I could do to not lash out at him for not supporting me with prospects.
One day, I don’t remember why, or what triggered it, but the light when on in my brain, and I began to realize that indeed "everyone is a prospect." If it wasn’t for life insurance perhaps it was for a retirement plan, education savings, estate plan, or any of the many other products we handled.
I had been too wrapped up in my own beefs about my Dad to look correctly at the person I was talking to. They were all very good prospects; I just had to help them see their need. Even if they did not need anything now they could steer me to others who may have a current need for my services. The problem was not the prospects, or the lack of them. Everyone is a prospect; they just don’t know it yet.
When I started to look at everyone as a prospect, things really started to click. In my third year I qualified for membership in the Million Dollar Round Table. My new outlook gave me the confidence to be more assertive in my presentation.
Over the years, I've moved across Canada, retired twice, and returned to this business. I've built a client base from scratch six times. Fortunately, it has never been difficult for me to attract new clients. I learned to look at everyone as a good prospect for what I was selling. My Dad had shown me that "everyone is a prospect" and with that frame of mind I survived, and succeeded again and again in this business.
You can, too. Just remember that "everyone is a prospect."
Peter Baigent, CFP, CLU, CHFC, RFP, is a member of the IAFP and Advocis, living in Kelowna BC, and is the founder/owner of Money Minders Financial Services Inc. & Money Minders Software. Subscribe to Peter's great quarterly newsletter for financial advisors by clicking here.

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