Must Read: How to Be a Business Magnet By 25 (Part 2)

Last week I shared part one of my assessment/interpretation as to why Kevin Smith, a State Farm agent from Chicago, has broken all kinds of records in his first three years. Here is part two and point 4 continued on Systems:

Great Idea #2! If you are connected with someone on Facebook, print off their information before a meeting so you can read about their hobbies and personal information. That makes it easier to connect with him or her on topics that are near and dear to that individual.

Great Idea #3! Kevin’s office has a Carrot of the Week award brings him free exposure on Facebook. This goes to a client who has referred him business. Kevin often strategically chooses someone who has 100’s of friends on Facebook who will also see this award.

Great Idea #4: Every day he briefly ‘touches’ 10 people on Facebook to start a conversation. More branding, more relationship building.

Great Idea #5: Because of all his non-profit contacts, when he has clients with family members dealing with cancer, diabetes or Alzheimers, he has personal connections that might be able to help.

Great Idea #6: Every Wednesday from 4-5pm, his office does nothing but make RANDOM calls to clients thanking them for their patronage. Have you EVER received a call like this other than right after you bought something?

5. Great training for your staff

“It’s all about the team. It’s all about recruiting.” If you want to be a rainmaker, recruit the right people and make sure they support your vision. Don’t wait for someone to leave. Smith pays attention to companies with a sales culture that might be close to downsizing, then goes to these locations and inquires about ex. opening a checking account. If he is impressed by what he sees (he is looking for a demonstrated ability to pivot from one sales opportunity to another), he will begin prospecting this person.

It is one thing for a job applicant to claim to have experience with something. He has already seen people in action.

Challenge your staff: Kevin prefers to be tough up front with new hires and loosen up over time. He will test them in their first two weeks to make sure they are productive when no one is watching and on how promptly they respond to tasks he requests. He has no problem firing people quickly if they do not demonstrate what he’s looking for. He also likes to take new employees to work for their first month so that plenty of training content can be covered in the car. “They hate this but we get a lot done.”

6. Help others first

“The biggest difference is to help others.” 

How many times have you heard this? Why is it then that so few people actually do this proactively?

It is counter-intuitive advice given that most people focus exclusively on how they can find more business for themselves. Isn’t it time include daily actions that simply help others?

I wanted to know from Kevin how high-end restaurant owners would agree to sit down with a young insurance agent. He does NOT call them and say ‘hey I’d love to stop by and show you what I do.’

He contacts them and says; “I’ll bring you business. I will come to your restaurant three times/week and bring in new people as often as possible. In return I want to meet with you and your staff and sit with them (to see if I can help them). I’ll support you and I ask that you do the same for me.”

Think about it, how often do you suppose restaurant owners hear this in their life time? Likely never. And Kevin admitted that if he ever reneged on his promise, they would lose interest pretty quickly in him.

For you it may not be this profession you aim to help – who is your ‘restaurant owner’? An attorney? A spa owner? A politician? A board member of a professional association?

ALSO: Kevin is actively involved in supporting various non-profit causes. This is visible on his Facebook page and is demonstrated in other ways. When several of his clients came to him saying they could not afford their premiums because they had lost their jobs, he offered a resume writing class at his office on a Saturday. At Christmas, everyone in his office donated 3% of their income so one family could buy presents. I wildly understate when I say this is an unusual response to how most people handle clients who can’t pay.

7. Stay healthy

8. Read

Tim Sanders argues that leaders are readers. Smith aims to read at least one book/week on a wide variety of subjects. It helps him connect better with a diverse ethnic mix of his big city clients. One example he gave was that having recently read about the one child only policy in China gave him more to discuss with his clients with that heritage.

9. Have a detailed schedule

Include in this time to practice the things you need to improve on. This could include role playing with your staff. For Kevin it is another system he has – role playing every week. Most adults avoid this like the plague because it feels awkward. We need to stop pretending we’re perfect and do it anyway.

10. Solicit and accept feedback and criticism

“If it’s true, it’s not criticism.”

11. Start and end your day congruently and positively

He has recorded a wake up message on his phone that is his voice reading his mission statement, listing who and what he is grateful for and has it end with the words: “I love you.” At this point in the presentaion, he added: “Not enough of us tell ourselves this. I think that’s a mistake because we need to hear it. We have to feel good about ourselves.”

There are so many great ideas here. I would suggest printing this off, picking a couple of them, revisiting this article and incorporating other ideas over time. And having Kevin speak to your organization because I am SURE he is always adding new ideas that work too. 

I am positive other people who matter in your network would love to read this. Please forward it on and share the wealth. Most of all, please take action.