Okay, let's break this down into realistic, obtainable goals. What specific things do you really want to accomplish in the next 6 months, 1 year, and 5 years?

1. Win THIS Day

2. A manager knows what to do;
a leader inspires people to do it.

3. It can actually be easier to win than to
lose.

4. Your main mission in management is to win.

5. Building Commitment =
Winning Team

6. Building Commitments
 What are the standards you have
established for your agency?
 What are the key result areas:
prospecting, presentations, written/issued
business?
 Minimum standard vs. superior standard.

7. Gain the Reputation of
Being Proactive
 Reactive people are influenced by
conditions.
 Proactive people make decisions
and make them work.
 WIG
WIT

8. Execution

9. Execution is key to good performance
“The problem is… the mistaken belief that
developing the right strategy will enable a
company to rocket past competitors.
In reality, strategy is less than half the battle.
….In the majority of cases – we estimate
70% - the real problem isn’t [bad strategy]…
It’s bad execution.”
“Why CEO’s Fail” Ram Charam and Geoffrey Colvin, Fortune

10. Execution of strategy has become the
corporate challenge of our times
“Less than 10% of strategies effectively formulated
are effectively executed”
Fortune - 1997

11. How should I prioritize
each days activity?

12. How should I prioritize
each days activity?
Don’t ask “What’s more important?”
Instead, ask “What activity am I going to do
today to reach my weekly goal?”

13. How should I prioritize
each days activity?
Prioritizing activity each day can be confusing if
you think in terms of “what is more important?”
The reason is that, over the long term, all of
your activities are probably important.
So asking which is more important is like asking
whether it’s more important to breathe or eat –
Eventually, all the air in the world won’t matter if
you don’t get some food.

14. How should I prioritize
each days activity?
Abandon the notion of prioritizing by “importance.”
Instead, think in terms of results, “which activity will I
do today that will get me to my weekly goal?”

15. How should I prioritize
each days activity?
Assume all the activities necessary to reach
your weekly goal are essentially of equal
importance, over the long run at least.
Don’t worry if, in fact, one activity is truly
more important.
The point is not to prioritize all activities, but to
prioritize “what you are going to do TODAY.”

16. How Do I Stay on Track?

17. How Do I Stay on Track?
Remember we said “instead”, think in terms of results,
“which activity will I do today that will get me to my
weekly goal?”
Be aware of relevant obstacles and your response needed
to overcome them.
Avoid discussion of your needed activities with naysayers.
Solicit the encouragement of supportive peers and your
manager.

18. How Do I Stay on Track?
Don’t stop, even if you get side-tracked or discouraged.
Just get back on track and keep plodding forward.
The best way to ensure your success is simply to keep on going.
Don’t stop until you accomplish that one activity “today” that
will help you meet your goal this week.

19. How Do I Stay on Track?
Accept personal responsibility for staying on track.
It’s not up to anyone else, just you.
You alone decide what you want to accomplish, and when.
Life has a way of distracting us from what we’d like to be doing
much of the time.
Most importantly, if you fall behind, refocus your efforts and get
advise from your leader.

20. What obstacles will you encounter?

21. What if I get discouraged?

22. What if I get discouraged?
If you feel discouraged, it’s probably the result
of not meeting one of your own expectations.
Ask yourself, “Was the expectation realistic in
the first place?”
If not, you have no reason to feel discouraged.

23. What if I get discouraged?
But if you believe your expectations are realistic and you’re just
not making progress, you need to figure out why.
4. Talk to other managers who are successful
6. Talk to your manager
8. Are you just procrastinating? If so, why?
10. Be honest with yourself, “What obstacles are hindering my
progress?” More often than not we find the problem in either
our activity or the mirror.

24. How do I avoid Procrastination?

25. How do I avoid Procrastination?
To avoid procrastination when working on activity for
your weekly goal, make sure to schedule the time for
the activity.
Then protect that time so nothing else interferes.
Most people procrastinate as a result of not planning
when to do an activity.

26. How do I avoid Procrastination?
As for procrastinating about doing an activity to get
you to your weekly goal – the answer is……….
DO IT NOW!
That’s it; just DO IT NOW!
Do something right this moment, take some small
step, no matter how small.
Win THIS Day!

27. How do I handle Fear of Failure?

28. How do I handle Fear of Failure?
Fear of failure is a genuinely scary thing for many
people, and often the reason that individuals do not
attempt the things they would like to accomplish.
But the only true failure is failure to make the attempt.
If you don’t try, you gain nothing.

29. How do I handle Fear of Failure?
On the other hand, if you do try but don’t succeed,
then it’s a learning experience for which you are
probably a better person, with more knowledge and
skill than before – you are all the better equipped for
the next attempt.
Shades of gray often do exist and partial success is
still success.

30. How do I deal with actual failure?

31. How do I deal with actual failure?
This is important:
“Failure” only occurs when you fail to try in the
first place or when you give up on something you
want to achieve without having first given it your
all.

32. How do I deal with actual failure?
Missed deadlines are not failures.
Setbacks are not failures.
Unexpected challenges or changing priorities are
not failures…(in fact, they’re quite normal).
Feeling discouraged doesn’t mean you failed.
You can only fail if you quit, and there’s an easy
solution to that:

33. How do I deal with actual failure?
KEEP GOING
OR
START AGAIN
That’s the beauty of picking one activity to complete
TODAY to meet your weekly goal.
So long as you accomplish one thing each day
toward your weekly goal you haven’t failed.
If you stop, just start back up again.

34. What if my goals depend
on other people?

35. What if my goals depend
on other people?
The truth is all of our goals depend on other people… to some
degree.
Is the involvement of “others” the issue or gaining the
involvement of those who also have goals they want to
accomplish?
Should your success be left to chance?
Or should you take control of as much as you possibly can?

36. What if my goals depend
on other people?
Life is complex and things beyond your control will come up.
You must remain flexible and able to adapt.
In sales you get paid on the yes’s, right?
And do you get more no’s than yes’s?
The same holds true in management, you want to surround yourself
with agents who are more like you than not.
The problem is recognizing those who are not going to help you
accomplish your goal and to do this early in the game.

37. Three Faces of an Agent

38. Three Faces of an Agent
 Non-Winners – On a scale of 1 – 10, these people rate between one and
three.
They don’t take risks.
They don’t try new things.
They don’t try to meet new people.
These people don’t want to be seen as salespeople.
These people need to be liked.
Guard your time with them!

39. Three Faces of an Agent
 At-Leasters – Most salespeople fall into this category.
These people rate between 4 - 6 on the scale.
They will do enough to keep their jobs and maintain their lifestyle, but that’s
about it.
If this person needs to earn $40,000 a year to maintain their lifestyle they
will; but their performance will fall off once they reach that level.
They don’t have the ambition, drive or desire to grab for the brass ring.
Minimize your time with these agents, provide what they need but
don’t bank on them.

40. Three Faces of an Agent
 The Winners – These people rate 7 – 10 on the scale.
These people are not satisfied with the status quo.
They are the people who want to make it happen.
They don’t make excuses.
They perform whether the economy is good or the economy is bad.
These people will fight to maintain their production numbers, which will
get you your production numbers.
These are the people you need to hire/mentor if you want to build a
winning sales agency.

41. Challenge
 Recognizing the Winners
 Moving the At-Leasters who have winner
potential to Winners
 Not investing our time in the Non-Winners

42. Ok- how do I do this?

43. Ok- how do I do this?
 First you have to determine who you want to work
with…
 Then you have to accept agent’s right to decide
which category they “want” to be a part of

44. Ok- how do I do this?
 Recognize agents come to you with different ways of
looking at the world
 Agents have a belief system established when you
hire them – one they have used to get them where
they are today

45. Ok- how do I do this?
 Your challenge is to recognize agents Irrational
Beliefs that are obstacles to “your” success.
 Then learn how to respond in the shortest amount of
time.

46. Ok- how do I do this?
 Just as you are responsible for your success those
you hire are responsible for their success
 Your job is to provide the tools, training and
environment necessary to allow success to occur for
those who are willing to earn success
 Now you measure everything to the facts and
activity

47. What are the facts?
 Is the same training provided to all new agents?
 Are you and your agents using the same leads?
 Are you and your agents selling the same product?
 Are you and your agents selling the same product in
the same areas?
 Are the customers you and your agents are selling
being underwritten by the same people in
underwriting?

48. Variance
 If the facts are the same for everyone in your
agency then what is the variance?
 Could it be the belief system some of your agents
are operating under?
 Are you responding to Irrational Beliefs that hinder
your agency growth?

49. Irrational Beliefs

50. Irrational Beliefs
What is an Irrational Belief?
Beliefs are cognitions, thoughts, attitudes, self statements or
Images and they are the primary determinant of emotions.
Inappropriate emotions are generally proceeded by irrational
beliefs.

51. Irrational Beliefs
What is an Irrational Belief?
Beliefs are not facts.
Facts are observable, provable and verifiable.
Irrational beliefs, which lead to inappropriate emotions,
can be categorized in the following way:

52. Disputing Irrational Beliefs
 Demandingness
 Awfulizing
 Low Tolerance For Frustration
 Rating of Self and Others
 Overgeneralizing About The Future

53. Demandingness

54. What is an Irrational Belief?
 Demandingness:
Absolute thinking without areas of gray.
Demands include should, must, need, ought to, have to,
require, and commands.

55. Awfulizing

56. What is an Irrational Belief?
 Awfulizing:
3. When we evaluate an event as awful, we are usually
magnifying or exaggerating the event. Awful implies
that the event could not be any worse and of course
could it be worse…more often than not?
5. We may also be implying that the event has never
happened to anyone else or that somehow we
should be exempt from the realities of life.
Unfortunately, is this the case?

57. Low Tolerance For Frustration

58. What is an Irrational Belief?
 Low Tolerance For Frustration:
People believe that they can’t stand discomfort or
frustration, that they should be happy all the time.
In short, they should be a god and dictate the ebb
and flow of the universe.

59. Rating of Self and Others

60. What is an Irrational Belief?
 Rating of Self and Others:
People believe that they are better than others because
they wear designer jeans, are more athletic, smarter, or
better looking.
Do any of these things really address the worth of
an individual as a human being?
Do they see the human potential and possibilities
contained within each individual person.

61. Overgeneralizing About
The Future

62. What is an Irrational Belief?
 Overgeneralizing About The Future:
Linking past events to future ones as if there is some magical relationship.
A good example is that “all children from alcoholic homes become alcoholics.”
If only one case exists where this is not the case then is the statement true
or false?
Just because something happened to you in your past, the event does not need
to influence your future.
Because I failed this time, I am a looser, a bad person, and I will continue to
fail hereafter.

63. Methods For Disputing
Irrational Beliefs

64. Methods For Disputing
Irrational Beliefs
1. Question the evidence:
You can examine the FACTS

65. What are the facts?
 Is the same training provided to all new agents?
 Are you and your agents using the same leads?
 Are you and your agents selling the same product?
 Are you and your agents selling the same product in
the same areas?
 Are the customers you and your agents are selling
being underwritten by the same people in
underwriting?

66. Methods For Disputing
Irrational Beliefs
2. Decatastrophizing:
Life situations may be unfortunate and painful but not unbearable.

67. Methods For Disputing
Irrational Beliefs
3. Explore the Advantages and Disadvantages:
How does the belief get you what you want?

68. Methods For Disputing
Irrational Beliefs
4. Turn adversity into advantage:
How is the event positive, what did you learn?

69. Methods For Disputing
Irrational Beliefs
5. Learn to identify Irrational Beliefs:
Look for them in yourself and others.

70. Methods For Disputing
Irrational Beliefs
 6. Examine Idiosyncratic meanings:
Explore words and their definitions.

71. Methods For Disputing
Irrational Beliefs
7. Re-attribution:
Develop a more accurate understanding of events.

72. Methods For Disputing
Irrational Beliefs
8. Examine options and alternatives:
Examine and explore the possibility of doing something different
in any given situation, thinking something different…

73. Methods For Disputing
Irrational Beliefs
 9. Fantasized Consequences:
Explore the fantasized consequence as one possible outcome.
We cannot predict the future.

74. Methods For Disputing
Irrational Beliefs
10. Use Paradox and Exaggeration:
Exaggerate by taking a situation to its extreme conclusion or
stating its extreme opposite.

75. Reality Socratic Questioning

76. Reality Socratic Questioning
A psychologist named Albert Ellis developed a questioning method called
Reality Socratic Questioning.
4. What do you want?
6. What do you really want?
8. What are you doing to get what you want?
10. What are you really doing to get what you want?
12. How is what you are doing helping you get what you want?
14. What would you be willing to do to get what you want?
16. What would you really be willing to do to get what you want?

77. Winning In Our Business

78. Win THIS Day
The keys to Winning:
3. Recruiting
5. Training
7. Retaining agents

79. Don’t Let Anyone Steal
Your Dream!

80. Reality Socratic Questioning
 What do you want?
Allow the agent to unload all of his wildest fantasies, regardless of
how unrealistic they may be.
Continue asking the question until the agent runs out of answers.

81. Reality Socratic Questioning
2. What do you really want?
If you have done the first question effectively, the agent will
respond to this question with more realistic and obtainable goals.

82. Reality Socratic Questioning
3. What are you doing to get what you want?
Here again you will get a lot of excuses and unrealistic stories.
The agent will engage in blaming others and making excuses.
Continue returning to the question until the agent seems to run
out of answers.

83. Reality Socratic Questioning
4. What are you really doing to get what you want?
Here the agent should be confronted with the reality
of what he does.
(I’m not making/enough phone calls, I am overqualifing,
I am not putting/enough take one’s out, I am not
making/enough presentations…”)

84. Reality Socratic Questioning
5. How is what you are doing helping you get want you want?
The only acceptable answer to this question is, “It’s not.”
If you get any other answer you must return to the beginning and
start over.

85. Reality Socratic Questioning
6. What would you be willing to do to get what you
want?
Again, allow the agent to unload.
Allow him to make imaginary plans that no new/agent
would realistically follow.
Allow him to tell you how sincere he will be in his
efforts.
This should be seen as brainstorming for possibilities.

86. Reality Socratic Questioning
7. What would you really be willing to do to get what you want?
Focus in on a realistic and obtainable action that will be one step
towards achieving the desired goal.
Focus on an action that they WILL do.

87. Reality Socratic Questioning
8. Reduce the action by half?
After you have come up with something that is
realistic, reduce it by half or more than half.
The action must be so simple that in order for
the agent to oppose you he must do more than
what he agrees to do.

88. Reality Socratic Questioning
9. If the task is not completed?
Tell the agent that it is your fault and that you suspected that he
would not be able to do the task.
Reduce the task again.

89. Reality Socratic Questioning
10. If the task is still not done?
Return to the beginning?
“This is not something that you really wanted.”
Ask the agent “When are you going to do what you said you
would do?”

90. Enforcing Standards

91. Enforcing Standards
The best agency sales office is one that is firm, consistent,
explicit and predictable.
Techniques for doing this are based on three principles:
6. To allow the agent to be responsible for their own behavior
8. Reward the agent for positive behavior
10. To administer NATURAL or LOGICAL consequences for
undesirable behavior

92. Enforcing Standards
Firm
Firm means that the rules and expectations for agents are
consistent.
The agent is given the same response/consequence each time
a rule is not followed.
If he complies and does what was asked, then he will receive
acknowledgement.

93. Enforcing Standards
Consistent
Consistent means that the rules do not change from day to day.
If the agent is to schedule a minimum number of appointments
before they engage in other activities then they should not be
involved in other activities prior to scheduling the required
appointments.

94. Enforcing Standards
Explicit
This means clearly defined and clearly understood by all
parties.
For example marketing could mean placing “Take One’s”
in small businesses, or doing a direct mail program or
making phone calls to schedule appointments.
Expectations and activity need to be clearly defined and
understood by all parties.

95. Enforcing Standards
Caution:
Firmness is not the same thing as harshness or punishment.
These words imply excessively severe rule enforcement.
It is harsh to imprison someone for life for driving too fast.
It is firm to fine him each time.

96. Enforcing Standards
Agents need structure in their work environment to develop and grow.
It is important that structure does not mean the absence of freedom.
An agent who has not experienced a lot of success, either prior to coming to
ARS or while here, must consume a lot of energy to simply maintain what belief
and motivation they have.
The agent who has learned to control their activity and get results has the
energy available to use to handle the challenges and roadblocks they will
encounter in growing their business.