Blue Elevator Blog

Hard Work At Work

At Blue Elevator™, our collective history has put us in touch with hundreds – even thousands of individuals – and the businesses they represent.

Some might ask, “What’s the secret to success?”

And here’s the secret: there is no secret.  It’s hard work.  Working smart, yes – but also working hard.

Hard Work At Work – Illustration

So, this is why we thought we would share with you what hard work looks like.

To illustrate this point, I have the distinct honor and permission to share some outtakes from our long time association with life insurance agent, Wayne Dennen.

Wayne has been running and gunning since 1988.  After graduating from Cal State Fullerton, he literally walked across the street and began his career as a life insurance agent working for Mass Mutual.

Wayne would tell you that he is not a sales person.  Wayne is a self-acknowledged introvert who is shy.  So, why in the world did he pick the life insurance business?  But, this is not the point of this story.

He just rolled up his sleeves and started working.  Person by person.  Appointment by appointment.  Rejection after rejection.  Cold call after cold call.  He just started working.

Cold Calling

For Wayne, it all started with cold calling.  To wit, about 100 calls per day.  500 calls per week.  2,000 calls per month (in a four-week month).

In the early years, Wayne found that for 2,000 calls per month, he would end up with about 10 appointments.  And out of those 10 appointments, he would write about 2 cases.  For those in sales, that put his close ratio at 1/10 of 1% (e.g., 2 cases out of 2,000 calls).

This meant that his pay day would be his commission on the hopeful placement and approval of 2 life insurance policies.  And, if by chance they were low-dollar term policies, this didn’t amount to a hill of beans.

In the early years (e.g., the first 3 years), Wayne would find himself juggling creditors.  He would find his desk phone shut-off and have to resort to using pay phone booths to maintain his cold call prospecting.  As a young newlywed, he recalls several times were GMAC phoned and gave him 1 day to make his car payment, or he would have to walk to work.

He worked from 7am until 10pm making phone calls and running appointments.  He would meet anyone anywhere at any time if the individual would consider any type and face amount of life insurance.

Wayne felt that it took him at least 10 years of much of the above before the ends started to meet.  Yes, 10 long, hard, back-breaking years.

Fast forward to today, 30 years into this gig, Wayne tries to meet with about 40 people a month and write about 15 policies per month.  After several decades, the cold calling has been gradually replaced with referrals.  Many of these referrals are from some of those first clients that were birthed from his cold calling days.

Innovation

Wayne’s close ratio has improved over the years.  If you do the math using the figures above, it is now closer to 40%.  Wayne is blessed to be one of the very best.  This, in part, due to his penchant to innovating.  Those familiar with Blue Elevator™ will recall our focus on helping our Member clients Innovate™ (e.g., that is short for the Blue Elevator Innovate™ program).

Wayne proudly shared one such example: he would go through the Orange County Business Journal, identify newly-promoted executives, send them a nice letter, and enclose a $1 bill.

Wayne would later call this same individual about 5 days after he sent the letter.  And, voila!  He was no longer doing cold calling.  His prospect would immediately recall the letter with the $1 bill.  And Wayne, being somewhat of a shy comic, would enjoy dialoguing about what the executive did with the $1 bill.

And … a good percentage of those discussions resulted in personal appointments, follow-up meetings with life insurance illustrations, applications, issued policies, and – at long last – a pay day!

Fast forward to today.  Wayne is one of the top producers for Mass Mutual, ranking nationally for his production and prowess.  Not bad for a shy comic.  Thank God, he is still doing well and innovating his approach.  But, he is also still working hard.

Success Is A Numbers’ Game

Wayne recalls something he heard from motivational guru, Tony Robbins, some years ago.  It was something along these lines:

“Success is a numbers’ game.  It is a lot of hard work.  It is about enduring frustration and rejection.”

And that Wayne did.

Conclusion

At Blue Elevator™, we love working alongside our Member clients.  Helping them Innovate™, Accelerate™, and Replicate™ (all abbreviations for distinct focuses).

But, in all cases, it’s up to our clients to work hard and put the advisory into action, so to speak.

Here is a trustworthy saying:

“If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.” – Ecclesiastes 10:10

And, so is this one:

“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” – Proverbs 14:23

Be advised to apply both.

God-willing, if you want to get your “business to the next level™” and you are willing to work hard at working hard, we’d love to hear from you.  Contact us!