By John Hilton
InsuranceNewsNet July 2, 2019
SAN DIEGO -- Plenty
of conference speakers talk about changing the world, but Matt Irvine brought
receipts.
Speaking at the
National Association of Health Underwriters' annual convention, Irvine, a sales
vice president at HealthEquity, shared stories of giving and receiving
life-changing interactions.
He began with his
own rock-bottom story: penniless, homeless and carless 23 years ago in Eastern
Kentucky. Irvine made bad choices while in college and his family practiced
tough love.
To get out of his
predicament, Irvine started painting dorm rooms and saving money to buy a car.
After a few weeks, he went to a car dealer and pleaded for mercy.
"I told him,
'I have 400 dollars and no ride back to campus,'" Irvine recalled,
"'I will come back every two weeks and I will make payments if you put me
in a car today.'"
The man sold him an
Hyundai Excel. Leaving the car lot, Irvine stopped at a Domino's Pizza and
asked for a delivery job. He was told he could start that night. A financial aid
person later helped him get his college debts straightened out. And so on.
"The hero of
that story is the number of individuals who showed me exceptional
kindness," Irvine said. "They taught me that it's the individual,
ordinary people who can change the world."
Irvine carried it
forward in his own career as a health care benefits manager.
Change
Your Business
Being nice to
others is not just something to feel good about, it's also a winning business
plan, said Nancy Friedman, founder and president of Telephone Doctor.
A customer service
training company headquartered in St. Louis, Telephone Doctor helps companies
communicate better with customers and co-workers. Friedman shared a few tips by
pulling them from a hat herself.
She started with
"four useless words."
"'Hi, how are
you?' are four of the most useless words you can use," Friedman said.
The problem is
"nothing happens," she added. "It's nothing. Other words are so
much more effective."
The next slip of
paper Friedman pulled led to an animated explanation on why "I don't
know" is one of the worst things you can say to a customer. Right up
front, you are demonstrating abject weakness and incompetance, she said.
Friedman
demonstrated a better response: "Gee, that is a really good question. Let
me check and find out."
But how do you know
what your employees are doing when you're not around? Just call your office and
ask for you, Friedman said, adding that most people give her a horrified look
at the thought.
"I do it all
the time," she said. "I call my own office and say 'Is Nancy there?'
Even if they do recognize you, they'll never admit it."
InsuranceNewsNet
Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20
years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com.
Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.
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