By
Lloyd Lofton March 4, 2020
I
usually sat in the back of church during Sunday services. My kids would get
restless, and we could take them out to the lobby if they got fussy.
One
Sunday, the sermon referenced a parishioner who recently passed away. As
the basket came down our row, I put in a $20 bill to help with funeral expenses
for the family.
As I
handed off the basket to the person next to me and watched others put money in
the basket and continue to pass it along, it occurred to me - I knew the
deceased.
Well, I
was aware of him and his family.
One of
his kids used to be in a Sunday school class with one of mine. We occasionally
said “hi” over doughnuts after church.
I
didn’t prospect among my fellow church family because, well, it felt kind of
crass. I didn’t want to be viewed as taking advantage of my fellow parishioners
or be the pushy salesperson. I viewed church as a hands-off kind of place, a
natural place to worship and not to mine for business.
One of
the roles I served at church was chairman of the Helping Hands Committee. When
there was a need within the body of the church - someone had trouble paying a
utility bill, became homeless or needed assistance with funds to move into a
shelter or pay for medical bills - those requests came to our committee.
Consequently,
I felt involved with my church family, that I was serving the body of the
church.
That
day when I watched that donation basket being passed down the row, collecting
money to help pay for a funeral for a church member who couldn’t afford to bury
a loved one, it occurred to me I wasn’t really concerned about my church
family.
In
fact, what I was really concerned about was myself. How I was viewed, how I
could be accepted, what might cause me to be viewed in a negative light. I
didn’t want to appear pushy, salesy or intrusive, which is why I didn’t talk
about insurance at church.
In that
way, I felt I was being professional by not pushing myself or my business on
others.
As that
basket moved to the next aisle, I begin to think of the problems this family
now faced.
They
were a single-income family; the wife quit work several years earlier to raise
their kids. It wasn’t obvious what their financial situation was, but from the
outside they seemed like everyone else, drove a two- or three-year-old car, the
kids were in sports, regular kind of stuff.
And
that, I realized, was my problem.
They're
All Unique
Before
that basket came my way, I viewed all my church family as “regular” - just like
everyone else, some more affluent than others, but they all were “regular.”
That
was not true. They were not “regular.” Each family was unique, each with their
own financial and survival concerns that would arise when a loved one died.
Those
concerns, those problems that would have to be faced when that loved one died,
were predictable, they could be anticipated, and they could be planned for.
The
problem was those concerns were not what I was concerned about - my concern was
about me.
This
experience came back to mind this week when there was a shooting in at the
Molson Coors plant in Milwaukee.
The
headlines told a story, a familiar story and one all insurance agents must pay
attention to.
The
headlines told the story of five men who died together when a former coworker
opened fire at their workplace.
The
headlines told the story of a 2009 University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate
among the victims of the shooting at Molson Coors.
The
headlines told the story of Kim’s Lakeside Bar, where one of the victims would
visit every Wednesday night after work.
Sadly,
one headline told the story of “Walking with the Walks – in memory of Dana
Walk.” It’s a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for a funeral. As of this
writing, it has raised $6,075 out of a $12,000 goal, with 117 donors and shared
2,800 times.
As I
read these stories, I wondered whether there was an insurance agent who
attended church with any of these families, an agent who conducted themselves
“professionally,” who did not push their business on their fellow church
family, who made sure they didn’t come across like they were taking advantage
of the situation, and who didn’t take advantage of being a church member.
I have
trained thousands of agents over the years, and the one thing I constantly tell
them is stop selling the product; sell the problem people have!
When
Do You Know?
I tell
agents who sell health insurance to ask this question: When do you want to know
something isn’t covered - when you are sick or injured at the emergency room or
at the point of sale?
Five
victims of this tragic shooting varied in age from 37 to 57. Some were from
single-income families, some were closing in on retirement while others still
had kids to raise. Mortgages have to be paid, utility bills will come due next
month. Tuition bills, car payments and health insurance premiums will have to
be paid.
For
those who were a stay-at-home spouse and whose kids are grown, they can’t even
file for Social Security until they are age 62, so where will the income come
from?
It’s
time we stop passing the basket at church and it’s time we start being
concerned about the things that are predictable.
Insurance
agents can eliminate financial worries during the most emotionally devastating
time in a family’s life by having a simple yet critical conversation.
Some
agents are concerned about appearing “professional” when they are just
petrified of being viewed as pushy.
I
wonder whether there was an agent in any of these victims’ churches who was
concerned about the problems these families will face instead of how they might
look.
Be
pushy, stop the madness and prospect where you pay, where you play and where
you pray!
Lloyd
Lofton is the founder of Power Behind the Sales. He
is the author of The Saleshero’s Guide To Handling Objections, voted
1 of the 11 Best New Presentation Books To Read in 2020 by
BookAuthority. Lloyd may be contacted at lloyd.lofton@innfeedback.com.
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