A friend of mine said, “Selling insurance is a lousy job, but agreat career.” This quote makes the point that if you want to work9 to 5, and then knock off for the day without a thought about yourjob until the next morning, selling insurance isn't for you. Partof his message is that an insurance agent is always “on.” You neverknow who is listening or watching.

Years ago, I heard the story of a life insurance producer whohad made a very large sale to fund a trust. On the way home, hestopped off for a beer in another county. Several beers later, hewas entertaining his new best friend with the story of hisaccomplishment. The next morning a phone message was waiting at hisoffice cancelling the sale. It seems his friend from the previousnight was a relative of the client. He obviously said something heshouldn't have.

You also never know when a prospect or client will want tocontact you. I remember my home phone ringing early one Sundaymorning when I was a producer. My first thought was that a familymember had been in a car crash. No, it was one of my policyholderswanting to change the beneficiary on her $3,000 life insurancepolicy. This occurred long before cell phones and the Internetsignificantly increased the speed at which the public expects tohave their servicing needs fulfilled.

On the flip side, being “on” all the time also means you neverknow when you're going to meet the next great prospect. A producerI worked with recently played tennis with his fianc?e one Saturdaymorning. Following their match they stopped off at a Mexicanrestaurant for an early lunch. They had the restaurant all tothemselves until a gentleman sat down at a table across the room,and began to work on his laptop computer. My producer asked thewaiter if he knew who the man was. “Certainly,” was the waiter'sreply, “he owns this restaurant, and 15 more like it.” The producerintroduced himself to the restaurateur on the way out, and wasinvited to sit down.

Many producers would have missed that opportunity, making plentyof excuses to not approach the owner. “He's busy, probably doesn'twant to be disturbed.” “The restaurant is probably a franchise.”“I'm not dressed appropriately to approach the owner.” Thisproducer, who wrote more than $1 million in new premium during hisPaceSetter year at State Auto, makes it a point to look good nomatter what he's doing.

Another producer I work with was recently shopping for campingequipment. He was impressed with the selection and the overallappearance of the store. He asked the clerk if he knew who handledthe insurance purchasing decisions for the store. “Sure I do,” wasthe response, “Would you like to meet him?” The producer foundhimself speaking with the CFO in minutes. Again, many producerswould have missed this opportunity. This new producer has written110 accounts during his first 6 months in the business.

Top producers never miss an opportunity to pick up a newprospect. I worked with one producer who likes to ice down severalcases of soft drinks in a galvanized tub in the back of his pick-uptruck on a hot summer day. He stops at construction sites anddistributes the soft drinks to the various contractors on the job.“I have their attention for as long as it takes them to finish thesoft drink,” he tells me.

Another producer drops by prospects' offices with small bags ofgourmet chocolates. One large contractor he had been unsuccessfullytrying to contact by phone sent him an e-mail that said, “By thetime the bag of candy got to me, there was only one piece left.”(The producer personally delivered a second bag of chocolates.)

A producer I worked with in the South uses bags of peanuts as adoor opener. He already insures the peanut distributor, so it'slike having a built-in reference. Another producer uses doughnutsto get him in the door of commercial prospects. He told me one dayhe had written two accounts from one box of doughnuts. The secondcontractor was in the office of the first, and helped himself to adoughnut. He noticed the producer's business card taped to the topof the box and gave him a call.

The largest account ever written by a producer I personallycoached was prospected at a trade show. My producer was required toshare in staffing the booth for his agency. The booth got verylittle traffic, and those who did stop by were only interested infilling out the card to win a TV. My producer wisely invested mostof his time introducing himself to the other exhibitors at theshow. One of his conversations led to a $1.2 million account, allbecause he got up out of his chair and visited the other booths atthe show.

Top producers I've worked with over the past 13 years, whenasked, “What would you do differently during your first year if youhad it to do over again?” always include in their response, “Iwould have walked away from more accounts.” Working on “longshots,” or “practice quoting,” eats up valuable time producerscould use to find qualified prospects. Our experience has been thatwhat gives producers the confidence to walk away from accounts theyought not to be pursuing is an abundance of prospects. If aproducer has hundreds of prospects, it's not so difficult to walkaway from one. The fewer the prospects, the better they look.

Every producer who enrolls in the PaceSetter new producerdevelopment program is familiar with the phrase, “Prospecting isthe engine that drives the entire PaceSetter sales system.” Eachclass hears it first on day one of sales training week in the homeoffice, and many times thereafter. Attendees have acted it out inskits, yelled it as a cheer, or recited it to gain admittance tothe classroom. The goal is for the new producer to never forget theimportance of prospecting.

Recently, while wrapping up my last phone appointment with aproducer who I had spoken with weekly for the past year, he saidsolemnly, “You know, Ken, prospecting is the engine that drives theentire PaceSetter sales system.” I felt that warm glow that only aparent or teacher feels when his prot?g? demonstrates trueunderstanding. “My work with you, Grasshopper, is done,” I thought.“Go forth and sell insurance.”

Here are some suggestions from successful producers that cankeep you prospecting 24/7:

oInstead of driving past a business thinking it might be a goodprospect to call sometime, stop, get out of the car, walk in andintroduce yourself.

oWhen you attend business/social functions like civicorganization mixers, identify at least two people to talk with whocould benefit you. Then, at the end of the conversation, ask if youcan call the next day to set up an appointment.

oMake it a point to ask everyone you do business with for theopportunity to discuss their insurance programs. If they refuse,consider finding other sources for your purchases.

oKnow that you are selling yourself all the time. Be aware ofyour appearance and your actions wherever you go, whatever you'redoing. If you're golfing, be a well-dressed golfer. If you'reshopping, be a well-dressed shopper. Look the part of a successfulinsurance professional all the time. You never know who's watchingor when an opportunity will present itself.

oGive out as many business cards as possible. Consider usingmagnetic business cards, especially if you are a personal linesproducer.

oNever leave a client's home or business without introducingyourself to the business owner or home owner next door and acrossthe street.

oAvoid having lunch with the same people every day. Take aclient or center of influence to lunch instead. Better yet, meetthem for breakfast. It's cheaper, and some will prefer a breakfastmeeting because it doesn't break up their day.

oProspects and clients enjoy receiving small, inexpensive gifts.State Farm great Cosmo Conte once told me he wanted everyone toleave his agency with something in their hand with his agency nameon it. He had giveaways of all kinds: pens, pencils, rulers, golftees, etc.

oAnytime you're visiting a client, find out who his competitorsare, and who his neighbors are. Tell him it's your plan to call onthose folks. Then ask permission to use his name as areference.

Remember, prospecting is the engine that drives sales. Withoutprospects, you're out of business.