Does it work? Well, tell your sales manager or agency owner that your primary personal marketing plan this year is to sit in your office and intensely think about new customers to attract new sales opportunities your way. Expect a stunned look of disbelief. You might even receive a little pragmatic advice like, “Why don't you go make some cold calls while you're waiting for Law of Attraction to kick in and yield results?”

To succeed as an insurance sales professional, don't limit yourself to sending out vibrations to some ethereal plain to attract new business. Instead, add “action” to the Law of Attraction. The word “action” is found hidden in plain sight as the final six letters of “attraction.” The real secret to attracting new buyers is having the courage to act on the ideas and plans you're thinking about.

Related: Read August's Strictly Sales column “Consistency is key for sales success.”

It's true. Mental rehearsal of sales strategies is a key tactic top insurance professionals employ to achieve success. In his book, “The 177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class,” mental toughness coach and professional speaker Steve Siebold advises the need to adopt the habit of “thinking about what you're thinking about” to control thoughts and feelings and set the stage for success. What do you plan to say to break the ice with a new prospect? What's your response to the objection, “Your price is too high”? Exactly what words emerge from your mouth when it's time to ask for the order? Mental rehearsal and “thinking about what you're thinking about” are critical to a professional insurance agent's success during these moments of truth.

Just as importantly, have you hardwired the insurance and risk management solutions you provide; service and relationship advantages you deliver and specific examples of the value you supply? Quality suspects and qualified buyers begin to appear when you know your competitive advantages, the problems you solve and insurance value you deliver to those doing business with you.

Yet without action, all of the thinking in the world intended to trigger results from the Law of Attraction yield little. Without action, the highly qualified prospects you attract disappear. Don't stop thinking, planning and mentally rehearsing. But you must act on your ideas to earn the opportunity to offer value to anyone.

So how does an insurance sales professional add action to the Law of Attraction? To begin, build and then mentally rehearse professional positioning statements based on your cost, coverage, relationship, risk management and service advantages. Powerful marketing messages emerge from knowing the problems insurance buyers face and the solutions you supply. Identify and then memorize strengths and strategies that separate you from competitors. Think long and hard about the advantages and solutions you provide buyers. Know the value you deliver.

Then, take action. Create opportunities for prospects and clients to learn about your advantages and solutions. Write and publish your ideas in the local business journal, on trade association websites or at social media community forums. Get interviewed as a coverage, product or safety authority. Sit on a panel of business peers as the insurance and risk management expert. Hold a seminar. Lead a webinar. Invite prospects, clients and strategic alliance partners from your professional networking world. Get your expertise and ideas into the ears of quality suspects, qualified prospects and current clients.

Next, identify traits of your best prospects. Hardwire qualifying factors such as payroll, revenues and property values of desired commercial lines prospects; or home value, number of cars and income protection needs of targeted personal lines buyers. Think deeply about the problems you solve for clients. When you know the problems you solve and understand the value you deliver, the foundation for referral generation is set in place.

Then, take action. Summon the courage to ask for referrals. Be specific. Describe in detail the traits of well-qualified prospects to your current clients, networking partners and professional peers like CPAs, bankers and attorneys. Let networking partners know the problems you solve and how your recognizable advantages translate to superior value for insurance buyers. Act often to request referrals for the types of businesses that meet your qualifying criteria. Ask for referrals from your friends, family and co-workers. Seek referrals from current clients, former clients and potential future clients. Get referrals from professional peers and even from prospects who said “no” after you proposed an insurance protection plan. That takes courage. If the person in front of you can “fog a mirror,” then ask for a referral.

Finally, research trade associations, business organizations and community groups with members who are either quality suspects or can connect you to qualified buyers. Find out who leads these groups. Research the insurance and risk management concerns unique to organizations your buyers support.

Then, take action. Commit to networking 24/7. Attend meetings. Become highly visible. Approach others instead of waiting for them to introduce themselves to you. Get involved with a trade association's insurance, membership or legislative committees. Better yet, offer to speak at group gatherings on the insurance or risk management problems you solve. You achieve a great combination of thinking and doing when you take time to research a topic important to an audience and then deliver valuable information. That's how you put action into the Law of Attraction.

The Law of Attraction in and of itself provides an excellent start. But it's just the beginning. Thinking, planning and mental rehearsal enable professional insurance agents to master messages of value. Clarity and focus of purpose are powerful tools for success. But here's the real secret to success: Take action!

Sir Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is power.” Of course, he was right. But knowledge is only potential power if you have the courage to act. Remember, action is the key and the real secret to the Law of Attraction.