The Joint Venture Mindset

Frank Schroeder was one of the most successful insurance salesmen I ever met. He owned two Porches and two sets of electric drums and lived like a king. We did some business together and I asked him what the secret to his success was. And at this point I must digress. I have sold insurance very successfully in Canada and in South Africa. I no longer sell insurance; I specialize in Joint Ventures. But I have found very few insurance salespeople who share Frank’s philosophy or his success. Many of them have very strange labels and titles that they have concocted for themselves in order to disguise the fact that they sell insurance, yet they should be proud of their important work. And they are so focused on selling that they are proof of the self-fulfilling prophecy syndrome. But let us not waste time discussing what we should not do.

Frank was living proof of the power of what I call “The Joint Venture Mindset”. As far as I can recall, I will try to put his approach in his own words: “Robin, I always tell people right up front that I sell insurance. That builds trust and credibility right away. And I NEVER try to sell anything on the first visit, or even the second visit. In fact, I often don’t ever try to sell insurance – they ASK to buy! Why? Well, I focus on finding out all about my prospect. I ask many questions, make copious notes and make it my business to try and help them in any way I can, either by giving them referrals, advice or contacts, but this has nothing to do with insurance.

The more I work on building value and helping them, the more interest I show, the more they open up and share. I find out all about their hopes, dreams fears, failures, successes, beliefs and hobbies. I share things about myself. I build relationship. I help. I care. And you know what, Robin? THEY bring up the insurance subject and they buy. I never have to sell. I never have to close. I give them information and solve their problems. I don’t use jargon and I don’t play games. You know me – what you see is what you get. If I don’t feel comfortable with the prospect, I leave and I won’t sell them insurance. If they don’t need insurance, I won’t sell them any. And I have more referrals than I can handle. I forget about what I want and myself and I prove myself a friend.”

That’s why we started the Joint Venture Forum – our members share this mindset and work on relationships and problem solving. They don’t focus on selling and they know that they can do business outside of their chosen field. And they are very selective whom they choose to work with. Together, we can do amazing things!

Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com