Social Security checks to rise 3.6%
By Tami Luhby, CNNMoney – October 19, 2011: 8:55 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Senior citizens will soon get their first raise in three years, the government announced Wednesday.

Social Security recipients will receive a cost of living adjustment of 3.6% starting in January.

Because inflation has been very low in recent years, beneficiaries have not gotten a COLA increase since 2009, when they received a 5.8% boost.

Check out the rest of the article here.

Have a great week!

Are you putting the Law of Reciprocity to work for you?
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked.
“Fifty cents,” replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. “Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now, more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.
“Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied.
The little boy again counted his coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said.
The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

Which type of Agent are you?
Many years ago, a large American shoe manufacturer sent two sales reps out to different parts of the Australian outback to see if they could drum up some business among the aborigines. Sometime later, the company received telegrams from both agents. The first one said, “No business here. Natives don’t wear shoes.” The second one said, “Great opportunity here. Natives don’t wear shoes!”

Fall Quarterly 2011
September 12, 2011
Holiday Inn – Totowa, NJ
Breakfast – 10 am
Meeting – 10:30am

Have a great weekend!

Conserve Your Business
Are you doing your part?
Dignity Planning Birthday Mailing
Dignity’s Birthday Card mailing went out last week for July and August. We mailed all current clients who do not have a Dignity Plan already. This is a great tool to help you conserve your business. Any return we get will be distributed to you so you can deliver them to your client and fill their need with enough coverage for their final expenses.

Family Income Rider
The Family Income Rider is a new rider specifically designed for Diversified Companies! Offer the rider to all your current and potential clients! For your current clients who already have a policy, you cannot replace the policy BUT you can go revisit them and put them into a smaller policy so they have the Rider coverage. Calculating the Rider premium is easy.
1- Make sure you have the correct rate sheet. Green is for New York. All other states use the Blue Rate card.
2- Look up the age of the client (be sure to look at the correct sex grid. For New Jersey clients, look at the correct smoking/non-smoking grid as well as sex).
3- Ignore the Waiver, use only the Rider cost (unless you plan to include the Nursing Home Waiver).
4- Multiply the amount by the modal factor. (Monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, annual)
Have a great weekend!

Jeffrey A. – $10,014.12
Julio A. – $8,495.88
Louis C. – $7,068.84

At Halftime, the score is…
Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend! Just in case you haven’t realized it, 2011 is half over. Tuesday was the start of the 3rd quarter for 2011. Where are you with achieving your 2011 goals? The ball is in your court. Is it time for the full court press in order for you to meet your income and production goal? Or, are you safe playing back in a zone?

Check some of these videos out. I wanted to provide you with some motivational sales tips to jump start the second half of the year. I couldn’t decide on one so here are three different videos. If you like them, come see me about other sales training videos from sales gurus including Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, the Kinder brothers and Tony Robbins. We have a plentiful supply that will help you grow from the average producer that sits in the back of the meeting that no one knows to the producer that sits atop the production board every week.

Start selling, Quit blaming

Key Points to think about:
1- Knock off the blame.
2- Take responsibility.
3- Never allow anyone else to solve your problems.
4- Learn everything you can about the marketplace and product.
The blame game is a dead end street. Create your own economy.

3 Types of Sales People

Key Points to think about:
Are you a poor performer? Are you often showing up late to the office or appointments? Are you critical of issues and filled with excuses? Your days are numbered.
Are you average? The only reason you are successful is because of the poor performer. Thank them the next time you see them. What are you going to do when ten strong closers get brought it tomorrow and raise the bar? Where will you be?
Are you the over performer? Congratulations. Now, raise your bar. Anyone can be provided you work the system that has been laid out for you. These are the agents who make calls on Monday at the office, use Dignity, attend weekly meetings and overall positively impact every client they see.
Which are you? Which will you become by December?

Sales Mistakes

Key Points to think about:
1- You didn’t ask.
2- You didn’t get an answer.
3- They aren’t relevant questions.
4- You are asking bad questions.
5- Remember the answer.
Quality Questions + Great Answers = Sale

Don’t forget about the CFG Webinar on Monday, 11am, sharp!

Have a great weekend!

Andy – $8,073.24
Jeff A. – $7,490.28
Dennis – $6,913.08

Creating Perceived Value vs. Selling
By Laurie Leonard, president of Suite 1000 Telephone Answering Service.

No one likes to be sold. Establishing a successful relationship with your sales prospects isn’t about you and your company. It’s about understanding them and using that understanding to provide them with genuine value.
I recently attended a conference in New York for members of The Entrepreneur’s Organization, a global network of entrepreneurs. One the most dynamic speakers was Jack Daly, a nationally known sales trainer and sales coaching expert. Jack emphasized a point about the relationship with your prospects that really resonated with me – the importance of creating perceived value.
One of my favorite quotes from Jack’s presentation was – “Never quote price until you have established value.”
The first step towards creating value has to be a well thought-out prospect interview process. You can’t create value for a prospect until you have the answers to questions like these.
Business: Do you understand their business, what they are good at and what makes them different from their competitors?
Money: Do you have a firm grip on how they make money?
Problems: Do you know the problems and/or opportunities they are facing regarding the products or services you provide?
Impact: Are you clear on how your prospect’s current situation is affecting them financially and personally? Is it eating up a disproportionate amount of their budget or time, could it affect their next performance review or even put their job in jeopardy?
Options: Have you determined the options they are considering?

Have they started talking with your competitors, are they considering an in-house solution, might they decide to do nothing at all?
Criteria: Have you established what they will base their decision on? Will it be price, customization, experience, etc.?
What matters the most to them?
True value creators don’t just jump into a song and dance about their company and how wonderful it is. Nobody cares!
All prospects really care about is solving their own problems. You can’t do that if you haven’t asked good questions to determine what those problems are, how they are affecting your prospect and what matters the most to them.
Have a great weekend!

Maria – $6,796.56
Louis C. – $6,501.36
Ken – $4,760.52

Are you in a rut or having a down week?
Check out this article on how to stay motivated.
Tip # 1 – Find the Good Reasons
Tip # 2 – Make it fun
Tip # 3 – Take a Different Approach
Read on for More!

Have a great weekend!

Week of May 23rd – Top 3

Ozzie – $11,682.84

 Andy – $9,245.52

Kirsten – $9,003.00

The Agent Portal Update

Over the next few days, all of you will be receiving a login and password for the Agent Portal on thediv.com. The email will be coming direct from WordPress. The site login can be accessed from TheDiv.com on the top right corner of the screen.

Mike Jr. and I have spent a lot of time this week making it perfect and, most importantly, making it an essential part of your success. We encourage all of you to navigate and spend some time thinking about what else you would like to see included.

We have created a number of different sections for production, training with various agent sales videos and other important information you may need.

Obviously, we need your help to make it complete.

Please have some feedback ready for Monday.

Week of May 16th – Top 3

Ozzie – $6,453.48

Roy – $6,363.36

Louis – $4,821

10 Tips on How to Ask the Right Questions

1. Prepare some of your questions in advance.

2. Ask open-ended and indirect questions.

3. Ask need development questions.

4. Ask questions that help you identify dominant needs.

5. Ask questions that help you pinpoint the dominant buying motivations.

6. Avoid offensive questions or asking questions in an insensitive way.

7. Start with broad questions, then move toward questions with a narrower focus.

8. Ask questions that are easy to answer.

9. Use questions to guide the interview and keep it positive in tone.

10.   Ask… then shut up and listen!

http://www.producersesource.com/featured-bottom-left/questioning-for-the-close-part-1/

Daniela’s Notes

• Agents should not tell clients that they will cancel policies for them.   Always give clients the customer service number and advise them that the insured is the ONLY person that can cancel.
• After much deliberation back and forth, Columbian has finally come back and stated that an application is only good for 30 days. Unless it is in pending because of an APS, an application will be closed after 30 days. This means that it is even more important than ever to tend to your pending issues immediately.  After 30 days the application will need to be rewritten. This would NOT count as part of your weekly numbers.
• Graded percentage is calculated on ISSUED and PAID business within 365 days. This includes lapsed policies, since they were issued and paid.  The maximum allowance for graded business is 30%.
• Many incorrect premiums lately. Please be careful to quote the correct premium.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend to kick off summer!

Week of May 9^th – Top 3

Louis C. – $9,020.76

Julio – $8,923.20

Ozzie – $7,523.64

Are you at 212?

I heard this comparison about 2 years ago from Rutgers Head Basketball Coach Mike Rice. Up until today, I couldn’t find an article or clip that articulated it as good as Coach Rice did. Check it out.

Be at 212 degrees in every aspect of your week. 212 is steam. 211, water. As the video says, 212 can power a locomotive. 211 is just hot water. Commit to running your week at a new level! Success will follow.

See you all on Monday!