The Prospecting Professor

The Selling Legacy of Ben Feldman

Approximately one year ago, I first wrote about Ben Feldman...the legendary salesman for New York Life. Since his story is so inspirational, and instructive, I would like to tell it again.

Ben Feldman was sustained sales greatness. Over his 50 year career selling insurance for New York Life, he sales volume exceeded $1.5 billion...a third of it coming after he reached the ripe, old, age of 65. During his peak year, he topped $100 million. His daily record was $20 million.

He didn't live in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles. He lived in East Liverpool, Ohio...a river town of 20,000. His looks were hardly out of central casting...he was short, stout, balding, and spoke slowly and deliberately with a distinct lisp. He was one of nine children of Russian immigrants. He never finished high school...at 16 his father put him to work at $5 per week.

Ben's first sales job was collecting small premium payments from the workmen in the many steel mills in the Youngstown area. Soon he began concentrating on the owners of privately-held companies within an hour's drive of East Liverpool. He didn't stress traditional protection, but emphasized the cash that owners would accumulate. He would say, "Wouldn't you like to save some money? How much have you saved in the last 5 years? Is there any reason to think that in the next 5 years, you'll do any better?

When Ben began his career with New York Life in 1942, the insurer would not insure a single life for more than $500,000. Ben helped push the limit to $20 million. Ben developed a niche target...the owners of small industrial corporations that were flourishing in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, after World War II. He worked 12-hour days, 6-7 days a week. He would set "unattainable" sales targets...and then broke them down into achievable steps.

Ben was a prospecting legend. He dominated his area, no business owner in the region escaped his notice. he would drop in on business owners without an appointment...he was a master of the "cold call." However, he never dropped in unprepared. Before his "cold calls" to business owners, he would gather information about their business from the standard Dun &  Bradstreet reports. He would know the key players in the business, the values of the company, what each person was doing, and whether the company was profitable, or not. Ben often cold-called with an illustration already prepared for $1-2 million in coverage. He didn't always close on the first interview, yet he was incredibly dogged and persistent. He never discarded prospects, even after many refusals.

He was brash, even though he was innately shy. His presentation booklet was a big leather binder with a real $1000 bill displayed on the first page. He would say, "These come in packages of 100. How many packages do you want?"

Once, a man with a very large estate wouldn't see him. Feldman had estimated that the man's estate tax would be $30 million. Feldman wrote a check for $30 million...and indicated on the check where the business titan's family would need to sign...put the check in an envelope, sealed it, and gave it to the man's secretary. Soon thereafter, Ben wrote a case so large that one insurance company couldn't underwrite the entire amount.

Ben knew of a prominent Youngstown real estate developer. After weeks of trying, and failing, to get in to see the busy man, Ben asked the secretary to take five $100 bills into her boss, and said "If I don't have a good idea, he can keep the money." Ben got in...and sold a $14 million dollar policy on the first visit. A few years later, Ben figured that the same businessman needed an additional $20 million in coverage. However, the developer was busier than every...and wouldn't take the medical exam. Ben rented a fully-equipped medical van, hired a doctor, and sent both to wait for the tycoon. The man ended up with $52 million in coverage.

In 1992, New York Life marked Ben's 50th year with the company by proclaiming "Feldman's February," a national sales competition. Ben took this as a personal challenge. The winner of the contest was...you guessed it...Ben Feldman. At 80 years-old, while recovering from a brain hemorrhage in Boca Raton, Ben worked the phones and recorded sales of $15,150,000.

Ben Feldman was famously known for his "power phrases," slogans and sayings designed to woo clients and inspire himself. Here are some examples:

• "Doing something costs something. Doing nothing costs something. And quite often, doing nothing costs a lot more."
• "The key to a sale in an interview, and the key to an interview is a disturbing question."
• "You'll have the same problems when I walked out as you had when I walked in...unless you let me take your problems with you."

Ben Feldman died in 1993 at 81. At few years before his death he was asked about the largest policy he had ever written. He responded, "I can't say. I haven't written it yet."

For more on Ben Feldman, you may want to refer to "The Feldman Method", written by Andrew H. Thomson.

Inherited Clients

The other day I received a call from an advisor who I have worked with over the years...who has become a good friend. He wanted to share a success story with regard to an inherited account.

For financial advisors, inherited accounts can be a boon...or a bane. On the one hand they have a existing relationship with your firm...and a vested interest in speaking with you.On the other hand, inherited accounts often have a "history." Additionally, if the inherited client has a relatively small account with the firm, they are also pre-judged by advisors as "worthy-of-time" or "unworthy-of-time." Pre-judging inherited clients can be a mistake...because it assumes that prior financial advisors were thorough and effective in identifying and garnering the majority of the clients' assets. Here's an instructive tale.

My advisor-friend had inherited an account that most advisors would consider to be minuscule, given that the market value was less than $10,000. Nonetheless, the advisor has a habit of meeting all of his clients face-to-face, inherited or not, minuscule or not.  Over a period of many months, the advisor attempted to secure a meeting...to little avail. Each time that the advisor called to suggest a visit, he was met with a gruff, mono-syllabic, "No."

However, this advisor is nothing, if not persistent. Finally, the stars aligned one day, and the advisor was able to secure a meeting. Face-to-face and in his element, the client was much less gruff and considerably more open. During the course of the conversation, the client casually wondered if the advisor had any thoughts on how to maximize the income of a trust account where the client was the sole beneficiary. The client wondered aloud if the $500 per month from this account was the best that could be done.

A question or two from the advisor encouraged the client to reach into his files and pull out the most recent statement for his trust account. It revealed an account with a market value of $2,000,000. Notably, and most glaringly, the fees paid to the trust company exceeded the $6000 annually paid to the client.

This exchange would have never occurred if the advisor had stayed in his office, and not made the effort to drive for an hour to meet this client to chat in the comfort of his own surroundings. Moreover, the advisor had not made assumptions about the client...pre-judging the clients financial wherewithal based upon erroneous information.

Speaking of inherited clients, there is a very good article on this subject in today's Horsesmouth. This is a subscription-only service that serves the financial advisor community. In my view, Horsesmouth is a resource that pays for itself many times over. Here's the link to the article...

Reassure Inherited Clients 
http://www.horsesmouth.com/linkpo/66772_18.htm
When colleagues leave the business you might find yourself with some new names in your book. Here's how to act quickly to ensure they'll stay with you.

Second Chance Lance

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."...Sir Winston Churchill

Congratulations to Lance Armstrong! In many ways, his seventh Tour victory is the most remarkable. At 33, soon to turn 34, he is not young for a professional cyclist. Moreover, what did he have to prove this year? He already had more Tour victories than anyone else. Beyond that, this was the last year that his main rivals...Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso, Alexandre Vinokourov, etc....would have their chance to best their nemesis. This year, he rode the Tour with a bulls-eye drawn on this back...and he still won.

As I wrote about in a Horsesmouth article last week, Lance Armstrong shows us the power of the second chance, "How to Work Your Second Chance." Before his cancer, Lance was a talented, yet completely undisciplined, rider. Afterwords, he dedicated himself to the sport like no one else. Blessed with extraordinary physical talent, he did not squander it a second time around. His work ethic became legendary. No one worked harder.

I have no illusions that, on a personal level, Lance Armstrong is a saint. Like many finely-tuned athletes he can be a tad prickly with his personal interactions. However, the way that he has maximized his second chance at life, and the sport that he loves...is truly remarkable. As inspirational stories go, this is one of the better ones.

"Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."...William Jennings Bryan

The Selling Legacy of Ben Feldman

Ben Feldman was sustained sales greatness. Over his 50 year career selling insurance for New York Life, his sales volume exceeded $1.5 billion, a third of it coming after he turned 65. During his peak year, he exceeded $100 million. His daily record was $20 million. He didn't live in New York City or Los Angeles, but in East Liverpool, Ohio...a river town of 20,000. His looks were not out of central casting...he was short, stout, and balding, and spoke slowly and deliberately with a distinct lisp. He was one of nine children of Russian immigrants. He never finished high school...at 16 his father put him to work at $5 per week.

Ben's first sales job was collecting small premium payments from the workmen in the many steel mills in the Youngstown area. Soon he began concentrating on the owners of privately-held companies within an hour's drive of East Liverpool. He didn't stress traditional protection, but emphasized the cash that owners would accumulate. He would say, "Wouldn't you like to save some money? How much have you saved in the last 5 years? Is there any reason to think that in the next five years you'll do any better?"

Ben was a prospecting legend. He dominated his area, no business owner in the region escaped his notice. He would drop in on business owners "cold" without an appointment. Beforehand he would gather standard Dun and Bradstreet reports. He researched his prospects and knew the key players in a business, the values in a company, what each person was doing, and the company's profitability. Ben often called cold with an illustration already prepared for $1-2 million in coverage. He didn't t always close on the first interview, yet he never gave up. He never discarded prospects, even after many refusals.

He was brash, even though he was innately shy. His presentation booklet was a big leather binder with a real $1000 bill displayed on the first page. He would say, "These come in packages of 100. How many packages do you want?"

Once, a man with a very large estate wouldn't see him. Feldman had estimated that the man's estate tax would be $30 million. Feldman wrote out a check for $30 million...and indicated on the check where the family would have to sign, put it in an envelope, sealed it, and gave it to the man's secretary. Soon thereafter he wrote a case so large that one insurance company couldn't write it all.

Ben knew of a prominent Youngstown real estate developer. After weeks of trying, and failing, to get in to see the busy man, Ben asked the secretary to take five $100 bills into her boss. "If I don't have a good idea, he can keep the money." He got in and sold a $14 million policy. A few years later, Ben figured that the same businessman needed an additional $20 million in coverage. But the man, still busy, refused to take the medical exam. Ben rented a fully equipped medical van, and hired a doctor, and sent both to wait for the tycoon. The man ended up with $52 million in coverage.

In 1992, New York Life marked Ben's 50th year with the company by proclaiming "Feldman's February", a national sales competition. Ben took this as a personal challenge. The winner of the contest (at 80 years old) was Ben Feldman. Even though he was in Boca Raton recovering from a brain hemorrhage, he worked the phones and recorded sales of $15,150,000.

Ben Feldman was famous for his "power phrases", slogans and sayings designed to woo clients,and inspire himself. Some examples:

• "Doing something costs something. Doing nothing costs something. And quite often, doing nothing costs a lot more."
• "The key to a sale is an interview, and the key to an interview is a disturbing question."
• "You'll have the same problems when I walk out as you had when I walked in...unless you let me take your problems with you."

Ben Feldman died in 1993 at 81. A few years before his death he was asked about the largest policy that he had ever written. "I can't say. I haven't written it yet."