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In January I spoke at a convention in Arizona and was fortunate enough to hear the speaker the night before me: Kevin Smith, a State Farm agent from Chicago, who has broken all kinds of records in his first three years. This is my assessment/interpretation as to why he has been so successful so quickly.

Believe you can do it and be motivated to be the best

Success is not an accident. “All this stuff is mental.”*

The primary challenge most people have is that somewhere inside them lies lingering doubt about whether they too can get what they want in life. When I asked Kevin if he knew where his belief came from, he wasn’t quite sure (because a few people learn it along the way (usually from parents who are unconditionally loving); most of us need to induce it day after day by rewiring our brains).

What Kevin DID talk about was powerful and, ultimately, did answer the question. “I am consistently reminding myself what I want to accomplish,” which is precisely what most people do NOT do. Please read his point again. It’s a daily habit that’s easy to do but that requires rare self-discipline.

Beliefs? “I believe I make a difference in the world. I treat people right and I want to be the best at what I do.”

These are beliefs to have for yourself.

At the end of his introduction, he said: “I want you to check your excuses at the door: Anything’s possible if you put your mind to it.” So, rule #1: work on the mental game.

(*And there is science behind this. See my previous blog: How to Change Your Beliefs)

2. Have high visibility and high volume in your target market – where everyone knows what you do without you having to tell them or sell them

Want a mindset that helps? “I love to network.” Kevin’s passion in life is human connection, music and the night club scene that goes with it. His target market is 22-28 year-olds who frequent two of Chicago’s most hip night clubs/restaurants. He researched these places and their owners before making his decision.

The beauty of his networking is that he gets to meet a lot of people several times each week who all need what he does (insurance: even if they have a different provider when they meet him, does their agent love what they love and build relationships like this?) In December he got 40-45 referrals from his connections made at the nightclub.

The takeaway here for you is to ask yourself:

What is my ‘nightclub’?

Where do I enjoy meeting people?

Seek out RESPECTED business owners – centers of influence. They will associate with you if you follow point 6 (see below)

The ever increasing trend in sales is that the consumer wants to meet you in a non-sales environment and get comfortable with you as a person first. Then you can position yourself as a trusted advisor (rather than someone trying to sell them something).

3. A brand that is consistent with who you are – online and offline

Many people I meet like to segment their lives and not mix business with their personal life. Increasingly though there is a slowly growing number of people who see that synergizing their lives in various areas has exponential benefits. Keith Ferrazzi wrote about it in Never Eat Alone. And, as I think about, Stephen Covey identified the same trend much before that – that to live life to its fullest you can’t run fast enough from all the important areas and feel accomplished. You need to combine more of them (and I’m not saying ‘all’ – everyone needs down time)

So rather than being Dr Jekyl and Mr Hide where you never talk shop at church or when you’re coaching your kids, be the same person and be proud of your vocation.

Wherever people meet Kevin, he wears jeans, a casual shirt and sneakers. On Tuesday evenings he serves on a non-profit board. Three evenings each week he takes different guests to one of the nightclubs. He does not drink – he always has bottled water. On Facebook, people see the same thing: Pictures of him in all of these roles reinforcing that he helps people in multiple professional and volunteer ways, loves music and likes to have fun.

Develop a clear brand that is, above all, you being yourself. Easier said than done in business attire that looks like everyone else’s (one reason Kevin does not play that game; not an option for everyone)!

“This is the most important point I want to make,” he started. “For everything you do, make it a system and train your team how to do the same.” From how a client is greeted when she walks in the door to how you follow up on a referral, track walk-ins, track sales, track marketing results, just have one way of doing it. Share between different staff who is responsible for tracking each of these and insist on weekly reports.

Great Idea #1! Follow up to the people he meets: He requests they become Facebook friends: “Tara, it was great meeting you last night. If there’s anything I or my office can do for you, we’d love to take care of you. Please let me know.”

THEN he sends a separate email to his office manager, Robin, and cc’s in the new ‘friend’. “Robin, Tara is an important person that I met recently. If she should contact the office, please give her special treatment.” Many people commented afterwards what a good idea this was.

Note: Not everything he does is online. His office sent out 2900 thank you cards last year.

Great Idea #2! If you are connected with someone on Facebook, print off their information before a meeting so you can read about their hobbies and personal information. That makes it easier to connect with him or her on topics that are near and dear to that individual.

Great Idea #3! Kevin’s office has a Carrot of the Week award brings him free exposure on Facebook. This goes to a client who has referred him business. Kevin often strategically chooses someone who has 100’s of friends on Facebook who will also see this award.

Great Idea #4: Every day he briefly ‘touches’ 10 people on Facebook to start a conversation. More branding, more relationship building.

Great Idea #5: Because of all his non-profit contacts, when he has clients with family members dealing with cancer, diabetes or Alzheimers, he has personal connections that might be able to help.

Great Idea #6: Every Wednesday from 4-5pm, his office does nothing but make RANDOM calls to clients thanking them for their patronage. Have you EVER received a call like this other than right after you bought something?

“It’s all about the team. It’s all about recruiting.” If you want to be a rainmaker, recruit the right people and make sure they support your vision. Don’t wait for someone to leave. Smith pays attention to companies with a sales culture that might be close to downsizing, then goes to these locations and inquires about ex. opening a checking account. If he is impressed by what he sees (he is looking for a demonstrated ability to pivot from one sales opportunity to another), he will begin prospecting this person.

It is one thing for a job applicant to claim to have experience with something. He has already seen people in action.

Challenge your staff: Kevin prefers to be tough up front with new hires and loosen up over time. He will test them in their first two weeks to make sure they are productive when no one is watching and on how promptly they respond to tasks he requests. He has no problem firing people quickly if they do not demonstrate what he’s looking for. He also likes to take new employees to work for their first month so that plenty of training content can be covered in the car. “They hate this but we get a lot done.”

How many times have you heard this? Why is it then that so few people actually do this proactively?

It is counter-intuitive advice given that most people focus exclusively on how they can find more business for themselves. Isn’t it time include daily actions that simply help others?

I wanted to know from Kevin how high-end restaurant owners would agree to sit down with a young insurance agent. He does NOT call them and say ‘hey I’d love to stop by and show you what I do.’

He contacts them and says; “I’ll bring you business. I will come to your restaurant three times/week and bring in new people as often as possible. In return I want to meet with you and your staff and sit with them (to see if I can help them). I’ll support you and I ask that you do the same for me.”

Think about it, how often do you suppose restaurant owners hear this in their life time? Likely never. And Kevin admitted that if he ever reneged on his promise, they would lose interest pretty quickly in him.

For you it may not be this profession you aim to help – who is your ‘restaurant owner’? An attorney? A spa owner? A politician? A board member of a professional association?

ALSO: Kevin is actively involved in supporting various non-profit causes. This is visible on his Facebook page and is demonstrated in other ways. When several of his clients came to him saying they could not afford their premiums because they had lost their jobs, he offered a resume writing class at his office on a Saturday. At Christmas, everyone in his office donated 3% of their income so one family could buy presents. I wildly understate when I say this is an unusual response to how most people handle clients who can’t pay.

Tim Sanders argues that leaders are readers. Smith aims to read at least one book/week on a wide variety of subjects. It helps him connect better with a diverse ethnic mix of his big city clients. One example he gave was that having recently read about the one child only policy in China gave him more to discuss with his clients with that heritage.

Include in this time to practice the things you need to improve on. This could include role playing with your staff. For Kevin it is another system he has – role playing every week. Most adults avoid this like the plague because it feels awkward. We need to stop pretending we’re perfect and do it anyway.

10. Solicit and accept feedback and criticism

11. Start and end your day congruently and positively

He has recorded a wake up message on his phone that is his voice reading his mission statement, listing who and what he is grateful for and has it end with the words: “I love you.” At this point in the presentaion, he added: “Not enough of us tell ourselves this. I think that’s a mistake because we need to hear it. We have to feel good about ourselves.”

There are so many great ideas here. I would suggest printing this off, picking a couple of them, revisiting this article and incorporating other ideas over time. And having Kevin speak to your organization because I am SURE he is always adding new ideas that work too.

I am positive other people who matter in your network would love to read this. Please forward it on and share the wealth. Most of all, please take action.

Thanks for reading this. Please forward it on.

Author: Matt Anderson, The Referral Authority, Author of Fearless Referrals

Source: http://mattandersontv.wordpress.com