Get Out of Bed

A very close personal friend of mine approached me the other day. He had just started a career in the insurance sales business (he calls it financial consulting, but we all know what it is), and he was struggling. He knew that I had some background in motivational writing and speaking and wondered what he needed to do to bring up his sales. Actually, he wanted to know how he could get more prospects. He was pretty sure that he could land business if he could get in front of more folks.

So I checked with a couple of my friends in the insurance business. By happenstance, two of my closest friends over the years were top producers for top companies. There were no surprises in their responses to my question: "How does my friend get more prospects?" Answer: "Make lots and lots of cold calls!"

Nobody in sales wants to hear that (Oh sure, there's the odd 3% or so of salesfolks who love making cold calls), but there is just no way around it. 80% of the people who start out in the advertising specialty sales game this year will give up within 5 years. There is no doubt in my mind that those will be the ones who thought they could make a living calling their friends and associates and network their way to success. That will keep you busy for the first week.

So, get up early, hit the streets or the phones. Call until the sun goes down. Repeat daily for 2-3 years. You will be successful.