He Cancelled His Life Insurance Policy and Went on a Pilgrimage in Search of Jesus...
Giphy Images.State Mutual was paying the other three trainees and me a salary for five weeks. My weekly take-home was $253 (1980), and I was determined to stay at least until the training period was over. I owed Susan that much after dragging her to New Jersey.
The next part of the training involved mastering the kitchen table sales presentation. Johnny showed us his, and it was interesting. It began with reinforcing the idea that we were skilled financial advisors working for free to help people save money. Obviously, none of us were.
After people bought into it, we were instructed to take inventory of their monthly expenses. It amazed me how much financial information people were willing to share. Our goal was to determine how much extra money potential clients had left after paying their monthly bills.
Once we determined that number and had mom, dad, and the kids all listening, we were instructed to sketch a stick-figure picture of the entire family. Once drawn, we were told to pose the question, "What would happen if Dad suddenly died?" Then we'd draw a big X through the stick figure of dad, leaving the stick figures of mom and the kids standing on their own.
Usually, there was shock, then silence, the entire family reflecting on what that loss would do to their emotional and financial stability.
After a long pause, we were instructed to drop our pens, fold the fingers of both hands into each other in front of us, and with great resolve, say, "At this point in the presentation, I'd like to inform you that I earn my living by selling Life, Health, and Disability…"
At that precise moment, someone, mom or dad, would ask, "You're an insurance salesman?"
Once they realized what frauds we were, that none of us were skilled financial advisors working for free to save them money, many of them would tell us to get the fuck out of their houses! During training, Karl chimed in with some sound advice, "If they only object to the insurance, keep pushing. The minute they object to you, get the fuck out of their house!"
Johnny told stories of being chased out of houses, one time by a man wielding a shotgun. Between his Frankenstein haircut, spastic mannerisms, and dark suit covered in dandruff, I was shocked anybody let him in.
I questioned my decision to stay, but I needed the paycheck at least until something else came along.
Every night, Johnny slammed a phonebook down in front of each of us, and Sandy, Keith, Ron, and I stayed late to make cold calls and set up at least three appointments. Karl and Johnny were using us to get leads, something they didn't want to do. Even if only a few leads led to sales, they could well afford to pay us and still make a ton of money on the residuals.
Once we had appointments scheduled, Johnny would go to the house with us to help close the sale. Johnny was a big Red Sox fan, and he and I got along well. He wasn't a bad guy. Just a strange-looking insurance salesman in a cheap suit with absolutely no scruples and a family to feed.
Our biggest seller was whole life insurance, and after learning about it, and how it not only provided a death benefit, but was there to use for loans, and that after a certain length of time, you could turn it in for its cash value, which grew over time, I was completely on board. Made sense to me. It was better than term.
Johnny urged me to buy a policy for myself. He said it was a great idea for a newly married man and that I'd receive a commission on it. I bought a whole life policy for myself. It made sense to Susan and me.
I called a lot of my friends trying to sell them whole life insurance. Very few were interested, except my friend John. I met him in fifth grade. He was a great athlete in baseball and track, a quiet, well-mannered kid who was highly intelligent. He agreed to have me come to his apartment to talk about insurance.
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He married his high school sweetheart, but by then, they had already divorced. He was an engineer and earned a lot of money.
I arrived in a jacket and tie, trying my best to look professional. I skipped the kitchen-table presentation and cut to the chase on the benefits of owning a whole life insurance policy. I even adopted a strategy from one of the longtime salesmen at State Mutual and brought a copy of my plan to show him. After a brief explanation of the benefits of whole life, I tossed my policy, wrapped tightly in a plastic sleeve, onto the kitchen table in front of him and said, "There's mine!"
John didn't hesitate; he bought a policy for himself right there. I had made my first solo sale.
We sat and talked for a while, and I told him I was wearing a clip-on tie because I didn't know how to tie a real one. He grabbed one of his ties and, in less than half an hour, taught me how to make one, something my father should've done, but never did.
Six weeks later, I quit. I called John to tell him Johnny would be taking over his account as well as mine. John said he wanted to cancel his policy. When I objected, believing whole life was something of a necessity, he admitted the only reason he bought the policy was me…
I continued calling him after that, just to see how he was doing. During my last call to him, he told me he quit his job and was going on a pilgrimage in search of Jesus. I paused for a second, and remembering he was very religious, I said, "I'd love to go with you, John, but I've got other commitments. But, in the event you find him, call me first, will ya?"
I was done selling life insurance. I never heard back from John. I hope he found Jesus…
To be continued…