My story and why

I’d like to share a bit of my story and my ‘why’ to help you construct a framework to use as a template. I have stated many times, “Its always easier to edit than create”. This example is for that precise reason.

I will share two different ways to frame the same story depending on the situation at hand.

1)Leading with a story where the listener knows the story is about you.

2)Leading with a story where they find out later the story is about you.

I will illustrate both examples.

FYI: This is my actual story and one I have shared countless times. This format works if done correctly. There is no magic to it, just truth laid out in a specific order, with the right words, phrases and emotional triggers to prompt the desired response.

VERSION ONE
​
Leading with a story where the listener knows the story is about you.

I grew up in the Midwest in a typical family. I had a loving and talented Mom, a hardworking and funny Dad and I was 2nd of 4 kids.

We lived in a nice house in a beautiful neighborhood, I had my own room, took vacations, had an allowance, always had new clothes to wear, lots of gifts at Christmas and food on the table.

I was able to do so many things and never felt like I was deprived or denied anything. I knew I was fortunate but never really gave it much thought.
 
Well that all changed the night of July 4th when I was 12 years old when my Dad died suddenly of a heart attack. Everything changed for obvious reasons.

My Dad was president of a family business that my great grandfather started in 1908 called ‘Colley Elevator’. |

My grandfather had also run the business but had also died suddenly a few years prior, leaving the business to my Dad.
 
Turns out that the business went to my Mom and she had no knowledge or ability to run the company.

It sold in a fire sale partly because my parents didn’t have life insurance and were carrying a substantial amount of debt along with their monthly expenses.

Within 6 weeks we also had to sell our big beautiful house and move to a much smaller place with just a few bedrooms.

Not only did I lose my Dad (who I still miss everyday), but the way of life I knew ended as well.

There were no more vacations, new clothes, allowances, and things were tight.

To my Mom’s credit she worked 3 jobs to provide for us kids.

I started working part time at age 13 to help as well.

So many things I took for granted were gone and were not coming back any time soon.
 
Once I was a little older, I started to realize why life changed so quickly.

It was my parent’s lack of understanding of the importance of having life insurance and managing debt.

If they only had a plan in place, life would have been better all around. Obviously, the emotional loss will be with me forever, but if my parent’s finances were in better shape it would have been so much better for my Mom and my family.
 
That is ‘why’ I am so passionate about what I do as an insurance professional. Now every day I help keep others from experiencing what I and my family went through.

It changed who I was, but the experience help prepare and mold me into being the most caring insurance business relationship partner one could ever have.

It is the main reason I get up every day, roll up my sleeves and enjoy preparing and providing protection for your life, family and assets.
##

This version illustrates many points of which most are pain points.

They are important to use as often as possible. Equally important is how you resolve the pain from your experience and to save them from going through the pain you and your family went through.

Now you're probably thinking, that is a lot focus on pain, and you're right.

Most people choose to avoid pain then enjoy pleasure. Always start with pain points then resolve into the ‘Why’ you do what you do and how you can help them because of your experience.

These are the points you want to make crystal clear in your story.
​
•Life is great until it isn’t

•Emotional distress and lack of understanding why

•Extreme change of lifestyle because of an unexpected tragedy

•Gaining understanding and planting seeds for the future

•Becoming a licensed insurance professional to provide services that my family never had

•Sharing my story, why and passion to help others to avoid a similar situation

----

VERSION TWO

Leading with a story where they find out later the story is about you.

The story is essentially the same with the main difference being how you begin and close.

It can be remarkably effective because of the surprise ending. Before you go into any type of presentation, begin by ‘sharing a story’ which would start like this.

Before I begin, I’d like to share a short story with you.

Change the story from first person to third person.

It’s about a young boy who grew up in the Midwest in a typical family. He had a loving and talented Mom, a hardworking and funny Dad and was 2nd of 4 kids. He lived in a nice house..

Jumping to the end…

If his parents only had a plan in place, life would have been better all around.

Obviously, the emotional loss will be with him forever, but if his parent’s finances were in better shape it would have been so much better for his Mom and his family.
 
The reason I am so passionate about what I do as an insurance professional is because… (pause)
that 12-year-old boy… (pause) was me. (pause)

Now every day I help keep others from experiencing what I and my family went through.
##

This little twist provides a reaction you should be able to feel.

This approach is extremely effective when communicating virtually.

It helps you to identify so many things about your prospect going forward.

•It may prompt them to share their story or a story about someone they know

•They may express how sorry they are for what happened to you

•They will remember your story

•They will be more open to trust you and want to follow your lead

•They will start believing you are the right person to solve their problem

Bottom line, if done correctly it gets them comfortable enough to start talking.

Your story is the lead for you to do as much listening as possible from that point forward.

Remember the old saying. “We have two ears and one mouth”, meaning we should listen twice as much as we talk.

For sales professionals this is a real challenge. It is usually the main reason that disrupts the closing of most sales.

Your story has two goals;

to get them to start trusting and talking.

(Sometimes its hard to get them to stop talking, but that’s usually a good thing).

The value of identifying my ‘Why’ and how it serves as the nucleus for developing my story.

Turning a negative experience into a positive one for others.

Negative Result:

•Losing my Dad unexpectedly

•Burden on my Mom

•Lack of understanding why my lifestyle changed so much

•Loss of my home, money, family business

•Unknown future

Positive Outcome:

•Created an awareness and desire to help others

•Realization of unnecessary burden on a family

•Incentive to become a licensed Insurance professional

•Ability to market, educate and provide valuable information and guidance

Define 'why' you do what you do

Discovering your ‘why’ may be easier than you think.

It usually comes down to two important choices most make when they go into any line of business.

1)They do it solely for the financial rewards and profit. Which is a result of an effort and nothing more.

2)They do because they share a cause they believe in- to help others have a better service, product, and life experience from the business relationship.

This is based on what they personally have experienced in their own lives. It serves as the catalyst for everything they do in business and believe in.

People buy ‘why’ you do something rather than ‘what’ you do

Sharing your cause (based on your why) effectively will help others to believe in you and what you are offering. And if they believe strongly enough, you will have a loyal and dedicated client for life.

Believing something mutual with your client can have an unbelievable impact on your business.

Remember Dr. Martin Luther Kings’ speech in the summer of 1963 in Washington, DC?

The speech wasn’t called “I have a plan for your future”, or “I have been a preacher for 25 years”.

It was “I have a dream” which prompted a shared belief that changed the world.

You can do the same for yourself by adopting this same philosophy.

People follow those who lead and inspire them. When you start with your ‘why’ you will have the ability to inspire and lead your client, connect on an emotional level (which is a state of mind where people make most decisions) and close more business.

That is how important knowing, developing, and starting with why in your storytelling is, for your insurance business!

Let’s break down the story example to help you understand how to define your ‘why’ and create a story of your own.

Points to include in your story

•Time frame - Who, What, Where and Why

•Words and phrases that provoke or trigger an emotional response

•Using the emotional responses to gain belief in you and your cause

•Sharing that you know what it is like to experience something they do not want to experience themselves

•Your passion and reason for being in the insurance business is based 100% on your ‘why’ and personal experience

•Identify yourself as the life jacket and navigator who they believe can get them back to safety if they find themselves on stormy seas

In Review:

The worksheet provided gives you an outline to help you create a great story to share.

Your ability to master this task will translate into an unbelievable boost to your relationship building, earning trust, sharing a common belief, and creating and closing more insurance business.

Here at Go Agent Go we help ‘Break Through Barriers’ that are blocking you from the success you desire and deserve.

As always, our goal is to help you create and close more insurance business

I have years of experience and speak the language of the insurance business. I am looking forward to working together to help you create and close more insurance business. 

Craig Colley
TEXT (949) 216-8459 for more info.

I’m going to show one example of how I made an extra 40k by simply cutting 3 areas of expenses listed above.

First a little back story…

For decades I had brick & mortar offices, production studios, a chain of retail stores, various leased office space for employees/productions… and a great deal of overhead, maintenance costs and PROBLEMS. I was also traveling to every appointment and even worse, sitting in traffic trying to get there and back.

When I finally cracked the lock with the right combination of services, products, hardware and know how, I was overly excited because I knew I could now work from home and really from anywhere, anytime.

If I plan an extended vacation, a working vacation, or just keep maintaining the automated virtual work from home machine I created, no problem. If I have connectivity to cell or internet service, I am good to go. In the world we live today that is easy to do.

And yes, I did the same exercise myself. When I added up all the costs I was incurring, day after day, month after month and year after year it was an astronomical amount of money.

Depending on the circumstance, my daily expenses ranged from $500 to $1000 A DAY just to keep the doors open!

That is a lot of money going to someone else! I was basically working 2 to 4 and sometime 6 months a year for the privilege of putting all that money in someone else’s bank account.

It was, however, a big fat motivator to find another way. And the other way I found was going virtual by working from home.

The problem was technology had not progressed as fast as my vision for what could be. All of that has changed in the last five years and will only get better as time goes on.

My dream of work 100% from home is now a reality.

Now I am going to share how I made that extra 40k.

First let’s take a look at actual expense reductions.

These numbers are estimates of operation costs for one of my brick & mortar business locations.

Monthly Expenses Changes When Working From Home:
(This list does not include labor costs)

•Office $2000 mo. to Zero
•Business Utilities $600 mo. to Zero
•Business Liability Insurance $125 mo. to Zero
•Business Telephone $160 mo. to Zero
•Business Use Property Tax $125 mo. to Zero
•Business Internet Service $110 mo. to Zero
•Office Cleaning Services $100 mo. to Zero

Estimated Savings: $3320 a month - $39,840 a yr.

HONORABLE MENTION: (Not included in estimate above)

•City & Fire codes / misc. annual charges - cut by 90%
•Equipment and Office Maintenance - cut by 90%
•Travel Expenses reduced by 85%

Here is a Breakdown of the 3 Cost-Cutting Strategies:

•Overhead & Expense Savings

> Rent & utilities are no longer on your accounting ledger. And you should be able to receive your deposit back if you have left the leased area in the same condition as when you enter into your leasing agreement. (This will seem like a bonus check when it arrives!)

•Fees, Subscriptions, Licenses and Tax Reduction / Elimination

> Canceling unneeded subscriptions, city & fire license and some tax requirements eliminated when you are no longer operating a business in a public facility.

•Risk, Liability, and Insurance Reduction

> A business is always vulnerable to lawsuits in an office, industrial or retail setting. The liabilities are simply higher. Insurance coverage and their premiums stop when exiting your brick & mortar facility.

Current estimated monthly operating cost for my virtual business runs about $200 a month. And that is based on maintaining a massive work from home insurance business system and marketing machine.

True, your work from home insurance business will have costs, but they will be significantly lower when compared side by side.

Comparison before & after going virtual:

•Brick & Mortar annual cost of Operations: $40.000
•Virtual Business Cost of Operations: $2400.00

That’s a about a 99% reduction!

Conclusion:

You don't have to be an accounting wizard to figure out how much cutting out brick and mortar expenses saves on an annual basis.

In reference to the 40k I made, it was a direct correlation to the 40k I saved by going 100% virtual and work from home.

Another way to look at this:

1)If you are saving 40k a year, like this example, that is 40k you do not have to work to make just to operate your business.

2)Re-purpose the 40k into creating and marketing your work from home insurance business.

At GO Agent GO and the Eazy VB Online Course, I show how you can start a work from home insurance business for about $15 to $30 a month and build from there.

I have years of experience and speak the language of the insurance business. I am looking forward to working together to help you create and close more insurance business. 

Craig Colley
TEXT (949) 216-8459 for more info.

​From the GO Agent GO & the Eazy VB Online Course

The ‘HOT 100’ ways, items, tasks listed below are benchmarks of GO Agent GO and Eazy VB. Your knowledge, application and implementation of every item will help you scale your insurance business.

If any of the items on the list below are unfamiliar, there is a good chance you are missing valuable opportunities to advance your business practice, increase productivity and boost your bottom line

 As a work from home insurance agent, whether you are working your insurance leads, mortgage protection, final expense telesales, life insurance sales, Medicare, long term care or annuities, this GO Agent GO and the '100 Ways' maybe just what you've been looking for.

  This system was created by an insurance agent and designed specifically for work from home insurance agents to share many secrets of success, tech & tips and workarounds.

With GO Agent GO you’ll learn how to:

WEBSITE:
1.Create/update a responsive https (secure site) WordPress website with clear messaging and multiple ‘call to action’ buttons
2.Create framework, color, fonts, graphics, videos and personal brand
3.Create a headline or opening statement that clearly defines your business, what problem it solves for your customer and identifies you as the ‘go to’ authority
4.Brands you as an expert without boasting about yourself and your services
5.Create SEO descriptions (the text Google search displays about your website), targeted content, analytics, pixels, keywords, phrases and hashtags used by Google to index and rank your site
6.Pop-up messaging to collect lead generation emails, i.e. free download, link to video, newsletter and automate to email drip list campaign
7.Chat box for instant communication/problem solving, relationship building and lead generation

EMAIL:
1.Deliver emails that stand out in a sea of mediocre messaging
2.The best way to use a thesaurus and targeted copy for better content creation
3.Clean an email list before uploading to your email service (verify email)
4.Warm up IP addresses and avoid getting blacklisted for spam
5.Automated email campaigns with auto responders, tracking and re-send capabilities
6.Automatically send 5-way email subject line testing & deliver the winning email automatically
7.Add emails from your inbox to your drip list that usually go un-used
8.Create sophisticated email auto-flows; 5, 10, 15 in succession and drip list
9.Use Zapier for communication between different email, web, CRM services
10.How to use multiple email services at the same time and why
11.What to do with email opt outs
12.Use private proxies and why

CALENDAR:
1.Automate appointment setting
2.Automate reminder and follow up emails/text messaging
3.Add time frame to appointment
4.Blackout dates
5.Link to your Google, iPhone, etc. calendar automatically
6.Get reminders on your computer / devices

TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION:
1.Add a 2nd, 3rd or even 4th line to your cell phone using your existing account. Separate calls/text messaging (business / personal). Also useful for market research.
2.Add contacts using the ‘Eazy VB Proprietary Digital Filing System’

SMS: (Text Messaging)
1.Track results: receive SMS notice when your email has been opened and clicked in real time
2.Once notified, do instant follow up with engaged prospects - call, text, email, send personalized follow up video
3.Use SMS group blasts messaging with tracking & opt out option
4.Share a link from your email blast, video, newsletter, website page or blog

NEWSLETTERS, SURVEYS AND QUIZZES:
1.Create meaningful and concise content
2.Create simple templates that are eazy to re-use, update, maintain and track
3.Create graphic headers that help your messaging
4.Get eyeballs on your messaging via a headline, survey, quiz, video, image, GIF or quote
5.Auto re-send follow ups to opens, clicks and video plays & non-opens in groups or one on one
6.Automate welcome message for new prospects / clients
7.Create call to action links that get clicked and tracked
8.Ask questions that get answered via emails, SMS, html inserts and hyperlinks on your website and social media pages on surveys and quizzes
9.Track and use results for precise follow up conversations and future marketing

SOCIAL MEDIA:
1.Create site headers (banners at top of page) and simple templates for ads with multiple versions for all social media platforms
2.Automate posting to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest
3.Add and automate 1st comment to Instagram
4.Send to all platforms simultaneously
5.Hashtag resources and applications

VIDEO EMAILS:
1.When, where and how to use video messaging in text, emails and posts
2.Create videos that help your open & click engagement
3.How to look and sound better in your one-off videos
4.Record video emails on my phone, tablet or computer, send and have the capability to receive, track and instantly follow up in real time via text, phone call and email
5.Record video on your computer/phone for immediate delivery/ follow up with the capability to receive, track and instantly follow up in real time via text, phone call and email
6. Upload and save videos for future use
7.Make videos in formal and informal settings to humanize the experience

SCREEN SHARES & ZOOM:
1.Automate the invite and follow up process and customize settings
2.Video screen shares and zoom type meetings and record for playback/sharing
3.Make yourself look and sound better on your screen shares and zoom meetings
4.Use green screen, simulated background replacement and change backgrounds in real time
5.Prepare custom branded backgrounds
6.What lighting, microphone, camera to use
7.Set up video, audio and your environment for the best streaming and recording results
8.Record and upload meeting for replay and on demand viewing
9.Link to your appointment calendar

WEBINARS:
1.Create, market, automate schedule and reminders, host, record and deliver on-demand
2.Camera, microphone, lighting, setting, posture, body language, facial expressions and gestures
3.Green screen, background, backdrop, controlled environment, turn off cell phone/ringers
4.Use wired connections when possible (internet, microphone, headset, camera etc.)
5.||: Practice, record, watch, repeat :|| until confident in the delivery of your presentation

VIDEO: (Advanced)
1.Import, create and deliver great video content
2.High-end video animations you can make and use in 5 minutes - not 5 hours
3.Re-size images, Gifs and video for optimal playback on the web and portable devices
4.Use Final Cut Pro (Mac only), Premier or free online editors (Mac & PC)
5.Insert yourself as an overlay on a screen share to pre-recorded webinar/info video (logi capture)

COMPUTERS & DEVICES:
1.Update OS (Operating System) and backup computer & devices
2.Protect computer from viruses
3.Install Software Updates
4.How to use your iPad as a second or third monitor
5.Use a wireless trackball for better efficiency
6.Working virtual, what to take to a face to face appointments
7.What to take with you when traveling to work remotely
8.How to use voice command to dictate content instead of typing on PC, Mac and devices
9.Use ‘read aloud’ in Word / Google Docs to read text for proofing copy

MARKETING:
1.Make yourself more human in a digital / virtual environment
2.Creating a well-crafted compelling story and how to prepare and practice your delivery
3.Become a valued guide - not the "Know It All" or "Look How Smart I Am" so called "Expert"
4.Blanket your communication on different platforms and automate delivery and follow ups
5.Identify, target and deliver your message to a specific demographic (One size fits all doesn’t work)
6.Add additional communication software, audio and video tools to increase your success when reaching out to current and new prospects

UTILIZE FREE RESOURCES:
1.Add a chat box to your website/sales or landing page with instant notification and response capability on your computer and devices. Also available on mobile devices.
2.Screen capture images and record simple "how to" or "tech problems" video screen shares quickly, mockup with text, arrows, blurs, save to remote server and share a link for free - use for clients/IT support
3.Create 3D PDF, guides and report book and device covers in pings and jpegs
4.Presentation calculators to use to illustrate with webinars/screen shares
5.Create or optimize images/video and gifs for faster open rates on websites and messaging
6.Appointment calendar
7.Faxing PDFs from your computer
8.Source for royalty free images, audio, sound effects and video clips
9.Hashtag help, creation and compilation lists
10.Email blast services
11.Coupon checker for discounts on software, hardware etc.
12.Google docs
13.Free templates for PowerPoint/Google Docs

And that is 100 Ways to Boost your Insurance Business

I have years of experience and speak the language of the insurance business. I am looking forward to working together to help you create and close more insurance business. 

Craig Colley
TEXT (949) 216-8459 for more info.