“I always thought that if someone invested in your business, that meant he or she believed in it.” Sandra Lerner
This should be a sobering thought to any and all people who own their own business. It is generally a given that the small business owner needs to re-invest back into their businesses. This mentality is a good one for the owner who understands the value of not only in making sure the business is upkept but also in giving them the opportunity to grow as well. But let’s break this down a little further and understand what investing into your business truly means.
A business owner with a brick a mortar building has the physical needs to tend to. Image is paramount in projecting how you want your customers to view you. If you make no effort in re-investing and upgrading the optical portion of your office, you are sending a message to your potential customer that that your office they walk really doesn’t matter to you and if it doesn’t matter to you, it won’t matter to them. Your physical office is a reflection of how you see yourself. You must remember that you are courting the public and you are saying that your product and services will make their lives better. They are buying you and your business. If your office doesn’t speak that to them, you have a problem.
This same mentality should also be present in the office structures of life insurance agents. For those of you who have potential prospects visiting your office, first impressions can be the last impression on the mind of the person you’re courting. If your office isn’t up to their standards, you’re are indirectly stating that their standards don’t matter and that is a mistake. Being a student on the physical appearance and ambiance of your personal office space can pay you big dividends if done properly.
So how does this translate into life insurance agents who in large part, don’t maintain a physical office location? In this case your car, clothing and equipment are the items that are projecting the image of success to your would be buyer. Zig Ziglar said it best in his statement, “You cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure.”
But the bottom line comes in terms of re-investing back into your business. Let’s break this down a little further and understand what that really means and then ask the hard question. Are you doing it?
Re-investing back into your business comes in two forms: Time and Money. Both are critical and must be applied judiciously. When it comes to time, how are your spending it? Have you structured yourself in your daily habits to set aside time to read books, articles, professional publications or listen to audio recordings that help increase your knowledge and understanding of your industry and current climate? Are you reading daily on personal development and the psychology of winning and communication?
“We become what we think about most of the time, and that’s the strangest secret.”
– Earl Nightingale
We are the sum total of what we think. Any and everything we put into our brain at some point gets expressed out. We have all heard the old saying, “garbage in…garbage out. What are you investing into that molds your thinking? Is it that one eyed monster sitting in your living room called the TV? Do you not know that it is a time investment thief? That is not to say that there isn’t any value in some TV programming. But the shocking statistic is that the average American invest 5 hours each day watching TV(a) and 1 hour and 1 hour and 40 minutes on social media(b). That’s nearly 7 hours of each day being invested into what? Are you this person? How does that translate into success for your agency?
Here is my question to you. Are these statistics talking about you? How and where you invest your time will have a direct correlation to you and the success of your business. It is no accident that successful agents are able to discipline their time and invest it wisely. You should take note of that and invest some of your time being around this focused mentality.
Next we have our money investment. Do you invest your money into your business? Let’s be clear what that really means. Are you re-investing 10% back into your business? Remember the quote at the beginning of the article. If you are NOT investing back into your business, what is that saying about your own view about yourself? Do you not believe in what you are doing? Ask yourself this question. Who do you know close to you would invest into your business? What would they expect to get in return? Do you see where this is going?
This is a challenge to you to look inward into your own business. When you truly believe in your business, you are confident in taking a portion of your hard earned commissions and reinvesting them back into yourself and the future growth. This goes along with the old adage, “you put your money where your mouth is.” Are you doing that?
Are you investing into marketing yourself and your services? Are you buying ads to promote yourself? Are you investing into social media to drive traffic to you while creating your branding at the same time? Do you invest into your agency downline? Are you investing into the people you have recruited and by doing so, sending the message that you believe in them and are willing to invest into their future and are they doing the same? Who is going to set the tempo on your team? It should be you. You are the lead dog of your agency.
All of these questions come down to one single thought: Do you believe in yourself and your business? If so, the money you are making should reflect that mentality. If money is tight, you can start small. Start with 2-3%. Have the courage and mentality to plan for future increases of investment dollars into your business. By doing so, you are sending a message first to yourself that you believe in who you are and what your agency is going to accomplish. It also sends a message to those around you that you are a winner and people love winners. You are setting the tone and example for others to follow. Get started today. Don’t delay and write down your goals and your action plan to invest into your business both with your time and your money. You owe it to yourself and to your family, friends and colleagues around you. It will pay off.
(a)http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/average-american-watches-5-hours-tv-day-article-1.1711954
(b)https://www.socialmediatoday.com/marketing/how-much-time-do-people-spend-social-media-infographic
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