I have not had much chance to blog as I have been very busy with American Income. The job is, indeed, everything that I thought it would be. For one thing, unlike a certain other insurance company named after a certain state just to the west of mine, this one has already given my an actual, real life, honest to God, paycheck. I put it in the bank and bought stuff with it. It was an unusual experience.
I have been in training for about three weeks now. For the last two weeks, I have been riding along with managers, watching them run appointments and make sales. Next week, I will be out making the sales myself, with the managers along to watch and keep me out of trouble.
AIL provides me all the leads I could ever use. The encourage me to get referrals because the leads cost them quite a bit of money, but as long as I am making a good effort, the leads will keep flowing. I will never have to worry about starving for lack of people to call. All I have to do is be my normally charming self, get on the phone and make the appointments.
The best thing is that these people that I am calling have actually requested that someone call them. They are not just mortgage leads or some other demographically selected group. These are people who filled out a card and mailed it in saying that they wanted to be contacted. I set appointments with about 75% of the people I reach on the phone.
The training is also excellent. The managers are always right there, both when starting out and when one is out in the field on their own. They don't just answer questions, they ask questions to tease out what I could be doing better, even when I don't know what the next question might be. Their success is based on my success, and it shows.
Relevant to this blog, now that I have an actual job where I have actual leads, I can go out and meet with actual clients. This will give me much more to talk about, regarding the people I meet. It also means that this great network that I have built on the premise that I would have clients who would enjoy being introduced to the people I know will finally come into play as I meet with over a dozen new clients a week.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Job Search, Day 15 - Mission Accomplished
Today, I received the following phone call:
Caller: Michael, I would like to offer you the job that you interviewed for this morning.
Me: I would like to accept that job.
With that, an appointment was made for me to go to the main office in Hartford to fill out the paperwork. I will be working for a company called American Income Life Insurance Company out of their new Springfield office. When I first was contacted by them, I was a little skeptical because they were so eager to hire me.
It turns out that their business model is to work with labor unions. (This is why you likely have never heard of them.) They work with union leadership to offer products the union members. The members then send in requests for more information, and the agents follow up on that. This means no more cold calls, no more blind prospecting, no more selling to friends and family. As the manager I spoke to said, "business should be business, and personal should be personal."
The reason that they are so eager to hire is that they have made arrangements with unions in this area but they did not have adequate sales resources in place to meet with all the members who were interested. Thus, they must build up a sales office rapidly, and I am part of that.
The best part for me in my current situation is that I should have a paycheck in my hand by two weeks from now! This is very exciting news. As Annie said, "What's money?" It's been a while.
Doing my due diligence, I did a little search of the Internet to see what I could find on the company, fearing that I would find that they were some terrible, sketchy scam. I was very pleased to only find one negative web site in a quick search. They have a good BBB rating and a good AM Best rating, so they are legit as a company. I also looked around their web site a bit. They not only seem to be a good insurance company, but they seem to be a progressive company.
Find me another insurance company that says this on their web site:
Our agents have walked picket lines on behalf of striking workers, collected food for needy families, and participated in coordinated Get Out The Vote campaigns nationwide for progressive campaigns.
http://www.ailife.com/Main/markets.aspx?submenu=ProgressivePartners
It is also the only 100% unionized insurance company in the world: unionized not because the employees were disgruntled but because the company wanted to show their dedication to the labor movement by becoming a part of it.
This is quite a job I have come into, and I look forward to where the path will lead. It's a good thing I did not give into my skepticism and I checked the place out.
Overcome your skepticism. Get out and see what opportunities await you.
Update August 5th, 2017
Since apparently this article still gets some hits, an update on how this turned out. I worked for AIL for about a year and a half. They do have leads for union members, but they do not have as many as I thought they would so success is largely dependent on how many referrals you are able to get from each appointment. For the right person who has a talent for sales, AIL is a great opportunity, and, while it is straight commission, it is likely you will start making money fairly quickly because you are given leads right off the bat. Everyone who puts in the effort and follows the system makes at least $20-35K/year, and some do over $100K their first year, and the difference between the first category and the second is talent and skill. I'd definitely recommend this company to anyone who wants to get their feet wet in selling. They are good people doing good work.
Caller: Michael, I would like to offer you the job that you interviewed for this morning.
Me: I would like to accept that job.
With that, an appointment was made for me to go to the main office in Hartford to fill out the paperwork. I will be working for a company called American Income Life Insurance Company out of their new Springfield office. When I first was contacted by them, I was a little skeptical because they were so eager to hire me.
It turns out that their business model is to work with labor unions. (This is why you likely have never heard of them.) They work with union leadership to offer products the union members. The members then send in requests for more information, and the agents follow up on that. This means no more cold calls, no more blind prospecting, no more selling to friends and family. As the manager I spoke to said, "business should be business, and personal should be personal."
The reason that they are so eager to hire is that they have made arrangements with unions in this area but they did not have adequate sales resources in place to meet with all the members who were interested. Thus, they must build up a sales office rapidly, and I am part of that.
The best part for me in my current situation is that I should have a paycheck in my hand by two weeks from now! This is very exciting news. As Annie said, "What's money?" It's been a while.
Doing my due diligence, I did a little search of the Internet to see what I could find on the company, fearing that I would find that they were some terrible, sketchy scam. I was very pleased to only find one negative web site in a quick search. They have a good BBB rating and a good AM Best rating, so they are legit as a company. I also looked around their web site a bit. They not only seem to be a good insurance company, but they seem to be a progressive company.
Find me another insurance company that says this on their web site:
Our agents have walked picket lines on behalf of striking workers, collected food for needy families, and participated in coordinated Get Out The Vote campaigns nationwide for progressive campaigns.
http://www.ailife.com/Main/markets.aspx?submenu=ProgressivePartners
It is also the only 100% unionized insurance company in the world: unionized not because the employees were disgruntled but because the company wanted to show their dedication to the labor movement by becoming a part of it.
This is quite a job I have come into, and I look forward to where the path will lead. It's a good thing I did not give into my skepticism and I checked the place out.
Overcome your skepticism. Get out and see what opportunities await you.
Update August 5th, 2017
Since apparently this article still gets some hits, an update on how this turned out. I worked for AIL for about a year and a half. They do have leads for union members, but they do not have as many as I thought they would so success is largely dependent on how many referrals you are able to get from each appointment. For the right person who has a talent for sales, AIL is a great opportunity, and, while it is straight commission, it is likely you will start making money fairly quickly because you are given leads right off the bat. Everyone who puts in the effort and follows the system makes at least $20-35K/year, and some do over $100K their first year, and the difference between the first category and the second is talent and skill. I'd definitely recommend this company to anyone who wants to get their feet wet in selling. They are good people doing good work.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Job Search, Day 13 - Green Ink Makes Black Ink
I had a great interview with Ink Solutions yesterday. Unfortunately, they are looking for a part time position, which is not sufficient to my needs. This is unfortunate, because they are a fantastic local business. They sell refilled ink and toner products, which not only allow customers to save money, but they are great for the environment, preventing waste and pollution. If you use a printer, inkjet or laser, which I bet you do, and if you live or work in the Amherst or Northampton area, you can save money and help the environment by getting your ink and toner there. They even have soy based toner.
See, I know that you were worried that this blog was wondering into becoming a job search blog and you were worried that you would never hear about interesting people in the Valley again. As you can see, I still meet interesting people during the job search.
As for the job search, the phone keeps ringing with folks who want to interview me. I have an interview tomorrow morning with an Insurance company in Springfield. They apparently want me for a management trainee position. I am a little skeptical about what this opportunity really is, but we'll find out in the morning.
That is one of the challenges in the job search process. There are many very legitimate jobs out there, but there are also some that are not quite so good as one might think. I found one job ad offering to pay for writing work, but I dropped pursuit of that one when they asked me for a credit card number to pay a $2.95 fee.
There are also a great many "opportunities" that are commission-only. Most of these opportunities are legitimate, but only about 10-20% of people who go into those fields make it. The rest will find themselves making little to no money. If you were counting on making your fortune, and you make $50 a week, you may find yourself in some serious financial straits at the end of the process.
Don't be afraid to interview every opportunity, but don't be afraid to walk away if it is not right for you either. Now, walk away from the computer and find your fortune.
See, I know that you were worried that this blog was wondering into becoming a job search blog and you were worried that you would never hear about interesting people in the Valley again. As you can see, I still meet interesting people during the job search.
As for the job search, the phone keeps ringing with folks who want to interview me. I have an interview tomorrow morning with an Insurance company in Springfield. They apparently want me for a management trainee position. I am a little skeptical about what this opportunity really is, but we'll find out in the morning.
That is one of the challenges in the job search process. There are many very legitimate jobs out there, but there are also some that are not quite so good as one might think. I found one job ad offering to pay for writing work, but I dropped pursuit of that one when they asked me for a credit card number to pay a $2.95 fee.
There are also a great many "opportunities" that are commission-only. Most of these opportunities are legitimate, but only about 10-20% of people who go into those fields make it. The rest will find themselves making little to no money. If you were counting on making your fortune, and you make $50 a week, you may find yourself in some serious financial straits at the end of the process.
Don't be afraid to interview every opportunity, but don't be afraid to walk away if it is not right for you either. Now, walk away from the computer and find your fortune.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Job Search, Day 12 - The Power of Networking
On July 22nd, my fiancee convinced me that, if jobs could be found, I should hunt for them. On the 23rd, she sent me a list of jobs to look at. Smart lady, that fiancee of mine.
Last Friday, I received expressions of interest from four companies. Two of these, I found through Jobs In the Valley, a local jobs site. One was a short term job through Craig's List, and the fourth is through a friend of mine who is the officer manager of the company.
At both of the two through Jobs in the Valley which are showing potential, I knew the person in charge of the hiring through previous networking of business activity.
You will notice a trend here. Of the four jobs that are showing good potential, three of them have some kind of personal connection. As they say, it is not what you know, it is who you know. You might be thinking that's great for Michael Whitehouse, a compulsive networker, but what does that mean to you, Mr. or Ms. Reader?
There is no secret to knowing people. You just have to meet them. How do you meet them? Call them up and ask to meet with them. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, it is. Find people who are working in fields that you would like to work in. Not sure where to find them? Ask your friends who they know in the field. Check LinkedIn to see who is in your extended network. You do have a Linkedin account, right?
Once you identify people that it would be good for you to meet with, contact them. I recommend the phone for this contact. Tell them who you are and that you would love to sit down with them for 15 minutes to get their advice on your search. Tell them that you chose them because you know that they are knowledgeable and well connected, and you knew that they could help you.
No one is going to argue with that kind of assessment of themselves, and most people like to be able to help people. It's a great ego boost, and it works well for you because once you meet with them, their ego gets tied up in your success. If they can help you, they feel better about themselves.
When you meet with them, remember, this is not a job interview. You are not trying to get them to give you a job. You just want to get whatever valuable advice you can from them. It is possible that they may decide to call someone on your behalf or even offer you a job, but don't expect it.
Send a thank you note. An email one immediately, a paper one by snail mail right after. Thank you notes are rare in business these days, and yours will stand out.
If you are searching for a job, good luck. It's a tough world, but as they say, the harder you work, the luckier you get. Now, get up and find that job.
Last Friday, I received expressions of interest from four companies. Two of these, I found through Jobs In the Valley, a local jobs site. One was a short term job through Craig's List, and the fourth is through a friend of mine who is the officer manager of the company.
At both of the two through Jobs in the Valley which are showing potential, I knew the person in charge of the hiring through previous networking of business activity.
You will notice a trend here. Of the four jobs that are showing good potential, three of them have some kind of personal connection. As they say, it is not what you know, it is who you know. You might be thinking that's great for Michael Whitehouse, a compulsive networker, but what does that mean to you, Mr. or Ms. Reader?
There is no secret to knowing people. You just have to meet them. How do you meet them? Call them up and ask to meet with them. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, it is. Find people who are working in fields that you would like to work in. Not sure where to find them? Ask your friends who they know in the field. Check LinkedIn to see who is in your extended network. You do have a Linkedin account, right?
Once you identify people that it would be good for you to meet with, contact them. I recommend the phone for this contact. Tell them who you are and that you would love to sit down with them for 15 minutes to get their advice on your search. Tell them that you chose them because you know that they are knowledgeable and well connected, and you knew that they could help you.
No one is going to argue with that kind of assessment of themselves, and most people like to be able to help people. It's a great ego boost, and it works well for you because once you meet with them, their ego gets tied up in your success. If they can help you, they feel better about themselves.
When you meet with them, remember, this is not a job interview. You are not trying to get them to give you a job. You just want to get whatever valuable advice you can from them. It is possible that they may decide to call someone on your behalf or even offer you a job, but don't expect it.
Send a thank you note. An email one immediately, a paper one by snail mail right after. Thank you notes are rare in business these days, and yours will stand out.
If you are searching for a job, good luck. It's a tough world, but as they say, the harder you work, the luckier you get. Now, get up and find that job.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Strategic Shift
I have been confident for the past few months that if I stuck with the professional problem solving, I would make my fortune. It would only be a matter of time. However, time is not an unlimited resource when money is not coming in to replace money going out.
I was talking to my fiancee last week and she suggested I should look for a regular job. I was not against the idea, but I lacked confidence I could find a job. You see, I am very good at many many things... job searching for myself is not one of them. Any employer would be fortunate to have my skills of problem solving, writing, personal relations, strategic thinking, computers, social media, etc. I would be very fortunate if I could tell them so.
Annie, however, was very confident that such jobs were out there and that I should go for them, so she searched online. (Jobs in the Valley is and excellent site by the way.) She found a few and the hunt was on.
The first thing we did in this process was set a deadline. I have until August 17th to find the kind of job I am looking for. After that, all the stops come out, and I will pick up whatever short term work I can get to fill the gaps until something more permanent comes along.
Fortunately, there are a few tricks that I have picked up along the way in how to find a job. That is why I have decided to cover this process in this blog, to share those techniques with you. Furthermore, to expand my playbook, I am read the book on job searching What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles.
My first insight that I will share with you today: make yourself stand out. Chances are that any job you are applying for has at least 50 candidates. This means that there is about a 50/50 chance that you will not even be noticed, your resume and cover letter discarded to the excess stack.
How do you stand out? Be more than just a couple sheets of paper. Email or call and confirm that they got your resume. This is a good thing to do anyway, because you actually want to know if they got it. Even better, consider this. If you ask someone to check to see if a resume is in a stack of resumes, what will they do? They will look through and find yours and look at it. Then, they will probably just toss it back on top of the stack. Sure, it will get buried again, but at least you know it got looked at once, and that is something!
I would love to hear what you have learned in your searches, and please share this with your job searching friends. Let's share ideas. And, remember, the whole purpose of the application is to get an interview. In other words, like many online endeavors in business, the Internet is a vehicle to get to the in person connection. Good day and good luck!
I was talking to my fiancee last week and she suggested I should look for a regular job. I was not against the idea, but I lacked confidence I could find a job. You see, I am very good at many many things... job searching for myself is not one of them. Any employer would be fortunate to have my skills of problem solving, writing, personal relations, strategic thinking, computers, social media, etc. I would be very fortunate if I could tell them so.
Annie, however, was very confident that such jobs were out there and that I should go for them, so she searched online. (Jobs in the Valley is and excellent site by the way.) She found a few and the hunt was on.
The first thing we did in this process was set a deadline. I have until August 17th to find the kind of job I am looking for. After that, all the stops come out, and I will pick up whatever short term work I can get to fill the gaps until something more permanent comes along.
Fortunately, there are a few tricks that I have picked up along the way in how to find a job. That is why I have decided to cover this process in this blog, to share those techniques with you. Furthermore, to expand my playbook, I am read the book on job searching What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles.
My first insight that I will share with you today: make yourself stand out. Chances are that any job you are applying for has at least 50 candidates. This means that there is about a 50/50 chance that you will not even be noticed, your resume and cover letter discarded to the excess stack.
How do you stand out? Be more than just a couple sheets of paper. Email or call and confirm that they got your resume. This is a good thing to do anyway, because you actually want to know if they got it. Even better, consider this. If you ask someone to check to see if a resume is in a stack of resumes, what will they do? They will look through and find yours and look at it. Then, they will probably just toss it back on top of the stack. Sure, it will get buried again, but at least you know it got looked at once, and that is something!
I would love to hear what you have learned in your searches, and please share this with your job searching friends. Let's share ideas. And, remember, the whole purpose of the application is to get an interview. In other words, like many online endeavors in business, the Internet is a vehicle to get to the in person connection. Good day and good luck!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Panera Bread Shows How It's Done
I was at a meetup at Panera Bread this evening, and, more than any other restaurant I have ever seen, Panera knows the value of, and the way to keep, a group.
First, if you are not familiar with Panera, let me tell you a bit about them. Panera is a national chain of restaurants. They make panini, salads, and various other kinds of yuppyish food without seeming pretentious. Customers go to the counter to place an order and get a little remote vibrating device to inform them when their food is ready. They were in the news a little while ago because they are working on a model for a charity restaurant. The concept is "pay what you can." People who do not have the means can pay nothing. Others may pay more than the menu price to help those in need. Interesting idea that I think will work.
The group was expected to be about 5-8, but it turned out to be 17. This made Panera a bit small for the group. Hard for people at one end of the table to talk to the other. I have been to many places with various groups. Some places get it that groups are good and are friendly enough. Other places don't get it at all and harass the group, insisting that everyone order something. (Most places in the later category have gone out of business for some reason.)
This Panera, however, really nailed it. I have mentioned before the value of giving before getting. Well, tonight, an employee comes over with a tray full of smoothies, and not shot glasses either, but 8 oz cups. They were free. Smoothies all around. No particular explanation, just free smoothies all around. Later, a manager came by to clear plates out of our way so we could keep talking. (Normally you bus your own dishes.)
I rarely see such good table service at restaurants that have waiters, let alone one which is normally counter service. Needless to say, some full sized smoothies were purchased after the gratis ones were handed out.
This particular group will probably end up meeting elsewhere just because it is really too big for the venue, but you can bet that if any of those 17 people needs to pick a place for a meetup, Panera will be high up on the list.
This is a company to watch. Consistently high quality and service. One of the first restaurants to offer free wifi in every store. Excellent Twitter presence, and a creative mindset. I hope that they keep it up, as they continue to impress me in many ways,
First, if you are not familiar with Panera, let me tell you a bit about them. Panera is a national chain of restaurants. They make panini, salads, and various other kinds of yuppyish food without seeming pretentious. Customers go to the counter to place an order and get a little remote vibrating device to inform them when their food is ready. They were in the news a little while ago because they are working on a model for a charity restaurant. The concept is "pay what you can." People who do not have the means can pay nothing. Others may pay more than the menu price to help those in need. Interesting idea that I think will work.
The group was expected to be about 5-8, but it turned out to be 17. This made Panera a bit small for the group. Hard for people at one end of the table to talk to the other. I have been to many places with various groups. Some places get it that groups are good and are friendly enough. Other places don't get it at all and harass the group, insisting that everyone order something. (Most places in the later category have gone out of business for some reason.)
This Panera, however, really nailed it. I have mentioned before the value of giving before getting. Well, tonight, an employee comes over with a tray full of smoothies, and not shot glasses either, but 8 oz cups. They were free. Smoothies all around. No particular explanation, just free smoothies all around. Later, a manager came by to clear plates out of our way so we could keep talking. (Normally you bus your own dishes.)
I rarely see such good table service at restaurants that have waiters, let alone one which is normally counter service. Needless to say, some full sized smoothies were purchased after the gratis ones were handed out.
This particular group will probably end up meeting elsewhere just because it is really too big for the venue, but you can bet that if any of those 17 people needs to pick a place for a meetup, Panera will be high up on the list.
This is a company to watch. Consistently high quality and service. One of the first restaurants to offer free wifi in every store. Excellent Twitter presence, and a creative mindset. I hope that they keep it up, as they continue to impress me in many ways,
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Something to Give Before You Get - RFP Database
I have mentioned in earlier posts about the concept of giving something before you ask for something. Contacting a client and asking them to give you their valuable time so that you can offer your good or service which is of unknown value to them is a difficult proposition. Why should they meet with you based on your say-so of the value?
Today I met with David Kutcher of Confluent Forms. They are a company that makes custom web based programs. One of their side projects is a great site called The RFP Database. The RFP Database came about because Confluent Forms found that they were having difficulty finding RFPs and they thought that there should be a better way that checking the web site of every organization that might be posting RFPs.
At this point, unless you are a government contractor, you might be wondering what an RFP is. RFP stands for "Request for Proposal". If a company of government agency wants to hire a contractor to do something, from building a building to running electric lines, they post an RFP. People then bid on the RFP and the best bid, as determined by some sort of point based system, gets the contract.
The problem with RFPs is that they only work if bidders know about the RFP. If they don't, then you get contracts that only one or two contractors bid for, and they get it no matter how bad their offer is. The RFP Database seeks to address this by putting RFPs all in one convenient place.
This brings us back to what it can do for you, the salesperson or entrepreneur who is trying to figure out how to get into a conversation with a potential client. Let's say that you are trying to get in the door with a client who does branding work. You go to RFPDB and do a search for branding jobs. Then, you send the jobs to the potential client. They are pleased to get the leads, and perhaps they even turn those leads into contacts. Think this prospect might be a little more willing to make an appointment next time you call? I suspect so.
The best part about RFPDB is that it is really inexpensive to use. To get the information necessary to bid on a job, you need two credits. You can get credits in one of two ways: you get 10 credits for each RFP that you post to the site, and you can buy a credit for a dollar. Don't have an RFP to post? No problem, do a quick search of the web, find some RFPs that have not been posted yet and post those. It sounds like cheating, but it's actually how the system is supposed to work.
Of course, this concept can be applied to all kinds of things that you might offer a client, but this is a quick, easy way to find something of real value to a potential client.
Thank you for reading. Now go out, meet some real people, face to face, and send them some good RFP leads!
Note: Michael Whitehouse is not affiliated with RFPDB in any way. He just thought that the idea of using it to get the foot in the door with clients was awesome.
Today I met with David Kutcher of Confluent Forms. They are a company that makes custom web based programs. One of their side projects is a great site called The RFP Database. The RFP Database came about because Confluent Forms found that they were having difficulty finding RFPs and they thought that there should be a better way that checking the web site of every organization that might be posting RFPs.
At this point, unless you are a government contractor, you might be wondering what an RFP is. RFP stands for "Request for Proposal". If a company of government agency wants to hire a contractor to do something, from building a building to running electric lines, they post an RFP. People then bid on the RFP and the best bid, as determined by some sort of point based system, gets the contract.
The problem with RFPs is that they only work if bidders know about the RFP. If they don't, then you get contracts that only one or two contractors bid for, and they get it no matter how bad their offer is. The RFP Database seeks to address this by putting RFPs all in one convenient place.
This brings us back to what it can do for you, the salesperson or entrepreneur who is trying to figure out how to get into a conversation with a potential client. Let's say that you are trying to get in the door with a client who does branding work. You go to RFPDB and do a search for branding jobs. Then, you send the jobs to the potential client. They are pleased to get the leads, and perhaps they even turn those leads into contacts. Think this prospect might be a little more willing to make an appointment next time you call? I suspect so.
The best part about RFPDB is that it is really inexpensive to use. To get the information necessary to bid on a job, you need two credits. You can get credits in one of two ways: you get 10 credits for each RFP that you post to the site, and you can buy a credit for a dollar. Don't have an RFP to post? No problem, do a quick search of the web, find some RFPs that have not been posted yet and post those. It sounds like cheating, but it's actually how the system is supposed to work.
Of course, this concept can be applied to all kinds of things that you might offer a client, but this is a quick, easy way to find something of real value to a potential client.
Thank you for reading. Now go out, meet some real people, face to face, and send them some good RFP leads!
Note: Michael Whitehouse is not affiliated with RFPDB in any way. He just thought that the idea of using it to get the foot in the door with clients was awesome.
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