Sequel To My Sharing On The Two Self-Coined Maxims

Hi.

With reference to my article under heading MAXIMS FOR YOU TO PONDER ON, which was posted on Nov. 21, 2011, it is time I honour my commitment to render elaborations to that sharing.

Let me cite actual events in relation to each maxim.

Maxim:  “The more you know, the more you don’t know, for you may not know how much and what more that you don’t know. The more you don’t know, perhaps the more you get to know, when you experience what you don’t know. Whether you know or don’t know is immaterial if you are working in a large organization, for anyhow you got to know.”

Quite some time ago, there was a life insurance agent (let us refer him as A) who intrigued me somewhat by his mind-set regarding his sales role. Coming into the business slightly later than A was another member (let us refer him as B) whose mental outlook was at the opposite pole. Both of them became the subjects of my observation.

Inclined to project the image of a professional, A got very engrossed in equipping himself with all the intricate technical knowledge. He wanted to ensure he would be able to explain the entire structure of every product, including the factors for determining the pricings and features. He digested the sales cycle. And that was still not enough - all aspects of financial planning and fact-find modules must be assimilated so that he could analyse a prospect’s profile immaculately. I remember he always asked many in-depth questions at product meetings. I also remember him insisting that his focus was to “educate” instead of plain selling.

A did not have a wide circle of social contacts as he believed that time should be spent on personal development than wasted on unimportant social activities. In his first year, he managed to fulfil his minimum contractual obligations. Despite his proficiency, he failed to make a prominent breakthrough. I gathered that he could not understand why he was unable to score higher hit ratios by deploying his knowledge. He then concluded that the business was a tough one. What was the end story of A? Well……allow me to defer the answer until after we have taken a look at B.

B harboured the sole purpose of elevating his financial and social status by tapping on the career opportunities offered by the business. He immediately plunged out to the field for sales after securing his licence. To him, the technical aspects were too tedious. For product information, he summarised the key financial points for his perusal in simple format, e.g. the amount payable by the company vs. total premiums remitted if death due to natural cause at certain years in the future; the amount payable vs. total premiums remitted if death due to accident; the total returns at maturity or at specific years in future vs. total premiums remitted; the fixed daily compensation payable for each day of stay in a licensed hospital. All he sold during his first year of contract was a package of a basic endowment plan with simple accident and hospital benefit supplementary coverage, by using the summarised financials. Unlike the approach used by A, fact-find and financial planning did not prevail for him. (Note: those days the sales-to-application process was less stringent than the requirements imposed by the regulators now.) Because of his wide circle of friends, friendly character and natural interaction ability, B scored better than A in the first year of contact, albeit well below his own target. His journey was not void of hurdles. Many occasions, he turned tongue-tied with embarrassment when he could not handle questions posed by his prospects. What was the end story of B?

Belonging to the same agency unit, both attended a review session called by their leader after their first year of contract. The latter, obviously aware of their respective strengths and weaknesses, advised them to share with one another what actually transpired with regard to each case they succeeded or failed to close from then onwards on a weekly basis, and also encouraged them to make cold calls jointly. Until further notice, their leader would hold periodic review sessions with them, during which they would have to narrate what they had picked up from one another. 

At the end of their second year, A realised his approach was too rigidly mundane, lengthy and perhaps not so appropriate to some prospects. He realised he acted more like an “educationist” than a salesperson. He also learnt that in sales, it was a “people” business whereby a prospect would “buy” the salesperson first (i.e. feel comfortable in communicating with the salesperson) before considering the product. In addition, to expand his contacts, he must be more outgoing to socialise. Enlightenment dawned upon him that sales performance was not everything about technical expertise, but entailed the human factor as an equally important component – that was the pragmatic knowledge he lacked.

B understood that at times of need, knowledge could lend a handy weight to impress upon discerning prospects he was qualified to serve them. His episodes of receiving hard knocks from some prospects highlighted to him he must learn to be a bit more technically inclined in order to win over the confidence of meticulous ones.

The overall end story of A and B: Both moved to higher productivity levels from the third year onwards. They are still in the business, now earning a comfortable income from business accumulated over the years. Regardless of what they had known or not known earlier, both then got to know that they must adapt to situations in order to survive in the business or they would drop out.

Maxim: “If you are soft, I will be softer. If you are harsh, I will be harsher…..but in a much softer way.”

The story I am sharing with you is regarding a close friend of mine. It involved him while he was working in a company as the officer in charge of all printed materials, plus the maintenance of the in-house printing machine. Let’s call him C.  During a certain period of his many years of service to the company, the managing director (MD) recruited a so-called management strategist as personal aide. Let’s call this guy D. D, whose function was also to implement measures for saving unnecessary costs for the company, became an adversary to C.  D advised the MD that it would be much cheaper to outsource production of printed materials to a printing vendor than sustaining the internal printing operations. He never had any prior experience in managing printing operations, unlike C. 

Knowing that D was the blue eye boy of the MD, C relented calmly without showing signs of resentment, suspecting that his adversary had a personal agenda for picking on him. Outwardly, he indicated he was willing to comply without qualms. The printing machine was sold. All printing works were outsourced to a vendor recommended by D. C still kept his job but served as a coordinator receiving consignments from various departments for relaying to the appointed printing vendor, and conveying printed materials to the relevant departments. At the end of each month, he just had to match the bills against the consignments before passing the documents to the finance department for payment to the vendor.  The staff size of his department was trimmed since his reduced assignment was merely in relaying, conveying and matching tasks. In short, he became a delivery officer. There was no necessity for him to vet through consignment orders and costs. Meanwhile, D ruffled feathers with several department heads by trying to poke his nose into their work affairs.  C just carried out his own scope without minding other people’s business. But he kept a confidential file for himself to track the costs being incurred under the new arrangement.

The dust seemed to have settled. More than one year passed. A new MD replaced the previous one. The new MD, even more cost conscious than the predecessor, wanted department heads to be held accountable for costs related to wastage. He instructed the chief financial officer (CFO) to ensure the instruction was adhered to across the board. Opportunity availed to C to take a timely move. He approached the CFO about his concern in relation to the new instruction, bringing along with him two sets of data  – one set outlining the average costs incurred under the previous in-house printing operations structure, the other showing  the current average costs. Bingo! The CFO jolted upon learning that the out-sourced arrangement cost almost three-fold compared to the previous structure.

The end story of C:  It was not feasible for the company to buy a new printing machine. However, he was granted the authority to vet consignment requests and vendor’s charges. Wastage and cost control returned to good order. He continued to serve the company until his retirement age.

The end story of D: He got transferred to another department, reporting to its head he could not see eye to eye. He knew his wings were clipped and his authority clamped. He tendered his resignation.

The ending point of the overall story: C finally returned a harsh blow to D (what the latter deserved), but in the softest……..and most silent way.