When you hear the term bean counter, most of us think of an accountant. However, really good salespeople and insurance agents understand counting beans is important to the sales business as well. Meaning sales is strictly a numbers game. The old saying of “some will, some won’t, so what, next” is very true in the daily life of the professional salesman. This also applies to recruiting but I digress. You must know your numbers in order to churn out sales like a well oiled conveyer belt. Have you ever known a professional salesperson or insurance agent that consistently produced large numbers week in and week out, while others rollercoaster their way through the business? Water cooler talks from the mediocre about the top dogs included “they must be doing something illegal or getting favored treatment. No one is that good”. Nothing can be further from the truth. These sales professional and insurance agents know their numbers and they work them every day. Let me explain.

When I first learned the health and life insurance business back in the early 1990’s, I was taught a very simple formula. I was told to go to the grocery store and buy a bag of dried soup beans or pinto beans for those of you not raised in the south. I was to place 30 beans in my left pocket. Every time I speak to someone about an insurance appointment, regardless of their answer, I was to move a bean from my left pocket to my right pocket. When my left pocket was empty then I would have a good week. At the time, that was the dumbest thing I had ever heard. First off, I am a big guy, it is summertime in Tennessee, it is hot, humid and I sweat a lot. I know what happens to soup beans when they get warm and wet. They start to swell and smell. “This ain’t happening”, I’m thinking at this training. But as I look at these insurance agency managers, they are very successful and that’s where I want to be in a few years, so what the hell.

I must confess, I never used real beans, but I did use a post it note. I stuck it at the top of my appointment book, remember kids these are the old days before technology. I wrote 30 Beans and every time I spoke to someone about an insurance appointment I made a tally mark. On Monday, if I was able to reach 30 people, I knew I was going to have a good week, no matter what and I did consistently. Here is the formula. If you speak to 30 people roughly half will set an appointment. Of those 15 people only about 67% or two thirds will keep the appointment. If you have sold you know the millions of excuses to cancel, reschedule or stand you up for the appointment. This also makes it easier to handle, because no matter how much they perturb you, they are just a bean!  Of those 10 presentations made, I closed roughly half on a good week and one third on a bad week. Consistently I made my 3 to 5 sales per week which was my goal. Once I understood these numbers, I could win any contest by increasing my soup beans. If I wanted to make 8 sales for the week I needed to contact 48 soup beans. Stop trying to learn short cuts to success. Know your numbers and work them like your life depended on it. At least your livelihood does, if you want to be a professional sales person or insurance agent. Happy Selling!

“Two things you can control: The quality and frequency of your message.” —John Kalench

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Tim Wilhoit is owner/principal of Your Friend 4 Life Insurance Agency in Nashville, TN. He is a family man, father of 3, entrepreneur, insurance agent, life insurance broker, salesman, sales trainer, recruiter, public speaker, blogger and team leader with over 26 years of experience in sales and marketing in the insurance and beverage industries.