Crack the tougher nuts first

I attribute whatever success I have had in my profession to an idea I had several years ago about changing my gears in prospecting.

From observation of others and my own personal experience, I know there is a tendency among most underwriters to solicit the “soft touches” on the prospect list first, leaving the harder-to-see and seemingly unapproachable — top executives and professional and business men — to the last. In other words, following the lines of least resistance. As a consequence, the top men are pretty much isolated, and the real cream never skimmed.

Realizing that this method was a starvation or suicide route for me, I reversed the procedure and made successful efforts to crack the tougher nuts first. I found myself in a practically non-competitive and virgin field among a fine group of substantial prospects.

If an underwriter will reverse his prospect field and put last prospects first, he may never get around to the easy-to-see group. He needn’t worry, however, as other insurance men will see that the last named group is not ignored.

Editor’s note: The preceding Million Dollar Sales Idea was originally published in the May 1948 issue of Life Insurance Selling.