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As I pondered over this dream in 1920, the thought came to me that I did not need to inherit one hundred thousand dollars. All I needed was to stub my toe, wake up, shake off the state of lethargy, get out of the rut, and come to a conscious, vital realization of the power of creative selling that was hidden within me. I firmly believed that the devel- opment of this positive and creative power of thinking, ap- plied to selling, would enable me to make many hundred thousands of dollars. However, in order to claim my herit- age, to realize the full impetus of my latent power and ability, and to derive the full benefit from that creative sell- ing, it was necessary for me to develop a definite and con- crete plan of action. At that time I was attempting to sell life insurance. In those days there was no scientific plan of action for selling life insurance. It was a hit-or-miss proposition—mostly miss. Creative selling was only a dream, like my inheritance. The general agent of a life insurance company was usually a pompous gentleman. He would put his hands on your shoul- ders, rear back with an air of great authority, and hand you a rate book and some application blanks with the remark, "Now, go out into the world and sell!" That was the extent of your training as a life insurance salesman. 4 I STUBBED MY TOE It was sink or swim, so out into the world I went—and I floundered. I walked the streets, stood on the street corners, and watched the people go by. Prospects! prospects every- where! But I had no definite plan of action to contact any of them. Now and then someone would grant me an inter- view for the sake of courtesy, but the inevitable answer was "not interested." Thus, with sore feet, a tired back, a sour disposition, a weary body, and with both hands empty, I would slowly trudge back to the office. This procedure lagged on for many days. I began to ques- tion—what's the trouble? Is it me or the life insurance busi- ness? I decided to do something about it. |
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