26 National Underwriter Life & Health • February 2014 www.LifeHealthPro.com

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27www.LifeHealthPro.com February 2014 • National Underwriter Life & Health

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By Brian anderson

al Granum was often known to eloquently recite from memory Myra Brooks Welch’s famous

1921 poem, “The Touch of the Master’s Hand.”

The poem, about a dusty old violin up for auction (read the complete poem on page 30), illustrated a lesson Granum found valuable and impor-tant to share. Now, “The Touch of the Master’s Hand” has taken on an even deeper meaning for the many thou-sands of people touched by Granum and his revolutionary approach to selling life insurance. Granum was The Master, and his touch made a dramatic difference in the careers of tens of thousands of life insurance and finan-cial services professionals.

O. Alfred (Al) Granum, CLU, one of the true greats in the history of the life insurance industry, passed away at the age of 91 on Jan. 2, 2014, after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. Ser-vices were held Jan. 11 in Oak Brook, Ill. Granum is survived by his wife of 21 years Noreen, five children from his first marriage and 11 grandchildren.

Granum’s enormous influence on

the industry simply cannot be over-stated. His legacy will endure, as his famous One Card System and time-less principles have long and will long continue to help financial services professionals. Tributes from around the industry came pouring in upon news of his passing, most notably to a dedicated page on The American College’s website, as his name graces the College’s Northwestern Mutual Granum Center for Financial Security.

Barry Alberstein, MBA, PhD, who, along with wife Delia Alberstein, CLU, ChFC, co-authored Granum’s famous book, “Building a Financial Services Clientele,” says Granum didn’t teach the tricks of the trade – he taught the trade.

“Al Granum was one of the greatest of the Greatest Generation,” Alberstein told National Underwriter. “How does one judge greatness? Not by wealth, fame or power, but by character and contribution. Al Granum’s character was impeccable and was admired by everyone who knew him. As for a con-tribution, few have contributed more to our industry and country.”

The Albersteins have been close friends of Al and Noreen Granum for more than 20 years, and have dedicat-ed their professional lives to teaching and promoting Al’s brilliant contribu-tions to the industry through the One Card System.

“Economists speak of the ‘multi-plier effect’ of money that flows into an economy,” Barry Alberstein said. “That is, it is spent, invested and re-spent over and over again. Al Granum taught agents how to sell permanent life insurance, which is actually in force when people die. That money flows into a family … preserves lifestyles, shelter, businesses, health, education and opportunity. It cycles through the community, the country and the world.

“We talk of foundations such as Ford or Mellon, but I believe an ac-curate accounting of Al Granum’s con-tribution would dwarf them. Al was not a ripple in a pond, he was a tsunami in an ocean. Millions have benefited from his contributions who will never know his name. But we do, and we know we have all been blessed by our exposure to this wonderful man.”

Remembering Al GranumOne of the industry’s all-time greats passed away early this year, but his legacy will forever live on.

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granum is the only person ever to be honored with the indus-try’s top three awards: the John

Newton Russell Award from NAIFA for outstanding service to the institution of life insurance in 2002, the Soloman S. Heubner Gold Medal from The Ameri-can College in 2003, and induction into the GAMA International Management Hall of Fame in 1983.

A lifetime member of the Million Dollar Round Table, Granum also helped the vast majority of his agents qualify for the MDRT, as well. Two of them, Dave Hilton Sr. and John Crui-kshank, went on to become presidents of the Mdrt.

Granum received the Dennis Tamcsin General Agent Achievement Award in 2000 for his lifetime impact on Northwestern Mutual, where he started as an agent in his hometown of Amery, Wis., in 1946 after a combat-laden three-year stint on the battle-ship Nevada during World War II (he felt lucky to emerge unscathed after a Japanese kamikaze pilot crashed a damaged airplane into Granum’s ship near Okinawa in 1945).

He next moved to Chicago to work for his predecessor as general agent, John Jameson, prior to being ap-pointed general agent in 1963. It was in Chicago where he saw an opportu-nity to develop a method to generate leads, which would become the basis of the One Card System. “My assign-ment from Jameson was to work with younger people. Over the first 10 years, I was able to require every agent with whom I was working to keep great detail on referred leads,” Granum told me during a 2009 interview. Everything was compiled manually, as computers for such tasks were still a long ways off.

“I was uneasy during my years as an agent over the fact that everybody gave lip service to the desirability of

getting referred leads, but there was no system for getting them,” Granum said. “The best way to get someone to listen is through referred leads. I could spend all the time in the world mas-tering a magnificent presentation, but I still need someone to talk to. It was on that basis that I put my foot down.”

The extensive research Granum conducted on more than 50,000 referred leads led him to the conclu-sion that it took 10 leads (suspects) to generate 3 prospects, and 1 of those would become a client. Thus, the famous 10-3-1 ratio was born.

Granum built a truly legendary agency in Chicago, earning the No. 1 ranking at Northwestern Mutual for volume in 18 out of his last 25 years while breaking numerous volume record benchmarks. For more than one year, the 45 people in his agency produced an average premium which was the highest known in any large agency in the world.

“Al Granum will be remembered as a historic leader and innovator in our industry,” Todd M. Schoon, Northwest-ern Mutual executive vice president – agencies, told National Underwriter. “His many teachings, most notably the

One Card System, have led to the suc-cess of tens of thousands of financial representatives and helped to make Northwestern Mutual’s field force the most productive in the industry.”

granum stepped down from his post as general agent in 1986, but still came to his Downers

Grove, Ill., office almost every day for decades. Granum was awarded a Chair in Practice Management at The American College, endowed to him by his peers in 2001. In 2012, to honor his legacy and commitment to life-long learning, Northwestern Mutual and The American College formally launched the Northwestern Mutual Granum Center for Financial Security.

Dr. Laurence Barton, CAP, said one of his greatest honors in serving as president of The American College is holding the O. Alfred Granum Chair in Management. “I, like so many of you, have learned so much from Al and ask that we all commit to serve this pro-fession with the same humility, honor, integrity and influence that Al has imbued in us,” Barton said in a Jan. 3 announcement of Granum’s passing.

“Al was a legend in our profession

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who made tremendous gains and innovations that continue to shape our environment today. His legacy is one of unwaver-ing belief in the importance of the work of financial profes-sionals, of uncompromising commitment to always doing the right thing for the client and of unquestionable generosity to share everything he learned for the benefit of the industry,” Barton said.

Creating and publishing a system to build a life insurance clientele was not what Granum had originally set out to do, but he was indeed more than happy to share. As Barry Alber-stein has stated, Granum wanted financial representatives to be able to understand the science of their business – “If I do this, I can expect to get this.” Prior to Granum, it was all based on anecdotes about what worked for another advisor.

As word of his agency’s monstrous success spread, Gra-num wrote about it in 1968, and the text was promoted by National Underwriter. That led to the subsequent “Building a Financial Services Clientele: The Ultimate Guide to the One Card System,” now in its 11th edition. The One Card System has helped many thousands of agents create and track the kind of consistent activity that is required to be continuously successful.

“National Underwriter is so honored to be Al Granum’s publisher; a legend in his own time, but importantly, today more than ever, the Al Granum we memorialize is the legacy carried on by his disciples and embodied in their practice; providing ethical, knowledgeable and extraordinary service to their clients above everything,” said Rick Kravitz, vice president, managing director, premium content for Summit Professional Networks. [Disclosure: “Building a Financial Services Clientele” is published by The National Underwriter Company, a unit of Summit Professional Networks, the parent company of www.LifeHealthPro.com and NU Life & health.]

i had the opportunity to meet Al Granum in person at his Downer’s Grove office in early 2009 to write a cover story about him in Life Insurance Selling. I was fortunate enough

to hear him recite “The Touch of the Master’s Hand,” which instantly commanded the complete attention of everyone in the room (including photographer Joe Wigdahl, who took the images of Granum in this issue and recently made a point of mentioning how he remembered that moment).

I got to learn a little bit more about why that poem meant so much to him, beyond its lesson. Al explained that in every contact we have with every other person, we have an oppor-tunity to lift them up a little, or knock them down a bit. Recit-ing that poem lifted people up.

Al always chose to lift people up. And he did it often.

The Touch of the Master’s HandBy Myra Brooks Welch

‘Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneerThought it scarcely worth his whileTo waste much time on the old violin,But held it up with a smile,“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,“Who’ll start the bidding for me?”“A dollar, a dollar”; then, “Two! Only two?Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;Going for three - “ But no,From the room, far back, a gray-haired manCame forward and picked up the bow;Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,And tightening the loose strings,He played a melody pure and sweetAs a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,With a voice that was quiet and low,Said: “What am I bid for the old violin?”And he held it up with the bow.“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice,And going, and gone,” said he.The people cheered, but some of them cried,“We do not quite understandWhat changed its worth.” Swift came the reply:“The touch of a master’s hand.”

And many a man with life out of tune,And battered and scarred with sin,Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,Much like the old violin.A “mess of pottage,” a glass of wine;A game — and he travels on.He is “going” once, and “going” twice,He’s “going” and almost “gone.”But the Master comes, and the foolish crowdNever can quite understandThe worth of a soul and the change that’s wroughtBy the touch of the Master’s hand.

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