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Building the agency with the
= Advisor Aptitude Test The AAT5 predicts a test taker’s future production. It does this by comparing how much (or how little) the test taker has in have in common with young MDRT level advisors.
= MDRT Is the association of 39.000 successful advisors from 82 countries. Members earn at least $156.000 per year (average $209.000).“MDRT Thinking” is based on our interviews and surveys of GenY MDRT advisors.
= GenY People born after 1980.
= The system the manager uses to improve productivity and retention of new recruits by trying to fix the biggest production barriers found in the AAT.
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Building the agency with the
= Advisor Aptitude Test The AAT5 predicts a test taker’s future production. It does this by comparing how much (or how little) the test taker has in have in common with young MDRT level advisors.
= MDRT Is the association of 39.000 successful advisors from 82 countries. Members earn at least $156.000 per year (average $209.000).“MDRT Thinking” is based on our interviews and surveys of GenY MDRT advisors.
= GenY People born after 1980.
= The system the manager uses to improve productivity and retention of new recruits by trying to fix the biggest production barriers found in the AAT.
Erik Vos (1955, Holland) works for Aegon, AIA, Allianz, AXA, Generali, Great Eastern, ING, MetLife, Old Mutual, Prudential, and other com-panies. He is a MDRT platform speaker. 412.000 managers and advisors in 91 coun-tries have attended the programs. This is his 6th book on increasing life insurance sales. The previous books have been translated in 21 lan-guages.[1*]He presents the agency productivity
programs in 8 languages. For the latest updates on the AAT5 go to Questions? Comments? [email protected] ISBN 0 340 83335X
1. what is
2. aat Questions
3. aat score sheets
4. the spiderweB
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5. what car will you drive after 3 years as a financial advisor?
6. MiniMuM aat scores to hire soMeone
7. how Much can Mentor increase production?
8. Mentor Questions
9. faQ’s
10. acknowledgMents
11. footnotes
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WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A MDRT ADVISER AND AN UNPRODUCTIVE ADVISOR?[2*]
1. OF COuRSE I GET REjECTION, BuT I juST kEEP ON SMILING.
“Here in Taiwan young people are called the strawberry generation. Because like a strawberry we bruise easily. And then give up. But I am MDRT. I never give up and keep smiling. I'm not rich enough to be a strawberry” said Cheng Shi from Taipei.
“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody” said Fatima, MDRT advisor from Dubai.
“When you are getting your MDRT results you are also getting more than your share of rejection” said Andrew from Singapore.
“Telling people to stop spending and start saving sometimes gives you the same reaction as telling a smoker to stop smoking” said Istvan from Budapest.
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2. I FOLLOW My SySTEM BECAuSE IT WORkS.
Is not: “I’ll do my best but I’ll do what needs to be done” said Winston from England.
= understanding that your system is the solution. “you keep working to find that works and what does not. Then you just do it, do it and keep doing it” said kung from Hong kong.
“My success is not built on success. It’s built on failure and frustration” said Leroy from kingston, jamaica.
“Big success comes from doing small things that work, that you just keep on doing. Day after day” said jaco from Windhoek Namibia.
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3. I MADE GETTING RESuLTS My FIRST PRIORITy.
“You fight bit by bit to get better at reading people and helping them plan their finances. Most young people love to think they can be great at something in a couple of months. They want to fly before they can crawl” said Pavel from Slovakia.
= Courage. “If you are afraid of no salary but only commissions, you are afraid of your lack of ability” said Rastislav from Bulgaria.
= “Harder to work now and be rich later than coasting now and being poor later” said Ram from Mauritius.
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4. I WANT THE MONEy SO I DO THE WORk.
“year 1: Getting underpaid and over working. year 2, 3, 4. Work and income more or less balanced. year 5 and up: Getting overpaid for the work you do because you have built up your business” said Ion from Bucharest.
“Being a lazy advisor is the lowest paid easy job you ever did. MDRT is the highest paid hard work job you ever did” said kevin from Singapore.
“Working a lot smarter and harder than an average advisor. Therefore you earn about 500% more than the average advisor. Many people take an advisor job because they love the idea that
they can set their own hours. And then not work so hard. Then they com-plain how little they make. Then they quit to move in with mom and dad” said Vladimir from Moscow
“Most new advisors don’t understand that in the first years you have to work hard to take care of the business. After that the business takes care of you” said Zaid from Mumbai.
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5. I LEARNED COMMISSIONS COME FROM ASkING LOTS OF QuESTIONS AND THEN kNOWING HOW TO LISTEN.
“I am now MDRT and rich because I learned how to ask questions and listen. The other advisors in my agency are poor. They just talk and try to convince the client. I have tried to explain to my poor colleagues that you need to listen, but (sigh) they don’t listen” said Ezekiel from Nairobi.
“The more you know the less you need to say” said jan from Amsterdam.
“MDRT is all about asking “smart” questions. Of course you know what the client will say. But you know how to look at the client with some sort of mix of wisdom and empathy. Of course In the back of your head your giant calculator keeps on running” said Timothy from Hong kong.
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6. I’M SERIOuS ABOuT FINANCE.
“We make a lot because we planned to make a lot. And then we just keep on doing what it takes to make a lot” said Edith from Melbourne.
“I like to get paid what I’m worth” said Hank from Naples Florida.
“I want a lot. Most young people here want a stable income. They make nothing but at least it is stable” said Agnes from Budapest.
“There is a Chinese saying: No rice. No wife to cook rice. That keeps me going” laughed Cheng Li from Shanghai.
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7. I LEARNED TO GET REFERRALS.
Referrals. “Like my other MDRT colleagues here I have learned how to get my business through referrals. 95% of MDRT advisors get over 90% of the business through referrals” said Pjot from
Poland.
Looking like you are the right person to help this client. “If you look cooler than the client, the client will listen to you and refer you. The client thinks: Maybe I do not look so cool. But I
will look cooler to my friends if they see what a cool person l hang out with. So the client never refers you. They refer themselves. Sometimes I feel as if I’m in the fashion and looking cool business instead of the money business” said Wei Chi from Singapore.
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8. I AM ALWAyS ON THE LOOkOuT TO LEARN SOMETHING THAT COuLD HELP My BuSINESS.
keep on learning even when you’re rich. “If a company-paid training lasts after 3.30 pm on a Friday, nor-mal advisors start complaining.
Thousands of rich MDRT advisors keep on flying overseas year after year to MDRT conventions. Trainings, briefings and networking for 3 days. They pay for the flight, hotel and admissions out of their own pocket” said Tristan from Singapore.
“The older you get the less you can afford to live in the past. That is why I keep on learning” said jenna from Los Angeles
“The more I learn the more I earn” said Rinat from Almaty kazakhstan.
“75% of my young MDRT colleagues have taken advanced courses like CFP, CLu, and ChFC” said janneke from Amsterdam. [3*]
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aat spiderweB
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The AAT score is the combined score of all 8 AAT characteristics. Like Re-jection Tolerance, System Thinking, Results orientation, Work Mentality, Financial Communication Skills, Financial orientation, Referrals and Learn-ing .you determine the AAT score by simply counting the 8 AAT characteristics and dividing them by 8. A typical Geny advisor score would be 54.0 (sum of all 8 characteristics): 8=6.75 As in: Susan has a 6.75 AAT (out of 10).
The AAT5App which has the AAT characteristics weighted against each other in a different way than the manual version gives a bit more precise score. For info on the AAT5App mail [email protected]
Example: Mary has a 7.25 AAT. She should be making 45% of MDRT like say $65.000 (depending on the country) in her third year. In her 3rd year She should drive something like an Audi a6.
jack has a 5.0 AAT: you predict that next month he will ask you for a loan to buy a pump for his bicycle.
john has an 8.1 AAT. Check the „No Exaggeration” If No Exaggeration is higher than 6 it would be surprising if kevin does not produce at MDRT level in 3 years.
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what car will you drive after 3 years in the Business?(or how Much % of Mdrt incoMe will you Make?)
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what are the aBsolute MiniMuM aat characteristic scores for hiring soMeone?
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how Much can an aat score Be iMproved with the MENTOR technology?
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1. Rejection Tolerance: Minimum: 5.0
Rejection Tolerance can easily be changed. And a good team spirit in the unit helps a lot. A 3 point increase is possible, 1 or 2 is easy.
2. System Thinking: Minimum: 5.0
A 1 to 2 point increase in System Thinking is easy with younger advisors. The higher their System Thinking score the less they need constant man-agement attention after they learn the right sys-tem.
3. Results Orientation: Minimum: 6.5
Managers all over the World keep complaining how much trouble they have with Results Orientation on young people. Manager consensus: If the score is under 6.5:Don’t even think about it. Mentor often produces poor results on increasing Results Orientation.
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4. Work Mentality: Minimum:6.5
Internationally nearly 50% of managers said that Geny’s work mentality is their biggest problem.[4*]Mentor unfortunately also does a marginal job improving Work Mentality. The most successful managers even put a cut-off point of 7.0 instead of 6.5.[5*]
5. Financial Communication skills: Minimum:6.0
Financial communication skills measures how well someone can ask clients the same questions over and over. And then listen attentively to essentially the same answers meeting after meeting.This point can easily be improved by 1 point. Two points is doable.
6. Financial Orientation: Minimum: 6.5
How much is their hart into the financial part of life? Finances for them and the client and the cli-ent’s family. Some improvement can be made with young advisors. But to expect a more than 1 point increase is optimistic.
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7. Referrals: Minimum: 6.0
Cold calls are dead. Referrals are now powering the business of young advisors. A 2 point increase is quite doable for young advisors.
8. Into Learning: Minimum: 6.5
The Into Learning point predicts if an advisors income will reach a plateau in say 2 years or will keep on rising. If high, say above 8, 5 the advisor will keep on learning new things and therefore up-ping their numbers. If “Into Learning” is under 6.5 there is little hope that the advisor will increase skills and income as time goes on.
9. No Exaggeration: 6.0
No Exaggeration is not part of the final AAT score or the Mentor Technology. No Exaggeration only shows the manager if the test taker is working a bit too hard to paint a beautiful picture of them-selves. If “No Exaggeration” is below 6 it is unlikely that the other scores can be trusted. The No Exag-geration score is not valid for people over 40.
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1. The test taker takes the AAT.
2. The manager checks and makes sure the AAT is valid by checking if the “No
Exaggeration” characteristic is above 6.0.
3. The manager checks the overall AAT score manually by dividing the total of
all 8 characteristics by 8. Or by using the more precise AAT5App. Let’s say overall score
is 6.5 out of 10.
4. The manager checks which characteristic of the AAT scored lowest. Like “Re-
jection Tolerance” at 5.0.
5. The manager checks which of the 6 AAT “Rejection Tolerance” questions
scored low. For instance, “Rejection Tolerance” questions 3, 5 and 6.
6. The manager asks the Mentor questions connected with AAT questions 3, 5, and 6.
7. The manager and the advisor agree on how the adviser will now have a better tolerance
for rejection.
8. The manager keeps tracking the adviser’s progress on dealing with rejection.
9. The manager observes and the advisor is satisfied that rejection is now under control.
10. The next weakest point is “Result Orientation” at 6.0.
11. The manager repeats steps 6 to 9.
12. After 2 months of mentoring the advisor takes the AAT again. The advisor and manager
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should now see an increase in the coached AAT characteristics and therefore a higher
production. Quotes in the Mentoring questions are from MDRT advisors and people like
Steve Jobs and his mentors Edison and Henry Ford.
Also from newer leaders, some of whom Steve Jobs mentored or in-
spired like Sergey Brin from Google, Mark Zuckerberg from Face-
book, and what many call which the new Steve Jobs ,Elon Musk from
Tesla.
If Steve Jobs can’t do the job and the point is still not handled Lionel
Messi, Taylor Swift, Mike Tyson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Christi-
na Aguilera come to the rescue.
Most of the 48 Mentor points have about 8 questions. But some really
difficult to change points on Work Attitude and Results Orientation have as much as 18
Mentor questions on each AAT question.
Each of the 48 mentor points has a further reading section covering the mentor point in more detail culled from Referrals, Next Lev-el, Copy and Paste and Recruiting and Retaining Geny.
Note: Referrals 17 refers to point 17 not page 17.
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aat Question 1:
1. I am the type of person who says the truth even if other people don’t want to hear it
Nobody in financial services sells more than medical doctors. Doctors? Of course in South-East Asia, Western Europe or the uS nobody ever heard of a doctor selling life insurance.
But I ran into 29 Medical doctors in Romania, Vietnam and ukraine who were now selling life insurance. In those countries doctors used to get paid like $600 per month by the state. So
they switched to sell financial services to make a decent income. 28 of the 29 doctors were in the top 1% of advisors. Why?
Doctors are taught to ask lots of questions and listen. Not surprisingly, MDRT advisors act like a “money doctor”. They calmly keep asking lots of questions about the facts of life.
Smart move: Leave the agency, study medicine for 7 years. Get your doctor’s diploma in the morning. In the afternoon go right back to the agency. Restart your business. Pay off your student loans. Make up for 7 years of no income. When you retire in 30 years, you’ll still be ahead.
REJECTIONTOLERANCE
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1. Imagine you were a client yourself: Would you prefer a financial advisor who tries to act like your “friend” or one who acts like your “money doctor”? Why? How does a money doctor sound different from a “friend”?
2. What do you think are some reasons why the doctors who sell life insurance do so well? What could you copy from this? How would you do it?
3. Imagine this: You are a money doctor who gets paid a fat salary to consult people to improve their financial health. No commissions, just your fat salary. Would you come across the same as you do now? What would be different?
4. How could you come across the same to client as if you got the fat salary even when you only get commission?
5. How could you somehow act “objectively”, say like a money doctor with the client? What concrete steps will you take to look “objective”?
6. Of course you are not a doctor and you are not going to medical school for 7 years. But what could you specifically do now to copy like 50% of that doctor approach?
7. By how many % do you think your income go up if you acted like a money doctor instead of the way you act now?
8. By how many % would your referrals go up? 9. How would your clients benefit and how would you benefit?10. What exactly could you do to implement the doctor approach now and how can you make
sure you keep doing it?
Next Level; Chapter2. “Why do the Romanian doctors sell so much?” point 17, 18,
19, 21, 21.
2. I would rather make 40% more doing something I like than something I love.
Every client agrees there are 2 things they have too little of: Time and money. The advisor’s job is to inform the client: Maybe you will not have as much time as you think you will have. And this will even cost you mon-ey.
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1. Imagine you were a client yourself: Would you prefer a financial advisor who tries to act like your “friend” or one who acts like your “money doctor”? Why? How does a money doctor sound different from a “friend”?
2. What do you think are some reasons why the doctors who sell life insurance do so well? What could you copy from this? How would you do it?
3. Imagine this: You are a money doctor who gets paid a fat salary to consult people to improve their financial health. No commissions, just your fat salary. Would you come across the same as you do now? What would be different?
4. How could you come across the same to client as if you got the fat salary even when you only get commission?
5. How could you somehow act “objectively”, say like a money doctor with the client? What concrete steps will you take to look “objective”?
6. Of course you are not a doctor and you are not going to medical school for 7 years. But what could you specifically do now to copy like 50% of that doctor approach?
7. By how many % do you think your income go up if you acted like a money doctor instead of the way you act now?
8. By how many % would your referrals go up? 9. How would your clients benefit and how would you benefit?10. What exactly could you do to implement the doctor approach now and how can you make
sure you keep doing it?
Next Level; Chapter2. “Why do the Romanian doctors sell so much?” point 17, 18,
19, 21, 21.
2. I would rather make 40% more doing something I like than something I love.
Every client agrees there are 2 things they have too little of: Time and money. The advisor’s job is to inform the client: Maybe you will not have as much time as you think you will have. And this will even cost you mon-ey.
The client does not like this message so there-fore they don’t like the messenger, you.
Less than 1% of MDRT members are artists.[6*] Artists love to be loved. MDRT advisors love to help the client the product they need and get-ting paid for their work. If some people did not like their message this does not keep them up at night.
1. How would things look for you if your income was 40% higher?2. How would things for the people around you look different if your
income was 40% higher?3. How would making 40% more income now, affect your retirement
and standard of living in your older years?4. By which percentage should you increase your income? 5. Which specific concrete steps will you take and when will you do that? It helps to write
them down precisely
Copy and Paste; 1, 2 ,3 (Warren Buffet).
3. The more it looks like I am trying to convince someone, less I end up convincing them
Advisors who used to sell cars and electronics earned 30% less than average.[7*]
They probably still sound like someone who is trying to sell something.
Poor advisor strategy: Try to come across as friendly as you can. “yes Mr Client, yes it’s me! your long-lost twin brother separated at birth.”
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Client thinks: “Not my long-lost twin brother or my money doctor but more like a patient in need of a cash transfusion”. The client doesn’t buy because the advisor looks like they are really working hard to sell. Psychologists call this reactance. Reactance= They don’t buy because they feel you are sell-ing. [8*] The average advisor does not notice reactance. They suffer from what psychologist call the “false agreement effect”. I keep on talking; the client doesn’t say anything. Therefore the client agrees with me.
usually the “telescope effect” amplifies this. Low producing advisors feel that they look at the client through the right end of the tele-scope. The client of course looks at them through the wrong end of the telescope.
Which gives us the formula: R+F+T=0 Reactance + False agreement+ Telescope = 0 comission.
1. Remember a time someone was trying to convince you to buy something. Did it make you more or less likely to buy? 2. Did you sometimes look like you were trying to convince client? What would you differ-ently now?3. Why do you think that many American Insurance companies forbid hiring ex-salespeople? 4. Do you know a colleague who has dollar signs in their eyes? How much dollars are they making?
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5. Do you recall a time when you tried to convince the client and the client did not buy even when the client needed the product? Could this have been reactance? How should you act so that you do not look like you are trying to convince the client?6. Have you had a situation when the client said nothing and then you just kept on talking on and on because you thought they agreed with you?(false agreement)7. In the future how could you do this differently?8. Do you believe you have a clearer view on the client than the client has on you? (Tele-scope bias) What could you do about that?9. What concrete plans do you have that will make sure you do not sound like you are trying to convince the client?
Referrals; 16, 55.
4. When I get hit by bad news I just recover much faster than people around me.
An advisor gets hit with bad news from morning to night. Most top producers in wealthy countries came from some poor country with lots of bad news.In the uS Mr Mehdi (94yo) came from Iran.[9*]
In Singapore from Taiwan when it was still a poor country. In Germany from Bulgaria. They got hit with so much bad news back home that they got used to bad news. kind of like “What does not kill me makes me stronger” Frederic Nietche said in 1878. Hm, so if your income is not so good should you now blame your parents because they were too nice to you and your childhood was too good?
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1. Could someone call you a member of what the Taiwanese call the
Strawberry Generation? Because you seem to bruise easily? If yes
what specifically could you change?
2. Taylor Swift (25.5 million likes from GenY on Facebook): You get
rejection and you have to learn how to deal with that. And how to get
up the next day and go on with it. How could you learn to deal with
rejection and go on with it?
3. Mike Tyson (5000 likes on Facebook): “Everyone has a plan till they get hit in the face”. Idea: If you feel you got hit in the face would it be a good idea to remember your plan and keep punching?
4. Lionel Messi: Something deep in my character allows me to take the
hits and get on with trying to win. How could you let your desire to
win help you overcome rejection?
5. Aristotle: There is one way to avoid criticism. Do nothing,say nothing
and be nothing. Does it make sense to do less and say less to avoid
rejection
6. Many times meetings do not work out or the client cancels or is not
even there when you show up. MDRT advisors try to book their sched-
ule as full as possible. That way if one meeting does not work out they do not have so
much time to be upset. They are already on their way to the next meeting. How could you
schedule a lot more meetings so if one does not work out it is no big deal? Exactly what
will you do to achieve this?
7. If you consider this a numbers game: Some will, some won’t, so what? How could that
help your ability to put up with rejection?
8. Could you do more do more situational role-plays. You play the advisor and your col-
league the client. Then you get feedback on what you did well and what you did wrong.
Would this improve your self-confidence in meetings?
9. Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. How could
you stay enthusiastic even when you fail often?
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10. I don’t really have disappointments, because I build myself up for rejection. How could
you build yourself up for rejection?
11. You cannot always change the way people react to you as a financial advisor. But you
can change how it affects you. How could you change the way rejection affects you?
12. What are you now going to do to recover from bad news faster?
Referrals; 23.
5. Sometimes if I want something I would maybe seem a bit pushy.
“If no one ever calls you “pushy” you’re not do-ing your job. “Said Susan from Texas.90% of the MDRT advisors said that they did not try to convince the client.But 95% said they could be seen as pushy. [10*]
1. Why do you think they say life insurance is bought not sold?2. If financial services sold themselves then why would for instance in the US 15% of advi-
sors have incomes of over $115,000 and most others leave because they make less than working at Mc Donald’s?(source: bls.com)
3. Why do you think online services where people can buy complex financial services have not worked and are not working anywhere in the world?
4. Apart from your own financial benefit why is your selling financial services important?5. How pushy do you plan to be in making sure people can get the benefits of your financial
planning?6. How could you follow up with clients better than you do now?7. Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit. Why would it make sense for you to never
quit it so does not become a habit?
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8. How pushy will you now be without looking that you are trying to convince someone?
Referrals; 22.
6. If I really know what I am talking about other people’s disagreement doesn’t bother me at all.
“They say statisticians are people who did not have the charisma to become an accountant” said Peter a nerdy looking MDRT producer from the uk.
But nerdy statisticians are getting rich in our business. They know the numbers they are talking about. If people disagree with them it does not bother them so much. But it bothers
them a lot if they do not know their numbers.
1. Katy Perry(52 million followers on Twitter vs. President Obama 32 million): If you’re presenting yourself with confidence, you can pull off pretty much anything. How could you present yourself with more confidence?
2. When the client does not want to see you, does that mean they dis-agree with you as a person?
3. When the client rejects your proposal do they usually know what they are rejecting?4. If you suggest the policy that they really need then the advisor’s no 1 rule to not have
rejection bother them is: Make sure you always suggest the client the proposal that the client really needs. Would this work for you too?
5. People who have a background in finance or who have taken extra courses have a lot less trouble with rejection. Do you know enough about finances to have self-confidence? What will you do about it and when?
6. Should you increase your knowledge of products or general financial knowledge? What
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will you do and when will you do it? 7. Would it help your self-confidence and ability to deal with disagreements if you would
listen to programs on mp4, read books or go to seminars on upping your sales skills? What would you do and when would you do it?
8. Advisors who look really sharp (think the 40 MDRT advisors from the earlier photos) say they get less rejection than their scruffy looking col-leagues. If you would upgrade your look as real financial professional would that reduce rejection and increase the respect they have for you?
9. What concrete things could you do and when to look sharper than you look now? 10. What is your precise plan to now be bothered less by rejection?
Copy and Paste; 28, Next Level; 74.
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7. I am not more calculative than other people around me.
“Not true for me! I am more calculative than other people around me “98 % of MDRT advi-sors say.[11*]
“Even when a cat sleeps it hears the refrigera-tor door open. That’s me. I am always looking for opportunities. When a door closes another should open and if it doesn’t I go through the window. That’s why I have what I have and why
I will have more” said Betty from Greece.
1. How could you combine business and pleasure and have more fun and more profits?2. How much more income do you think you would make if you always kept your eyes open
for opportunities?3. Are you meeting enough qualified potential clients in your free time or at the health club
that could possibly become clients? 4. Is not I will do my best but: I’ll do what is required. In your case what is the difference
between the two? 5. If you do not create opportunity for your business,who will? 6. What exact plan do you have could you do to create more opportunities?
Referrals; 26 , Next Level; 28.
SYSTEM THINKING
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8. I do not think most problems in a career can be prevented if I plan properly.
Nearly half of the young MDRT members are engineers.Engineers are people who carefully plan things. Engineers understand planning well which is why many are doing better in finan-cial services than in engineering.
Many young people want to be “spontaneous” and just let the good things happen to them. Even in China 32% of young people agree: I take things as they come and do not plan so much.
This is the worst possible strategy for a finan-cial planner. What happens is that nothing hap-pens. These advisors risk joining what the jap-anese call the “Parasite Generation” and move in with their parents.
you plan the number of meetings you have. You plan your financial education. you plan your week. you stick to the plans and you get your results. Financial services is not getting rich quick.
Financial services is getting rich slowly. If you plan. And stay rich because you keep on planning.
1. Many young people say: I take life as it comes. Planning is not so much for me. What usually happens with these people on the long term? What should they say and do instead?
2. How successful are people who don’t plan much but just take things as they come?
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3. What are some reasons people do not like to plan? 4. What do you think about the saying “plan your work and work your plan”? Could you
plan your work differently?5. Does fail to plan, plan to fail have anything to do with you?6. Can you recall how you planned your work and as a result you got more done?7. When plans and goals are written down they have a better chance of success. Could you
write down your goals and plans for your business?
Next Level; 70.
9. I care too much about my results.
How many policies did you sell in the last 6 months?Average advisor: Not enough. MDRT: This much.
1. Elon Musk (Tesla): Constantly think about how you could be doing
things better and question yourself. How could you question yourself
and therefore do things better?
2. JayZ: Men lie, women lie. Numbers don’t lie. What are your num-
bers? Since they don’t lie, what are your numbers telling you? What
should you do based on your numbers?
3. Cristiano Ronaldo I know I’m a good professional. I know that no
one’s harder on me than me. And that’s never going to change. Are
you sure you hard enough on yourself about your performance as a
professional? What should you change?
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4. What would be the reason that some people do not seem to care about their results too
much?
5. What would happen to your results if you cared more about your results?
6. Have you noticed how high income earners are focused on creating their results instead
of worrying about them? What should you do?
7. How could you be more in control of your results? How exactly will you do it and when?
8. How much more would you make if you really cared about your results?
9. Exactly how would you do this?
10. If you focus on too many things what happens to your results? What will you change and
when?
11. If you graphed and analyzed your results weekly would that increase the results? Will
you do that?
12. What results would you like to achieve this week.
13. Exactly how will you do it?
14. This month? Exactly how will you do it?
15. This year? Exactly how will you do it?
16. In your whole career? To write all this down increases your chance to get it done.
Copy and Paste; 6.
10. I am not a numbers person.
In 2000 15% of MDRT members had a numbers background. Now 75% of young MDRT advisors have a num-bers background [12*]
Most clients an advisor meets are upset about yesterday and worried about tomorrow.Few clients are relaxed enough to comfortably project their own future numbers.
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That’s where the numbers people come in. Numbers people are relaxed about numbers and can calmly ask questions about goals and the num-bers connected with the goals. This helps the client to step back and figure out which numbers they should plan for.
1. Sergei Brin (Google): When I grew up I always tried to be in the top of my class with
numbers. That gave me a lot of self-confidence. If you would increase
your knowledge of finance would that also increase your self-confi-
dence?
2. Why do you think people who are good with numbers like engineers
and people with a money background, now make up over 75% of young MDRT mem-
bers?
3. What happens to advisers who only watch how they feel and do not follow sensible sys-
tems? Have you sometimes done that? What will you do in the future and how will you
do it?
4. What would happen to your income if you paid more attention to your numbers?
5. Which numbers are you going to keep track of?
a. number of phone calls per week,
b. commission earned per week,
c. number of actual meetings per week,
d. number of referrals contacted and scheduled per week,
e. percentage of meetings ended successfully (conversion rate)
6. How will you monitor your numbers?
7. If you take control your numbers and analyze them by how many% do you think your
numbers will increase?
Recruiting and Retaining Geny; Chapter2.
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11. In business I prefer spontaneity over planning.
A financial planner helps people plan their mon-ey. But how can you help people plan if you are not into making plans and sticking with your plan?
In financial services your biggest enemy is the discipline bias. This means people believe they will have more discipline than they end up hav-ing. Next Monday, I will start
exercising, start saving and start losing weight. To fight the discipline bias people go on a plan, like a diet plan. On the diet plan they are happy to pay twice as much to eat half as much because they are on the plan. A financial plan works on the completion bias. Completion bias means if there is food on the plate nearly everybody will keep going till they finish their plate.
Most people will just keep going on the financial plan till it is complete once they have it. They keep the plan because they already have it. A financial plan is an example of fighting the discipline bias by using the completion bias.
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this is the long terM plan Mdrt advisors have to get rich:
20 questions
30000 people met
15000 questions/year
15 people/week
50 weeks
750people
40 years worked
Retire as a millionere
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1. Steve Jobs: You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them look-
ing backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow
connect in your future. This has never let me down. How would you
connect the dots for you in this business looking into the future if you
apply the basics of the business and work hard?
2. Think of some people you know. Who is getting ahead financially? The people who plan
carefully or the people who only act on their moods?
3. In business why does planning and developing productive habits work? What productive
habits do you want to form?
4. Japanese Proverb: Plans without action is daydream. Action without
a plan is a nightmare. What is your business plan?
5. What could you do to make sure you follow up on your plan?
6. How could you plan well and still be spontaneous?
7. Very spontaneous and fun people like artists are outnumbered in the MDRT by numbers
types by about 200 to 1. Why do you think that is?
8. What is your income plan?
9. What plans do you have to get more referrals?
10. What plans do you have to have more meetings?
11. What are your educational plans in the business?
12. What is your plan to have an MDRT appearance? (See photos in the beginning)
13. What could you do in your free time that is spontaneous and just plain fun so you can
be as precise as possible in your business and you do what works over and over?
14. Could you see yourself making something like $6.000.000 during your career by asking
600.000 questions? 15. How will you make sure you will stick to your plan and get your results, (should you
write it down?)
Referrals; 12, 13 ,14.
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12. I do not like to analyze people that much.
People who try to push products in the industry that are still around are making less and less. A product pusher is someone who only has a hammer. Therefore everything is a nail. A one trick pony.
A financial services meeting is about asking lots of questions. Which needs does the client have that are unmet? Which need that you find could
be strong enough to get the client to take action today? you keep asking your questions and keep reading the nonverbal answers.
1. Why do you think product pushers do so poorly at the moment?2. What would happen to your results if you would analyze your clients
and their situation more thoroughly?3. As an advisor you of course only get paid for your sales, never by the
hour like most other people. Could anyone blame you for just want-ing to make a sale instead of analyzing people and situations?
4. What would happen to your results if you would analyze your performance more?5. If you analyze how you can be more in control of your income?6. How could you analyze your performance on weekly basis? How exactly will you do
that?7. Would it make sense to set aside a certain time of the week to analyze your production
and your successes and failures in your business for the week and see what you can learn from them?
Next Level; 21, 22, 23, 24, 25.
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13. I feel my drive will be the main driver for my success.
MDRT advisors were asked: What is the reason for your success? [13*]
80% : My drive.
15% : My Company’s products
5% : My Company’s IT
0% : My manager. (No kidding)
The job of a manager must then be to keep the people who hate you away from the people who have not made up their mind yet.
1. Do you know people your age that did well because they “felt enti-
tled” instead of driven? What is happening to their income now?
2. Think of a successful person you know. Is he or she more driven than
average?
3. What would happen to your results if you would increase your drive? How could you do
that?
4. What would you like to have like maybe a flat or a new car or a trip that would result in
you increasing your drive?
5. How important is success in this business for you?
6. A 100 year old saying in financial services: “Thinking will not overcome fear but action
will”. How could you be more active like schedule more appointments so that you think
less and achieve more?
7. Do you think the drive for your business so far will be sufficient to put you in the 10% of
producers your age in this agency? What could you do about that and exactly how will
you do it?
8. Many MDRT advisors said they asked themselves before MDRT: Why? Why not? Why
not me? Why not now?
RESULTS ORIENTATION
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How about you?
Why?
Why not?
Why not you?
Why not now?
Referrals; 12.
14. I like to make to do lists and stick to the list.
“My secret is that I make a list of things I need to do for the day and also for the week. And then I stick to my list. The others in the agen-cy do not do this. Therefore they are always getting distracted and end up producing little ” said Gustavs from Latvia.
1. Why do most MDRT advisors make to do lists and average advisors don’t?2. Why can some people follow their to-do list and others cannot? How could you follow
your to-do list better?3. Do you want to make a to-do list for next week? 4. How could checklists help you?5. What would prevent you from using your checklists?
See the checklists at end of ; (a, Referrals); (b, Next Level ); (c, Copy and Paste).
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15. I am not a born optimist.
New york Life has a higher percentage of MDRT producers than any other company.
New york Life paid the famous American psy-chologist, Professor Seligman, a fortune to do a research study: “What is the one characteristic an advisor has that predicts success?” The professor analyzed the predictive quality all the tests New york Life was using.
Then he found the no. 1 driver: Advisors who others described as opti-mistic out-earned other advisors by 40%. Si if a normal advisor makes a normal adviser makes $100.
It reasonable to say that people who others would describe as a pessimist make 40% less than average. So if an optimist makes $140.And a pessimist $60.
Probably people with a pessimism bias buy more life insurance.
Therefore: People with an optimism bias sell life insurance to people with a pessimism bias.
1. Taylor Swift: “I am blindly optimistic”. Are you blindly optimistic?
2. Winston Churchill “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportuni-
ty; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” What are the
opportunities for you in this business? .
3. Steve Jobs : I have a very optimistic view of individuals. What is your view on individu-
als? Optimistic?
4. Jeff Bezos (billionaire Amazon and Kindle founder): I’m a genetic
optimist. Are you a genetic optimist?
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5. Why do you think optimists make about double the income in our business than pessi-
mists?
6. Why would it make more sense from you to be more optimistic?
7. What are 5 or more things you could do to be more optimistic?
8. How would your clients react if you were more optimistic?
9. By how per cent would your income increase if you were more optimistic?
10. What about your business could make you optimistic?
11. You probably already get too much negativity in your business. Is there a way to lessen
the amount of negativity you get in your free time?
12. How could you be more optimistic this week?
13. How could you permanently be more optimistic about the business?
Recruiting and Retaining Geny; Chapter4 point 2.
16. I have been told I often go too far in achieving my goals.
Financial services are sold not bought. you need to overcome external resistance of the client. But isn’t it harder to overcome the external resistance from the client if you also have to overcome your own internal resistance? Because maybe you are not 100% clear on what you want from your business?
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1. Mark Zuckerberg: The biggest risk is not taking any risk. What risks
could you take that could expand your business?
2. Sergei Brin (Google co-founder): Young people are so afraid. They see
enormous obstacles. Do you see enormous obstacles?
3. Steve Jobs: Stay hungry, stay foolish. Are you staying hungry and
foolish?
4. Taylor Swift: A lot of people ask me, ‘How did you have the courage
to walk up to record labels when you were 12 or 13 and jump right into the music in-
dustry?’ It’s because I knew I could never feel the kind of rejection that I felt in middle
school. Because in the music industry, if they’re gonna say no to you, at least they’re
gonna be polite about it.”
5. How could you be a bit more bold in achieving your business goals?
6. What are your goals for your business long term?
7. How about this year
8. How about this month
9. How about this week
10. What type of person gives up in this business?
11. What excuses do people give when they do not get results in the business?
12. How do people try to protect their ego by blaming things outside of themselves for low
sales? Or they say things like I have no “talent”
13. What steps could you take that would help you to stick to your business goals and your
plans?
14. Can you recall a time that you made a strong business goal and successfully achieved it?
15. MDRT=To succeed, your drive for success in business should be greater than your fear of
failure. How could you use this?
objection Next Level; 76 ,Copy and Paste; 6.
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17. In business I am more a team player than a solo player.
“In selling financial services are up against the objections of the client. If you are more of a team player you will form „a team” with the ob-jections of the client ” said joseph from Munich.
1. Roger Federer I enjoyed the position I was in as a tennis player. I was to blame when I lost. I was to blame when I won. And I really like that, because I played soccer a lot too, and I couldn't stand it when I had to blame it on the goalkeeper. Why would it help your business when there is nobody to blame or praise for your results but you?
2. How much does your success in this business depend on you?3. How much on other people?4. How could you be more responsible for your own success?5. Why are you in this business?6. How much do you care about your financial goals?7. Who pays your bills? What does this mean?8. How could you become a more successful solo player in control of your business results?
Copy and Paste; 10.
18. For me it would be difficult to combine a very challenging career with my lifestyle.
Many young people like a financial services sales job so they can set their own hours. And then not work so hard. Then they leave after a few
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17. In business I am more a team player than a solo player.
“In selling financial services are up against the objections of the client. If you are more of a team player you will form „a team” with the ob-jections of the client ” said joseph from Munich.
1. Roger Federer I enjoyed the position I was in as a tennis player. I was to blame when I lost. I was to blame when I won. And I really like that, because I played soccer a lot too, and I couldn't stand it when I had to blame it on the goalkeeper. Why would it help your business when there is nobody to blame or praise for your results but you?
2. How much does your success in this business depend on you?3. How much on other people?4. How could you be more responsible for your own success?5. Why are you in this business?6. How much do you care about your financial goals?7. Who pays your bills? What does this mean?8. How could you become a more successful solo player in control of your business results?
Copy and Paste; 10.
18. For me it would be difficult to combine a very challenging career with my lifestyle.
Many young people like a financial services sales job so they can set their own hours. And then not work so hard. Then they leave after a few
months because they don’t like their income. The average Geny advisor loves to think it is possible to say yes to lots of things while build-ing up the business and still get fat rewards. They don’t understand yet that you can do any-thing but not everything. If you take it easy in your first 6 months “to see if this job is for you”, you guarantee your failure. There is too much to learn, renewal
commissions are non-existent, and referrals are few. Like in any business you just have to work hard to get yourself off the ground.
1. Steve Jobs: I feel funny being proud of the iPhone and iPad and all
those other things. I feel much more proud of the thousands of things
I said no to. What are some things you should say no to because they
interfere with your production?
2. Niklas Zennstrom (billionaire founder of Skype): If you put out 150 percent, then you
can always expect 100 percent back. If you want to be an entrepre-
neur, it’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle. It defines you. Last thing at night
you’ll send emails, first thing in the morning you’ll read emails, and
you’ll wake up in the middle of the night. But it’s hugely rewarding as
you’re fulfilling something for yourself. How is being a MDRT advisor
a lifestyle thing with work hard and play hard?
3. Justin Timberlake says the same: If you put out 150 percent, then you
can always expect 100 percent back. That’s what I was always told as
a kid, and it’s worked for me so far! Are you happy with what you are
getting back? How much percent are you putting out?
4. JK Rowling: Failure meant a taking away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to
myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to di-
rect all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me:
Harry Potter. How could you direct more of your energy in becoming
financially successful?
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5. Katy Perry: A lot of people just want to be reality TV-type people who
don't do anything. Do you know people who want to be reality TV
type people? What useful thing apart from looking good do they do?
6. Stephen Hawking: Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is
empty without it. What does it mean for you and others that you sell
financial services in a professional way?
7. Shakespeare :Expectations are the source of all disappointment. How
much do you expect to earn. When? How much do you feel you need
to work ? Are you sure you are not underestimating the work needed
to get what you want?
8. Compare your own performance with some colleagues you know who
have twice your production. Is there a difference in focus?
9. Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better. How could you be better?
10. What distractions to your business should you get rid of?
11. What would happen if you would be more focused on your work?
12. Do you have adequate savings for your old age? How would focusing more on your busi-
ness reduce worries you have about your less productive years?
13. Should you make some changes in your lifestyle to make it compatible it with running a
real business and get the results you want?
14. What will you do differently and when will you do it?
15. Most employees get just enough to not quit, and put out just enough work to not get
fired. Does getting enough not to quit and doing just enough to not get fired appeal to
you?
16. Would you be happier if your income would be 40% higher but you would have less time
for other things?
Next Level; 16.
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19. I feel if you are talented you do not have to work so hard to be successful.
Life insurance is a magnet for young optimis-tic people who feel they can coast into wealth. They think: Financial services? Easy! I say some smart things. Instantly I get a lot. just like in the video games. I have invested 2000 hours playing them. This prepared me for a ca-reer in financial services.
As a student you sit and give smart answers.As an MDRT advisor you run around asking smart questions.
MDRT advisors are rich because they just work harder than average earning advisors by asking more people more questions.This Mentor point has the most questions. Not working so hard and still expecting to make big money is the no 1 reason young people waste
their own and the manager’s time in financial services and leave disappointed. Instead of becoming rich.
1. Edison: I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways how not to make
a light bulb. What have you learned from your failures?
2. Albert Einstein: It is not that I am so smart. I just stay with problems
longer. How could you be more persistent in your business?
3. Michelangelo: If people knew how hard I have to work to get this
good, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all. How do people who work
hard become good at what they do?
WORKMENTALITY
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4. Maria Sharapova: I’ve had some luck in my career but there has been
a lot of hard work. How could you work harder so you get luckier?
5. Ashton Kutcher :Opportunity looks a lot like hard work. How could
you work harder to create more opportunity for your business?
6. Stephen King: Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the
talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work. Are
you working hard enough to meet your financial goals? Exactly what
do you need to change and what precise steps will you take to change it?
7. Paul Mc. Cartney: We wrote “eight days a week” is because we worked
eight days a week during 1964 to 1969. We never went on a holiday
and never took a day off.
8. Steve Jobs: When I called someone like Joni Ives from design on the
iPad team at 3.00 am on Sunday night I expected them to pick up the
phone. I expected them to work at least half as hard as I do.
9. Bill Gates. In my twenties I did not take a day off. I am more laid
back now. When is the time to be laid back for you?
10. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls
and looks like work. What is your experience?
11. Managers complain that many younger advisors want to fly before they learn to crawl.
Have you seen this with some young advisors?
12. Think of some successful young advisor you know. Do they work hard?
13. The only place where success comes before work is the dictionary. What do you think
about that?
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14. Why do some people try to make themselves look good by saying it is all talent I do not have to work so hard?
15. Are you going to work harder at your business? How can you make sure you do not get distracted?
16. What will you change? How do you make sure it is not just temporary?17. What specifically will you do differently?18. How can you make sure you do not get distracted?
Recruiting and Retaining Geny; Chapter1( work life balance).
20. When I get up in the morning I do not have more energy than other people around me.
Most young people rush into financial services to make the big money today that they failed to make yesterday. They underestimate the amount of initial work you have to put into the business now to get your rewards later.
Then they wake up and are disappointed by how little rewards the little work they put in brings them. So they quit. Then they try to
chase what they hope is easy money again. After a couple of these they get permanently depressed about society and themselves. Then they get some easy low paying job. It pays nothing but it is stable.
Psychologists call this the under estimation bias: People usually underes-timate how much work they have to put into something for it to take off. Like remodeling the house. It usually costs twice as much and takes dou-ble the time planned.
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14. Why do some people try to make themselves look good by saying it is all talent I do not have to work so hard?
15. Are you going to work harder at your business? How can you make sure you do not get distracted?
16. What will you change? How do you make sure it is not just temporary?17. What specifically will you do differently?18. How can you make sure you do not get distracted?
Recruiting and Retaining Geny; Chapter1( work life balance).
20. When I get up in the morning I do not have more energy than other people around me.
Most young people rush into financial services to make the big money today that they failed to make yesterday. They underestimate the amount of initial work you have to put into the business now to get your rewards later.
Then they wake up and are disappointed by how little rewards the little work they put in brings them. So they quit. Then they try to
chase what they hope is easy money again. After a couple of these they get permanently depressed about society and themselves. Then they get some easy low paying job. It pays nothing but it is stable.
Psychologists call this the under estimation bias: People usually underes-timate how much work they have to put into something for it to take off. Like remodeling the house. It usually costs twice as much and takes dou-ble the time planned.
1. Christina Aguilera: The real essence of work is concentrated energy.
The most successful people I’ve worked with, like the Rolling Stones
have such great, warm energy. What could you do so the clients
would say that about you?
2. Will.i.am: I don't want to hope anymore. I don't think we should
hope anymore. We hoped enough. Now we have to do. What would
happen to your results if you just do?
3. All the secrets of success will not work unless you do. Are you working
hard enough?
4. Can you recall a time that you had lots of energy for work in the
morning? Why do you think that was? How could you recreate that
now?
5. What are your goals in this business how could you achieve them?
6. What do you think would happen to your energy level if you would be working hard on
your goals? What could you achieve?
7. If you would plan your day the night before do you think you would have more energy in
the morning?
8. Do you know someone who is successful now but was a failure before? What happened?
9. In this business you get paid what you are worth. How could you increase your energy
and therefore your worth and income?
10. Would a client rather do business with an energetic advisor or a
lethargic one?
11. Would taking up sport increase your energy level?
Copy and Paste; 9, 10.
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21. When others are dead tired I keep on going.
Young people join the financial services busi-ness because they dream they can make some big money fast and easy. Of course that never happens and they get discouraged and tired. Then after a couple of months they stop show-ing up for work and don’t pick up the phone when the manager calls them. They are too busy
looking for the next easy money solution.
1. Donald Trump: Your goals are the energy source that powers your life. The best way to
get the most from your energy is to focus it. Goals concentrate your
energy. I've learned from experience that if you work harder at it,
and apply more energy and time to it, and more consistency, you get
a better result. It comes from the work. What are your long term
goals? How could you be more focused on your goals?
2. Arnold Schwarzenegger: When I didn't think I could lift another
pound of weight I learned you are always stronger than you knew.
Next time when you feel tired and depressed could you do a just a
little bit more?
3. Edison: Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Are financial
services also 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration?
4. Some people get tired because they do not have a plan. What would
happen if you would plan more precisely?
5. Imagine: If you make a precise plan for your week and for every day and just kept on
working on your plans without getting distracted. Would that help your energy level?
6. Why do people with big goals have more energy? What are your big goals?
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7. Why do you think some people can keep on going when others are dead tired? How could
you do that too?
8. Can you imagine you achieving your financial goals in this business? How would your
energy level be different if you really believed that?
9. Why do people give up? Why have you sometimes given up?
10. Are you doing enough sport to stay fit?
11. How would your business look if you pushed yourself out of your comfort zone more
often? What exact steps will you take and how can you make sure you keep on taking
them?
12. Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve
them. How would things look if you work harder and worry less?
13. If you would put more effort into your business what would happen to your income?
14. “I try to never end a day without accomplishing something. When I did not make any
sales that day, I drop by at the agency to at least set up some appointments ” said Simon
MDRT from Los Angeles. How could you always accomplish something every day?
Copy and Paste; 35.
22. If I really needed the money I could work like 60 hours a week for half a year.
One of the most popular books among young people is the „4 hour work week”.[14*] What they seem to have forgotten to teach at university is: No work, no money.100% of 252 of young MDRT advisors I sur-veyed strongly agreed with: In the first 6 months you have to work like crazy. Making calls, role-playing procedures and hanging out with ambitious colleagues after work.
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1. Steve Jobs: Up to 30 you create your habits. After 30 your habits
create you. Which habits do you want to create now to guarantee a
lifetime of success in your business? (Always better to write this
down.)
2. Why is the book “the 4 hour work week” one of the bestsellers of all time for GenY?
3. What have you seen happen to the income of colleagues who take it easy in this business?4. What would happen if you would work smarter?5. How could you work smarter?6. How would you feel after you had increased your income by 200% by working harder
and smarter? 7. How could you work harder and smarter?8. Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition, is not only a waste of energy but
the worst habit you could possibly have. What should someone do when they feel sorry for themselves?
Copy and Paste; 16.
23. I have been told I am too precise about the way I do things.
Practically any client is a bit disorganized on their personal finances. Your added value and income depends on how well you put precision into a somewhat chaotic scene.
1. Lionel Messi: In football talent and elegance mean nothing without
hard work and precision
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2. Rate yourself on each of these points on a 1-10 scale.
3. Your precision to make a precise weekly plan. Your score: 1-10.
4. Your ability to follow your plans: Your score 1-10
5. The precision in your appearance as an advisor. 1-10
6. Your ability to ask precise questions to get people to think.1-10
7. Your precision in developing your knowledge on finances and products.1-10
8. Your precision in upgrading your sales skills.1-10
9. The precision with which you analyze your successes and failures and sharpen your ap-
proach.1-10
10. Which of these things do you need to be more precise about first?
11. What will you do about it, how will you do it and when will you do it?
Copy and Paste; 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27.
24. I feel comfortable right away in unfamiliar situations.
Meeting you to talk about money is a stressful activity for the client and produces the stress hormone cortisol. If you are frustrated and you look like your cortisol level is running high (be-cause you need the sale) the client’s cortisol level stays high.
Solution: Look professional and relaxed like the 48 young MDRT advisors in the beginning.
This way you chase away the cortisol for the client and replace it with serotonin (the feel good hormone). Now with the serotonin instead of the cortisol it is much less stressful for the client to make difficult long term financial decisions.
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1. Have you noticed nearly all of the MDRT advisors on the photos are
smiling? MDRT advisors enter with a smile. How could you do that?
2. What did you think came first the smile or the MDRT income?
3. By you having (maybe at first forcing) a smile clients feel a bit more
relaxed. What do you think about that?
4. Clients are nervous talking about their finances. What happens if you are nervous too?
5. If your appearance would be more professional would that make the client and you more
comfortable? What could you do about this?
6. If you did more fun things outside of work would that help you make a more relaxed first
impression? (Dancing, karaoke and taking trips produce the best results.)
7. How could you appear more comfortable in an unfamiliar situation?
Next Level; 26.
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25. I nearly always let people finish their story even if I know what they are going to say.
“MDRT is all about asking “smart” rhetor-ical questions. A rhetorical question is a question that you already know the an-
swer to. you ask the question not for your ben-efit. But for the client’s benefit.
you have heard the type of answers the client will give you a thousand times. But this client has never said this before because nobody
asked them they questions. Of course you came to make a commission. Not to hear a story. But if you tell your story instead of listening to theirs there is no commission.
1. Mark Zuckerberg: The question isn't, 'What do you want to know about people? 'It's, 'What do people want to tell about themselves?' What do you want people to tell you about themselves?
2. Recall a time that somebody would not let you tell your story. How did they make you feel? What could you do to make sure you do not do the same?
3. How can an advisor show interest when they have hundreds of meetings per year? How could they still do this 5000 meetings later?
4. Of course your job is to make a sale not listen to a story. But what happens if you seem more interested in your sale than in their story?
5. How could you listen more patiently without interrupting?6. Some advisors know that they often interrupt. When they ring the bell and wait for the
client they decide: This meeting I will ask lots questions, look attentive and not inter-rupt. Would this work for you too? If yes what would you specifically do?
7. Gerald MDRT from Atlanta says: I imagine that every person I meet wears a t-shirt: Make me feel important. Would that work for you?
8. Would it be a good idea to take a colleague on a meeting and they write down all the times you interrupted the client. Afterwards they share the results with you.
Copy and Paste; 5 ,Referrals; 55, 56.
FINANCIAL ORIENTATION
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26. I often talk a bit too much.
Teachers are usually nice people and are rare-ly lazy or dumb. But teachers under perform the average by about 20%.In MDRT circles they are close to non-existent.[15*]
Conclusion: The more you teach and talk the less you make. If you teach you guarantee that the client “has to think about it.”
1. Why do teachers under perform the average by about 20%?
2. Why do some people talk so much?
3. They always forget what you said but they never forget how you made
them feel. How do you make your clients feel ? How could you do better?
4. When you meet a specialist do you want them to ask a lot of question
about your needs or rather to talk about their products?
5. Are there good reasons to talk a lot when you are selling?
6. Think of the top producing adviser you know. Do they talk a lot or ask a lot of questions?
7. How could you talk less and ask more questions?
8. What would happen with your income?
9. What could you do to get the client to open up a bit so that they do not have their arms
crossed while you talk?
10. :”Silence is one of the great arts of conversation” Do you allow enough silence in the
meeting so the client can sort out their thoughts?
Referrals; 58.
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27. I would have made an outstanding counsellor.
People buy for emotional reasons for which they then give a logical expla-
nation. This then puts you by default in the emotion manage-ment business.
In financial services you have to ask questions to find an
emotional need that is so big that the client will take action.
Step 1. Ask questions to find the hot button (emotional need).Step 2. After you find it, get the client to talk more about the need so it gets more real to the client.Step 3. Look empathetic and understanding.Step 4. Ask the client if they would like you to put some numbers together.
1. Life insurance is sometimes defined as the asking of obvious ques-tions to get the client to realize an emotion. Then you ask the client if they want to see some numbers related to the emotion and goal. What do you think about that?
2. Why do people buy more for emotional than for logical reasons?3. What questions do you usually ask?4. Which other ones could you ask?5. How would an empathetic listener look like?6. What makes a good counsellor?7. If you would be a financial counsellor getting paid by the hour how would you go about
your business differently?
Copy and Paste; 26.
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28. In a well-run meeting the advisor and the client talk about the same amount.
If the client and the advisor talk about the same amount there probably will not be a sale. MDRT advisors ask about 30 questions per meeting and talk 50% less than average advi-sors.
Average advisors ask about 7 questions.Below average advisors ask about 4 questions and talk 400% more than MDRT advisors.[16*]
1. Of course it differs from meeting to meeting. But on average how
many questions do you ask per meeting? 5? 10? 30?2. What would happen to your income if you would ask more ques-
tions?3. Do you know some advisors who talk too much? How is their income?4. Many times the client has their arms crossed and the advisor just starts talking. What
usually happens?5. How could you get the client to uncross their arms?6. If you would be more relaxed do you think the client would be more talkative? How
could you do this?
Copy and Paste; 33.
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29. I would have made an excellent detective because I like to get to the bottom of things.
To my knowledge there are no ex-police offi-cers amongst the 39.000 MDRT members.[17*]
Maybe this is because the police officer as-sumes the client is always wrong and empathy is not their default emotion.
But I have met 40 ex-detectives around the world from Namibia to Hungary who are mak-ing a very good living.
I asked the detectives: Why they are so successful:“Easy, detective rule no 1: Look for and find the motive. They can only have done it if they had a motive. you want your client to do something. Buy. So you ask lots of questions to find a motive “said the ex-detectives.
1. In which way are you and a detective in the same business?
2. Why do detectives talk so little?
3. Sherlock Holmes to Watson: Never theorize before you have data.
Invariably you end up twisting facts to suit theories instead of theo-
ries to suit facts. What precisely will you get as get as many financial and life goals data
from the client so you can give the best advice?
4. How could you talk less and listen more?
5. Do you think a question based approach will increase your production?
6. What will you do to move more towards a detective based approach?
7. If you looked more like a real financial advisor like the 48 young MDRT advisors in the
pictures before do you think the client would be more comfortable to talk to you so it is
easier to find the motive that will move the client?
Referrals; 12 ,Copy and Paste; 21, 22.
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72
30. I hardly ever interrupt people.
you ask your questions to help the client to sort out emotions about their future. Because of your smart questions the client gets aware of these emotions. As they try to formulate these important emotions to you they are really for-mulating them to themselves.
It is not smart if you interrupt the client pro-cess of the client explaining things to them-
selves. you stop the client from being ready to take action because you stopped them from figuring it all out.
1. Which type of people interrupts?2. Why do some people interrupt?3. What happens to a person when you interrupt him?4. How often do you interrupt the client in say 1 hour?5. How could you interrupt less?
Copy and Paste; 5,12.
31. The idea of earning an average income makes me cringe.
Question to MDRT advisor: Why do MDRT advi-sors make so much more? “I make more because I wanted to make more.”
FINANCIALCOMMUNICATION
SKILLS
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1. Warren Buffett: “I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think
I ever doubted it for a minute”. A financial services business is cur-
rently making 39.000 MDRT advisors rich. Do you think this busi-
ness will make you rich too? 2. Why is it acceptable to earn an average income?3. In our industry which type of people make an average income?4. How would you feel if you would increase your income by 40%?5. What could you do and have with a 40% higher income?6. Could you too make an MDRT income like 39,000 colleagues are already doing? What is
your exact plan to do this?7. Till which age do you plan to work? Are you happy with the savings you have built up so
far for your retirement years?8. Is your present income enough for the things you might want like a house, a new car,
retirement savings?9. Describe precisely what you have to do to make the income you require? After that it
would be a good idea to write it down.
Copy and Paste; 1.
32. I am willing to sacrifice other areas of my life to make more money.
We asked 1950 agency managers in 16 coun-tries: “Of all the points on the AAT which one is your biggest challenge with young advisors?” [18*]
45% said: young advisors love the rewards. But they get terrified about the idea that they have to do some work. Make that a lot of work. Most young advisors are too busy trying to look cool to other young people who also are trying to
look cool to them. In the meantime nobody makes any money but every-one is really cool.
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1. Warren Buffet: You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong. In your business which things do you have to do right for MDRT income?
2. Why would it make sense to temporarily sacrifice other areas of your life to make a lot more money?
3. How could you simplify things so that you can spend more times working and on things that matter for you and less that do not matter?
4. Are there people who could help you do things you now do, so you free up time to pro-duce income?
5. How could you hang out with more colleagues after work to discuss your business and learn things?
6. What specific steps will you take to up your income? 7. What precise plan do you have to devote more time and energy to your business?
Copy and Paste; 15.
33. If I had no income I could still survive for more than 2 months.
This is a key recruitment question for New york Life for decades. New york Life has a higher percentage of MDRT advisors than any other company.[19*] We surveyed it on MDRT advisors. 98% said they had more than 2 months of living expens-es savings before they started in the business. Maybe if you are into saving you are good at getting others to save?
1. Why do you think that people who are good at planning their own finances also seem to be effective helping other people to plan their own finances?
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2. What is your philosophy on financial planning?3. How does having reserves and insurance give you peace of mind?4. How could you increase your production and increase your savings?5. How would it affect your production if you increased your savings?6. How will getting your production higher make you more comfortable
about your retirement? What should you change?
Copy and Paste; 3.
34. It is not so easy for me to get straight to the point about money.
In most countries people now prefer to do their banking online.So lots of bank people lost their jobs. Some of the bank people now end up in our business. They do surprisingly well. They usually end up making about double what they did at the bank. Why?
Average advisors when they talk about money automatically think about their own commission and get a bit nervous. The client probably notices that and gets nervous too.
Ex-bank people have no hang-up on talking about money. They get straight to the point and are dead calm about finances. Easy for them to talk about money. When they talked about money at the bank it was nev-er their money but the bank’s money.
1. Why do you think the ex-bank clerks do so well in this business?2. What could you copy from this?3. Why are some advisors afraid to discuss the client’s finances when
the client seems uncooperative? What should they do about this?
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4. Some advisors are afraid to discuss the client’s financial situation because they are afraid the client thinks they are commission driven. Would only thinking about the cli-ent’s situation and not about your commission help your income?
5. What could you do to get more to the point about money?6. If you would improve your knowledge on financial products and on finances in general
would that make it easier for you to get straight to the point about finances?
Copy and Paste; 28.
35. Education-wise I do not have a technical or financial background.
Now approximately 75% of young MDRT advi-sors have a technical or financial background. My research shows roughly the same propor-tions in Asia Europa and the uS.[20*]
So the percentage of people with a technical background keeps rising in every market. 10 years ago a nice caring person could make a decent income in our industry. Now the client
wants an expert who is also nice caring person. 1. Introverted nerdy computer programmers also do very well in this
business. Why do you think that is? 2. Why do you think people who have studied finance do so well in this
business?3. Is luck really much of a factor in this business? 4. Over 75% of MDRT members have done additional courses that are not required like
CFP, CLU and CHFC. Why did they do this? What will you do?5. Numbers people now rule this business. Someone without a numbers background is
obviously disadvantaged in today’s circumstances.?What could you do to compensate for this?(financial courses maybe?)
Recruiting and Retaining Geny; Chapter2.
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36. I have very strong views about managing money and so far people I have shared my ideas with seemed to listen to me.
If you know what you are talking about you do not sound the same as someone who doesn’t. Funny: The more you know the less you say. But you say it better. Those who know the most about finances talk the least say it in the best way and ask the most questions.
It is not just what you say. Advisors who know and care what they are talking about get across
differently to the client from people who are just sell something fast.
1. Why is it important to have a philosophy about savings, security, education investment education and retirement?
2. What is your philosophy about savings?3. What is your philosophy about security?4. What is your philosophy on education?5. What is your philosophy on investments?6. What is your viewpoint on retirement?7. Is it useful to ask your clients what their viewpoint is on savings, security, investments,
education and retirement?8. What do you feel you can do in the long term to develop your financial philosophy?9. What could you specifically do in the next month?
Copy and Paste; 26, 27.
REFERRALS
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37. I know more than 40 people that I could talk about their financial situation with.
When you ask young MDRT advisors how they get the business, they always say the same:”-Friends.” In nearly every country it is now close to im-possible to get to MDRT with cold calls. Some-times you do more good for your career meet-ing people outside of work than in your work time.
1. Why do you know so few people who you could talk with about finance? 2. What could you do about that?3. What could you do in your free time to meet more people?4. What benefits would it give you if you were to meet more people?5. Are you using social media like Facebook Twitter and LinkedIn effectively to get poten-
tial prospects? What could you change?
Referrals; 44, 45, 47.
38. I have referred many people to my friends and family.
People who refer a lot of people to friends and family get a lot of referrals. Referral is a type of mind-set. It seems easy to get referrals if you are giving them.
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1. Who have you referred to friends and family?
2. What impressed you about that person? How could you copy that in
your business?
3. How could you improve your follow-up service so you would get more
referrals?4. Which type of persons would you not refer to friends and family?5. Do you think that in the past you have looked less than a 100% professional dealing with
clients which made the client hesitant to refer you to their friends and family?6. What could you change so you would be more referable?
Referrals; 1, 43.
39. If I have a good experience with a product or person I let lots of people know about it.
Some advisors see themselves as part of a big network. They are constantly recommending people to people. Not surprisingly others rec-ommend them too.Others see themselves as more isolated. They want to get from people. They usually do not get so much.
1. Recall a time you had a good experience with a product.2. Who did you tell about it?3. Recall a time you had a good experience with a person?4. Who did you tell about it?5. What did you tell about them?6. What would happen to your own referrals if you would refer professionals you know to
others?
Referrals; 19.
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40. I feel my friends will put me in touch with others if I sell financial services.
Psychologist talk about the in-group bias. Peo-ple like you because they consider you part of their group. The key thing is to have an active social life where you meet people who could afford your products. No MDRT advisor ever got rich from playing video games.
1. What is so special about you that your friends would put you in touch with others?
2. How do you stay in touch with lots of friends?3. What could you do in your free time that would allow you to make
more wealthy friends?4. What do you want your friends to say about you to their friends? What could you
change that would make them more likely to say that?5. What could you say to your friends to encourage them to refer you to their friends? 6. Would it help your referrals if you would get together more often with friends?7. Are you using Facebook and Twitter to get the world about your business out.
Referrals; 31.
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41. To hang out with friends at least once a week is important for me.
Research from the university of San jose has shown that men who hang out with friends once a week and have a few drinks have a 19% higher income than men who did not. (Women had only 10% more income) [21*]
If this is true for the general population it is probably fair to guess that in our business we have at least 30% more income when we do this.
1. Henry Ford: “A good friend is someone who brings out the best in me”. In your business you already get hit with so much negativity from the clients. Could it help your business if in your free time you
hang out with more optimistic people? 2. Warren Buffett : It’s better to hang out with people better than you.
Pick your friends who achieve more than you do and you will drift in that direction. Is there a way you could follow Warren Buffet’s ad-
vice?3. Why is it important to hang out with friends at least once a week?4. Are you hanging out enough with friends? How could you do more?5. Why is it a good return on your time and investment in this business to hang out with
friends?6. Do you know some people who never hang out with friends? How about their income? 7. How would it help to boost your mood and therefore production if you hang out with
friends more often?
Copy and Paste; 30.
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42.If I were a financial advisor I would not make it a priority right away to be in the top 5% best dressed in the agency.
People will only give you money if you look like you have money. MDRT advisors look like a Christmas tree decked out with all kinds of expensive things, newest coolest smartphone,coolest Pad, sharp-est outfits, shiniest tie,cool watch. Now they impress the client. Now the client lis-tens to them and takes them seriously.Then they can ask their questions about finan-
cial responsibility. After you leave, the client can no longer afford the coolest outfits be-cause they are paying too much to the insurance company.
1. How would you rate your appearance as an advisor from 1 to 10?2. Compare your appearance to those of the people who read the finan-
cial news what changes would you have to make to read the financial news tonight? Ask a colleague.
3. If you would score 2 points higher on appearance how much % would your income rise?
4. What could you change to look more professional?5. Which 3 people do you know that are really well dressed as an advisor?6. How well are they doing?7. Is your smartphone up to date enough? 8. Ask a friend to compare your professional appearance with the 40 young advisors at the
beginning of the book. What will you change and when?
Copy and Paste; 12.
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43. I could easily see me take extra courses in the weekend to learn new stuff.
75% of young MDRT producers have taken fi-nancial courses like CFP, CLu and CHFC.[22*] Less than 1 % of normal advisors have. MDRT advisors say they feel more self-confi-dent because they know what they are talking about.
1. Do you know some people who think they know everything?
2. Is their income rising?
3. Can you think of some colleagues that have taken extra seminars and
courses?
4. What is happening to their income?
5. Which books or which audio books could you read or listen to?
6. Do you plan to take advanced financial courses like 75% of young MDRT colleagues? Or
are you satisfied with your present level of income and knowledge?
Referrals; 13.
LEARNING
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44. There are many areas in my life I need to improve.
M D R T = M o r e ▶ satisfied clients
▶ sales
▶ commissions
▶ affluent clients
▶ referrals
▶ travel
▶ knowledge
▶ gadgets
▶ money
1. Paul Mc Cartney: The Beatles were anti-materialistic. That's a huge
myth. John and I used to sit down and say : Now let’s write a swim-
ming pool. What do you want to get from your business?
2. Do you know some people that seem very content with what they
have in knowledge, savings, and luxuries? How is their income trending?
3. Do you know a colleague whose income is rising very fast?
4. Which aspect of their game did they improve?
5. Which aspect of your game – appearance, knowledge of finances, communication skills,
prospecting skills – could you improve so that you get more?
6. Who is your favorite actor. What could you copy from them to use in your business?
7. What is your favorite singer, group. What could you copy from them?
8. Which business person do you admire? What could you copy from them?
Copy and Paste; 1-16.
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45. I am the type of person who is always learning something new.
The average young MDRT advisor spends 4 hours per week learning something they did not know as well before.[23*] Like analyzing their week and why the results were what they were. Or talking with another successful colleague about the business.
1. Elon Musk: the single best piece of advice: constantly think about
how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself. Are
you always thinking about how you could do better and questioning
your week’s performance?2. Do you know someone that does not seem to want to learn new things?3. What is the trend of their income?4. Do you know some colleagues that are very open to learn new things?5. What is the trend of their income?6. Which new things should you be learning?
Referrals; 14, 15, 16.
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46. I am very comfortable with changing technology.
I gave a program to 30 MDRT advisors in Ma-laysia in 2011. Everyone but 1advisor already had an iPad. Then the advisor that did not got one the next day. At the time 1% of normal ad-visors had one.
The first people to buy iPhones in the UAE were not oil sheiks but the advisors. The best place to see the newest gadgets is the Las Vegas In-
ternational consumer electronics show. The second best place is a young MDRT convention.
1. Do you know some colleagues who have Stone Age technology?2. How much new business are they getting?3. Do you know some colleagues that are into the latest technology new-
est smart phone, latest tablets?4. What is their income trend?5. Do you think it make sense to update your technology to increase your income and refer-
rals?6. What are you going to get: Like a new Pad, a new smartphone, a new laptop? When are
you going to get it?
Copy and Paste; 1, 12.
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47. I do sports or exercise more than 2 hours a week.
95% of Geny MDRT advisors exercise more than 2 hours a week. In financial services with all the stress you give and get cortisol levels tend to run high.
“Working out teaches me to push through bar-riers, makes me look and feel more energetic, gets me to meet potential clients and makes me feel the way my work with clients does
not”said Susan.
Some factor for the best MDRT fitness program:
1. Cost. (The more expensive the lower the score.)2. Networking benefits. (Networking opportunities and affluent people)3. The actual fitness benefit. (Golf scored low).
Cost Networking Fitness benefit Total
1.Fitness Club 7 8 10 252.Tennis 3 10 9 223.Running* 9 3 9 214.Golf 2 9 2 13
*Running is not so good for your smile. you need your smile to bring down the client’s cortisol level. Have you ever seen a smiling runner? (except when they hit the finish line?)
Most dancing (highly recommended) does the opposite. It teaches you to smile and have good non-verbal communication.
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1. What sports are you doing now? What benefits do you feel it is giving
your business?
2. Do you know some colleagues that do no sports at all? What is their
income trend?
3. Do you know some advisors who do sports more than 2 hours a week? How does their
income look?
4. If you were to do more sports do you think it would help your income?
5. Exercise is like business. The harder it is the stronger you become. Which sport will you
do which will get you more fit and also will help you get in touch with the potential cli-
ents who are right for you?
Copy and Paste; 20.
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48. I spend more than 2 hours a week online to learn new things.
Especially if you sell to higher income clients it helps if you know things. High income people are usually that way because they work hard-er on staying up to date knowing things. They know more of what is happening in the world than average earning people. They also like to do business and refer people who are like them.
1. JayZ. I'm hungry for knowledge. The whole thing is to learn every day, to get brighter and brighter. Are you hungry for knowledge that would help your business?
2. Do you know some colleagues that never seem to be up to date on what is going on?
3. Is their income going up or down on a year to year basis?4. Do you know some colleagues that seem to spend more than 2 hours online to learn new
things?5. What is the trend of their income?6. If you are not willing to learn no one can help you. If you are determined to learn no one
can stop you. Are you determined to learn? On a scale from 1 -10.7. How would you rate your current skill in prospecting?8. Your skill on getting referrals?9. Your product knowledge?10. Your knowledge of the financial world?11. Which skill should you improve first?12. How will you do that?
Referrals; 13.
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FAQ’s.
1.How is the industry using the AAT5?
1. Managers use the AAT to quickly figure out if it makes sense to spend time and money on this candidate. Some Singaporean managers, when they see an applicant with an AAT above 8.0*, cancel all their meetings for the day and take the applicant to an ex-pensive restaurant.*less than 2% chance for this.
2. Managers now use the AAT5 as their first contact point. Especially at job fairs. No lengthy interviews with dozens of people who are not suited for the business. Only if the scores are promising, does the manager ask for background information and start ex-plaining the career.
3. A Singaporean company developed an AAT5Application. Now managers have the AAT5 on their iPad. The manager asks someone to do the test on their iPad and gets the result right away. Info on apps write [email protected] or erikvosinternational.com contact us.
4. Aegon, Axa and Allianz now include the AAT5App in the “careers” section of the com-pany web-page.
5. Erik provides workshops where he brings the managers and trainers up to speed on using the AAT and Mentor system. After the initial training the company can use the AAT and Mentor and other background materials with no additional fees or royalties.
How is the industry using Mentor?
1. As a recruitment tool: The manager can promise the right candidate a customized men-tor program to help them develop their potential.
2. The manager uses Mentor to improve retention with the new recruits by trying to fix the characteristics that are stopping production.
3. Managers go through the field book to find a topic or a quote they could to use in the next meeting.
4. Some managers start out following Mentor point by point. After a while they integrate it in their management approach and can use Mentor technology on the spot in different types of situation.
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What is MDRT Thinking”?
“MDRT thinking” is the type of quotes that MDRT members submit to the MDRT.com
web-page. Since this a field book for busy managers I have not included the original authors
to save space and clutter. They are easy enough to Google. By the way to call something”
MDRT Thinking” sounds a lot better to advisors than saying: Shakespeare said 350 years
ago.
Who should be mentored?
The newest youngest advisors (say under 6 months) with the highest AAT score are the best
candidates for extensive mentoring. Mentoring for older advisors has not proven very pro-
ductive and has been draining on the manager. There have been some exceptions of course.
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footnotes:
1. Erik Vos Survey 350 young MDRT advisors from 29 countries in 2013.
2. Erik Vos MDRT survey 2012.
3. Example 2014. Pivotal agency Singapore with about 100 Gen
4. MDRT study 2011.
5. Limra-McKinsy study in 2011.
6. Reactance. Baron, R. A., et al. (2006). Social psychology, Pearson
7. MDRT data
8. MDRT study Atlanta 2011.
9. MDRT survey 2012
10. MDRT survey amongst 300 young advisors Atlanta MDRT conference.
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11. MDRT data
12. Source Amazon.com: bestselling books.
13. By professor Kahneman
14. Except math and science teachers
15. MDRT research.
16. Source MDRT.com.
17. Erik Vos survey in 2013 and 2014.
18. Nylife.com
19. Recruiting and retaining GenY.
20. Study from Copy and Paste.
21. MDRT data
22. 2013 survey Erik Vos
23. Professor Deming (the smartest management analyst of the 20th century.)
24. Book: Copy and paste.
25. Data copy and paste book
26. Kelly Services survey
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acknowledgMents:
Albania: Gezim Balisha (Sicred) Antigua: Terrence Dublin (Caribbean Alliance)Australia: Philip T Smith. (Hunter Financial)Austria: Hannes Buchhaus (Generali) , Austria: Erik Venningdorf (Grawe)Bahrain: Jeff Lawson (Arig)Bangladesh: Younus Shaheed (Alico)Bosnia: Ermin Nuhic (Merkur), Botswana: Jaco Vandenberg. (BLIL)Bulgaria: Svetla Nestorova (Bulstrad), Todor Kazandjiev (Groupama), Bayan Kirov (Al-lianz), Dimitar Tanchev (Generali) Jordan Genchev (Vitosha), Romen Galabibnov (Imoti Life), Venstislav Arnaoudov (MetLife) Burundi: Augustin Sindigaya (SOCABU) Canada: David Stockall (Stockal Financial)Cambodia: Pankaj Banerjee, (Prudential)Croatia: Marinko Roje (Allianz), Tomislav Novacic (Agram), Maja Zunic (Generali), Dali-bor Duric (WVP)Czech Republic: Karel Polzer(Ing)Cyprus: Kiriakos Kiriakou (Demetres Christodoulou)Denmark: Susanne Jensen (Nordea) Egypt: Bashar Sawas (Allianz) Estonia: Erki Kilu (AS LHV, Seesam Life)Ethiopia: Getnet Aberra (Eic)Iran: Mohammadreza Amiri (Soushiant Baz'aar)Germany: Manfred Schroeder (Allianz) Ghana: Daniel Kusi Abborah (LOAG) Greece: Nicos Sophronas, Georges Mantas (Interamerican)India: Ashwini Kumar (ING) Japan: Wataru Saitu (Sony Life)Hong Kong: Ken Stearns (Prudential) Hungary: Albert Attila (Aegon), G. Nagy Pal, Bodnar Sandor (Allianz), Jegl Valeria (Uniqa), Liptak Jozsef (Signal), Csepel Sandor (AXA), Jenei Mihaly, Merza Kalman, Nagy Istvan (ING)Indonesia: Ivan Maleakhi (Allianz Life)
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Jamaica: Ruby Anderson, Gordon Glendon (Guardian Life) Harrison Pilgrim (Sagicor) Kazakhstan: Umida Ruzbayeva (Kazkommerz), Dmitry Nadirov (Generali)Kenya: Ezekiel Owuor (Pan-Africa), Muthoga Ngera (Britak), Jonah Wanderi (CFC Life), Ngunje Wanderi (Madison)Laos: Guy Apovy (Allianz)Latvia: Viktors Gussons (Compensa Life)Lebanon: Ahmet Rizkallah. (Alico) Lithuania: Kestutis Motiejunas (AVIVA), Vilija Paliokiene (Bonum Publicum), Mindaugas Sestilo (Compensa Life)Macedonia: Istok Pecnic (Triglav)Malawi: Stain Singo (Smile Insurance), Isaac Kebele (Vanguard Life), Karim Osman: (Old Mutual)Kuwait: Mazen M.Hammad. (Kuwait Insurance)Lybia: Hana G.Shahata (Lybia Insurance Company)Macedonia: Zoran Dimitriev (QBE) Malaysia: TCM Menon (Prudential)Malta: Stuart Fairbairn (MSV Life)Mauritius: Robert Gallet (Anglo-Mauritius), Gerard Lok (Union), Jean-Claude Tsang (Mauritian Eagle) Royston Decruze (Celylinco Stella), Bruno Woomed (La Prudence) Ram Hauradhur (Tushiyah Cover)Mexico. Marco Antonionavarro Vasquez. (MDRT chair)Namibia: Parnall Augustus (Metropolitan), Leon Basson (Sanlam), Gim Victor (Old Mutu-al)Netherlands: Eveline Verwijmeren (Eureko)Nigeria: Adawale Fayinka (Crusader) Nepal: Nirmal Kajee Shrestha (Metlife)Oman: Khalil Ahmed al Harty. (A Aliah)Pakistan: Mazhar Ali Mughal (efu life)Philippines: Jonas Edwin Lopez (SunLife) Poland: Piotr Staniszki (AXA), Michal Kedziora (PZU), Marcin Salata (ING)Romania: Cristi Maftei (AIG), Victor Tudoran (ING), Dan Tiganu (Allianz)Russia: Seymur Mamedov (Allianz Life)Rwanda: Bruno Womeed (AIO)Serbia: Dragan Pajkanovic (Avalon)South Africa: Raimund Snyders (Old Mutual)
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Slovakia: Marek Blaha (Allianz), Jan Trangos (Generali), Zora Vitkova (MetLife), Ingrid Zelina (Union) Slovenia: Igor Zupan (Triglav), Iztok Pecnik (Finmart), Evgen Likl (Mariborska) Smiljan Mori.Suriname: Rishi Pardubayal (Assuria) Turkey: Rafik Berkol AIGSri Lanka: Rukman Weeraratne, Suranjith Godagama (NAFLIA)Singapore: Koh Hong Kwan (Great Eastern), Rina Hiw (AXA), Steven Lau (Prudential), Danny Pay (HSBC), Tristan (TSD Group)Swaziland: Malo Mthande (Swaziland Royal Insurance Corp)Sweden: Eric Magnusson (Nordea)Switzerland: Helge Zauhar (OC Holdings)Taiwan: Wu nei Hsien (Fubon Financial)Tanzania: Ben Mwaria (Jubelee) Thailand: Yantoultra Ploy(Ing Thailand)UAE: Mahmoud Nodjoumi (Nexus), Khaled Abu Reslan (Karlogan Nasco)Uganda: Simon Ikunu.Ukraine: Alexander Filonyuk. (LOUI)US: Steve Goodwin. (New York Life)Vietnam: Pankaj Banerjee, (Prudential) Zambia: George Silutongwe (ProfLife), Jimmy Mashinkila (ZSIC)Zimbabwe: Emmanuelle Saruchera (Fidelity Life)
