Life-insurance

These steps help you keep control of your life when health problems could otherwise overwhelm you. As Landay says, "preparing for the worst allows you to expect the best." I followed his recommendations in coping with multiple sclerosis and applied some of them in my book The Art of Getting Well.

It's not always the easiest read; it's long and packed with info and resources. But I consider it a vital reference; I don't know of an equal one on the topic.

David Spero RN www.davidsperoRN.com

What if you could stay in the comfort of your own home, with round the clock care if need be, with your choice of caregivers? What if this option was not only for the fabulously wealthy, but was in fact available to anyone and everyone at a fraction of the price of a nursing home? It is not as farfetched as it seems. It just takes some careful planning.

Our society has acknowledged that surviving old age takes preparation. Retirement funds, social security, and well-stocked shelves of volumes upon volumes of do-it-yourself guides are evidence of these sentiments. It is a wonder that amidst all the excitement, most people fail to prepare for illness and incapacitation.

But Karen Shoff of Santa Monica California has vowed to make this ignorance a thing of the past. In her compelling and essential new book, There's No Place Like A Nursing Home, she details in a surprisingly fascinating manner the problems inherent in institutional life, and offers a step-by-step solution. The fast paced text is only enhance by the stories she masterfully tells. As a former Social Worker and Gerontologist, she was witness to the horrors of institutional life. Her experiences in institutional life fueled her passionate commitment to protecting her family, friends and clients from those very facilities.

Her goal is to help ensure each and every American a life of dignity, security, and comfort. She details steps that if taken, will free one from worry, and doubt. She tells her reader how he can stay in the comfort and dignity of his own home, while at the same time receiving care far superior to that offered in any institution for significantly less. Her solution is a combination of Long Term Care Insurance, careful planning, and a slew of incisive, original suggestions. As one of the foremost experts in her field, her book is invaluable. Our society owes Karen Shoff a debt of gratitude for opening up her vast expertise and experience for our benefit.

Don't wait any longer. There's No Place Like A Nursing Home will change your life.

As on insurance agent I found it's advice pratical, easy to utilize, and interesting to read. His other books are to be recommended as well. The Feldman Method is highly recommended. If you come across a copy of the original Creative Selling go ahead and snatch it up. The 90's edition has only two minor changes. One is the chapter of selling 6 million in 6 months. It has now been upgraded to 12 million in 6 months by doubling the dollar amounts. The other difference is the epilogue where Ben takes about 2 paragraphs to mentio the usefulness of computerization in insurance sales, for database purposes, proposals, etc.

The earlier version can be found for substantially less and has word for word the same information.

Another excellent author is John Savage. His books "Savage on Selling", The High Touch and others are must reads. Also include The Kinders "Secrets of Successful Insurance Sales" and you have a good basic library of insurance specific hands on material. Frank Bettger is not to be overlooked either. Add Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich' and "Laws of Success" and you need not buy much else.

Hope this has been helpful. These books have helped me to go from not even on the roster to Number 1 in our agency of 40+ agents and number 7 in the southeastern region for my company. These books will help you as well. Get them and use them.

Perhaps Ben's most powerful technique is his gambit of speaking to a prospect in headlines, just like those that can be found in a newspaper. In newspapers, the headline grabs the reader's attention. In conversation, Ben would use headline-esqe phrases that involved a prospect's particular problem. That would immediately gain the prospect's attention, a feat in of itself...and would set Ben up to make his pitch.

Ben would never allow himself to be perceived as "selling insurance". Ben would always position himself in the prospect's mind as selling customized packages of solutions. For example, he would say, "I have here special educational package for your children's children." This worked so well, and continues to work today, due to the fact that people always will want something that is specifically for them...or anything they "perceive" to be created specifically for them. All people feel more comfortable buying a product that seems to be a snug solution to their problem, as opposed to a solution that is identical to the ones that the masses use.

I am confident that this book would make a valuable addition to any aspiring sales superstar's library. I recommend it with confidence.

The author's insight and understanding of the sales process shows why he is one of the top financial advisors in America. It is a wonder more people who want to be world class have not read this book.

I would think any sales trainer would use this book as their guidepost to selling. Terrific book - a terrific read.

Baker's background is in financial services which presumably require extensive education to understand the specific products and services to be offered prior to the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of prospective buyers of those products and services. The title of his book suggests that understanding motivation (i.e. "hot buttons') is an essential part of the salesperson's preparation and indeed it is. He takes a direct and personal approach to his reader as if he has been retained to provide to the reader a combination of mentoring and coaching services. He carefully organizes his material within 12 chapters, skillfully "Tying It All Together" in the final chapter.

This book be most valuable to those who are new to sales or now considering a career in sales; also to sales managers, especially those who supervise others who are relatively inexperienced. To the former, Baker offers sound basics with a rationale for each; to the latter, Baker offers reminders of basics. (Working as I frequently do with sales managers, I am astonished by the fact that so many of them do not have a sufficient understanding of those basics.) I also recommend this book to another group which Baker may not have had in mind when writing it: Those in executive (non sales) positions who are frequently required to persuade others to support an idea or course of action. By now I am convinced that almost everyone involved in business is constantly selling, themselves if nothing else...and most do it ineffectively. Almost all of the strategies and tactics which Baker recommends can be as beneficial to those not in sales as to those who are.

Individual salespersons as well as organizations need a business plan which is cohesive and comprehensive; also one which prudently allocates resources, especially time and energy, where they will generate the greatest ROI. Given the complexity of the general subject of salesmanship, the art and science of ethical persuasion, it makes sense to consult several different sources (including Baker's book) and then cherry-pick whatever is most appropriate to your own specific circumstances (needs, interests, weaknesses, goals, etc.). Here are some other excellent sources: Dick Canada's The 24 Sales Traps and How to Avoid Them, Linda Richardson's Stop Telling, Start Selling, Paco Underhill's Why We buy, and Gerald Zaltman's How Customers Think.