A young man, in his late 30's, got corporate downsized from a sales position he held and was very successful at for 8 years when the company was bought out by a competitor. He decided on a new career in selling insurance / financial planning. Fortunately his reputation preceded him and he was sought after by two of the largest financial services companies. He chose AXA Advisors, LLC (part of global leader AXA Group).

I asked him what made him think he could be successful selling insurance and being a financial adviser. He replied, " I want to help people - this company will give me the training I need, and once I make a sale I will get referred to other prospects."

I then learned that more than 80% of the people starting a career in insurance sales and financial planning fail. So being interested in this young man's career I invited his new boss (mentor) to play golf and asked him, "Why do 80% of new people in your business fail?" He said there were 3 reasons.

1. They should not have been in the business in the first place. They do not have the correct abilities and drive.
2. They will not follow the proven skills and techniques that help make a person in the insurance / investment advising business successful
3. They are not aggressive enough to start succeeding.

I doubt that anyone reading this article is just starting out in business, but the same principles apply. Over my many years in the wholesale, retail, manufacturing and service businesses I have seen many established businesses become less and less aggressive in doing what made them successful in the first place.

The biggest area of sales and marketing where they become less and less aggressive, for reasons I will never figure out, is in asking their present customers to help them find and gain new customers (Referral marketing).