Jan 30, 2018
Guest Morris Sims shares why you have to know your "why".
Recognizing how purpose drives us can help you finally get to the
bottom of your "why" and cause you to excel in business. Thinking
on purpose is a must for success. Learn more at MarkMiletello.com. Note: “Where The Insurance
Pros Meet” is an audio podcast and is meant for the ear. A
transcript of the audio is provided for referencing a particular
section or for you to follow along. Listen to the episode to get
the most out of our show. We use both speech recognition software
and human transcribers to create the transcripts so they may
contain errors. If you’re going to quote us in print, please be
sure to check the corresponding audio.
TRANSCRIPT
Speaker 1:
Where the Insurance Pros Meet, Episode 9.
Morris Sims:
Figure out what you're real why is. You're going to find out that
it is absolutely wrapped in passion, that why drives me to get
myself up and out of bed at five o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 1:
Where the Insurance Pros Meet is a podcast that brings the greatest
talent in the world together, managers, coaches and producers, the
very best experts that insurance and financial services industry
has to offer. Get ready to change the way you do business to have
your most successful year ever. Now, here's Mark Miletello, a top
1% producer, manager and your host of Where the Insurance Pros
Meet.
Mark Miletello:
Welcome to Where the Insurance Pros Meet. I'm your host Mark
Miletello. Today, we're going to discuss thinking on purpose,
recognizing how purpose drives us. Now, our guest has been on Where
the Insurance Pros Meet before discussing his book Practical
Influence and how influence affects us. But today, we're excited to
having back and share and influence us again regarding another
important topic in a salesperson's mindset purpose. Again, he's
trained over 80,000 agents, managers. I can't even wrap my brain
around the work that he's done in this field. One of our industry's
thought leaders and coach, Morris Sims, welcome back to the show.
Morris Sims:
Mark, it's great to be here. Thanks for having me again.
Mark Miletello:
Wow. I'm excited to have you again and thanks for coming back. Such
a great topic we had last time, so I'm tremendously excited to jump
right in this. But before I do, Morris, do you golf at all or no?
Do you try?
Morris Sims:
I tried. At one point in my life, I tried and figured out that
every time I hit that little white ball, it would go about 75 yards
straight down the fairway and then turn 90 degrees to the right and
I had never been able to get past that. My golfing now is at the
range with my son having a nice adult beverage while he hits the
golf balls.
Mark Miletello:
Well, that way you can enjoy it, right? You and I the last
conversation we had was about my late father. And I remember every
time I went with him in course, he was my mentor in the business.
He was one of the greats in the industry. He was one of the ...
Well I’ll tell you he was the number one agent under Combined
Insurance with W. Clement Stone. I want to have maybe an entire
other show about him one day, but I remember being on the course
with him and every time I would swing, he would have like five tips
so by the time the end of my game, I would have a terrible swing
that we tried ... We didn't practice at all. We just went out on
the field and by the end of the game, I was swinging this awkward
swing and was mentally ... I couldn't even handle pulling that club
back and striking the ball because he had so many tips. Finally,
after a while, I'd say, "Look, just quit coaching me," and I think
about that and how it relates to insurance and especially new reps
that go out there without practicing, without refining their skill
and I think they're going to have a par round in the world of sales
and that's just not the case, is it, Morris?
Morris Sims:
No, it's not. It takes a lot of focus and a lot of hard work to get
there. The key in my mind is that, well, it does take work.
Anything that's worthwhile takes work and this is worthwhile, and
it takes some effort, but you can do it. You can do it. It is
certainly achievable and has been achieved by thousands and
thousands of men and women across the ages. Don't ever give up. It
may be difficult to get started but every minute of work that you
put into it, I could promise you that.
Mark Miletello:
Well, and I've read in one of your writings that you said what I've
said on the show, "If I can do it, anyone can." And of course,
you're being very humble, but I think you're right in the fact that
professional insurance agents and related financial services, we
come from all walks of life and there are people that I have
recruited and trained. And I would look at this individual and say,
"Man, that is one ... You're going to be the best agent I've ever
brought on board." Then, I've had some that you just sometimes, you
cannot tell who wants it bad enough. I think one thing that I've
learned is it is a learnable skill. It's those who have maybe this
burning desire that we've heard many times, this something driving
them, but the information is there. We just must learn it and
practice it. At golf, there's no shortage of tips and advice out
there to tell us how to be better. Can you start off the show with
...? Our show is about purpose but, Morris, can you start off our
show with a tip or an advice that we can maybe improve our game
with?
Morris Sims:
I'll be happy to try, Mark. I think it really has to do with just
what we're talking about today, thinking on purpose. That's a line
that hit my mind about a year ago and I realized that very few of
us sit down and think on purpose. Our thoughts are the result of
stimulus and Lord knows there's a lot of stimuli out there today
from the telephones that we have in our pocket to the computers, to
the books, to the people. You see, or you hear something, and you
think about it. When was the last time you sat down to think on
purpose about what it is you really want in life? I think that's
the key to the whole thing is becoming clear, really crystal clear
about what you want and here's the key, Mark. Be clear about what
you want and why you want it. As you were saying earlier, you think
it's that burning desire that people have that make them successful
in this business and I would propose that it's in any business.
That really comes back to that "why". Why do you want to do this?
Why are you in this business? What's important to you? We'll talk
more about this as we go along, but I think that's the best tip I
could give you is to stop, sit down, have a piece of paper and pen,
think on purpose what is it you want and why you want it.
Mark Miletello:
Yeah, I guess I can relate to that. We get so busy sometimes that
we don't put our purpose out there, why and our focus and maybe in
the short term it's to pay our bills. But it needs to be much more
than that is what you're saying?
Morris Sims:
It does. It needs to be a whole lot more than that, and it is a
whole lot more than that. But we rarely stop to take the time to
figure it out. The other thing that I love to tell folks is that
when you get down to the real bottom line when you figure out what
you're real why is, you're going to find out that it is absolutely
wrapped in passion and fueled with emotion. Wrapped in passion and
fueled by emotion. To pay my bills doesn't sound very passionate or
emotional, but to provide for my family, a house or a home, a house
... Let's take that one for a moment. To provide for my family a
house that they can live in that has a nice backyard for the kids
to play in can be very emotional when you stop and add the rest of
it to that "why" which is I never had a house to live in. We always
lived with my Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jim because dad died early, and
mom couldn't afford a house. We lived in apartments after we lived
with Aunt Mary and Uncle Jim, and I'm going to get a home and a
house for my kids. Now, it's wrapped in passion and fueled with
emotion. When I can remember that, it's going to change my
behavior.
Mark Miletello:
Well, I get it. I get it. That's why I wanted to have you back,
Morris, is I think you're right on is that rather than focusing on
paying our bills or making a sale or this, the why behind it is the
purpose. It's what's the purpose of us being a success ... Or just
going out there and going into that grind or the trenches as you
call it. Yeah, I totally get that and thanks for sharing that.
Morris, we had you once before but for a listener that did not
catch that series, you maybe share with us your professional
history of where you've been and thanks for sharing that personal
story and maybe how that shaped your purpose along the way. But I'd
love to hear more about your career as well.
Morris Sims:
I'll be happy to, Mark. It's kind of interesting. I started my
career as a chemical engineer after graduating from Auburn
University and did that for five years, and I was mediocre. I was
okay. I was getting promoted and good things were happening, but it
just wasn't any fun. I know some really great engineers, and the
guys I was working with were really great people, but we weren't
having a whole lot of fun all day long, and you realize that you
spend more time with the people you work with than you do with your
family sometimes. I wanted to do something that was fun and about
that time, my insurance agent came to the house because we had a
brand new baby, and I thought, "Gee, you know what? He does look
like it could be fun." Sure enough, the recruiter called me, and we
went through a six-month recruiting process and eventually, long
story short, I became a New York Life agent and was successful
doing that for three years, and they said, "Hey, why don't you come
over here and train other people to do what you do." I went into
management and-
Mark Miletello:
You rose as one of the top trainers not only in that company but in
the nation. That's a pretty big rise to success. Do you feel like
just that schooling of accomplishments or did that mindset of
having that engineer and scientific mindset helped you in any way
in what we do in the world of sales or training or mentoring?
Morris Sims:
It did, Mark. I always had a penchant and a desire to try and help
other people. That is what enticed me about training if I could
help other people become successful. Folks always say in our
business at least, "What do you want to do? Do you want to be a
coach or be a player?" If you want to be a player, then stay an
agent and go out there on the field every day and play the game and
play as hard as you can and help as many people as you can. If you
want to be a coach, go into management and then you can help coach
those players to be even better at that what they do. I apologize
for this sports analogy but that's the deal. For me, helping other
people get better at what they do all day long became one of my
why's, one of my purposes for what I wanted to get up and do every
day.
Mark Miletello:
Well, no, don't apologize for the sports analogy. I do it all the
time and in fact, I like the salaries that professional athletes
have, and I see some of the greats in our industry do the same.
That's why I want to help our listeners become a professional in
this business, so they can experience that upper-level income that
this business can reward you with. Last show that I had you and I
made a commitment to myself that I was going to try to dig out some
of that history in your illustrious career and those relationships
that you made. I'm going to say it this time, and can you think of
a couple of meetings that you've had or relationships that you've
met along the way in a 30-year wonderful career of leading one of
the nation's largest and most prominent life insurance companies? I
want to know a little bit of maybe some of those people that you've
met along the way.
Morris Sims:
As I began to move into management, the managers that I had at the
general offices, the local agencies that I worked in Monroe,
Louisiana and Little Rock, Arkansas were some absolutely great
individuals and about as opposite of two people as you might ever
want to know. The first gentleman, [Markie Jones 00:12:38] was an
absolute expert at recruiting and managing and being ... I learned
more from him about how to do that job of coaching agents than
probably anyone else in the world. Then, I went up to Arkansas and
I had a gentleman there, Tom Gilder, who was just a wonderful
relationship person. He had never met anybody he didn't know and
love and care about, and the people around him and his agents were
... They would follow him into whatever battle he wanted to lead
them into or jump off whatever cliff he wanted them to jump off,
and I was usually out there in front saying, "I'll do whatever Tom
tells me to do." He was just that kind of an individual.I learned a
lot about building relationships with him. The other guys, I've had
the privilege of knowing, three CEOs at my company at New York
Life. I've known a whole bunch of executive and senior vice
presidents and these are people who some of them began as agents
and became head of distribution for huge billions, several billions
of dollars' worth of insurance company. These guys all had one
thing in common, I believe, they all cared about what they were
doing, and they cared about the people they were doing it for more
than they cared about themselves. I think that is always going to
be the bottom line with truly long-term success. Now, you may have
some short-term success out there with people that are ahead, just
for them that are greedy and all they want is them and they're all
that's important. I think when you find a long-term success, you're
going to find someone who does genuinely care about other people.
Let's look at Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, they're talking about
giving away what, half or three-quarters of everything they own?
Because they care about helping other people. I think that's
probably the bottom line for the whole thing, Mark.
Mark Miletello:
Well, thanks for sharing that and it just reminds me that most of
the greats in this industry stand on the shoulder of others. I
think it's kind of nice to give a shout out to those whether they
hear it or not or whether anyone connects or not, at least you are
able to share the influence that they've had on you. Getting back
to really your professional advice and when you say thinking on
purpose, you explained that in the opener a little bit about what
you mean on thinking on purpose. I think back to the conversation
we had about focusing on what you want and more of the "why", more
of the purpose. But don't we really all have an idea of what we
want in life but how does that relate to our business?
Morris Sims:
Another great question, Mark. The key I think is this: We all think
we know what we want. We all believe that we have our purpose and
it's probably pretty well lined out. Yeah, I'm sure there are
plenty of our listeners out there who are saying, "Hell, no, not
me. I really don't. I'm just going through the motions." That's
okay too but at some point, in time, you have to stop and realize I
need to make sure that what I think is my why, why I do this every
day, I need to make sure really is what resonates them deep in my
soul. I need to make sure that it really is much more than going to
work every day and doing what I'm told to do for eight or six or 10
hours or whatever the case may be. Thinking on purpose means you
take that time, as I mentioned earlier, to sit down and actually
think about what it is you want in this world, in life, what it is
you want and why. I think the why is probably again the most
important part of the whole deal.
Mark Miletello:
Yeah. I've heard you say that and Richard Weylman used that. We
talked about that considerably. Why is why that important in just
the words that you use?
Morris Sims:
I think it's the most important thing there is out there. We can
forget about a lot of things but if we ever forget our "why", then
we're in deep trouble. Why is the reason that I set the alarm clock
for 5:00 a.m. and get up every day. I'm loving what I'm doing right
now, Mark, so much. Thirty-two years with a great company was
fantastic but I wasn't as excited about getting up in the morning
as I am today. That alarm clock goes off at five o'clock and I'm up
and excited about what I'm going to get to do today and how this
day is going to go because I know why I'm doing it. I'm doing it in
order to accomplish what I want for my family. I'm going to be able
to provide for them the things that the choices ... I want to give
them the choices that they'd never been able to have before because
either I was working all the time or traveling but I want to give
them those choices to be able to do things they've never been able
to do before and I want to fund our charities. We have charities
that were involved with that feed hungry people. I want to fund
those charities and that means, I've got to go out and help people
and help them well enough and help them enough that they're willing
to provide some revenue for my company. In doing so then, I can
fund my charities and help my family. That why drives me to get
myself up and out of bed at five o'clock in the morning and start
on the journey of that day to figure out what I can do to be of
service to the folks out there in the world that are trying to find
their own purpose and get up and get going every day.
Mark Miletello:
Well, exactly. I believe in my career, I just don't think sometimes
we coin it. We realized we put it down on paper that while we're
doing things, we set goals and we have benchmarks, but really,
you've said it perfectly that really the purpose that we're going
for if we can really write down and focus on the purpose. I
remember as a brand-new agent, I wanted a Harley so bad and I
guess, in the South, you mentioned Monroe, Louisiana. I don't know
if you know that that's where I'm from, so I love you already.
Morris Sims:
Fantastic, yeah!
Mark Miletello:
I had this picture of ... Every time I would open my desk drawer, I
would see the picture of Harley. Then, I ended up owning a Harley
and wrecking it, almost killing myself so therefore, that purpose,
that why kind of faded away. But I think especially a younger agent
that did not have really a family and all those charities to
support maybe, that has to be a motivator. You're why, the purpose
you're getting up must be something other than, like I said
earlier, just paying your bills. You need a big ... Like Gary
Kinder, I guess, would say, "Audacious [Harry 00:20:04] Dream." How
do you think on purpose to get to your why? How does purpose drive
you to get to what drives you?
Morris Sims:
The real deal is what I mentioned before. It must be wrapped in
passion and fueled with emotion. If we can get it back down to
something that really motivates us to move, then it's going to be
easier to pick up the phone and make those calls. It's going to be
easier to go walk into that business that you've never walked in
before and try and meet the guy that owns the business or the lady
that runs the show. You got to have that "why" to make that last
call and then make one more call before you go home in the
evenings.
Mark Miletello:
That might be the difference, I think.
Morris Sims:
That's right.
Mark Miletello:
That might be the difference in why some get through and give it
that extra effort.
Morris Sims:
I think so entirely. I absolutely believe that. For me, personally,
it was always about building the family and getting the family to
the places that I wanted them to get to. Quick story, Mark, it
might wind up on the editing floor and that's okay. My dad died
when I was three weeks old. He decided that he didn't need to be
around anymore. He took his own life. From that point forward, mom
had two kids to bring up in this old world. We literally did live
with my aunt for a while and then live in apartments until I bought
the first house that I ever lived in with my lovely bride, Carla,
in New Orleans. I wanted my kids to have those things that I never
got to have. I wanted my kids to be able to do those things that I
never got to do. That's what fueled me every day and let me tell
you, buddy, that's wrapped in passion and fueled with emotion even
today. It still is and that's what gets you up and gets you moving
is when you can find that thing that you really are passionate
about, that thing that really does touch your heart. And that's why
I'm getting up, and that's why I'm making that phone call, and
that's why I'm going to make one more call before I go home. That's
what you're looking for, for sure, I believe.
Mark Miletello:
Well, thank you for sharing that. I'm very, very sorry, but I am
very warmed to hear the story when you bought your first house. I
bet that was a defining moment in your career. I know I have some
of the same types of goals that I had said, and I think back to
those moments that really were special, those benchmarks that your
purpose and your why came together and provided you with really
what this business can provide you, the great lifestyle that this
business can provide you with. So, thank you for sharing that.
Morris Sims:
Well, you're very welcome. I think the other piece that really has
to be there, and the heart of any good insurance agent today is
what you're doing for others. If you can get in your head and in
your mind the fact, it's not just the thing, it's the fact that
what you do helps people, what you do makes a difference in their
lives and it changes their lives for the better. When you can get
that focus to realize that, "I'm going out tonight to help these
folks plan for their retirement. And you know what? And the
possibility that if I don't go out there and if I don't do that
with them and do it well, they may not have the same kind of
retirement they could have as if I were to go out there and do that
work." You got to believe in what you do, Mark. One of the old
objections that I used to hear from is, "Well, that guy just told
me he doesn't believe in life insurance." You know what? You don't
have to believe in life insurance to own it, but you certainly must
believe in it if you're going to sell it.
Mark Miletello:
Exactly. Well said, and I think back of how I worked with agents
and I think one of the most important things that I've tried to
instill in my team and those I work with is taking care of the
client, helping them find their "why". Like you've said before, you
help others get what they want, and you get what you want, and I
think that that's one of the most important things is that we help
clients figure what their "why" and protect their "why". Why are
they buying that life ... They may not believe in that life
insurance, but they may believe in what happens if disaster strikes
or when disaster strikes because at some point, it's going to
happen. Normally, in this part of the show, I talked about
professional predictions 10 years down the road. But I'm going to
change it up a little bit because you've been on the show before.
As a coach and leader, what I'd really like to know is thinking on
purpose, how purpose affects me? How it affects my clients? How it
affects my agents? How is my purpose going to drive me in the
future? How can I best use it because I think, especially as a
veteran in the business, we get so busy that we don't stop and set
goals and do things a lot of the things that we did when ... The
basics of building a business. I think as a veteran, sometimes I
tell my agents to set goals and think about their purpose and their
"why", but I don't ... In the future, how can we do a better job of
focusing on purpose, thinking on purpose to help drive us to be
where we want to be in our life and our career?
Morris Sims:
I think, Mark, many times, we are thinking as I mentioned earlier,
we're thinking in response to some stimulation. And for our
veterans out there, I know for me at least when I had been doing
the job I was doing in New York for 20 years, it kind of got to be
old hat. I knew what I was supposed to do. I didn't really have to
think about it a whole lot because it was what I do. But every now
and again, there would be something that would come along that
would cause me to have to stop and really sit down and think
through again what it is I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and how I can
do it better because until I know why I'm doing it and what it is I
want and why I want it, I can't necessarily work at getting better
at doing what I do. Example, if I don't know where I'm going, if
I'm going to take a trip and I don't know what the destination is,
where do I want to go, then geez, it's going to be pretty hard to
get there and it's going to be even more difficult to line it out
on the map as to how I want to go from here to there. The same
thing is true with our work. If we don't know what it is we're
trying to achieve and why we're trying to achieve that, then you
don't know what to work on to get better. You don't know where
those things are that you need to hone, the skills you need to
hone, the things you need to practice getting better at, the things
that you could be doing but you just hadn't thought of because
you've never done it before. You won't go to that level of thinking
unless you do it on purpose unless you sit down and take the time.
Study groups are so vitally important, I believe, in our industry
where three or four or five top producers come together and help
each other and guide each other and ask questions of each other.
Some of the best business coaches in the world who ask those
difficult questions about what is your strategy, how are you
improving yourself to be able to carry out that strategy that is,
every time you go out in the field to implement it and what do you
need to do differently today? And finally, what are you not doing
that you ought to be doing? And what are you doing that you ought
to stop doing? There are many things that especially after we've
been in a business for a long period of time that chances are we
probably shouldn't be doing anymore, or if it should be done, it
should be done by somebody else. And there are probably things that
we need to do more of or things that we don't even know we need to
do yet until we say, "I had to really think about it," and spend
some time away from the rat race, away from the noise. And in fact,
physically even getting away for a day or a weekend and maybe you
and your spouse go out for a weekend, and you spend some of that
time just talking with each other about what it is that you want
for your family and for your life and how can you get there? What
can you do differently to accelerate that operation? I still
believe that that's some of the most important time that we can
spend with our family and with ourselves and our business.
Mark Miletello:
Well, great advice, and I needed that. I don't know, I just needed
that. I need to do a better job of that, and I need to do that from
a family standpoint as well. Thank you for that advice. You may not
be a professional golfer, Morris, I'm sorry to hear that, but one
thing you are is a consummate professional in our industry. And we
respect your tips and your recommendations. I'm going to put you on
the spot because on the last show, you kind of gave us a couple of
places to go and I appreciate that. I've got several books coming
in from Amazon, mainly yours a while back but others as well
turning me on to some great people to follow. Give us your
professional recommendation on who we should maybe think about,
read about when it comes to purpose.
Morris Sims:
There are several authors out there that still mean the most to me
on a regular basis. I posted something on LinkedIn not too long
ago, and one of the wonderful people who took the time to comment
said ... Just two words, he said, "Old school." And I saw that and
I laughed and I thought, "Yeah, it is." It's been around for a long
time. But I also believed that every generation must learn some of
these basics about sales and success all by themselves. They have
to learn it on their own because it just doesn't resonate until
they discover it until it's an "aha" in their own minds. I can talk
until I'm blue in the face but until they have some experience that
lights up their brain and lights it up for them and lets them see
that, "Oh, yeah. That is important." Knowing exactly what your
purpose is and why is important. They've got to have that aha
experience. And some of the folks that did that or helped me with
that when I was growing up in the business-
Mark Miletello:
Yeah, give us some old school recommendations.
Morris Sims:
Folks like Og Mandino. He's got a great story. Read about his life.
It's amazing, and then read his books, The Greatest Salesman in the
World part 1 and part 2. And Mark, I've got a hard copy of part 1
that he signed.
Mark Miletello:
Oh, wow.
Morris Sims:
I'm very proud of that one. But he's got a whole series of books,
The Greatest Miracle, The Greatest Salesman, The Greatest ...
Everything you can think of, and they all will touch your heart and
give you very practical things that you can do to help you in your
business.
Mark Miletello:
I agree.
Morris Sims:
And the other one is another old school that you and I talked about
and chatted about before, Napoleon Hill. Think and Grow Rich, you
talk to any business person out there that's been around for a
while and then say, "Have you ever read Think and Grow Rich?"
They'll say, "Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I read it 10 years ago, five
years ago, 20 years ago." But nobody ever asks, "Have you
implemented what Napoleon Hill taught you in the book Think and
Grow Rich?" Because what we find is that most of us will read a
book like that and say, "Yeah, man. That's great. I'm going to do
this. I'm going to start my own mastermind group," which is one of
the recommendations that he makes. And then we'll think about it.
We'll talk to a couple of people about it, and then we get all
locked up in the rat race of doing what we do every day and we
never implement what we learned. Think and Grow Rich is a great
book, a great reference book as well. But I would challenge you to
actually take a piece out of there and commit yourself to
implementing it in your life and in your business and see that
commitment through to the end. Get some support. Get some help, but
carry it all the way out, and that's what's going to change your
life.
Mark Miletello:
You said rereading something when it triggers a different time or a
different meaning to you and of course, I had a podcast with Tom
Hegna, one of the greatest out there, and I mentioned to him that I
read this book twice in the past. But after a recent read, it meant
something totally and I finally got it. I think sometimes, yes,
definitely the Og Mandino, Napoleon Hill books I hope is on every
insurance agent's shelf. But I recently reread and unfortunately, a
year and a half ago, my father passed away and I wanted his book
library. And he's got some old pictures and books with his writing
in it. And so, it kind of motivated me to go back and read those
very two books again, and they just meant something totally
different to me in my career. I appreciate you saying that. I
totally agree.
Morris Sims:
Yeah. I think it is the most important thing that we can do is
continue to work on our own development and so many times, our own
development means remembering something that we may have thought of
long time ago or looking at it with a different point of view.
You're absolutely right.
Mark Miletello:
It may not be old school, right?
Morris Sims:
It may have been created a long time ago, but it certainly is
relevant for today.
Mark Miletello:
Right. Well, I can't tell you Morris Sims how much I appreciate you
being a returning guest on the show Where the Insurance Pros Meet.
I want to thank you for your time and your expertise, and how if
there are some leaders out there listening to this or agents, I
know that we can bring you in to speak and do classes. Are there
events? How do we do workshops? How do we get to tutor under you?
Where do we follow you?
Morris Sims:
I say it's probably the website. And again, it's one of the most
creative names I could come up with. It's www.morrissims.com.
That's Sims with one M, so it's morrissims.com.
Mark Miletello:
Well, you're one of the greats. We'll definitely find you, but I
guess my question I wasn't too specific, what do you offer in terms
of maybe teams trying to focus in on what we've discussed?
Morris Sims:
Oh, thanks. Several workshops that we do, the Three Steps to
Accelerate Your Success Now having to do with being real clear on
your purpose, creating an action plan and creating a support system
that will be there for you and that will never fail. That's a half
day workshop that can be made to accommodate whatever venue and
need an agency might have, or a company might have. That is, for
sure, one. I have another workshop on influence, of course, that we
do as well that's backed up by the book, Practical Influence. And
then we do some customized work for folks who say, "Gee, Morris, in
my agency we're really having a problem with X, Y, Z." And together
then, we can craft some training opportunities that will help those
agents get better at X, Y, Z, whatever that may happen to be. And,
I think the hallmark of any of the training that I'm fortunate and
blessed enough to be able to do has two things going on with it,
Mark. One is it doesn't happen unless there are practical things
that the agent walks away with that can help them change their
behavior in their business that day. I believe very strongly that
we don't do training for training's sake. We do training to change
our behavior and help us get better at what we do all day long.
It's got to be practical. That's the most important thing that
comes to it as far as I'm concerned. And the second thing that is
there is the follow-up. How many times, Mark, have you been to a
seminar or workshop, and you get this really nice binder and all
sorts of stuff in it. You brought it back to your office, you put
it on the shelf and it's still sitting there today and hadn't
moved.
Mark Miletello:
Yeah.
Morris Sims:
I know I have a thousand times. Follow-up is so very important for
us as human beings because we do get back in that rat race. With
the workshops that we do, there's always an opportunity for
follow-up webinars or phone calls or individual coaching that can
be done to help agents and managers improve and implement the
things that they need to implement in order to get better.
Mark Miletello:
Well, wonderful, Morris. I appreciate it, and I love the fact that
you and I are alike in the fact that I want people changed. I want
something changed today. I don't want to pump you up and get you
motivated and send you out the door. I want something positive to
happen. And that's the type of professional you are and that
everything you do. Even in your book, I noticed at the end of each
chapter, there's an action plan. Thank you again for being a guest
on the show. And hopefully, we'll have you again in the future, and
I look forward to getting to know you and following you as well. If
you like what you hear on the show, go to iTunes. Rate and review
it. It will help others find us, and you can follow me, Mark
Miletello at, of course, markmiletello.com. Thank you for being a
guest on Where the Insurance Pros Meet, Morris, and we'll see you
soon.
Morris Sims:
Thanks, Mark. I really appreciate the opportunity. Have a great
week.