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I grew up in a small town on the Ohio River, "East Liverpool. And 'Ohio at the junction of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. When I was older, had a population of about 22,000. Today, the population dropped to just over 13,000. However, some people are truly unique and extraordinary man from my hometown. I ask you about one of them, the importance of providing value to its customers so well that he was one of the largest life insurance say they learnedSeller ever.

His name was Ben Feldman (1912 - 1993) and his 50 year career selling insurance products for a company, its turnover to over $ 1.8 billion, with about one third of them coming after he was 65 And it did with the sale of its office in East Liverpool, and not some big city like New York's financial capital.

Ben Feldman was born in the sleepy town of Salineville, Ohio, where he began to sell his business career in chickens and eggs for $ 5 isWeek. As a young entrepreneur, who wanted the insurance industry, but could not exist with the ability of key evidence of the Equitable Life Insurance Company's.

Feldman, in typical fashion, has sold to Equitable and began to collect premiums on the policy and nickel thin dime. In 1942, it became part of life in New York and opened a small office in the small building on the diamond in the center of East Liverpool. E 'was from this position, which began a relentless pursuit to achieve membershipin the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table. He did it in 1946.

Little is anyone to think that it would far outperform million dollars, but in 1955 it sold 10 million dollar portfolio. He started by selling one million a month, then one million per week, and in 1971 wrote orders for more than 65 million U.S. dollars. He shot for 10 million dollars a month, and in 1983, with the help of his two sons, Marvin and Richard, has sold 148 million dollars of insurance.

Feldman has been an innovator, isdesecrated easy for customers to understand the complexities of the Federal Estate Tax Law, who has followed the fate of a large number of wealthy people in the period after the Second World War. Long before computer graphics, has created hand-drawn diagrams that illustrate the intelligent need to protect a person in life insurance business of government. It would be the same book on airplane flights, in addition to a potential customer, who would open the bag with $ 100, $ 500 and stuffed$ 1000 bills, along with its graphics and diagrams. The idea was to convince its neighbors to acquire the money and the observation, communication, "Is this real money?" "Yes," replied Ben, "but I'm not afraid to wear because it is insured. With such an opening, was a sales presentation for a lay-up.

A lover of luxury cars, Feldman often be seen running up and down the roads that link Pittsburgh and Youngstown, in his Cadillac Eldorado. It is within this corridor, 50 miles, has soldMost of his policy. Often equipped with a CB radio and a car phone - long before anyone had heard such a device - it is like no other waste.

A popular method of Feldman was the office of a busy executive and approach to make an appointment. The response by a secretary general exhaustion, "I'm sorry that your time is too precious." Ben asks: "E 'a value of $ 100 per minute?" "At least!" would be the answer to which the answer (along with five) A brand new one hundred dollar notes, would be: "Now I want to buy five minutes."

Although Ben Feldman was going deep sea fishing, he spent his time developing new sales techniques, store the entire New York Life Insurance Rate Book. And so it would be met with small arms concise sentences, one of the most difficult challenges. Potential customers, who said: "I believe in long-term insurance." Ben replied, "term insurance is for a short period, but yourProblem is permanent. "" I can not afford the premium would be called, "You are already broken and do not know. "

The footprints of legends who have not been easy for Marv and Rich Feldman, but she faced the challenges and Marv became president of the table of one million U.S. dollars in 2001, and Rich was distinguished in a number of initiatives, including the " drag racing "all things.

Now you might think that Ben must have been a kind of superstar, a goodResearch guide to speak, a man - but it would be wrong. Ben was a small, fat, bald and spoke slowly, with a pronounced lisp. He never finished school. He was so shy that years later when he was asked to speak at meetings of the insurance industry would agree if a screen was erected between himself and the public.

But it was a legend when it came to know of one point for every employer in the region. He has done his homework, first and learned everything he talks about hispotential customers, so that when he met with them (often on a call), has earned the right price, the issues of development ready. He has to sell is not always immediate, but he never gave up. I heard once, for the years he no longer works for the day, at least until he made a sale - no matter how late they got.

One of the most popular stories about Ben is a leading real estate developer. Ben has tried for weeks to be committed to the person to go and see, but it has always been unsuccessful. One day, Ben stopped cold and gave the developer of his assistants, the envelope with five $ 100 bills and asked her to give her head. He told her: "If I have a good idea for him, he can keep the money." Has obtained and has sold 14 million dollars the United States policy. Years later, when Ben realized the man must pay additional insurance with the unprecedented growth of his company, he was again on the tenacity of a man who was too busy to take once foiled body. Undaunted> Ben rented a van equipped mobile hospital, make medical and sent it to industrialists. Rumor is that man, in the end, with more than 50 million dollars on hand.

In 1992, in New York Life scoring 50 Year with the company through the proclamation, "February Feldman's", a national competition of sales. Well, he took as a personal challenge. Winners of the competition (was) 80 years old, Ben Feldman.

Ben was famous for his words that he used to influenceboth customers and themselves. My favorite is:

"To do something that costs something.

Nothing to do, things cost.

And to do very often, which costs much more. "

Ben Feldman died in 1993 to 81 a few years before his death he was asked for the greatest politician who had ever written. "I can not say. I have not yet written."

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