Setting the bar

Richard! You da man.
A great leader like yourself sets the bar for everyone else.
Keep on doing what you are doing.

Aflacers Unite!

Who's going to be in on Monday, and how many appointments is your goal?

I'll target 200 dials and 16 appointments.

Let's go, people. I want to see comments on here!!

We Will Win

"My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging." -Hank Aaron

Sports has always been a big thing in my life. I love to watch sports. I love to play sports. I even talked about sports for a living (Sports reporter/anchor in 1999)! To me, the world of sales is a new " beast" for me. The terminology is new to me. The procedures are new to me. The goals are new to me. That's why I have to use sports analogies to hype me up in our line of work.

I had the chance to meet Hank Aaron in 2005. He owns many Krispy Kreme donut shops in Georgia and I met him at the grand opening of the new Krispy Kreme in Columbus. I will always be a San Francisco Giants fan at heart, but you got to respect the man for being the man to surpass Babe Ruth and a be the major league's home run king. His quote is appropriate for us because when we are in a slump, we need to keep on "swinging." That means, we need to continue to do our activity at a high level. I've heard our activity described as a numbers game. I believe that is true. The one thing though is to never give up in tough times. I believe that our work involves a battle of the mind. We can do the work but when we face the bad times, we can psych ourselves out of what we can really do and that is to be great agents. I think it is in all of us.

I can personally say that I haven't been happy with my activity but the only person I can point the finger at is me. I know that. There have been times when I have had a heart to heart conversation with myself. I know that might sound weird, but in reality, I'm just thinking about what it is going to take to get me going again. I have setbacks, but I will not quit. The more I am in the field, the more I am on the phones, the more I am studying the scripts, the more I am writing business on SNG, the more I will get where I want to be. We have seen people succeed. Those people will be us. I believe it and I want you to believe it too.

I'll leave with a great quote by basketball greatest player of all time in my opinion. Michael Jordan is synonymous with rings and titles and victories. But just know that when Michael was a teenager, he had failure in basketball. Yes, it is true. Go look it up if you want. One of his coaches told him that he didn't have what it took to be a good basketball player. That would have ruined alot of people but not Michael. He worked at his skills and 6 NBA championship rings later...well, he is the prime example of not letting failure get to you.

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." - Michael Jordan

To my Giants teammates...let's step it up. When one person tastes success it will breed excitement in our office. When we are excited and have optimistic attitudes, we will win. We will win.

Boot Camp Thoughts

I thought that best part of the camp was when we went around the room to the various stations to give our presentations on various parts of the script. I know that I was challenged because we were graded. Did anyone know how they scored? I didn't get a chance to see how well I faired. I think I did better than expected but far from where I would like to be.

Practicing with Ben on time trials really paid off for Janette's station. The pre-close and close just flowed off my tongue. That was a great feeling. It was like being an Olympic gymnast and doing a flawless routine and sticking the landing. Perfect 10 baby!

Ben and I are going to try to start from the beginning of the fast start script and try to memorize it word for word and time ourselves. It will be work but hey, just think, when you get it down you'll be golden!

My apologies

Sorry for not keeping this updated. Since I was out of town, I really didn't know what was going on in the office. I'm back on it next week.

I want to say that "Appointment Queen" Irene won the prestigious Miller award the last two weeks. You rock!

For those of you who went to Summit and want to post some key points that would help everyone in the office, please post them.

Thanks. Brent

My trip back to Columbus...Corporate HQ

I spent 8 years in Columbus, GA. I just went back last weekend for a friend's wedding.

Here's a picture of corporate headquarters building in Columbus. The wedding I went to was just down the street on Wynnton Road. I remember when they replaced the old sign with the duck sign. I was like, what is going on?

This is a shot of the building from the street I used to live on, 15th Avenue. You can't see the building from anywhere from this side except from this hill because there is a line of big trees that covers the building.

Here's a closer look.

In the shadow of the AFLAC building is a great Columbus landmark...Dinglewood Pharmacy. Inside the pharmacy is a small restaurant that serves scramble dogs. Scramble dogs to us Westerners is a cut up hot dog and bun served in a dish that reminds me of a ice cream sundae dish. It's topped with chili, cheese, pickles, oyster crackers, and onions. It's delicious. Just take a look at my full belly in this picture and you will know that I've come here alot. The man in the middle is the Lieutenant. That's not his rank because he was never in the military. That's his name. Yes, his momma named him that. The Lieutenant is a very cool man. I know him personally. He has been making scramble dogs for over 55 years. His special recipe is legendary in Columbus. The way to do it is to belly up to the counter and eat your scramble dog. You can eat at the tables or the booths, but the way to really do it is to belly up.

I moved to Columbus for a television job and one of my series I did was about local celebrities such as Lieutenant and Dinglewood Pharmacy.

The man next to the Lieutenant is my friend Phil Scoggins. He is currently the lead anchor for one of the local television stations. This picture was taken right before I left Columbus to come back home to San Mateo.

If you ever get a chance to go to AFLAC headquarters in Columbus, you definitely need to stop by the Dinglewood Pharmacy and say "hey" to the Lieutenant for me.

She's Back.....

You Rock!

Aubrey has returned from Israel all in one piece!

Updated Hall of Fame

You Rock Records (starting 7/24/06)

Most calls/day:Most calls/week: 205 calls, Richard
Most appointments/day: 9 appointments, Jason
Most appointments/week: 15 appointments, Richard
Preclose/Close: 21 seconds, Regina
Preclose/Close/Define enrollment/The Process: :57, Ben
Most times winning the Miller trophy: 2 week, Richard
Most premium written/week: $6171.60, Marie

To All My Fellow Associates

Please feel free to post anything work-related on this blog. If you don't have privileges to post yet, please let me know. I'll add you to the bloggers.