Page images
PDF
EPUB

PERSONAL. Happy New Year to all.

Many happy returns of his birthday to Woods.

Ferdinand Straus is in harness again after his severe illness.

A. H. Graham was near the top in November. He does not need to borrow $20 now. See his convention speech.

Woods, Edward A., says that his brother, Lawrence C., is his right bower and big casino. P. S.-Where did E. A. learn to play cards?

Miss Ray Wilner, of New York, is among the leaders for 1899. As the poet says, "Can hope emit a brighter Ray?"

New Jersey did the best of the foreign agencies. Congratulations to Eisele & King.

C. J. Edwards, of Brooklyn, did nobly during 1899. You can't down any cne of that name.

A. M. Shields's record for 1899 is a splendid example of how to run a great agency, and still find time to do a large personal business.

James Yereance says that the Old Guard are doing quite well, thank you.

Joseph Bowes, of Baltimore, says that if he could not find a better name for this paper than the one it has he would give up business.

Manager Kendrick, of St. Louis, was recently presented with a traveling case by the boys. Do the boys wish him to travel?

Here's hoping and believing that H. L. Rosenfeld will be as successful in Cincinnati as he has been in Georgia.

The Society has a new doorman in Ohio, H. G. Dohrman, of Steubenville.

F. A. C. Hill's business is mountain up.

W. T. Rankin, of South Carolina, placed his first $100,000 policy in December, the assured being Mr. John F. Love. Rankin will now be able to look forward to what the poet calls "the renewal of love."

Miss Amendt, who is known to all, is taking horseback exercise to reduce her weight. She is falling off a good deal.

F. H. Hazelton is the Maine stay of the Society.

If you want to please Mr. Tarbell these days, ask him the time. This gives an opportunity to display watch, fob and ring at one fell swoop.

On New Year's day Frank A. McNamee, of Albany, was presented by his associates with a very handsome revolving book case. He says it is a circulating library.

Miss Law says that this year the law will be after the profits.

The convention of Metropolitan Managers, on January 8th, was one of the most inspiring ever held. The "Equitable" enthusiasm displayed was even greater than at the Fortieth Anniversary Convention. Inspiring speeches were made by the officers and by Messrs. John C. Eisele, Joseph Bowes, W. H. S. Whitcomb, A. A. Maher, R. J. Mix, James Yereance and C. J. Edwards. The following resolution, in regard to the new reform in compensation of agents, was proposed by A. C. Haynes and carried unanimously amid a scene of great enthusiasm:

Resolved, That we, the agents of the Equitable Society, here assembled, congratulate the officers upon the benefit already resulting from this advance step and that we here and now pledge to the officers our loyal and enthusiastic support in this great reform, which in our opinion is destined to be of incalculable benefit to the cause of life assurance throughout the length and breadth of the land.

On New Year's day Will M. Waters, of Dallas, Texas, was caned by his agents, as a "method of support and a weapon of defense."

?

Is the present time the most opportune in the history of Life assurance for live men identified with a company like the GREAT EQUITABLE to make good money and build up an annual income during the next five to ten years which will care for them and theirs in later years?

IT IS

BECAUSE Of the restoration of confidence and the return of such business prosperity as the country has not seen in years.

BECAUSE During the five or six years of business depression, through which we have just passed, thousands of assurable men did not take assurance who would have done so had times been as good as now.

BECAUSE During this same period, thousands more were obliged to drop a part, if not the whole, of their assurance and are to-day more anxious than ever to avail themselves of the protection offered by A-No. 1 companies.

BECAUSE Thousands upon thousands of those who have been assured in assessment and fraternal associations have been taught by bitter experience the fallacy and absolute failure of assessmentism and will to-day buy only assuranc that assures.

BECAUSE The large number of failures since '93 (in many instances of institutions in which the public had every reason to have the utmost confidence), has emphasized as never before, the stability of, and security offered by, a legal reserve company of the strength of the EQUITABLE.

BECAUSE With each succeeding year, the public, especially business men, are becoming better educated to the benefits of good life assurance.

BECAUSE Never before were the policies so liberal and so well adapted to the various needs of all classes of assurors as are the latest contracts offered by the EQUITABLE.

BECAUSE Recent events in assurance circles have placed more clearly before the public the high character of the EQUITABLE.

BECAUSE the present personnel of the assurance fraternity has given a standing to the assurance representative never before attained.

THE BEST COMPANY TO ASSURE IN IS CERTAINLY THE BEST COMPANY TO REPRESENT.

The Equitable Life Assurance Society

OF THE UNITED STATES.

The above clever advertisement for Agents was published by Mr. A. F. AIRD, the Society's Manager

in Buffalo, and will probably suggest ideas to many other of the Society's Managers.

[graphic]

AN AGENTS'

JOURNAL

No. 2

NEW YORK, FEBRUARY

HOW TO BE AN AGENT.

I. Introductory.

A series of papers, of which this is the first, are now in preparation in the office of the Equitable Society. These papers will be edited by the Secretary, and will appear from month to month in the "Equitable News" for the instruction of agents.

But some one may say, "How can those who are shut up in an office teach the men who are in the field? What can the officers know of the difficulties with which the agents have to contend?"

These are fair questions, and are worth answering.

Well, a man may be able to make an excellent rifle, and yet not be a good shot. The painter is not always the best art critic. It does not follow, therefore, that the office man cannot give valuable hints to the field man. Besides, you may have heard that some of the Equitable's officers have proved themselves to be fair to middling agents themselves.

You remember the story of the train starter who discovered that he had made a blunder in starting a certain train. So he telegraphed for doctors and ambulances, sent a wrecking train off along the line, and then blew out his brains. Nothing had happened, no accident had occurred, but he knew that later on at a certain place and at a certain time there would be a collision which it was too late for him to avert. He was not driving either of the distant locomotives that were moving swiftly towards each

1900

other, but he knew what their own engineers did not know, namely, that both trains were in deadly peril; that a multitude of passengers would lose their lives, and that he was responsible. There is a moral to this story, which is that the officers must know how to run the business and must conduct it wisely in accordance with that knowledge, or the agents and policyholders will suffer. But my object in repeating this story was not to point a moral; it was to give you an illustration of the fact that an official at headquarters may be in a position to know a great deal about what is going on beyond his own field of vision, and may at times even see and clearly understand the movements of others who are ignorant of the full significance of their own actions.

The officers of a life company at headquarters are at a central point to which information about the work of the entire field converges. Do you suppose there is any sort of difficulty or perplexity with which the agents have had to contend concerning which the officers are ignorant? No; if one agent does not inform them, another is sure to do so.

For many years the officers of the Equitable have been students of life assurance. The younger officers have profited by the counsel and experience of their elders, and have taken up the development of the work at the point to which it had been brought by them.

We are not only familiar with the methods employed by the agents now

of

in the field, but have watched those of earlier generations. We know perfectly well the qualities which made Henry H. Hyde, of Boston, the most successful solicitor of his day. We know why men like Brawner, and Jennison, and William T. Blodgett, and other early Equitable agents, succeeded, and why this success was not permanent in every instance. We know why it is that some agents meet with instant success while others develop slowly. We know what helps and what hinders the agent in his work. This knowledge enables us to equip the agent; to give him sound counsel; to encourage and caution him. The officers know what the agents want at the present time, and they intend to keep in touch with them so as to be constantly aware changing needs and altering conditions. It is their pleasure, as it is their duty, to give agents every proper facility-the latest and best equipment and arms. It is for this reason that we so often urge you to keep us constantly posted as to the action of other companies; to send us the documents of other companies circulated in your territory; to send us a copy of every attack upon the Society; to send us information regarding dividends, policy settlements, and the payment (or contest) of death claims within your borders. When our managers remember these requests they do us a real service which we appreciate. Those who forget them, or who do not take the trouble to keep us constantly posted, fail to co-operate in a very important branch of the Society's work.

But some agent may say: "If you know all this, why is it that you do not remove the obstacles which beset our path?"

Agents meet certain difficulties. They point out to the officers how they can be removed. But the officers feel it to be their duty to refuse, because they see that in removing them, others of a far more serious character would ensue. This is just where the officers of some companies have shown weakness, and by seeking to give temporary aid to their agents have done them and their companies permanent injury.

Agents, especially new agents, sometimes claim that they could frame a policy

that would sell better than any in the market. This would in most cases be no idle boast. No one knows as well as the agent what will help and what will hinder his sales. But the problem is a far more complicated one than that. A good policy must be made not only to sell, but to last, and to give satisfaction at its maturity, and it must tend to the prosperity and not to the injury of the company-and that not for a day, but for all time. Hence it is that many things that would help to sell a policy are inadmissible, for business or scientific

reasons.

The framing of a new policy is like the building of a racing craft. The officers are the shipbuilders, and the agent is the skipper who will sail the boat. His counsel is invaluable. He is able to point out defects in former models. But there are many delicate problems. What will serve on smooth water in a light breeze will not serve in a high sea in a gale of wind. If everything is sacrificed to lightness there will be insufficient strength.

It is true that there must be intelligent co-operation between the builder in the workshop and the seaman at the helm, but it does not follow from the fact that the builder's province is to spend most of his time in the shop, that he is ignorant of the needs and preferences of the man who is to sail the boat. Herreshoff, the most famous designer of that famous family of shipbuilders, was blind, consequently he could not sail the yachts which he planned. He could not even see how they moved through the water, but they proved their efficiency by winning.

But to return to the main question. The agent encounters difficulties, and he hastily exclaims, "Why don't the officers remove them and make our path smooth?" This question has already been answered, but there is a phase of it which has not been touched upon. There are many difficulties which are inherent to the business of soliciting life assurance which will never be removed. But do not conclude from this that the agent's lot is unusually hard. Every calling has its own difficulties, and the man who escapes those peculiar to life assurance and enters into some other field of labor, will find that he will have new

disadvantages with which to contend. On the other hand, a life agent has exceptional advantages. He enjoys a freedom which is rare in business life. He enjoys an independence which is very unusual. He is usually master of his own time and of his own movements. If he is without wealth, but is the possessor of the requisite mental qualities, he may quickly achieve results and accumulate profits which could not be paralleled in other lines of business by men without large capital. Many men of marked ability who are engaged in other pursuits are so restricted that they are unable to exercise the talents they possess; but every life agent can carve out for himself a path to success if he has the requisite ability and energy.

The agent is the man behind the gun, but the value of the gun must have some consideration. If our American sailors had been behind the Spanish guns, their achievements would have been less remarkable than they were; for if the mechanism of your gun is out of order, if your ammunition is inadequate, the man behind the gun will be seriously hampered.

Let me repeat, then, that the Equitable Society could never have reached its present position under the management of officers ignorant of the best methods of canvassing, or indifferent to the trials and tribulations of the agents in the field. These officers have well-defined duties to perform. Canvassing is not necessarily one of them, but a knowledge of canvassing is.

In the first place, they must be masters of the theory and practice of life assurance and be able to see what the effect of action taken to-day will be thirty or forty or fifty years hence.

In the second place they must conduct prudently and effectively the affairs of a great financial institution.

In the third place, they must be competent to give the agents good tools, and must be able to aid them in their work.

To this end they must appreciate and understand the agent's trials and difficulties, removing those that can be removed, and aiding him in dealing successfully with those which cannot be removed.

W. ALEXANDER.

SHOULD THE OLD CLERGYMAN BE SHOT?

The above is the startling title to an article in the December number of the "Ladies' Home Journal," by Ian Maclaren, the author of "Beside the Bonny Briar Bush," etc. It is only another article on the well-worn theme of the difficulties that beset most men of advanced years.

The author says in the course of the article:

"Nothing is wrong with him, only that he does not walk as quickly as he used to; that he speaks a little more slowly; that he does not always hear what is said to him; that his hair is passing from gray to white; that he is fatigued when going up hill; that it has happened to him just as it happens to other men: the minister is getting old."

This is applicable not only to ministers, but to men of all other professions and businesses. Such cases multiply day by day, and make the strongest kind of object lesson in favor of endowment assurance.

The more this method is used in providing for one's old age the less there will be of such cases as the above. Savings banks are good, but they only permit saving. Endowment assurance compels it.

[graphic][merged small][merged small]
« PreviousContinue »