1999-02-09 The psychological drama of high-stakes sales revealed

As a relative new comer to the financial planning industry I am hungry for insights into how I can sell larger and larger cases. As a result, I read a lot of the sales books written by the giants in our industry, but none have been as valuable as David Cowper's Breakthrough: Take Your Business and Sales to the Top.

David emigrated to Canada in 1957 with only $40 in his pocket. Now, after 39 years in the life insurance business, he sells $100 million dollar cases. His new book reveals, for the first time anywhere, the strategies he has used throughout his life to open new markets, prepare for cases and close sales.

Right from page one, Breakthrough: Take Your Business to the Top grips the reader and doesn't let go. It is written in a fast-paced, easy-to-understand style. David Cowper takes the reader deep inside the psychological drama of over thirty different cases that cover all of the different stages of his long career. In each case I felt as if I was right inside the prospect's office with him, straining to overcome the client's objections, feeling heartbroken when the case seemed to collapse and then euphoric when the deal finally closed.

One of the earliest chapters in the book is called 'Creative Survival.' It describes how David Cowper entered into the life insurance business and the early struggles he faced while trying to keep his career alive. I really identified with this chapter and was relieved to know that someone as successful as David Cowper wasn't always that way -- he went his first three months in the business without a single sale. Although it was tough for him he still kept his sense of humour. I'll always remember the exploding soup can story that saved his career.

The rest of the book outlines the strategies that David Cowper used to grow from his humble beginnings to becoming a founding member of Top of the Table. He really makes you believe that if he can do it so can you and I. And, more than that, he actually shows us how he did it. He explores in great depth the importance of both knowledge and passion in a life insurance agent's career. In fact, in one story he shows us how he won the confidence of the key player in a $42 million case, simply by pointing out the suicide clause in the insurance policies.

If you've ever wanted to know how to get tough prospects to start talking and trusting you and treating you like someone who can help them, you had better read David Cowper's strategy on disarming the prospect. This was the most important thing I learned in the book, and I have now changed the way I approach a prospect. Like David Cowper I tell my prospects that there is a good chance they won't need my services, which is difficult because I'm afraid of losing the business. But afterwards I find the prospect opens up to me and we are able to work together to solve whatever problems their business is facing.

In the last chapter, David Cowper makes the fantastic prediction that in the near future it will be possible for a life insurance agent to have a one billion dollar year. He makes this statement on the strength of five opportunities he sees for our business in the 21st century -- such as the knowledge worker market and the golden age of entrepreneurs. And believe me, those are five opportunities I'm definitely going to take advantage of.

Some very high-profile agents in our field who read advance copies of this book recommended it to me as "the best book on life insurance they have ever read." After reading it from cover to cover in just a couple of days I must absolutely agree. I will definitely apply David Cowper's Breakthrough strategies as I develop my own megacase business.