What's In Your Bank Account?

Right now, I want you to pretend that there is a bank account that automatically deposits $86,400 into your checking account every morning.  No questions asked.  The catch is, is that you can’t roll over any of the money that you don’t spend TODAY.

 

That’s right, every night the bank clears out of your account any remaining balance that you didn’t use. 

 

So, I ask you, What would you do?  You would withdraw every cent, every day, right?

 

Well, guess what?  We each have a bank.  It’s called TIME.

 

Each day, it gives you 86,400 seconds to do with as you please.

 

Every night, you lose whatever time you wasted, and you can’t get it back.

 

But, the good news is that you have a brand new account opened for you with each new day with a brand new 86,400 seconds. 

 

So, what will you do with your time?  Will you use those seconds wisely? Or, will you allow it to be lost by investing it in things, people, or activities with no purpose or meaning?

 

The choice is completely yours.  Invest your time in things that benefit you mentally, emotionally, spiritually, professionally, and personally.  This will lead to a life of success and happiness in ways that you may not even realize. 

 

Make today count!

 

To Your Success,

- Uncle "D" 

The 5 Steps to Take When an Employee Dies

Beyond its obvious emotional impact, an employee's death almost always leaves unfinished business for HR and payroll.

Follow these steps to help smooth the process when you're notified of an employee's death:

1. Ask the family for a death certificate (usually available about one to two weeks after the death) and whether a federal tax ID number exists for the estate. That may seem intrusive, but you should receive valid proof of death before cutting any final paycheck to a family member. Also, the tax ID number will be necessary if the final paycheck goes to the deceased person's estate, rather than to a relative.

2. Begin COBRA notification process. An employee's death counts as a COBRA qualifying event for spouses and dependent children. If your organization must comply with COBRA, begin the paperwork necessary to notify your insurance carrier and survivors. Let survivors know how to file any life insurance claims as well.

3. Determine who should receive the employee's final wages. In some cases, the final paycheck will be paid directly to the estate administrator. In others, the check may go to the employee's spouse, children or other party. Check with your state's wage and labor department for your state's rules about paying final wages.

4. Record and report before and after death payments carefully, if final wages are paid in the same year. Withhold FICA if the final paycheck is cut in the same year as the employee's death.

Use IRS Form 1099-MISC to report any payments made after the employee dies. If the final paycheck is sent to an individual (a spouse, for example), include that person's Social Security information on that form. If the final paycheck goes to the estate, list the estate's tax ID number.

At year-end, use IRS Form W-2 to report total compensation before death as well as any Medicare and Social Security deductions.

5. Don't withhold employment taxes if final wages are paid the following year. Any outstanding wages that aren't paid until the next calendar year aren't subject to federal income, Social Security or Medicare taxes. Report the total amount paid after death in box 5, Other Income, on Form 1099-MISC.

You won't need to file a W-2 at year-end if the final paycheck is issued in the next year. Check with your state's wage and labor department about state reporting and withholding procedures.

Beyond logistics: How to help employees when a co-worker dies

It would be futile for managers to expect the colleagues of a deceased employee to go about business as usual. Here's how HR should respond:

• Inform employees about the death as quickly as possible. Get to those who worked most closely with the deceased first—and privately—before making a general announcement.

• Allow employees to talk with each other about the death or to go home if they want to.

• Encourage employees to attend the funeral or memorial service—even if you have to hire temps to fill in while they're out.

• Notify your employee assistance program about the death and remind employees that EAP counselors are trained and ready to talk them through the stress and grief they might experience. Counseling within three days after a death is most effective in helping people who are grieving.

• Engage the employee's closest colleagues in planning a memorial function to honor their friend. Allow them to coordinate other commemorations, like a photo board, an article in the employee newsletter or a charity fundraiser in memory of the departed.

• Form a support group for co-workers to attend as they recover from the loss.

Beyond the communication challenges you face, there are nuts-and-bolts issues – payroll, tax, benefits – that you're also responsible for. Each requires tact, precision, and a touch of compassion for family members and co-workers. 

- Uncle "D"

Stop Making Resolutions ... Start Getting Results

2016 is here, and many new opportunities are on the horizon. It’s been my experience that each year keeps getting better and better, and I’m looking forward to seeing ALL that 2016 has to offer. Bring it on!

 

A few days ago, I decided that in this brand new year, instead of focusing on making resolutions that I will never keep, I am making it a priority to set personal goals to not only work toward but to ACHIEVE throughout 2016.

 

How about you?

 

Where will your head and heart be in the next year?

 

Will you continue to operate the same way that you always have?

 

OR

 

Will you set goals and take action to propel you through your greatest year yet?

 

Here are some tips for living the best YOU possible throughout the coming year:

 

1. Set Goals-Set specific, measurable goals and even “milestone” mini-goals along the way. Doing this will make your goals easier to reach.

 

2. Stay Positive! Focus on the good in things and remember that you are in control of your own success. Ignore criticism, rejections, and pressure when they affect you in a negative way.

 

3. Manage Your Influences. Avoid gossip and things that don’t serve you, educate you, or make you a better person. Avoid people who bring out the worst in you and surround yourself with people who are positive influences. You are influenced primarily by the 5 people you spend the most time with…choose those 5 carefully.

 

4. Don’t Stress Over Perfection. Don’t worry about small details. Sure, little hinges swing big doors, and the small details are important, but perfection isn’t always achievable – and that’s OK! Do your best to improve upon past performance and you WILL be successful.

 

Join me in celebrating dreams and recommitting to your goals in 2016…. Let’s make this year the best one yet!

 

To Your Success,

Uncle "D" 

The $10,000 Virtual Gift Card

Here is my gift to you for 2016, easily worth $10,000 or more should you decide to cash in on it. Think of it as a "virtual gift card". Ready? Here it is...The Key to Goal Achievement – Stop focusing on goals. Start focusing on your behavior, on the things that are in your control. Goal achievement requires that you "do" something consistently, every day, that will bring you closer to your desired objectives. It takes daily changes to shift future outcomes. Track those changes every day...you'll be amazed at how your life transforms.

When I was a kid, my dad told me repeatedly, "If you don't ask, they can't say YES – they may say NO but if you don't ask they can never say YES". I put that one thought to the test and began pushing myself to "ask" more consistently. Steve Jobs once said, "People don't get because they don't ask..." This single concept of doing something that I can do has helped me and many people achieve things we never thought possible. As you set goals for 2016, cash in on your virtual gift card and start changing the things in your control!

Here's wishing you and yours a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!

- Uncle "D"

10 “Closing Out Your Year” Ideas to Get Ready for a Great 2016

As you wind down 2015 it’s worthwhile to “put a ribbon around” the past 12 months and make sure you are ready for 2016.

Here’s some final touches for you to attend to before you take some time off. Here’s my “wrapping up the year” list for you…

1. Look at your existing personal goals list… how many did you accomplish this year? Be sure to celebrate your victories – this is not a “beat yourself up” exercise.

2. Review your sales production for the last 12 months. Look where you improved on the previous year, where did you make progress?

3. How about your personal health? Did you “grow older or did you grow younger”? Think about how you might make some positive alterations in this area. Look at how you can become healthier both mentally AND physically.

4. Do a three part cleanup…your office, your home, and don’t forget your car. Get rid of all the junk. Start with one hour for each. Clutter slows you down and there’s no room for that next year.

5. While you are “cleaning out your closet” take time to cleanup your social life. Make sure you are surrounding yourself only with positive people. Here’s a great question – “Is this person adding to or detracting from my life?”

6. CRITICAL POINT… it’s time to write out your Personal Goals for the next 12 months. Put them on paper and make sure they are highly visible. This is a great time to redo (or start) your Dream Board. NO Excuses on this one.

7. Do you know where you are going? Is your 2016 Business Plan complete?… here it is – “Predicting the Future and Making It Happen”

8. Check your finances… make sure your head is not “in the sand” on this issue. Four quick measurement items:

— Your assets

— Your debts

— Your December 31, 2016 targets

— Does my 2016 Business Plan support these targets?

9. Decide to “BE ALL THAT YOU CAN BE” in 2016. Don’t short change yourself…

— Get your Coach to raise the bar on who you are being. Put some tough accountability in place.

— If you don’t have a Coach… find a really good one right away! Stop trying to do it on your own. 

10. Lastly, schedule a whole day off for a Personal Planning Session for 2016. You have plenty of time to do this between now and January 4, 2016. Take the time to address the five key elements of your life… my health, my family, my goals, my finances, & my business. Very important…You deserve to do this considering you are preparing for the next 12 months.

CONCLUSION

Those who plan always accomplish much more than those who do not. Be on the right side of the scale. Take the time to go through the above 10 steps. Know where you are, know where you want to get to, and know how to get there. My commitment is to help you have an amazing 2016!

Happy Holidays to you and your family. Doug and Kathy

Dumbfound Your Competition: Get a HUGE Jumpstart on 2016

When I was in personal production I would acquire more new prospects and generate more new policies in the month of January (many times within the first two weeks) than 99% of insurance agents did ALL YEAR.

How did I do it?

Those are the sneaky details I will give you in this blog article.

I am often asked for the fastest, most reliable pathway to success. Let me give you a formula that will guide you forevermore and lead you to extraordinary riches.

Ready?

Observe what most everyone else is doing—and do the opposite.

Think about it.

Most everyone else is unsuccessful.
Doing the opposite gives you the opposite result: success. Simple.

That formula describes what Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and most every other super-achiever you can think of used.
If everyone else is zigging—zag.

Now then, what do most people do during the month of December?

Are people more focused and more productive or more distracted and lackadaisical? Are people working hard or hardly working? You already know the answer.

That’s why you want to do the opposite.

This is when you can get ahead, WAY AHEAD and can take advantage of the mood of the season, rather than the mood of the season taking advantage of you.

I’ll explain.

Three December strategies to CRUSH IT in January

ONE. In insurance, the market dies in December. It’s the holidays and people are too busy buying Christmas gifts to think about buying insurance policies.

They don’t even have the time or interest to even meet with an agent in December. This kind of scenario might be true for you in your business too. So what do you do?

Here’s the secret…

Spend the entire month booking your appointment calendar for January. They don’t want to meet with you now, but they are even more apt to book an appointment with you for January, which is ALL-THE-WAY in next year—appointment-booking resistance is low.

By the time 8 a.m. Jan. 2 would come around I was booked solid, wall-to-wall, flat out, the entire month. Those who just started to rub the sleep out of their eyes and just began to make appointments the first week in January were so far behind they didn’t know what had hit them by January 15.

No one could ever figure out how I did so much business in January of each year. It had nothing to do with what I did that January; the game had been decided by what I did in December of the previous year.

For you – that’s RIGHT NOW.

So, strategy one is while maybe no one wants what you are selling during the holiday lag time, use this month to book yourself silly in January.

TWO. The year is ending. There are lots of businesses that run their fiscal year on the annual calendar and even lots of individuals who for tax reasons need to make some speedy decisions and spend some money quickly.

Completely reprioritize your prospecting list to those types of clients that have these year-end closing challenges and opportunities.

If you have a generalized book-of-business, focus your product or service offerings to meet those needs. Adjust your marketing messaging to communicate to those needs.

Strategy two is reprioritize WHO you focus on, WHAT you focus on marketing to them and connect a timely and purposeful MESSAGE to those needs.

You could significantly jump your revenue in the final two-minute drill of the year.

THREE. Stack your cash. I think it was Stephen Covey who defined relationships as emotional bank accounts. During any exchange, or transaction, you are either depositing money or you are withdrawing it.

What we know for sure is, just like a real bank account, you cannot withdraw any money if there is NO money in the account.

The month of December is a great time to make large deposits into lots of relationship accounts. The goal is to walk into the New Year flush with cash.

The way to do this is to give, give, give in December.

Strategy number three is to spend the month of December building your important relationships and making lots of emotional deposits.

OK, I hope one of these ideas lit a spark in you and that I have made a sizable deposit into our relationship account.

Now go out and get your big jump on the competition… they will be dumbfounded by your success and momentum by January 31, 2016.

- Uncle "D"

Christmas Parody 2015

Deck the Halls (with Boughs of Prospects)!

To bring some levity to a time of year that should be relaxing for insurance agents, but is often overshadowed by one prevailing thought: Am I going to hit my end-of-year revenue target?

I’d like to take creative liberty with a holiday favorite — tackling a lyrical parody of a Christmas carol that everyone should know…

Deck the halls with boughs of prospects,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Tis the season to hit your targets,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Don ye now a well-crafted policy for each client,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
But beware you have all the right endorsements as ye write them,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Mind your insureds’ value curve,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
And strike a chord with a VIP client event,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Don’t strip down coverages to bare bones yet,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Q4 isn’t over and you’ve still got time,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Set a goal to stop cold calling and generate referrals,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Attraction strategies will help you do so,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Sing we joyous, all together,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Because year-end’s here and you’ve hit your number!
FA LA LA LA LA, LA LA, LA LA!

With just a few days left before the calendar turns over to a new year, I wish you and your family all the best this holiday season — and may 2016 be the year that all of your biggest sales dreams come true!

- Uncle "D"