Recently I have encountered several finance professionals who have made poor personal choices, that ended up costing them more than they thought they ever would. Some have reached out to me as a trusted partner as I am sure they do to you as well. Before I unveil the message worth sharing, let’s all take a deep breath and remind ourselves that we are not working with products and profits only; We are working with people. People that have families and a future and plans for both.
As general agents and F&I coaches, we mold careers and many times we are molding a future. We are not only responsible for helping them continuously grow their skills and income, they depend on us to tell them the truth. Here is my dose of truth in three simple teaspoons.
1. Know who you are before you go into the F&I profession.
I have seen police officers that deal with people on their worst day – on a daily basis – become callous to humanity and it causes problems at home and on the job. The brutality of life changed them. I have seen ministers with a heart as big as the ocean being put on a pedestal by many – and it changes them – and they fall to the surprise of many.And I have seen great men and women go into F&I – and once they are making more money than they ever have – the money changes them. We need to remind everyone we spend time with, to take a self-inventory and be sure they know who they are and that the money is not changing them. That is a message worth sharing! And it just might help some avoid a crash down the road.
2. Start every day right with the three things that promote balance and success.
Start every day with an intentional positive attitude. Starve the negative and feed the positive. Start every day listening to, reading, and talking to those that will lift your spirits up, not pull them down.
Determine that you will help everyone you can today. Whether on the way to work, on the showroom floor, or in your office. Make your focus every day on helping!
Speak out loud several times each day to yourself and to others, about just how grateful you are for the opportunities you have been given and the success that you enjoy.
Never let circumstances or others set the agenda or mindset you will follow each day. Set that before you leave for work and refer to it throughout the day since we know many others will work to set it for us.
3. Be truthful to yourself.
Ask yourself this question regularly. Who am I? Many of you can say this along with me: “I am a good person with a big heart that wants to learn all I can, create as much success as I can and help as many others as I can along the way.”
Never forget who you are! It is easy to get lost in the busyness of every day and the drive to produce and succeed. Just make sure you don’t forget who you are. Your success is an outgrowth of who you are, and the depth and length of that success is determined by who you are.
The most important thing is not how you started this journey but how you finish. Agents and coaches, let’s model this behavior and share it with others. By the way, people that know who they are usually become great producers and profit builders. This is a great way to produce more long-lasting success stories everywhere we go!
