Word from the Wise: Tina Fontaine
Word from the Wise features expertise from industry-related professionals to put you at the top of your game.
Tina Fontaine has had the distinction of being the very first female Agent of the Year in 2004 with the company where she was a career agent. She repeated that achievement again in 2008. In 2006, she qualified for the MDRT and achieved the Court of the Table this year. Impressive for someone who only got her start in insurance in 2003.
Q. You’ve talked about finding your calling as an insurance professional. Tell us about how you got your start.
A. I worked in a family owned business as Regional Sales Manager. A recruiter representing an insurance company that was looking for new agents contacted me. Working in a family business has its challenges, the same way any company does, and I was ready for a change. I started in February of 2003 and by the end of the following year, I made Agent of the Year based on sales.
Q. You’ve strictly adhered to a “listen and learn” philosophy from the beginning. Can you describe it?
A. Everyone has something to teach us; our parents, our spouses or children, our mentors in business. Why wouldn’t you listen to someone who has been there? That person has experience I can learn from to the benefit of my clients. I support my clients by listening to what the respected industry heavy hitters have to say and incorporating their training and advice in my daily practice. I’ve attended training programs offered by Creative Marketing as well as other industry specific training. My first mentor told me it was a numbers game and by building up my closing percentages, I would succeed. He taught me that I needed to have a minimum of 12 selling appointments each week to achieve the goals I set. I listened, took that advice to heart, and it has taken me toward the success I knew I could achieve.
Q. Would you tell us about the training programs you’ve attended, and how they’ve made a difference for you?
A. With Creative alone I’ve attended multiple programs, starting with my first, which was All Star League. In a one-on-one session with that trainer, I learned that my talent was selling and I shouldn’t be spending my time on paperwork when I could employ someone else to do that for me. I took that advice and hired an assistant as soon as I returned to the office. With the extra administrative help, I doubled my production and income.
Another concept I learned at the first Creative Learn to Earn that really helped me was Annuity Arbitrage. I attended the first Arbitrage academy offered and subsequently joined Michael Blaker’s Ring of Champions program. Working one-on-one with him, we wrote more than $2 million in annuity and another $2.5 million in life in my first year with the program. The first seminar I hosted with Blaker’s assistance led me to close over $1.5 million of business. I learned that it is all in the delivery of the message.
Q. You work in an industry dominated by men. What difference do you bring to your clients?
A. Truthfully, I don’t think it is about being a man or a woman. It’s about being able to work with sincerity and true empathy with every client you see. Most insurance professionals are in this business because they really like working with people. I enjoy the stories I hear from my clients and hearing the history behind who they are and what they’ve done. By listening to them, whether their story is about the loss of a pet or the loss in their retirement account, I let them know that I recognize it is real to them and that makes it matter to me.
We are starting to see more women agents in the industry. One difference I do think women agents offer is that widowed or single female clients might find working with us less threatening and be more comfortable making a buying decision. This is a rapidly expanding segment of the market by all accounts. Additionally, women have gone beyond their traditional role as decision influencers. With increasing frequency, they are becoming decision makers. A man selling might just focus on building the relationship with a husband but not the wife. When the husband dies and the wife doesn’t know the agent, she may start looking for a new agent with whom she can establish a rapport. A female agent might be more inclined to build that relationship with the couple.
Q. What words of wisdom do you have to pass on to other agents?
A. We are blessed and lucky to do what we do. We offer solutions when the client needs us the most. I have found my career in insurance to be rewarding and often humbling. I would tell other agents be proud of the job you do, hold your ethics and morals high, and take care of each client as if they are family. Anyone who doesn’t think we make a difference in the lives of our clients doesn’t really know what we do.
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