About
Greg Gaines, Founder
With more than 20 years of experience with insurance sales, Greg has been an agent with New York Life and later the supervisor of financial services for State Farm in the State of Florida. Before joining the world of financial services, he was an exceptional performer in both radio and television. As a keynote speaker, he has motivated audiences by sharing stories of overcoming the odds and encourages them to produce at their highest level.
What is it that makes Greg Gaines such an exceptional speaker, educator, and coach? Check out this exclusive, personal interview below!
An Interview with Team Sales Coach Founder Greg Gaines
Who are you and how did you start the life insurance business?
I came from the media (radio & television) and eventually got into the life insurance business after leaving the media and being approached by my New York Life agent.
I have a critically ill son, which forced me to think seriously about the future of my family. So, I always believed in life insurance at an early age.
My New York Life Agent thought I could do it, and after I thought it through, I joined.
How did that lead to coaching other agents?
My gift is simplicity, making the complex simple. After leaving New York Life, I was recruited to State Farm and placed in a position to train and coach team members and, eventually agents. They improved. Honestly, I never thought about it being a business; I was just sharing, and I didn’t care who got the credit.
How does being an introvert impact how you approach sales?
Initially, I struggled in sales when I joined the business. It’s as if the business required me to say things I wouldn’t appreciate, believe things I didn’t believe, and be a person that I wasn’t.
Nothing happened until I realized I didn’t have to be anyone but myself and surrendered to being Greg. I started writing my own scripts or Heart tracks and building my own sales processes. Not only did it make things easier for me, it resonated with my customers. It made the conversations easier for both of us, and they bought more.
How is your approach to coaching agents different from other people’s approaches?
We stepped away from selling and went all in on serving. Most teams are loaded with introverts and they need a process that anyone can do.
The most popular thought process for being successful in sales is:
* Be an extrovert
* Have the gift of gab
* Have years of experience
* Be an expert on the policy and the business
* Have a complicated sales process that you can recite by heart.
This is all false, you don’t need any of that, so we took all of it out. We don’t care if you’ve been in the business 15 minutes, you can do this.
We simplified the process for the team member/agent and the customer. It helps to break the conversation open, and we eventually sell more by serving first.
What led to you creating the Gold and Platinum Team Coaching series?
I felt the teams needed some structure. Agents would want everything we have, but they may not have a team that’s prepared to handle it.
We needed teams to start with easy stepping stones for them to follow, regardless of experience. That became our Gold Coaching Series.
Once they complete Gold, we allow them to move up to Platinum, where we have no limits to our conversations.
We’ve had some teams who’ve been with us since the beginning, and their teams improved greatly by following the process.
What is one piece of advice you freely give to insurance agents overall?
Stop SELLING! SERVE the customer well by making things easy for them. Then the sale becomes a natural part of taking care of the customer. You’ll need the right words and process, but once we have that in place life becomes easier. HELPING them should our goal.