Outside The Tank Podcast

31/10/2024

Want more out of your sales career…
but not sure what to do next?

Aflac and Daymond John are going LIVE to share how you can build a profitable and rewarding sales career with Aflac. You’ll also hear directly from some of our top Arizona advisors on how they’ve built their Aflac dream. Join our local Aflac team to tune into this livestream followed by networking and hors d’oeuvres.

Date/Time: Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 - 5:00 PM – 7:30 PM

Location:
Peerspace – Phoenix
5227 N. 7th Street
Phoenix AZ 85014

RSVP to:
Joe Buzzello – Market Director – [email protected]

25/10/2024

What a phenomenal week for Aflac Arizona! We delivered a $100,000 Care Grant (donation) to a great non-profit organization earlier this week. We also engaged in two days of high-level on-going training in our Scottsdale and Tucson offices. This is going to be a legacy team for our company.
Thanks to, Loren Ranson Boyle, Christie Johnson, Alison Guidi, Anna Baldwin and Kellyanne McGarry for their great leadership this week as we facilitated these great events!

23/10/2024

Yesterday was amazing!
Aflac awarded a $100,000.00 CARE Grant to this wonderful non-profit clinic, "Clinic Amistad" in Tucson. They help people that otherwise could not afford or who have no access to good healthcare services. Aflac has found yet another way to FILL THE GAP! Honored to have been part of this celebration, and proud to be part of a great company.

Nicole and Hector from Amistad join myself, Kellyanne McGarry and our Aflac CMO, Garth Knutson as we dedicate the Aflac 'Park Bench' and award the $100,000.00 grant.

Many of our great Aflac-Tucson team members (they are exploding) were also on hand to support the event!

23/10/2024

A small 'blue' piece of me slipped away last night. I was 21, he was 20 in 1981 when this young kid from Mexico took the mound at Dodger Stadium for the first time. He triggered something called, Fernandomania." It was an L.A. movement of emotion, popularity and excitement...it was so organic and amazing that it couldn't be manufactured today, even in our social media-soaked world. Every time the left-handed wonder took the mound, he brought so much simple JOY to me and my friends that loved the Dodgers...and still LOVE the Dodgers. His eyes rolled up to heaven before he released each pitch, and now Freddy joins Vinny, Tommy and others in Dodger heroes there in heaven. Rest in peace Fernando...you were much loved as a baseball player and a person.

05/10/2024

What a phenomenal week for Aflac AZ team!
We finished September and wrapped up Q4 with a bang--massive INCREASES in every KEY metric! In addition we welcomed 18 new players to "Team 48" and conducted a great training and mentorship class that was held in our Market Office here in Scottsdale. Christie Johnson and I are so proud to be a small part of the success of this team. And...oh...by the way...a LOT more success to come! And you don't believe us, just pack a lunch, sit in the bushes and watch!

13/09/2024

I'm amazed at how NARROW some leader's thinking/viewpoints are.

06/09/2024

I had a blast yesterday. We conducted a training workshop with a great group of NABIP benefit professionals here in Phoenix. Thanks for inviting me to be a part of this, Jenny Weaver! It was so good to connect with all of the new faces I hadn't yet met in our local broker community.

01/09/2024

Just a quick note + pic from Friday to highlight one of our great AZ Aflac teams...this strong bunch in Tucson led by Kellyanne McGarry invited me down and gathered 22 of their Associates and Coordinators for some late afternoon training. This is an awesome thing considering it was a holiday weekend and it would be just as easy for salespeople to blow this off. This team opened 8 NEW accounts last week, #1 in the Southwest Territory! We KNOW that a little extra COMMITMENT always pays off. All of our Aflac teams in Arizona are committed to winning and you are not going to believe what's coming next because of their level of excitement and talent!

27/08/2024

As a leader...what are you "chasing?"

24/08/2024

We filled the room up yesterday, getting the great Aflac AZ, "Team 48" all together. We ended the afternoon of training and recognition with an incredibly important talk by the great, Tom Healy. Tom taught us how our decision maker's buying journey has changed. We outlined Google's recent "ZMOT" study and then brought up a few of our best account openers, Taylor, Kaitlin and Haddie, to share what they do to nurture prospects in their pipeline. What a phenomenal day!

24/08/2024

It's great to see great VB veterans like Nick Vigill re-joining the ranks of Aflac Arizona in a Coordinator role. I want to congratulate Nick, and thank Haddie Keenum and Alison Guidi for welcoming Nick to their great Scottsdale Blaze team!

23/08/2024

I awake this morning with great anticipation.

22/08/2024

I'm not happy to see this news of cancer rates growing, especially amongst younger workers. However, I am glad that we have the best product in the industry to help employers and employees manage the out of pocket costs.

Cancer rates in the workforce are a growing concern for employers, per an employee benefit survey released Tuesday.

21/08/2024

I think that businesspeople are most HAPPY (fulfilled) in their life when they are doing the WORK that they LOVE and that they know they're GREAT at. (And I think the opposite is true also)

10/08/2024

Look out. This leadership team is now engaged!

27/07/2024

I returned to a sales leadership position this week, after being OUT of the GAME for quite a few years.
Here's a very short list of items (4 things) that HIT me hardest--I learned or re-learned--as I immersed back into the role.

YOU DON'T FORGET WHAT YOU KNOW:
Although there's some 'rust,' on my frame, the principles that I know to be TRUE (and that I know WORK), came flooding back to me. Once you absorb BASIC sales leadership paradigms, they don’t magically disappear. They are there (inside your head) forever. They become part of your DNA.

I'M OLDER, BUT PERHAPS A BIT WISER: (More reflective)
Because I've taken a few more trips around the sun than most, I SEE things differently--PERCEIVE things more CLEARLY and more accurately. As a result, I'm able to make good decisions quickly, and this also allows me to attach the proper EMOTIONS to scenarios that may have previously pi**ed me off or caused me to ACT OUT in an unproductive manner.

EVERYTHING'S DIFFERENT, EXCEPT THE NATURE OF PEOPLE:
There are so many things that have changed in regard to technology, services, strategies, methods, and the way markets respond. However, the NATURE of people--the way they think, react, etc., has NOT changed. Salespeople and sales managers are the same 'predictable animals' they were, 10, 20 and even 40 years ago. LOL! This fact/realization humored me the most upon my return this week as I observed this.

'READY' PEOPLE WILL RESPOND POSITIVELY TO VALUE:
One of our primary "jobs" as a sales leader is to be of extreme VALUE to the team of people we lead. If we can't (or don't) provide value in CRITICAL areas of development, growth, etc., your organizational results will suffer. If you DO focus on providing VALUE in the right areas, the team and metrics will flourish. In kind, the 'READY' people on your team will respond immediately to value--be ATTRACTED to it. Conversely, a salesperson or manager on your team that isn't ready--perhaps holding onto flawed paradigms--won't immediately embrace what's next. This week I observed many READY people responding positively to the actions and initiatives we began to undertake. A good thing.

Sales and sales leadership are fascinating topics to me--more like a total PASSION. So I study this area constantly--read and listen to everything I can get my hands on--analyze my OWN every move.

I'm sure I will learn (or re-learn) a few more things over the coming weeks/months. But that's it for now. And it's a lot for even me to take in. 😎

19/07/2024

(And you don’t have to be a golfer to GET this)
Tiger is struggling big time at the British Open. And he’s struggled at EVERY other previous major this year, either finishing DEAD LAST (Masters), or missing the cut. (U.S. Open + (PGA)

And the thing is, he doesn’t seem that far off!

He’s actually hitting the ball fairly well. His chipping and putting isn’t horrible. He’s simply making SMALL mental and physical mistakes that have cost him significant ground.

And Tiger will tell reporters, “I’m close.” He will say things like, “I probably need to play more.”

And the lesson for us lies inside of those TELLING statements.

You see, in golf, (or in any sport) you can’t just SHOW UP occasionally (only 4 times in an entire year) and expect to win. Not even if you're Tiger Woods. Now, I’m quite aware that Tiger’s body may not allow him to play a full schedule…I get that…and I feel so bad for him...but that’s beside the point.

The point and LESSON here is…
…you can’t just OCCASIONALLY show up in sales and expect to WIN either.

It just doesn’t work that way. You MUST get your REPS in.

The #1 golfer in the world (Scottie Sheffler) plays most every week. He also GRINDS it out on the practice range before and after each round. Scottie OUT-WORKS everyone...OUT THINKS most of his competitors. Hence, he puts himself in a position to WIN every week!

We've seen many otherwise smart and talented people FAIL in sales and/or in management, simply because they didn’t DO THE WORK—get their ‘reps’ in. They aren't SHARP. They make mistakes...they forget to do key things...and those errors cost them significant opportunities.

For whatever reason they don’t do the work outside the ropes (study, read, listen, role play, etc.) and then they don’t PLAY their way into TOP competitive shape—get out in the field, giving many presentations, being willing to get a little beat up.

When you're getting your 'reps' in, you don't make dumb mistakes. You're able to ADJUST and refine what you DO and SAY...you get BETTER and better. And you begin to WIN more and MORE.

So, if you're a professional salesperson or sales leader (or golfer...LOL), please ABSORB this important lesson.

You must do a TON of work on the 'practice range', and then you must also get inside the ropes and PLAY your way into TOP CONDITION in your chosen game if you expect to win.

That’s what I always did.

And it resulted in tremendous wealth...and not just for me, but also for everyone on our team. 😎

15/07/2024

A quick announcement.

I’m honored to have been selected as the Market Director for the great Aflac team here in the state of Arizona.

My former training company, mentumm, will continue to thrive under the steady leadership of my co-founder and good friend, Tom Healy.

As you may know, Beth and I have deep roots in the state of Arizona, and I also have very deep roots with Aflac. As I’ve considered how I’d ideally like to complete my long professional career, I couldn’t think of a better position, a better geographical area, or lastly—a better company to be with. Hence, this opportunity was hard to turn down when it was offered by Nate Harrison, Andy Glaub, and the executive team at Aflac.

So, starting this next week, I’ll begin writing the last chapter of ‘my life in sales.’ I’ll be doing work that’s very important to me, and I’ll be busy building a legacy team for Aflac over here in the great state of AZ.

This last chapter is going to be about creating WINS for everyone on our team while we have one heck of a good time together!

Stay tuned!