The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-11-04
Njll!ia!!sZEsaIr
AN INSURANCE AGENT.
SOME OF HIS TRIALS AND TROUBLES
WITH CUSTOMERS

Women Do the Best wOrk-Diplomacy
and Hard Heart Necessary TO Success.
Difficulty in Securing New Risks-Pre-
miums in Small Sums
Among the many thousand bread win
ners of this big city there is no class where
success depends 50 entirely upon the merit
OF the worker alone, and where outside in
huence has SO little control, as in what is
known as the industrial insurance bust
ness. Here the worker is judged by results
only. His personality, what no can do and
what he may be able to do in the future
are never taken into consideration. What
he has done, that, and that alone, is all
that is ever looked at, and all that is ever
paid for.
The industrial insurance agent comes
and goes as regularly as the weeks roll by,
gathering in the rickels, the dimes and the
dollars, and ever on the alert to write up
new policies. An agent of one of the com
panies which conducts this class of bust
ness was approached the other day by a
reporter, and in reply to several queries
gave him the following information:
"Yes, 1t is hard work tramping all day,
and harder work still to get people to in
sure. The bulk of the business in Phila-
delphia is written up. Why, there is hard
ly house where go weekly to collect the
premiums in which every member is not
insured, many people holding policies in
two or more companies on the same life
80 you see with this state of affairs ex-
tsting it is rather difficult to obtain new
insurance, and it is from the new insur-
ance be writes that an agents chief re-
Enumeration comes, although we are paid
rs per cent of all we collect IN premiums
weekly"
MUST BECOME HARD HEARTED.
"Do you experience any difficulty in this
portion of your labor2" asked the re-
porter.
"Well, no; not now. You see have be-
come hard hearted and am deaf to all ex-
cuses If the people do not pay at the end
of the allotted time lapse them. l am
forced to do 1t for my own protection.
For, should / carry them on my books and
thus keep their policies in force after tho
prescribed four weeks, and should they fail
In the end to pay me, why would be out Of
pocket for the difference between the time
had carried them and the four weeks
allowed by the company, which, if the
number OF delinquents was very large,
would soon consume my commission. No.
/ have very little trouble now bat at frs.
] had considerable. All new men do They
are apt to be easy with the people and al
low them TO get behind in their payments.
But with the old men it is quite a differ
ent thing. They insist on being paid and
generally get there. Being accustomed to
hearing the tales Of woe, to which we are
all obliged to listen, they stick it out,
whereas a new man at the business would
say he would call again next week before
the tale were half over"
Does your company employ women as
agents" again asked the reporter.
''Oh, yes. believe they are scattered all
over town, in all the companies, and are
increasing in numbers"
What of their ability as agents?"
They make the best agents, and are
much more successful than men. You can
understand that from the fact that avon
an has less difficulty in gaining entrance to |
house than man, and an agents work is
half over if he can succeed in getting in |
In this event. providing he knows his bust /
ness, he generally comes out with an aDpli- |
cation for policy. And once you succeed |
in getting one on your list you are fairly |
certain of eventually writing up the whole |
family.
WOMEN MORE PATIENT AND DIPLOMATIC |
Women are much more patient than |
men, and understand how to meet and |
parry another won,an's argument. They |
never meet with the rebufTs that the men |
do. Only few days ago | rang the door |
bell Of house in West Philadelphia, and |
on being answered by young girl po- |
htely inquired whether they were insured |
or not, stating at the same time what COM
pany l represented and our general plan of |
business. She did not appear TO under
stand, and after staring blankly at me for
a few moments was on the point of calling
to some one in the rear, when voice from
that quarter came to her assistance: Shut
the door, Mary shut the door in his face.
He's only one of them darn insurance men,
drat 'emp
"The door closed with a bang and pro-
ceeded calmly TO the next attack Now
this would not have occurred had woman
been in my place. for she would never have
stated her business on the steps, but in
stead, as soon as the door opened, would
have walked gracefully in, and once in
would have held the fort until success
crowned her efforts, for she is the persona
!
predicting that eventually she will mo-
nopoliEe the whole business"
How does your work pay you" in
Iuired the reporter.
I'VE receive from nine to eleven times
he amount we write, according to the
amount of weekly premiums we collect;
)r, in other words, should I insure your
life for weekly premium of ten cents l
would receive from ninety cents TO S1.10 /.
for the work. according to the size of my =
collection book. The larger the book the
more money we are paid for new business"
do the companies have any trouble in
obtaining agentsf"
'No; they can get all they wish, but it is
o keep them after they get them where tho
'ub comes That IS the general complaint
# the policy holders. New agents all the
ime. Some stay few weeks, some few
very few stick it out longer
Times
An Ancestral IRAN.