The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-02-03
AN INSURANCE AGENT.
SOME OF HIS TRIALS AND TROUBLES
WITH CUSTOMERS.

Women Do the Best Work-Diplomacy
and a Hard Heart Necessary to Success.
Difculty in Securing New Risks-Pre-
miums in Small Sums.
Among the many thousand bread win
aers Of this big city there is no class where
success depends so entirely upon the merit
Of the worker alone, and where outside in
auence has so little control, as in what is
known as the industrial insurance busi-
ness. Here the worker is judged by results
only. His personality, what he can do and
what he may be able to do in the future
are never taken into consideration. What
ne has done, that, and that alone, is all
that is ever looked as, and all that is ever
paid for. .....
The Industrial insurance agent comes
and goes as regularly as the weeks roll by,
gathering in the nickels, 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 busi-
ness was approached the other day by
reporter, and in reply to several queries
RdEc ulLl Guo lOllOWllB iu4oiu1aoioH'
eyes, it 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 a 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.
$50 you see with this state Of affairs ex-
isting it is rather difficult to obtain new
insurance, and it is from the new insur
ance he writes that an agents chief re-
muneration comes, although we are paid
Is per cent. of all we collect in premiums
weekly" .'.." -.
MUST BECOME HARD HEARTED.
'"Do you experience any difficulty in this
portion Of your labors" asked the re-
porter. " 49,"
"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. am
forced to do it for my own protection.
For, should I carry them on my books and
thus keep their policies in force after the
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, but 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 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
q 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 appi-
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 woman's argument. They
never meet with the rebuffs that the men
do. Only few days ago I rang the door
bell of house in West Philadelphia, and
on being answered by a young girl l po-
litely inquired whether they were insured
or not, stating at the same time what COM
pany represented and our general plan of
business. She did not appear to under
stand, and after staring blankly at me for
q 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, Nary shut the door in his face.
He's only one of them darn insurance men,
drat 'emp ,-. -.. "-...
1.-THE door closed with 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 personi-
fcation Of persistence, and l feel safe in
predicting that eventually she will mo-
nopolize the whole business.
"How does your work pay you" in
quired the reporter.
"We receive from mine to eleven times
the amount we write, according to the
amount of weekly premiums we collect;
or, in other words, should I insure your
life for weekly premium of ten cents l
would receive from ninety cents to. S1.1O
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 agents2"
"iao; they can get all they wish, but it is
20 keep them after they get theI- where the
rub comes. That is the general complaint
of the policy holders. New agents all the
time Some stay few weeks, some a few
months; very few stick it out longer. -
Philadelphia Times.
Walking Good for Weak People.
HTbe general adantation OF rapid transit