Today, I had a really interesting conversation with one of my co-workers. Which, by the way, I highly recommend. Sometimes, the people you would never expect are the people really getting out in the world creating value. This, I think, has been made possible because of the internet and what can be done online. People who never would have been able to do face-to-face meetings before can now do work that they need to do from home or a private office and never have to go anywhere besides their computer and phone. Some might argue this is a bad thing, but alas, I digress.
My co-worker dabbles a bit in investing and was telling me about a really interesting group that he’s been working with. I don’t want to go into too much detail on it (mainly because I just don’t know enough about what he was actually talking about to explain it) but it was basically life insurance in the form of investing. I know it had a lot more to it, and Paul, if you ever read this, I’m sorry I didn’t do it justice.
It was something that was relatively simple and easy to do, but it takes a long time to explain all of the components that go into it. Especially to me. Someone who has absolutely no experience with either life insurance or investing.
But this is the true challenge. Something I have been wondering about is why more people don’t go after these things? Things that basically have guaranteed benefits.
What I’ve found is that when people don’t understand something, it’s very hard to change their mind about what they do know. It’s also very hard to help people understand that what you’re trying to do for them is not a scam. This is especially true in the world of sales. You know what they say, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
The problem is that people have been scammed one too many times before, so now when you have something truly of value to offer someone, it is almost impossible to get them to take it.
Here’s an example: When I was about 16, I was shopping for a bunch of clothes. I went to go checkout, and my total came to about $58 dollars. I was about ready to pay and the guy at the checkout asked me if I wanted to add a cologne to my purchase and told me that if I did, my total would be less. I instinctively thought that he was simply trying to sell me another thing like he is trained to do, and I quickly declined the offer.
He reiterated that if I got the cologne that I would save money because of some deal. I appreciated that this guy was doing his job, but was already getting somewhat annoyed. “No. I don’t want the silly cologne. I hardly ever wear cologne and I don’t want to spend money on it right now.”
He then asked AGAIN! At this point, I was annoyed. I just wanted to get my stuff and go. Could he just ring it up? This is ridiculous. I clearly don’t want it dude.
He then asked if he could show me something really quick. I reluctantly, said sure.
He scanned the cologne. I was more confused than anything. Was this guy just going to try and force me to buy this cologne? Cause if so, I am not going to go along with it.
He told me to look at the total.
$42.68
“What?” I asked.
Now that I was listening, he once again explained what he told me earlier. What I had completely zoned out before. That if your total purchase exceeds $60, you get $20 off the total. By adding the $4 cologne, my total came to $62.68, thus automatically bumping me down $20.
I expressed my deep thanks to him for forcing me to get the cologne and save me money and walked out feeling like an idiot.
What I’ve realized is that in general, people are just lazy. People don’t care to do enough research to figure out what is actually the best solution to their problems. They just go with what “everyone else” says to do. I have noticed this a lot even in my experience in Praxis and seeing others going to college.
Especially thinking about our education and our life, why do we not spend more time researching these things and making sure that the direction we are going is actually the best one. I’m not talking about “oh, what degree do I pick?” Or “hmm, what life insurance policy should we get?”
I’m talking more deep-rooted questions. “What purpose does a degree serve? What is my goal in going to college? Is college the best way for me to learn? What is the purpose, for me specifically, in getting life insurance? What do I want to be able to get out of the money I spend now?”
None of these questions are geared at saying college sucks, or getting life insurance is dumb.
Honestly, it’s quite the opposite. It’s simply making sure that you have your priorities straight in whatever you do, so that you are better able to invest your time and money where you truly want it.
So, my challenge today is to go into everything with an educated decision. Don’t ever do something just because it seems like it’s what people do. I believe this will improve your quality of life, and I am sure it will help all the sales people out there trying to help people, but nobody will listen to them because they aren’t open to new ideas.