Featured New York Life Insurance Agent: Irv Flamer

Featured Agent:
Irv Flamer

• New York Life Agent for: 35 years
• Current AAC Committee Chairman
• Member of the Westchester Chordsmen, a championship barbershop chorus

Thirty-five-year-veteran agent of New York Life Insurance Company, and member of its’ prestigious Chairman's Council. Singer and dancer. Husband, father, friend. With a myriad of interests, Irv Flamer, Long Island General Office, can certainly not be described in just one word. And despite his diverse activity list, he's found a balance that's reaped success. What's his secret?

In The Beginning: The Making of a Salesman
"I was recruited into the business by my good friend, Nat Davidson," says Flamer. "At the time, I was working as a fundraiser for the United Way, in charge of corporate giving. My initial reaction was, 'Work for an insurance company? Are you kidding me?' After examining my options with various business contacts, I realized New York Life had the best training program in the industry, and decided to join the Company."

"Your uniqueness and ability to talk to people and genuinely care about them is what makes you a real person, and not just a sales guy with New York Life."

Building Relationships
He goes on to say, "Referrals have been a big part of my business, the biggest. My motto is: sell what the product does, not what the product is. Really look at what your clients' lives are about, and how can you best help protect them - do they have children, are they married?"

"The relationships that I form with my clients, the fact that our business is based on a relationship, not a transaction, is what sets me apart from my competitors," says Flamer. "Your uniqueness and ability to talk to people and genuinely care about them is what makes you a real person, and not just a sales guy with New York Life."

Celebrate What Makes You Unique
And Flamer certainly is a unique individual. Once an instructor for an Arthur Murray dance studio, he still enjoys dancing, "I taught agents line dances once at a Leaders For Life workshop -I love to dance!"

He's also been a member of the Westchester Chordsmen, a championship barbershop chorus made up of men from Westchester County, New York; Fairfield County, Connecticut; and Long Island, New York, for 37 years. "We've sung at the White House, in England at Buckingham Palace, Russia, Italy - all over," says Flamer.

"I'd say 60% of the chorus are clients of mine. It's a great way to build relationships. I don't put my business in my friends' faces, but I do offer my expertise when I know it's needed. If someone was starting a family, for example."

Flamer insists, however, that what has worked for him, ultimately is his people-skills. "Fred Rogers' mantra," says Flamer (who, by the way, is a father of four) laughing, "was 'there's nobody else exactly like you' - you have to celebrate your uniqueness."