New Orleans Agents and the Nylic Spirit

Vic Vybiral, Sr.: Consistency in Sales is Key
Quick statistics on New York Life Chairman's Councilman* Vic Vybiral: 76 years old, a 48-year MDRT member, about 12,000 policies on the books, averages about one death claim every two weeks, sells 50 percent life and annuity/50 percent mutual funds, about 50 percent of business comes from referrals, sells mostly small business and blue collar workers, employs one secretary.

A former U.S. Navy radio officer, 50-year NYLIC agent Vic Vybiral became a successful insurance agent by following one simple personal rule: "Bring in applications," he notes. It has worked for him. He consistently led the New Orleans Office in paid applications for his first 30 years, and for the past 15 years, he has brought in four applications a week (even while recovering from open heart surgery five years ago, and cancer, two years ago).

The key to Vybiral's selling success has been consistency. For the past 50 years he has been in his car by 7:30 in the morning, four days a week, cold-calling mostly small businesses in a 50-mile radius of New Orleans. He looks for small businesses such as service stations, grocery stores, etc.

"I like this sales approach: I walk into a business and say, 'My name is Vic Vybiral and I'm with New York Life Insurance Company. I'd like to talk with you about your health and life insurance.' I mention how health insurance would be offered through New York Life's subsidiary NYLCare Health Plans Inc. (now owned by AETNA), and life insurance would be through New York Life Insurance Company." Vybiral makes about 12 calls a day, and often one out of 12 customers will sign an app with this sales approach.

Two family members that Vybiral brought into the business - Mark Duffy and Violet Ertel - currently take care of most of Vybiral's Voluntary Payroll Deduction business, which averages about 40 applications a month on one business. "I do a lot of business with ethnic business owners now: Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian. I think I'm successful with this market because I take the time to explain what New York Life has to offer. Once you win their trust, they'll refer you to all their friends and family," Vybiral notes.

By 3:00 in the afternoon, Vybiral is back at his house returning calls he has received and setting up the next day's appointments. His work day is finished by about 5:00 in the evening. Usually on Friday, he follows up at the office on his paperwork. "It's been tough, but you just roll up your sleeves and have at it," he states.

Vybiral's Legacy
When asked to give an adjective best describing his years with the company, Vybiral replies: "Self-rewarding: you get out what you put in." For Vybiral, he has put in 50 years worth of service, and believes he has received plenty in return. "I feel I've helped many clients over the years, and I hope I've helped the family members I've brought into the business, too." Vybiral currently has four family members in the business: his son, President's Councilman* Vic Vybiral, Jr., who has been with New York Life for 25 years; Executive Council* agent Violet Ertel, his son's sister-in-law, a 16-year NYLIC agent; Executive Council* agent Mark Duffy, his son-in-law, 15 years; and Joshua Nidenberg, his son's son-in-law, six years. "I've enjoyed working with all my family, and when I retire I hope I'll have left a little of my sales knowledge with all of them," he smiles.

Earl Weiser: How to Double Business and Work Half as Much
Quick statistics on New York Life Chairman's Councilman* Earl Weiser: age 63, Qualifying and Life Member of MDRT, services about 900 clients, sells 75 percent life/25 percent other products, clients' ages range from 45 to 75, sells mainly to professional and executive markets, employs a staff of three.

Earl Weiser, a 32-year NYLIC veteran agent, is currently aiming to double his business and work half as much. "It's going to be an uphill climb, but I'm ready for it," Weiser states. "I'm ready to put into place the keys that will let me retire to Florida 50 percent of the time and start living the good life."

Weiser's journey to the "good life" has been a successful one, but it hasn't always been as an agent. First hired as an office manager trainee in 1957, Weiser didn't become a member of the Field Force until eight and a half years later, when he went on a sales call with agent Irby Dugas.

"I can still remember Irby introducing me to his soon-to-be client: 'This is Earl Weiser, and he's going to help me cover everything you need to know about insurance.' We made the sale, and driving back in the car it hit me: Irby had just made more in half an hour that I would earn in a year." Very soon after that sale, Weiser joined the Field Force.

Overcoming Obstacles
Selling didn't come easily for Weiser; to put it in his own words, "I'm initially a shy person, so I had to work at my prospecting skills." Weiser did what many new agents do - he went through the telephone book and picked out people he knew, or families he knew, or his wife knew. "I never did get through the entire phone book," Weiser reflects, "but it did get me started on people to call." Next, he practiced his sales talk over and over again. "I practiced at home, in the car, at the office. Before any sales call, I'd already gone through every possible scenario in my head."

It paid off. In his first year, Weiser made three times what he earned the previous year. He made New York Life's Star Club* in his first six months, the following year Top Club*; his third year President's*; his fourth, Charter Member of the Chairman's Council*. "I had the 10 applications a month for 20 consecutive years," he concludes.

Weiser recommends to anyone with a streak of prospecting shyness to "just do it; you'll surprise yourself. I turned the corner on my prospecting skills in about six months."

Selling to primarily small businesses, executives, and business owners, Weiser sells mostly life insurance and other financial products that assist his clients in meeting their estate planning needs. "I've come full circle with many of my clients: I helped them create wealth 30 years ago and now I'm trying to preserve it for them and their family," he notes.

Weiser's Future Plans
Currently, Weiser's plan of doubling business without spending all his time at the office entails working with his successor agent and son, Executive Councilman* Matt Weiser. The two are going to second and third generations of Earl's initial client base.

Weiser also hopes to double his business by bringing in bigger clients through expansion of his centers of influence. He plans on contracting attorneys, CPAs, and trust officers in the area and explaining how he may be able to help them help their clients. "We'll give the centers price quotes on insurance, whatever they need," Weiser states. In return, the centers may recommend Weiser to their clients. "I hope to bring an influx of new people into my business by early 1998," he notes.

Weiser also plans to cultivate a new market in Florida: people with business insurance needs and needs for insurance for estate planning. "I plan on meeting many prospects on the golf course," he smiles to himself. "Hopefully, if I can be of some assistance to them, I'll complete my goal of not only doubling my business and working half as much, but have a little fun, too."

Tony Accardo: Tips on Growing into Your Market and Replenishing It
Quick statistics on New York Life Chairman's Councilman* Tony Accardo: age 58, services about 1,200 policyowners, about 50 percent of his clients buy financial products/50 percent life, almost 80 percent of new business through referrals, sells mainly to the business market, employs one secretary.

Tony Accardo, a 30-year agent, was affected by the power of life insurance at a young age. "My dad died when I was 12 years old, and because he had enough insurance for me and my sister, we both went to college," Accardo remembers.

Accardo came with five years' business experience before joining New York Life in 1965. He initially focused his selling energies on the business market, "but I looked too young - they didn't believe me," he laments. Plan B turned out to be selling to the young, growing families of New Orleans - many of whom have since started businesses, become lawyers, etc.

"Essentially, I grew with my market. When I was in my late 20s and early 30s I sold to people in their 20s and 30s. I sold them life, disability, and sometimes health insurance. In my late 30s and early 40s, I started selling them business insurance and signing up their employees with Voluntary Payroll Deduction plans. Around the mid-80s, I could see my original client base was 'topping out' with insurance and needed other types of financial product," Accardo remembers. About this time, NYLIFE Securities Inc. came out with the mutual funds, and as Accardo states: "My clients were ready for this type of investment vehicle."

It wasn't easy for Accardo to sell these new variable products. "I had difficulty switching the selling gears - I was so used to selling guaranteed products," he remembers. But after getting the appropriate licenses to sell securities, he did it. He attended seminars sponsored by New York Life; he also read about investments in newspapers and magazines, and he talked with former investment advisors and brokers. "I bet my clients accepted the risk with variables easier that I did," he confides.

Growing with Clients
A key technique that has helped Accardo over the years is adding to his client base through the sale of other types of insurance. "Do it with pre-approved seminars, do it with cold calls, but do it," he urges.

Accardo prospects for younger customers with insurance by placing weekly pre-approved ads in local newspapers and by sending a prospecting letter to clients and business owners twice a year.

Sometimes Accardo places a policy on the prospect's children, other times it's a policy to help supplement Medicare on the parents or in-laws. The interested prospect may not buy much right then, but as Accardo relates, "My clients hear from me five times a year: on their birthdays and with the New York Life's client newsletter, Intouch. Sooner or later I'll know about their changing needs.

Accardo's #1 Passion: Horses
At this point in his selling career much of Accardo's new business is by referral, about 80 percent of his book. "I've got it down now where I can follow up on my #1 passion, showing my quarter horses. I've worked hard to get here," he smiles, "and I'm going to take advantage of it while I can."

Sidney Triche: People Skills Are Key
Quick statistics: New York Life Chairman's Councilman* Sid Triche, age 61, charter member of New York Life's Chairman's Council* and Life Member of Councils*, services 2,000 clients with successor agent Jack Doverspike in an office of four people, mostly handles business insurance, life, group, 401(k) funding, insurance for estate conservation. Triche is one of New York Life's leading annuity sellers.

Bayou LaFourche winds its way down Louisiana like a long highway, taking in the plantations, the ship yards, the shrimp boats. Often talked of as "the longest street in the world," the bayou starts at the cross-section of Donaldsonville, Louisiana and the Mississippi River and ends at the Gulf of Mexico. About midway is Larose, a small town of about 5,000 people, and a place Sid Triche calls home.

Triche has been selling insurance in Larose for 32 years, and when you first meet him, you can't help but notice his love of alligators - they're pictured on the office wall from his alligator farm a mile away, a prized gator sits stuffed in the corner, his shoes are made of alligator skins. "If you come to Larose in early spring, gators come right off the bayou and sun themselves on my back lawn here," he points.

These are the best of times for Sid Triche, but he's also seen the worst of times - when the oil industry went bust in the early 1980s. Before the industry fell apart, Larose was mainly a boating community and almost everybody worked for the oil industry - mostly renting boats for offshore drilling. "I was selling million dollar policies back then, and it looked like there was no end in sight."

Unfortunately, there was, and after the oil crash, many of Larose's own couldn't find any work and had to sell their boats and eventually their businesses. What kept Triche's business alive was his knack for keeping in tune with his client's needs. "I think my people skills came in handy," he notes. "I convinced most of my clients of the value of their life insurance by showing them the importance of the benefits to not only their family, but their business, as well."

Showing Clients His People Skills
Triche's consistent production (he's made Chairman's Council* every year and in 1978, finished third in the company) has made agents from other offices take notice and ask: "Where's Larose, and how can an agent from such a small town consistently have that kind of production?" To hear Triche tell it, it's all about showing your people skills: listening to clients, servicing their needs, convincing clients to keep their policies even in the worst of times.

The oil industry is back in Larose today, so Triche isn't having to convince clients to keep their policies - he's having to keep up with his client base of about 2,000 - which is made up of clients he's had for years - many of whom are now sons of the fathers he once insured in the early '70s. "They're running the boat businesses now, and they're making a good dollar. In fact, there's not an offshore boat business that isn't working right now. The oil companies are waiting in line for them."

Planning the Future
One way Triche keeps his clients happy is by never over-extending himself. "I deliver only what I say I can deliver," he states, "and that means I use my staff to service clients to the fullest extent." Triche has a staff of two secretaries, Pam Callais and Toni Pitre, and his successor agent, son-in-law and President's Councilman* Jack Doverspike. The two have been together for 10 years. "Jack and I have consistently brought in about 25 new clients a year."

When asked about retirement, he cringes. "I'm not ready, yet. I've got the best of both worlds right now: I don't have to work, but I like what I do. My office atmosphere is peaceful and near my home, I don't have to fight traffic to get to work and if a client calls to go play golf, I can just go. New York Life has given me the opportunity to reach the goals I had only dreamed of. That's why I don't broker any of my business; it's 100 percent New York Life."

June Milam: Persistence is Everything
Quick statistics: New York Life Executive Council* member June Milam, age 66, services about 800 policy owners. About 50 percent of her business is individuals/50 are business, about 50 percent of her yearly production is existing policyowners, she sells mostly life products, works in an office of four people, including her successor agent Wayne Thomas.

June Milam is a trail-blazer of sorts, a kind of Gloria Steinem in the New Orleans Office. Milam would never characterize herself this way, but once you read her background it becomes clear: one of the first women agents hired in the New Orleans Office in 1966, past member of New York Life's Women's Network and the company's Agents Advisory Council*, past board member of the Greater New Orleans Chapter of Women Business owners, and past president of the New Orleans Life Underwriters Association (she received the association's "Man of the Year" award in 1976).

Soft-spoken and extremely focused, Milam had a single purpose in mind when she first started selling insurance in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans: "I wanted to show women they could enter the workforce and make the sale - all they had to do was be persistent, know what they were talking about, and sell to the needs of the prospect."

Milam's Selling style
A sheriff's secretary for 18 months prior to joining New York Life, Milam learned how to approach male prospects early on. "You learn how to read your audience quickly and you always have in mind what you want to say." (This apparently worked for her husband, Walker Milam, too. "I brought him into the business about two years after I became a NYLIC agent, but we've never worked in the same market.")

It was hard that first year for Milam. "In the beginning, men didn't take me seriously. They were unaccustomed to women who could discuss business and finances on their level," she remembers, and with a quick smile adds: "Women sure have come a long way in the business world over the last 35 years."

Milam didn't let this impede her ability to sell insurance - she just worked around it. For instance, when a businessman refused to buy a policy from her in the late 1960s, she took a male agent back with her the next time. Not surprisingly, the client bought the policy. "Later, he told me he wouldn't have bought it if the other gentleman hadn't come with me," she remembers. "I wasn't pleased with the situation, but I felt I'd met the client's needs."

This kind of prospect was more the rule than the exception for Milam, "but there wasn't anything I could do about it," she quips, "so I adapted." Milam continued to adapt to her surroundings and through sheer persistence and product knowledge began building a base.

Milam: The Here and Now
Today, Milam services about 800 clients and has a successor agent in President's Council* member Wayne Thomas. (Wayne's father, New York Life's 1970 Top Club* President Clay Thomas, brought Milam into the business.)

"I know Wayne will be able to service my book of business on a consistent basis - I've seen how he relates to his own clients for the past 27 years," she smiles. Of late, Milam leaves more time for her community work by delegating more service work to staff and doing joint work with Thomas.

"We didn't have a shelter for battered women in Metairie, and I thought it was a needed service." Milam has helped raise about $1 million for the shelter. "I feel you have to ask yourself: Will you be an optimist or a pessimist? Will you be a taker or a giver? I think as agents we have an obligation to give back to our communities in whatever way we can," she concludes.

Don Chauvin: Maintaining Stable Agent-Client Relationships
Quick statistics: New York Life Executive Councilman* Don Chauvin, New Orleans Office, age 59, signed his NYLIC contract in 1965 and spent two years in management from 1968. He has been active in the Life Underwriters Association (LUA) for 31 years. Betty, his wife of 31 years, and he have five children. Don sells mainly whole life, mutual funds, and variable annuities to the pre-retired and retired market. He credits his success to his mentor, retired agent W. A. Romero, who brought him into the business. NYLIC agent Bert LeBoeuf, his partner, and he share office space in Houma, just 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.

Located on US 90, Houma, Louisiana is a little less than 60 miles southwest of New Orleans, but the city seems a million miles away.

are giving lunch recommendations off a local menu. "Redfish courtboullion, frog legs, jambalalua, crawfish bisque, or etoufee you can try the alligator tails," Chauvin chuckles, "but Northerners sometimes can't get past the look of 'em."

This is Cajun country and you can tell Chauvin (a native of Chauvin, Louisiana, a community south of Houma named for his family's general merchandise store) loves every last bayou in the area. He doesn't hesitate talking up his home town: "We've got the best food, best people, best hunting around - you name it, we've got it."

Chauvin has been selling insurance and financial products to the people of Terrebonne Parish for over 30 years. When asked the secret of his longevity, he responds: "People around here appreciate my people skills more than anything else. Also, I just care about the people I sell to - people can sense that - and in turn, they trust me and refer business."

But it's more than that. Recovering from bypass surgery just last year, Chauvin knows the value of life and what matters. "I've slowed down a little, seen things with a new eye. You realize how lucky you are to have your health, family, and a chance to help other people. I pride myself in having been with New York Life for 32 years."

His Clientele
Chauvin met many of his 1,500 clients when he was a school teacher at a local junior high school and from Robert Dupont, a 40-year plus NYLIC agent. "I've kept clients educated, insured, and financially covered in times of need. Even when the area was going through difficult economic shifts, like in the mid-80s when the oil industry went south, my clients held on to their New York Life products."

Chauvin hopes to sell more life insurance in the future. Selling primarily to individuals, he estimates variable products are about 70 percent of his business and life insurance, 30 percent. Many of Chauvin's clients are conservative in nature, and for the most part, are about to retire, or have already done so - about 90 percent are aged 45+.

Chauvin realizes he should be going after younger clients and vows to do something about that: "Many of the baby boom generation in this area are in need of insurance and they have the means to pay for it. A lot of new business down here results from the expanded oil fields and new medical communities. They've attracted new people."

Other goals include drilling down into his book of business and finding out what other products his clients need. "I've only cross-sold products to 20 percent of my book of business, which means I've got a lot of analyzing to do in 1998."

One Last Tip
While his career has many high points, Chauvin's one disappointment is not having achieved CLU or ChFC designations, while having come close. "If I could give agents one tip it would be to get their professional education. Like the late Ben Feldman (a NYLIC agent known in the industry as the greatest life insurance agent in the world) used to say, 'Knowledge is power.'"

But so is his unique attitude toward getting the most out of life and helping others to do the same. "I've learned to take a good Cajun bite out of life, because it could all end in a heartbeat."

* Chairman's Council, President's Council, Executive Council, Top Club, Star Club, and Million Dollar Round Table are agent organizations based on performance. This article originally appeared in New York Life's agent magazine, The Review.