How to succeed in sales without much training: improving your performance in the current...

SALES TRAINING WAS ONCE considered essential to any financial services company. It was for me when I began selling insurance in the early 1970s.

We learned plenty about the business, but we also learned about connecting with clients, about the human drama of sales. My job was to empathize, to understand prospects' fears and aspirations, and to guide them on a road that led to financial security and peace of mind.

My training also taught me that sales should never he relegated to the bottom of the economic food chain. Done properly, it helps others achieve th