Selling Life Insurance: From Winging It to Winning, Sydney’s Breakthrough Sales Process

And I felt like, oh wow, I've done pretty well the past year and a half or so in the industry. And now I feel like I know nothing and I have so much to learn. That's what attracted me to Dana. Like we had really good conversations while I was there. I think she tried to simplify it for me as much as possible. Like she knew I had no training whatsoever and said, just find out why these people filled out this form in the first place and find out who they're trying to protect. The stakes. Yeah, that's what she taught. I took that and then the next day I sold 10 policies and had like $10,000 AP the next day. Welcome back to another episode of the Life Insurance Academy podcast. We have a very special guest that flew in all the way from Welsh, Louisiana. In fact, she flew in to be at one of our boot camps here in Louisville, Kentucky with the Life Insurance Academy team. And I think there was some flight issues and she got delayed and came in missing the morning, but she showed up and when she showed up, she started putting up and she made a big difference. I'm excited to have in studio today, Ms. Sydney Desatel from Welsh, Louisiana. Welcome to the Life Insurance Academy podcast. Sydney, what's going on? Not too much. I'm super excited to be here, Roger. Yeah? Yes. How does it feel to be here? It feels really good. I love that y'all do the boot camps and stuff like that. Just getting in the room with everyone. It feels so good. Just feeding off of everyone's energy and all of that. So I feel like I do better. I love seeing people. Yeah, it's been a blast. Now we met probably six or seven months ago for the first time. In? Waco, Texas. June? June. Yeah, so five months ago, six months ago, roughly. Yeah. In Waco, Texas. Yes, Waco, Texas. And that was our first time getting connected and you came into Waco, Texas. We were hosting a telesales boot camp in the Alaco building sponsored by American Amicable Life. They actually hosted us to do an event there. And we had agents come in from all over the country. And at that time, you had just found a new relationship and they invited you to that event. And we got to meet for the first time. What was it like to walk into that room in that environment? Because you were just transitioning. I wasn't even fully contracted with y'all yet. So I remember being very nervous and just a little confused because I'd never seen anything like that before. The boot camp, just having everyone in a room making calls, being coached, I'd never seen anything like that before. I felt, I think part of me was scared because I felt like, oh my gosh, I have so much to learn and everyone knows so many things and I don't. I was super intimidated too. But I warmed up pretty quickly and it was such a learning experience. So yeah. It was fun. We were on like the 17th floor. We took over the whole floor. You're like, what is going on in this room? We got a tour of the Am Am building. Everything like went on the rooftop all the way down to the basement. It was so fun. I know. We had a lot of fun, great food. We had some great after events things back at the hotel. Everyone got to hang out and connect and talk. So that's my first time meeting you. So from then till now, it's been a pleasure watching your journey and watching you get plugged in. Let's rewind a little bit because new people that are watching always wanna know who is this person? Why am I watching them? And what am I gonna learn to apply to my business? But for those of you that are watching, the backstory of how people got started I think is very important because everybody comes into this business a different way. How did you find this business? What were you doing in Welsh, Louisiana? And how did you find your way into life insurance sales? Yeah, I never, first of all, I never imagined I'd be doing this, right? I don't feel like anyone's like, I'm gonna be a life insurance broker whenever I grow up, right? It just kind of happened in my early 20s. I served and bartended and stuff like that. And multiple people had tried to recruit me. I don't remember where they were from, and I entertained it a little bit but never really took it seriously. I was actually living in Minnesota when I got licensed. Yeah, I was thinking about going back to school. I thought maybe I wanted to go for nursing because I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was 26 or no, 27 or 28 at the time. Had no idea what I wanted to do. So I was working in a hospital rooming patients about to go back to school for nursing. And a friend of mine was like, you really need to try sales. Like, I think you would do really well. And I had friends who were in the industry and I knew them before they got licensed. And I saw how they were doing now. And I'm like, let me ask them what they're doing. And that's how it happened. I just reached out and ended up getting my license. And yeah, it's been a journey since then. So you've only been in the business two years. Two years. And what's that been journey like? What's that journey been like? And how are you doing now? It's been all over the place. Okay. So I started off at a captive company. Was there for five months, I think. And it was hard, right? So I didn't have any sales experience. I just knew how to talk to people. Didn't have any training or anything like that. I thought sales was- That's exactly what I thought it was. I didn't know that there was a method behind anything or a process behind anything. So I didn't really have much training. I just started making calls. And it was, I'll be honest with you, it was hard, like really, really hard. I did really well. Like on paper, everything looked great, but I struggled a lot emotionally because it was like, you know, you're trying really, really, really hard to be liked on the phone because I didn't have any proper training. And so, and that's, I feel like whenever you don't know exactly what you're doing, or you don't have a process behind anything, it just makes it really stressful. Because it's like, is this person going to give me, I'm in an application, are they going to give me their banking and their social? You know? Yeah. So it was a journey. Eventually I went independent after about five months of being at the captive company. And I did a lot better being independent, right? Like got a bunch of carriers, still didn't know what I was doing. Yes. And I think in May, that's whenever I met Dana. And you got invited to Cody Askin's Ultimate Agent. Right. I met Dana. She was a coach on Ultimate Agent. And are we going into detail about that right now? Are we talking about that? Sure, we can. Because I've been a mentor on the Ultimate Agent for the first two, you know, the year one and year two. And I think Chris with the Life Insurance Academy, he was a coach and mentor on this last one that you were at. But you got invited to go to that event. What happened at that event and what did you learn there? I learned a lot. So. You were exposed to other top producing agents. Right, I was. I think what hit me when I was there, this sounds funny, but I felt like everyone else knew what they were doing, except for me. Did you have major imposter syndrome? 100%. Yeah. You're like, why am I even here? I'm like, how do they know their numbers? And what are they, they keep talking about a process. Like, what are they talking about? I thought everyone just wings every phone call. Oh no. And yeah, I struggled. I mean, I ended up doing well. Like I think I did 16,000 that week. But the big, I think that it was this shock initially because there were other people just talking about so many things that I didn't understand because I was never taught those things, right? I was never taught a process. I didn't know there was supposed to be one. Yeah. And so I'll never forget this moment. Whenever Dana was there, I'm having this really hard conversation. I think it was some guy in New Jersey. Okay, and he was throwing me around on that phone call. Oh, okay. And Dana was trying to coach me and she's like, consequence question. And you're like, what's a consequence question? Oh no. And she told me later on, she was like, oh gosh, she doesn't know. And so it was, I'm so grateful for that experience. I look back and it was hard because it was like everything that I thought that I knew to be true was not. And then I felt like, oh wow, I've done pretty well the past year and a half or so in the industry. And now I feel like I know nothing and I have so much to learn. But that's what attracted me to Dana. Like we had really good conversations while I was there. And actually the day after she coached, I think she tried to simplify it for me as much as possible. Like she knew I had no training whatsoever. So she really simplified it for me and said, just find out why these people filled out this form in the first place and find out who they're trying to protect. The stakes. Yeah, that's what she taught. I took that and then the next day I sold 10 policies and had like $10,000 AP the next day. And I remember- It was like an epiphany, right? You were like, what's happening? Wait, this stuff works, you know? Like this stuff works. And yeah, it was an epiphany, you know? So yeah, it was quite the experience. Yeah. Are you ready to launch your intern's career? Excel Solutions is your go-to leader in life, accident, and health insurance pre-licensed training. Their cutting edge e-learning platform is packed with rich content. 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And we did a Waco takeover, and that was fun. And you started this like 18 months into the business. You basically started this journey where you realized, okay, there's actually a way that you can plug in, learn a system, learn a sales process, learn that there's principles to communication here. And I can apply these, and I can duplicate them and replicate them, and I can actually teach them to other people. Yes, because that's what I struggled with so much, Roger. At the previous agency that I was where I was, I did well because I could talk to a tree if you put a tree in front of me, right? But I would get- Yeah, there's some Sydney energy when you get around you. I mean, everybody knows when Sydney walks in the room, right? Yeah, so I can talk to people. That doesn't mean that I had a process by my phone calls, but I knew how to start conversation. But then I would get agents, and I don't know how to teach that, right? And so I had a lot of trouble trying to duplicate that, not to mention it gets exhausting for when that's all you're relying your phone calls on. Like, that's exhausting, you know? It's like, there's no, what's the word I'm looking for? There's like no stability. I can't, I never knew if I was gonna make the sale or not. And then once I realized that there's a process behind all of this, and if I just, you know, if I take them through this process, if I ask the right questions, I can kind of figure out- Have the stakes conversation. Right. Asking consequential questions. Exactly, I can, I have a pretty good idea that I'm gonna be able to help this person, you know? And that was so new to me. It was hard to build a team where I was originally because I didn't know how to, if you didn't know how to talk to a tree, then I didn't know if I'd be able to help you or not, right? So it was like this breath of fresh air whenever I came over here and started learning the process, the sales process. Cause I was like, wow, I can actually teach this, you know? And so you connected with Dana at Empower Life Group. She was invited to be one of the mentors and coaches. Dana had just recently gone through a transition. Dana has been on the podcast twice. And so interviewed her right as, after she got her contract terminated with Lincoln. Great company, but they decided they didn't want to do telesales anymore. And then I guess you got connected to her and thought, hey, there's a great teacher here. What's it been like to be part of an environment where there's daily structure, just in showing up daily? Like that alone is probably different. And then training, call reviews, objection handling. All right, let's get on the phone together. What's it like being in a community that is allowing you now to thrive knowing that there is a structure and you get to use the Sydney energy? Right, it's been amazing. Dana, she has changed my life, my career, my business in ways that I can't even verbalize. But just as far as the training and stuff like that goes, it's been, I still learn stuff, right? Like I still go to every training that we have. And I still like take notes and learn things, but it's so helpful to having new agents come on. And it's like, you're getting, everyone knows Dana, right? Like she has a YouTube channel with so many people. And I think it's just really cool being able to learn from someone that I genuinely think is the best. And yeah, it's so helpful. For new people that are coming in, a lot of young people, right? I have a daughter who's 20, she's in college now. She's a junior getting ready to go in. She's getting ready to study abroad actually next semester in Spain. And then she's got one year to finish and she's in business school and her and her friends, right? There's so many things coming at you in your early 20s. And it sounds like in your early 20s, there was a lot of things coming at you and you were just trying to figure out who Sydney is, right? There's a lot of people out there just like you that are trying to figure out who they are. What would you say to those people about finding a community that values who you are and who you can become and makes that the priority rather than what they can get from you? There's a difference when a relationship, because I think there's a lot of, I don't even know how to say this correctly. Let me try to say this sensitively and also in a way that it makes sense. There's a lot of organizations or opportunities when they get connected with you, they see you as the commodity that they can use for their benefit, right? And I think the best cultures and the best organizations are built when people are invited in to a relationship where they're investing in you to help you develop, to become the best person you can become. Because I think there's this reciprocation that takes place. If you feel invested into and cared for and valued for your future and what your potential is, man, that creates synergy, alignment, that creates a culture that becomes unstoppable. What do you say to young ladies out there getting started in the business where they might feel like they're commoditized, for lack of a better word, that was the word I was trying to navigate a minute ago, where they may be seen for what they can, what other people can extract from them rather than being invested into. What's the difference? And what would you say to those people? First, I would say that you can feel that, right? There's this icky feeling that we get and you will never grow if you stay in an environment like that. You can sell some policies and stuff like that, but as far as growing personally and professionally and being respected, it's really, really, for me it was impossible to grow in an environment like that because I've been in an environment like that, right? Environments, maybe even in the bar culture when you were bartending, right? I did not make the best choices early on in life. And a lot of people don't. Right, I really, I struggled. So that kind of environment meant to me was very normal. And- Did you realize it was not a healthy environment when you're in it? It's hard sometimes to see that, isn't it? When you're in it. When chaos is your normal, it's hard to see, right? Yeah. It's like, for me, I knew, I had, part of me knew, but I thought that the whole industry was like that because that was my introduction to the industry. So I just thought that's how everyone was or that's how it was everywhere. And it had been, you know, I had put myself in environments like that since I was younger, right? So again, it was so normal to me and it's really hard. Yeah, I feel like part of me knew. I just didn't know that there was more out there. I didn't know that it was possible to be around people in the industry who would invest in you personally and professionally, didn't really want anything from you except to see you succeed, right? And, you know, for you to work and invest in yourself also, but I just, I didn't know that it was possible. So coming from my previous environment and then coming into something like this, it's like, for the first time, for the first time, like I saw the light, right? I thought like I was gonna be stuck in this environment where it just didn't necessarily align with me. And I knew I was meant for more. I knew I wanted to grow more, but I didn't understand, like I didn't know that it was possible. So I came here and Roger, we've had some amazing conversations that have really made me take a look at myself and think like I can do better, right? I've had those conversations with Dana too. Like this is how we present ourselves. This is what, just so many conversations that have made me want to be better. So when you put yourself around people who, you know, embody how you, how do I even word this? Who just kind of show up, like I look at Dana and I'm like, that's the energy that, that's how I want to present myself. That's how I want my life to look very similar to hers. And I trust her fully. I know that she cares about me. I know that she doesn't, she's not using me for anything in return. When you're in an environment like that, you feel safe. And then you're like, I want to do better because that's what I'm around. All of these people are ethical and they're, you know, they're super successful and they respect themselves and they respect other people. And it's possible to go really far in this industry when you're doing the right thing, right? And I think, yeah, I could say a lot about that situation. I'm, thank you, but I'm just, I'm so grateful. I found- What would you say to, what would you say to young ladies that are out there, maybe in an environment like that? What would your advice be? I would say to get out, there's better. There's places that will respect you. That don't care, don't just care about the numbers on the leaderboard or what you look like or what you, there's people who care, genuinely care and want to see you succeed. And the longer that you stay, the more stock that you will fill. And it's really scary to make a transition when chaos is your normal, right? But I think you will thank yourself. I know you will thank yourself if you get out of an environment like that around people who want to see you grow. That's so good. All right, I'm going to switch gears just a little bit because I know that was a little bit deep. So thank you for being transparent. I really appreciate that. You love to have fun. I do. You've been to a couple of our bootcamps. You just were at one here in Louisville. You attended one in California. What's the energy like in the bootcamp? And why should people attend? Oh my gosh, it's so fun. Well, first I'll say this, like it's really cool to learn from people. You have people like, I know Clark's been on your podcast, Elvira. You have people like that at your bootcamps and it's, they've been in the, well, Elvira has been in the industry longer. Clark is just really good, right? And then, so you get to learn from people like that, but also the energy is amazing, right? I do better around people. Like when I hear people on the phone, it motivates me. Like I just, I think the energy is what is the best part, just being around so many good people, right? Wait, I froze. I forgot the question. No, the question was what's it like to be in the environment? Yeah, it's a blast. And for new people, what would they learn from one of those environments? Right. So yeah, just being around the, just the energy in general. Also, like, it's really cool because I know some guy, Jason was sitting behind me. Jason Gilbert, yeah, Anchor Point Jason. He's sitting behind me and I'd hear him have some rough calls or he'd start getting frustrated. He'd get up, throw the ball with somebody. You know, it's just so good because I feel like a lot of times the phone call doesn't go the way you want to or no one's answering or everyone seems to have a doctor's appointment that day or no one can find their bank information that day. And then when we're home alone, it's really easy to just step away and say, I'm done for the day. I need to take the rest of the day off. When you're around that many people, it motivates you to stay in your seat or, you know, let me go take a lap real quick and then sit back down and start dialing again. And I think, I know for me, that happened to me and I ended up making a sale, you know, two actually after that. So just being around people in general and keeping that energy alive is really fun. You have this fun side of you. You love to karaoke and I love that you said, I love to karaoke and I'm really good at it. I also love my nieces more than anything in the whole world. This is, we asked you what a fun fact was. I had Tori Haskell, I know you know Tori, she's been on the podcast. I asked her and she started talking about Pokemon cards and with you, it's karaoke. You love to sing. I do, I don't sing well, but I love to karaoke. My outlook on life, Roger, is like, if we're having fun and the energy's good, we just do better in general. I know for me, as long as I'm happy and having fun, that's how I do better. And yeah, karaoke's one of those things that I really love to do. The new agents working with you, and I love the name of your company, by the way, Brightside Financial. Brightside, why'd you choose Brightside? Funny story behind that. I could not figure out a name for my agency. I start asking, actually at the fall meet, I started asking people to help me come up with a name because I couldn't figure out one on my own. And almost everyone said something along the lines of like, I don't know, sun or like bright or just stuff like that. That was almost everyone's recommendation. And I couldn't figure out, I'm like, okay, it's not gonna be sun financial, right? So I couldn't, we never came up with a name. Then I get back and I'm talking to Dana on Slack and she said something. She said something about like, oh, Sydney, you still didn't come up with an agency name. And I said, can we look on the bright side, Dana? I have a few options. And she literally replied, Brightside Financial. And that's how the name came about. Well, it suits your energy. So you tend to have an optimistic outlook on life, even though that you've had to navigate your way through some challenges to get there. I do believe you have an optimistic outlook. When new agents are working with you, so you've got people that are listening, they're watching, they may be listening on Apple and they may never see us, but they're hearing us. What do you say to those people about what they can experience if they work with you? You even talked about an agent university, having tools and resources, training, dialers, tracking, and most importantly, a culture and a community to thrive in. What would you say to new people about what they would experience if they work with you? Yeah, so again, so like, whenever you get started immediately, we have this whole agent university, right? And by the way, I'm gonna interrupt her. This girl can put up some numbers, okay? Her best month was about 43,000. And while she was telling me 43,000, she downplayed it. She says, and I'm almost even embarrassed to say that because I'm in the room with people who put up 30,000 in a week. And I'm like, hey, 43,000 in a month is nothing to sneeze at. I mean, even if 25 or 30% of that doesn't stick or falls off, you're still a quarter million dollar earner if you stay consistent with that. So I just wanna give some credibility here. It's not just a smiling face you're talking to. This girl knows how to talk to people. She now has a structure and a system. I see it. I mean, I listen to you on the phone. I'm actually watching you in the last bootcamp. You're talking to people. You got shoes off, a blanket wrapped around your legs, sitting there eating cheesecake with cherries on top, talking to your client, asking information about their health. Like this is who you are, right? But now you're confident because you have a process. So like, I wanted to paint that picture. Top producing person eating cheesecake and cherries, shoes off, like just being herself. New people coming in the industry, they need to know that it can be like that, but it's more than that. It's a system, it's a structure, it's a community. Tell us about that, what new people can expect. Yeah, so just the very basics, like in general, when you get started going through the university, it's like your launching pad for everything. Everything's explained, the CRM, the dialer, the leads, carrier trainings, right? Everything logistically that you need, right? After that, we have trainings. Dana provides trainings every day. So you're getting an hour training daily from the best of the best. And we get one on, we have something called live dials where when you're making calls to a client, Dana's in there coaching you via chat on Zoom. So it's like you get that live training from her. You also get to the leaders. So people like me and Tori and others on the team are also do live dials. So we'll unmute ourselves while we're dialing so that new people can come in and listen. So there's just so many ways that you can learn. The trainings are really interactive too. So you have questions, Dana's answering them. It's so helpful. I touch base, I have a morning meeting with my agents every single day. We'll do script role play if that's needed, but we're touching base once a day also. So you're never alone. There's just help everywhere. Because I know that feeling of feeling like, I don't even know what questions to ask because there's so much that I don't know. I don't even know what I don't know. And over here, I feel like a lot of those questions are answered before you even figure out that you need to ask the questions. I like to keep positive energy. I feel like the more positive we are, the more optimistic we are, the better we will do. And so I love keeping that energy. Because again, I know what it's like to struggle, right? This industry can be so hard emotionally, especially in the beginning. You're investing money, you don't even feel like you have yet. You're taking a chance before you trust the process. But I feel like if we can keep the energy good, positive, and you have all of the tools and resources that you need, then you have everything that you could possibly need to succeed. What do you see in your future? So, I mean, I'm building right now, right? I see a really successful agency. That's my goal. I want to be, I think because I have experienced not so great at other agencies, it is so important to me, for women especially, to know that there's more. I feel like my why is to show people that this industry, it's really good and there's good people. And it's safe, you can be around people who really, really care and want to see you grow personally, professionally. I would love to have a big agency of people who not just producing agents, but other leaders too. I love being the person that Dana has been for me, that you have been for me. I see that in my future. That's exciting. Well, ladies and gentlemen that are listening and watching, I want you to hear woven throughout this story and narrative with Sydney today has been this story of trying to find herself, trying to overcome early life decisions coming out of high school and college and trying to figure out who you are and then experiencing what the world is gonna bring you or take from you or ask of you or give to you and then finding a place where you're starting to thrive. So I see it like from survive to thrive is kind of this message that's happening here. You can see that your energy is good. You always bring a smile to everyone's face that you engage with. And so that's one of your strong points. I know you know that and I really appreciate how you've leaned into the community because I just want to tell you here, I'm proud of who you're becoming. And I've seen your journey and I'm watching it happen and I know you've heard me say it this past week in the bootcamp, like we're watching you change your life in front of our very eyes and I'm watching that with you. So it means a lot to me that you're here and you're plugged into a training system that allows you to be a part of a system that's duplicatable and replicatable and teachable, but also a community that honors you for who you are and sees your potential and calls out the best of you to see whose lives you can impact because ultimately I believe we were meant to be difference makers and there's a lot of families out there that we help, but this podcast is designed for new agents and people that might be struggling or wanting to learn and we get to help change their perspective and their life too. And so I think I'm watching you change your life in front of our very eyes. And so I'm excited to maybe revisit this in a year or two and see where Sydney Desautels has come from and where she's going and whose life she's impacted along the way. I think there's a lot of people out there that you're gonna touch. And you'll look back in just a few years and go, wow, what have we built? And it's pretty cool. So I'm excited and thank you for giving me a front row seat to watch it. Thank you, Roger. I really appreciate it. Sydney, how can people reach you? What's your socials? How do they connect with you if they wanna reach out and connect and have a conversation? Okay. So Instagram, we have Sydney underscore Desautels. You're gonna have to spell that. I was gonna say. The whole thing. Let's spell the whole thing. Let's do S-Y-D-N-E-Y underscore D-E-S-H-O-T-E-L. So it's D-E-S hotel. That's a French name. Yes, it is. It's French. So that's on Instagram. You can look me up on Facebook, Sydney Kate Desautels. My middle name's on there. You can reach me. Social is the best way to do it. Just send me a direct message. And that's the easiest way to do it. Well, thank you for being here. Thank you so much, Roger. When you came in, you said, what are these things up on the front? And these are the bobbleheads. Look, they're bobbling for you right now. I love the bobbleheads. And I said, hey, maybe you stick around long enough. You'll get your own bobblehead. So that was a gift from Adam a couple of years ago when we hit a milestone. That's when I know I'll made it, if I have a bobblehead. You get your own bobblehead? I felt like I made it when I got one. I don't know if it fully looks like me, but I'll take it. Yeah, I think it looks like, Chris Balls definitely looks like Chris. I know, I know, it does. Chris's is the best one. He's got his Yeezys on, do you see them? No, I didn't notice the Yeezys. He's got his Yeezys on in there, yeah. Chris needs to start wearing Yeezys. He's been wearing them all week. You didn't notice? Oh yeah, yeah. You're lying. That's all he wears. Chris was wearing Yeezys? Yes. I had no idea. Yes, I know, I know. But he has a pair of Yeezys with the orange band around them like that. I had no idea. Sydney, thank you so much for being here. Thank you, Roger. It's been a pleasure. This is such a pleasure. Congratulations. Can't wait to see your trajectory. Well, ladies and gentlemen, there you go. Another one in the books, a great story. Please like and share and comment. If you've got thoughts about Sydney, if you've got questions, comments, thoughts, if you want to cheer her on, please drop us a note, a comment, and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. Give it a like, give it a thumbs up. Please subscribe. Turn on those notifications so you'll get notified when there's other great interviews and podcasts and teaching that drop just like this. Thank you so much for watching. We'll see you on the next episode of the Life Insurance Academy podcast.