BYOP

When I ask around for reasons for this, here are common responses: "I have enough assets to meet the financial need in other ways." "I really don't need that kind of product." "I'm just waiting a little longer–have a lot of expenses right now." "I can't qualify due to a health condition." Some just admit to procrastination and oversight–e.g., "the shoemaker's kids get no shoes, ha-ha."

All of that is plausible. However, on more than a few occasions, I've sensed a generalized disinterest and/or lack of confidence in the product type itself. No one admits to that, of course, at least not to me, but it surfaces in the reticence that some people emit.

For sake of argument, though, let's assume the main reason is procrastination. (It's certainly a possibility.)

If that's the case, it's still a pretty damning statement about the importance professionals assign to their product/service and the need to set an example for others. It's also a sure-fire way to hurt the bottom line. If there is no sense of urgency for the staff to own it, what possible sense of urgency or interest can the staff be expected to imbue in customers?

In financial circles today, there is much talk about finding ways to generate more sales and organic growth. And lots of people are trotting out solutions–technology, marketing, managerial, legislative, systems, etc. This is the buzz of the day (along with regulatory oversight and compliance).

But not many people are talking about solutions involving staffers having a personal stake in product types they handle. This is not to say that such investment will make sales problems vanish overnight or growth skyrocket in an instant. But it's a good bet that product understanding will increase among staffers, and so, too, will staff interest in the business and its customers. Over the long term, the energy this creates can be infectious and a certain draw for customers.

Successful long term care professionals often recount how they entered the field after they saw loved ones going through an LTC experience. Their sales flow from their commitment, they often say.

Many successful life insurance professionals say something similar–that they entered the business after seeing a surviving loved one receive little or no death benefit (or, alternatively, receive an ample death benefit). They found their motivation in the personal experience.

Most successful teachers say they never grasped their subject areas until they started teaching. Then, they got it and could convey excitement about it to students.

Hands-on experience is so dynamically linked with success that it is difficult to see any advantage at all in not owning what you sell and not following your own financial advice. In other words, BYOP–buy your own products.