Jim just finished a 7 week odyssey in Romania. He drove over 6,000 kilometers, visiting 30 agencies, trained over 2,300 agents and managers, and visited 25 cities in Romania for ING Romania. As well he presented at the MDRT conference in Romania. As in many companies in most countries of the world, ING was coping with a downturn in the economy. ING chose to pro-act rather than react. They hired Professional Sales Plus, and Jim in particular, to interact, motivate, inspire and change their sales force.

This event was emotionally, intellectually, spiritually and physically demanding. Jim traveled with an interpreter by the name of Adrian Iacobus. Jim and Adrian became great friend through this odyssey. Because of their efforts, they touched a large number of consultants and managers and apparently inspired them. Following is the message Jim conveyed to all who would listen.

Many companies around the world found 2009 and the beginning of 2010 to be difficult and challenging. Consultants and managers were struggling to fill the gap between the customer’s rising expectations of our industry and their diminished trust in us. It is apparent many consultants and managers around the world have walked away from the customer. They do not really listen to or problem-solve with the customer. Far too many have become product pushers rather than relationship managers.

Many consultants and manager do not touch the heart of the customer, show them a process that is focused on the customer or find the gap between where the customer is today and where they would like to be in the future. Therefore they struggle to be successful.

We observed and participated in a very deep and insightful look at the financial services industry. It was so apparent to us that there is a huge gap between what we offer, how we behave and what the customer expects from us. We tried to fill the gap by encouraging the consultants to think more about the customer and behave in manner the brings them closer to customer, and begin to repair the lack of trust they have in us. We gave them processes and tools to allow them to walk with the customer.

We realized this odyssey was truly a gift to us, although it was incredibly demanding, it raised our awareness of the reality all financial services companies is facing as they try to survive and thrive in 2010. The information we learned and the experience we gained will allow us to add greater value to our existing and future clients all around the world.

This trip was a highlight of 22+ years in business in Canada. The Romanians are wonderful and treated us with kindness and courtesy. What an amazing experience. Our thanks to to all of you that allowed and made this happen.

Life seems to be made up of many dichotomies - worker or family man; accumulate wealth or focus on service; take care of your team or take care of your stakeholders. Does this sound familiar?

For some reason each of us are struggling with how to make sense of two seemingly opposing thoughts or concepts. How can I be a good father and a good employee? Am I doing what is best for my team or what is in the best interest of the stakeholders? Can I focus on my needs instead of focusing on getting more money and benefits? Can’t I do both?

I believe that it is important to be aware of these challenges and try to find a way to make them co-exist. We need to find a way to make all the aspects of our lives to become one coherent life. I am an employee, a husband, a son, a team member, and so on. These are not opposing forces that have to be controlled or put away during various activities in my life. I will not go into “worker mode” and neglect my wife. I will not do what is best for my boss and leave my colleagues out to dry.

So go out there and find concepts that seem to oppose and find ways to make them coherent.

Good luck,
Paul Heidema

Dear friend!

I know this is a busy time for you, as you prepare for a break over the Christian holidays, or just the break before the new year. For some of you, life is demanding as you seek the ‘perfect’ gift for your loved ones. Also for many of you, this is a period when you are rushed to finish all your 2009 projects and prepare/plan for 2010. Life is hectic and messy.

Fortunately Bonnie and I do not need to buy the gifts as we do not celebrate Christmas, so therefore we avoid the rush for gifts and all the running around. We do focus on spending time with our family and friends. This year Chris (son) & Leili and Paul (son) & Laila will be home over the holidays. Unfortunately Karin (daughter), Kelly, Miranda and Kendra will not be visiting. We will miss them.

What I like most about this period of the year, it is a time when I can reflect on the past year. Not necessarily about my business which is surviving, thank you God! But I reflect about me. I take time to evaluate my character, qualities, strengths and weaknesses. I am blessed for I feel I have grown in the past year. I think in some areas of my life I am a better person. Don’t get me wrong I am not perfect, I am still under construction as a human being.

What has made me a better person? You have! Whether you are an old friend or a new one. I am so happy you are in my life. We are human beings and to be human, we need interaction with one another. I don’t mean casual or impersonal interaction. I want meaningful interaction. I am thoroughly happy when I have the opportunity to interact with you via e-mail, chat, twitter, verbally or personally face-to-face.

I am going to work hard in 2010 to increase the frequency and quality of my interactions with you. I thank God for who you are and that you are in my life. The nature of our friendship should not be measured by quantity (number of times we interact) but by the quality of our interaction.

I wish you continued good health, surrounded by love, joy and happiness in your heart and soul.

All the best in 2010!

Warmest regards,
Jim

Most business persons and businesses understand the concept of strategic alliances.  The reason to form alliances are many and varied and include such reasons like; monetary, distribution, market access, shared technology and others.  My reason for joining Berteig Consulting is a little unusual.  First reason is that I am an international consultant, trainer and coach.  My international work requires 100-150 days of travel outside North America every year.  I have been doing this for 10 years and it does not hold the same appeal it did in the beginning of the travel.   Don’t misunderstand me, I still like the travel but I pay a price physically.  So joining a reputable and successful Canadian company was appealing to me.

My second reason for the alliance is that I am very impressed with the knowledge, skills, abilities and professionalism that exists in the Berteig Consulting team. Their values were consistent with mine.  During the summer of 2008, Mishkin Berteig (the co-founder of the Berteig Consulting) and I began to investigate how we could work together.

Needless to say we hit it off.  There is mutual respect.  So I made the move to become a CSM and begin to train, coach and consult within his company.  Mishkin and I have already decided to co-write a book about Agile. I have currently written 5 books which are published in 10 languages, one of which is a best seller.  Mishkin and I hope to publish in late 2009. I will continue my international work to some degree, but my strategic relationship with Berteig Consuting will become more important in the coming months and years.

I look forward to adding value to Berteig Consulting, the team members and all of our clients.   I will do what needs to be done to insure the existing and future customers receive the best advice, coaching and training available in the Agile marketplace.   I care about the people at Berteig Consulting and will make sure they receive value from me.  There is a quote I respect … People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care!   We at Berteig Consulting care about the quality of our interactions with our customers and the results of our efforts.

James M. Heidema, CSM, CLU, CIAM
Berteig Consulting team member
James Heidema’s Profile

What is passion and how do you find it!

Certainly this business has something to do with it.  I know our business inside and out and I love it.   So mastering a business probably has something to do with passion. Being a professional versus an amateur.  It is unlikely you can gain passion about something unless to truly learn about it.  Your thirst creates passion, if your thirst is rewarded.

I guess it also about wanting to make a difference.  Make a difference in people’s lives; your customers, your team and yourself.  Being passionate, when rewarded, is very stimulating emotionally, intellectually and physically.  Yes physically!  I am physically energized to do my job because of the intellectual and emotional rewards.

Doing something of value stimulates my spirit.  When the light goes on in the eyes of anyone I train or coach I get such a buzz from it.   When they get it.  When I successfully reach them and they understand.   When they go out an use what I train and it works … WOW!   I explode!

To truly be passionate you need to believe in what you do and not allow doubts to cloud your thinking.

I believe each of us has passion, but most of us keep it bottled up and hoard it for another day.  Some feel they cannot get too excited or too involved, therefore never experience true passion.   I feel my passion gives me special gifts like; persistency, enthusiasm, commitment, energy and great love of what I do.

I hope my passion is well directed and of value to all who recognize it and ultimately to God.

I wish each person would seek and find their inner passion and let it out.  Don’t be afraid to be passionate about what you do or say!

Dear colleagues!

As 2008 draws to a close, I wanted to wish you all the best in 2009. I am sure for some of you, 2008 was a great year, for some it was a good year and others not as good as you expected. I had a good year with many important milestones. My 4th book - The Passionate Service Recipe Book was printed, book 5 - Another Flippin’ Change Book was finished, I added two new languages for my first two books, Russian and Lithuanian. My books are in 9 languages. On a personal note, I celebrated my 35th wedding anniversary and will celebrate my 62 year (December 30) in this world. Most importantly I met and worked with some very interesting people from many cultures which includes you. As well, I have been working with two top teams in Slovakia and one in Greece. These teams are leading in their respective companies and countries.

It is very stimulating and encouraging when the individuals in those teams adopt the ideas I present and therefore lead. Remember these are not all my ideas. I gather the systems, processes and tools from around the world. What is obvious to me is that these ideas work in every culture, if the individual or team is courageous enough to try them. Unfortunately many individuals are afraid or unwilling to try them. As you know, success is a choice. In this business we get out of it (meaning success, money, recognition, whatever) what we put into it.

Individuals can always find excuses not to change their behaviours. This does not only apply to our industry, it applies to every industry; culture, race and person on this planet. We can easily find discouragement everywhere. There are those people who tell us it is not possible and won’t work, whatever we suggest. Those people who do not grow and develop, do not adopt new ideas and are the same people who follow rather than lead. Those people work for others. The leaders work for themselves.

The end of the year and the beginning of a new year is a great time to assess what is working and what needs to change in your business and your life. I encourage you to be honest and assess what you have accomplished in 2008. Then look at what you believe is possible in 2009. Look at your capacity. Can you do more? I believe each of us can do more. The question is … are you willing to do more. Maybe being mediocre is enough for you. Strong words, I know! I have hope and a vision for every person I meet, you included. I see potential and capacity in all. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, some never see their true capacity. Please take advantage of the gift God gave you, your capacity!

This is your wake up call. Wake up and get involved in your business. Take control of your potential. Commit yourself to doing more rather than doing less. You only pass through this reality, this world, once. Why not make the most of it.

For the past 3 months I have written to you on almost a weekly basis. You know how I feel about you. You know that I only want the best for you. You know I see capacity and potential in you. I continue to wish you well. Thank you for listening and thinking about my messages. Hopefully they have some affect upon you.

Have a happy holiday season with your loved ones. Until we chat in 2009, I wish you the best.

Warm regards,
Jim

WinNews-JamesHeidema

Win-news - a newsletter from Slovakia. James Heidema did a seminar with a team to help them become very successful. This was taken in November 2008.

This is a new team Jim is working with in Slovakia - pictured with Michal Tabaka.

Good day my friends!

Winter has arrived in my part of Canada. The ground is covered with snow and the temperature is hovering around 0 degrees Celsius. This must be difficult for you to imagine when you do not even get rain in Cyprus. I love the seasons in Canada and the weather changes makes it very interesting and a positive experience. Generally I love change.

Even when I have to deliver the same seminar to different groups, I never deliver it the same way. Now you may assume that some participants get a better seminar than others. Well, because I pride myself on my professionalism, I make sure every group of participants get value. I acted this way when I was an advisor just like you. I constantly looked for ways to add value to my customers. I think most MDRT members think this way.

My desire to add value gave me a competitive advantage and a competitive edge. It allowed me to reach the top ranks of our profession. I worried about how I could add value and what would that value look like. The first policy I adopted was to ‘under-promise and over-deliver!’ When asked to do something by one of my customers, I would be slow to accept, generous in my response commitment, and then I would always respond sooner and ‘wow’ the customer. Here is an example … the customer asks me to get some information … I would say … humm, I might be able to get it to you in 3 or 4 days, okay? The customer would say ‘okay!’ Then I would get the information right away or the next day and call them back with it. I would say to the customer, that I really valued them and made it a priority to get back to them. The customer would feel special. If gave me a competitive edge.

Another way to gain a competitive edge or advantage was to be more professional than my competitors. I memorized my scripts, practiced and role-played until I knew the word-for-word. Some advisors think memorization is too hard or they feel it is unnecessary. Actually memorization is hard until you get in the habit of doing it. then like anything, the more you do it, the better you get at it. As well memorization allows you to be creative in how you respond to the customer. Memorization empowers you for you always know where you are going and what to say. Most advisors who are struggling don’t memorize or role-play! Remember success is a choice!

As well, my competitive edge is not what I say, it is what I do. As we have talked about before. People do not trust words. They do trust your positive behaviors, actions, gestures and what they can actually see. Are you truly listening to them? They can tell, just like your spouse or child can tell if you are listening by watching your behaviours. Remember to show them and me the money. Don’t promise, don’t say I will try, don’t say I hope, Just do it! As the Nike ads say, just do it!

Soon you will see a video from me. It is a very basic one but hopefully you will get and understand the message loud and clear. Your success, happiness and future is entirely in your hands.

By the way December is a wonderful time to sell insurance. In my next note I will talk about it.

All the best,
Jim

Dear colleagues!

Recently I reviewed your activity and results for the past period since we spent time together.

Some of you are doing extremely well. It seems you are using some parts of the material I presented in the seminar. Remember I told you success is a choice and is based on hard work, no excuses, no blaming and no complaining it is working for some of you. Your business and results have improved. Wonderful!

Some of you are not doing so well. You seem to be blaming your manager or the company for your lack of success. Maybe you are correct, or maybe it is just an excuse. I see this trait all around the world. Unsuccessful people tend to look for reasons outside their own behaviours. It is time for you to toughen up! Remember life is not perfect, s**t happens. Get over it! Move forward. Make sure you are doing everything you should before you point your finger at others. Look at your self first!

Complaining, Blaming and making excuses are unhealthy behaviours. I don’t care about your manager, I care about you. The world is in a recession and you need to survive it. Cyprus is not isolated from the world economy. You will be affected. Those of you who are strong will survive! Others … well it won’t be pretty.

Your strength is in your knowledge, skills and abilities. This is a time to pick up the pace and work harder, not sit back and rest.

I feel a sense of urgency. I am really concerned about my own skills, my own attitudes and my own competitiveness. I realize I am going to have to work harder to maintain my current results. I realize my customers will expect more from me rather than less. If I don’t add value in each interaction, then they will find other companies who will provide the services and products they need. You need to develop this same sense of urgency.

I know as you read this, some of you are feeling you don’t have the energy or the time to invest in your business. You don’t have a choice. Your survival depends on you finding the energy, time and making the effort. Your future depends on it.

You know what drives me crazy. People who do not put in an honest effort drive me crazy. People who do minimum work and expect maximum return drive me crazy. People who have a lot of time to make excuses but never put in an honest effort drive me crazy. People who think they have all the time in the world and therefore do not have a sense of urgency drive me crazy.

A question … Are you one of these people who drive me crazy? Well, I am not alone, for you are driving others crazy like your spouse and your family. You have the capacity and you know what you should do it. Your family knows you have greater capacity. why aren’t you using your capacity? So as they say in the Nike ads, Just do it. Work harder, smarter and put in the extra effort required.

As you can tell my messages are getting stronger and more direct. I see your results. Many of you are doing better and at the same time, many of you are driving me crazy. I can see if you are honestly working or not. Get working! Then you, your family, your company and I can be happy. Don’t do it for me, do it for you!

Survive, then you can thrive again!

Thanks for listening,
Jim