Victor,
we can't wait to sit down with you.
We put everything for your episode on one page: what we'll talk about, the questions Justin plans to ask, and five quick ones you can answer before we record.
- Answer five quick questionsRight here on this page. They help Justin ask you better ones.
- Skim the questions Justin plans to askNo need to prepare answers. Just know where we're headed.
- Keep the PDFEverything together, to print or keep on your phone.
What we'll talk about
Closed is a show for insurance agents. This episode is about something you know better than almost anyone.
Justin met Victor Crumity Sr. at a seminar at a Golden Corral and was instantly impressed by how fast he connected with people and commanded the room; the episode asks what Victor does in those first few minutes, and whether anyone can learn it.
The episode tests whether connecting fast with a room is a gift or a practice, and breaks down what Victor does in his first few minutes so you can plan and rehearse your own before your next seminar or appointment.
Today Victor shows you what he does in his first few minutes with a room, so you can plan your own before your next seminar or appointment.
He connects with people fast and can command a room.
Thanks for your answers, Victor. Justin updated a few questions to build on what you shared.
The questions Justin plans to ask
Justin follows the conversation, so some of these will change on the day. You can always say "let's skip that one."
"I met Victor Crumity Sr. at a seminar at a Golden Corral, and I was instantly impressed with how fast he connected with people. A lot of us stand up in front of people and wonder if connecting with a room is a gift we just didn't get. Today Victor shows you what he does in his first few minutes with a room, so you can plan your own before your next seminar or appointment. I knew Victor when he was a sales manager at Humana. So I want to know what he's doing in those first few minutes that the rest of us miss."
- Victor, I'll say it on the record: the day I met you at that seminar at Golden Corral, I was instantly impressed with how fast you connected with people. Take me back before all that. Where were you, and what pulled you into this business?
- Do you remember that day at Golden Corral? Take me into that room. What do you remember about the people in it?
- Before you ever stood in front of a room, who taught you how to talk to people? A job, somebody in your family, somebody you watched?
- When you got to Humana, what did you think the job was, and what turned out to actually be true?
- Did you sell before you managed, or did they hand you a team early? Take me to the first day you had people counting on you.
- Is there anyone in your family in this business? What did you learn from watching them?
- A lot of agents think you either have it with a crowd or you don't. So when did connecting with people become something you chose to do, and not just something that happened?
- Take me to a room where the connection just didn't happen. Where were you standing, and when did you know?
- When a room isn't coming with you, how do you decide what to do, right there in the moment? And be honest, what did you want to do?
- As a sales manager, did you ever watch an agent freeze in front of people? What did that look like from where you sat?
- From the back of the room it looks easy. What part of running a seminar is harder than people think?
- When you're the one everybody expects to command the room, are there days nobody sees you're running on empty?
- When it got hard, who did you lean on, and who did you deliberately not talk to?
- Some rooms stay with you for a while. Go back to that room that got away. What did you tell yourself after that one?
- Go back to the next room after that one. Did you start differently, or did you just keep going? Take me to the first time it worked. Where were you, and what did the room do?
- Walk me through your first two minutes with a room. What are you looking for before you say a word?
- What's the first thing you actually say? Give it to me word for word.
- When something's landing with a room, what's the first sign you notice? And what do most agents miss?
- Somebody in the back has their arms crossed. What do you do with that person?
- When somebody walks up to you after a seminar, what do you hope they noticed about the way you showed up?
- A lot of agents memorize a script for seminars. Does that help you or hurt you in the first few minutes, and how do you stay yourself up there?
- Everybody's got a theory about seminars. What do most agents believe about them that you think is flat wrong?
- My book says talent wins the room and systems win the year. Is that true of your first few minutes, or is that part a system too?
- If you had to explain working a room to someone who's never sold insurance, what's it like?
- How do you practice this? Do you rehearse out loud, or do you just get in front of people?
- Here's how I'd say the lesson: connecting fast with a room isn't only a gift, it's what you do in your first few minutes, and an agent can plan it and practice it. Is that right, or how would you say it?
- What's the one thing about connecting with a room that no amount of practice can fix?
- What did becoming the guy who can command a room cost you? Not the money. The real cost.
- And what, if anything, did it give you back?
- Think about that room that got away. Where do you stand with it now?
- Somebody's listening right now who dreads standing up in front of people. What do you want to say to them?
- If your younger self were about to stand up at his first seminar, what would you tell him?
- Here's what I'd tell an agent: before Friday, write down the first two minutes of your next seminar or appointment and say them out loud three times. Give me the Victor Crumity challenge. What would you change?
- The Closed Question: Who was the first person who made you feel like you belonged in this business, and did you ever tell them?
- What question do you want to leave for our next guest?
Good to know
About 40 minutes. There are no wrong answers, and nothing goes out live.
You choose where a hard story starts and how far it goes. "Let's not go there" is always a full answer.
Nobody you serve is named or shown without their consent.
Some may become short clips and part of the opening. After the episode is out, this same page fills with your clips to share.