Updated: Feb 17
So...how is your serve?
No, I'm not talking about the one with a racquet in your hand. I'm talking about service to your family, your clients, and your fellow human beings.
If you are like me, your service can be improved. In fact, we can all improve our service.
We can always do more and become better at serving others.
It may be by simply picking up the phone, making a call to a friend or loved one in need to ask if there is anything you can do for them. It may be volunteering for a non-profit organization, or helping out a neighbor in need. It may be seeing an issue or problem in your community and doing something about it.
As CMIP®, CMIS™, and CMIR™ Designation Holders, no matter how experienced and professional we are, we can always do better at serving our clients. As Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement and PDP producing agents we serve, primarily, the senior market.
Service is something that most senior citizens understand and value greatly, because they were either raised by what some call "The Greatest Generation" of Americans to have ever lived, or by their parents who were raised by this generation. This greatest generation of Americans knew the meaning of service, duty, and sacrifice. They saw the First World War as children, then went through the "Dust Bowl" of the Midwest and the Great Depression as teens and young adults, and as adults, faced and defeated one of the greatest axes of evil in the history of the world during WWII.
My grandfather was a part of this generation. He served in the 5th Armored Division, Reconnaissance, in the European theatre during WWII. He was one of the heroes in my life. One of the greatest men I've ever known.
After serving in the military, my grandfather went to work for Phillips 66, serving there for 43 years before retiring. After retirement, he wasn't finished serving. My grandmother became bedfast, after a brain tumor that was removed when she was 40 years old grew back and left one arm and her legs paralyzed, right around the time of my grandfather's retirement. My grandfather took care of her 24/7 for seven years until her death. He fed her, bathed her, changed her clothes, and changed her bedpans. His dreams of travel and leisure, supplanted by compassion and duty. Never once did I hear him complain.
His life was the epitome of service. His life was a representation of an entire generation (of course there were exceptions) who set the standard for what it means to serve. It seems in subsequent generations we have lost sight of what service truly means.
This New Year, join me, all CMIP®, CMIS™, and CMIR™ designation holders who serve our seniors, in trying to live up to the ideals of service of the "Greatest Generation" by improving our service. If we do, our clients will certainly take notice, appreciate it, and spread the word. This is how we succeed, not only in our careers, but in our families and communities.
If you are a health insurance agent who possesses our core "K.E.E." values of Knowledge, Experience, and Ethics; always striving for excellence in what you do, we want you to join us!
Click on the button below for more information.
Thank you for all that you do, for your family, your clients, and humanity.
Together, we can make a difference.
Kevin Firth, President
Certified Medicare Insurance Planner™, DBA