Deliver on your word. Promise less, deliver more.
Marc Firestone is a life insurance advisor who has developed an ability to make complicated concepts simple in an age of info overload.
Marc Firestone has been in financial services for over 30 years and has a unique background that equips him to diagnose and prescribe the best life insurance solution based on the totality of an individual family’s financial circumstances. Originally a CPA managing the personal finances of well-known entertainers, Marc moved into the life insurance business when he saw a need for more objective advisors with long-range vision. He continues to work with entertainers and their CPAs, as well as a vast array of clients all with their own fascinating stories.
Marc speaks to professional business associations in his capacity as a life insurance expert. Marc also instructs a recurring class on Jewish ethics and relationships. In this latter capacity he has appeared on CNN, KABC-AM and KFI-AM talk radio. However, it is Marc’s wife and five children who keep him well focused on the real priorities in life.
Where did the idea for Marc Firestone Life Insurance come from?
It came from a need for individuals to get user friendly access to life insurance in an area where people don’t understand what they’re buying.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
We split the day into 3 portions. First portion is spent being completely accessible to our clients, second portion of the day is spent giving boutique treatment to our clients, and the third portion is spent doing philanthropic activities.
How do you bring ideas to life?
We try to understand our clients learning processes. Everyone is different. Some people are visual, some people are auditory, some people like it done in 3 minutes. Understanding our clients learning style and unique need is our biggest priority, We do the heavy lifting before our meetings to ensure that everything is ready to go for our clients.
What’s one trend that really excites you?
Life insurance prices going down, as well as the benefits of long term care insurance being included in life insurance. They call it a hybrid, so that a person can not only cover the risk for death but also if there is a long term care need, we can cover both in one policy.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Distilling the complex to the simple.
What was the worst job you ever had and what did you learn from it?
When I was 14, I had a job doing maintenance for a public school, where I learned the value of education.
If you were to start again, what would you do differently?
I would seek advice earlier on in my career, at a much younger age, through friendly experts, mentors and advisors.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Deliver on your word. Promise less, deliver more.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business? Please explain how.
Regular policy reviews, not just a “SELL AND DISAPPEAR.”
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
Not meeting enough people in person, and doing too much business with our customers over email and phone. I try to get in-front of people as often as possible, and realize that face to face communication is by far the best mode of communicating with our customers. There is nothing like face to face.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Ask your customer base what the market is missing, find a void, and then build off of that void.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
Taking my daughter out to lunch and getting to spend some quality time with her.
What software and web services do you use? What do you love about them?
ACT, is a contact software that we use, which is very easy to use, incredibly user friendly and simple to stay in touch with both clients and friends.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey. This book has business advice as well as broad practical life advice that can also be applied to your personal/family life as well.
What people have influenced your thinking and might be of interest to others?
The person who influenced me most is my business partner, Richard Horowitz. He is a very wise and pure person who is an inspiration to work with.
Connect:
Linkedin:
Twitter: @marcfirestoneli
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.