When Congjie Zhan first expressed to his mother his interest in becoming an advisor, the veteran in the profession for more than two decades cautioned him to see the role as not just a job but as one with a lifetime responsibility to clients.

For instance, Xuling Deng had been working for 10 years with a business owner who only wanted basic medical insurance. Despite the small account, the former MDRT member continued visiting this client regularly, even arranging her medical exams and resolving her medical problems by providing health care contacts and access to other resources Deng had accumulated through her career.

“People become your clients because they trust you, and you have to be worthy of that trust and serve them diligently,” she told him. “You can’t quit casually.”

People become your clients because they trust you, and you have to be worthy of that trust and serve them diligently.
—Xuling Deng

She had built a thriving practice because clients recognized her service and trusted her. So, Zhan might have thought that such trust would be grandfathered in, and he could easily take over his mom’s clients. Then in his 20s, he was eager to leave behind his construction job’s long days and long commutes — one project required a three-hour drive that made it difficult to return home when a family member fell ill. But that was not the case for the seven-year MDRT member. Even his friends — the core of his initial prospecting base — needed to wait and see how long Zhan would last in his new profession.

“Although I had the backing of my mother, who had been in the industry for many years, I was a newcomer to the job market after changing careers,” Zhan said. “They still needed to wait and see. After all, they didn’t know how long I would be able to work here, and they didn’t want to see their coverage become an orphan policy.”

The switch

Zhan did not expect that Deng’s coattails would make being an advisor an easy transition. Indeed, he worried about being draped by the aura of her stellar reputation so that no matter what he did, his performance might not be good enough and could even discredit his mother. Yet, he wanted to prove that he had the ability to be as good yet different from her.

First, Zhan had to learn from his colleagues — his mother oversees a team of more than 40 advisors — the importance of understanding clients’ needs and serving them. Two years into working as an advisor, a former classmate’s child had developed a high fever, and repeated hospitalizations failed to resolve the condition. So, Zhan provided referrals that led to additional medical care and secured medical insurance that made the cost of the extensive treatments more manageable.

“When the client said thank you, I believe the client realized that I had a deep understanding of the risks and needs for his family and business,” Zhan said. “This was one of the ways that led to clients increasing their trust in me. It was also the moment when I believed that I was meant for this role.”

Overcoming perceptions

Another challenge was being part of the “second generation.” In China, the term conjures negative generalizations about young adults who are spoiled from inheriting wealth and misbehave. Consequently, the older generation might have reservations about buying insurance from this cohort for fear that young people are not as service-oriented and could quit their job, leaving them without an advisor to shepherd their policy.

Zhan pressed on by traveling to clients and helping them solve their insurance, medical and even legal needs by referring them to other professionals for assistance. As he made clients feel secure, he became more secure in his work. Even the business owner who had worked with Deng became one of Zhan’s biggest clients. Since taking over that account, he has been performing regular policy checkups for her, ranging from managing family health coverage, securing the family business assets and making inheritance arrangements. Through what he has learned in the industry, combined with the help from his company’s consultants, he customized a combination of solutions to meet the client’s needs, which enabled him to qualify for Top of the Table in 2023.

“You inherited your mother’s legacy and are doing a meaningful job,” Zhan recalled the client telling him. “Now I want to pass my wealth onto the next generation, and I believe you can serve them well too.”

Legacy

Zhan believes that he not only grows with the clients, but he also will grow with their children and even grandchildren to provide the services and products they need.

“Many clients were concerned that there would be no one taking care of them if my mom retired,” Zhan said. “After I came on board, they were relieved because not only will they, but their children and even future generations will be taken good care of.”

Zhan is able to understand and connect with clients from his mother’s generation and can leverage his age advantage to provide the second-generation clients with better services.

“I can handle the second- or even third-generation clients better than my mom, as there may be a generation gap between them,” he said. “Many youngsters don’t like to share their true thoughts with the elders. As I am just about their age, I’m in a better position to understand what they really think and need, and to provide them with services that meet their needs.”

Leo Li writes for Team Lewis, a communications agency assisting MDRT with content development for Asia-Pacific markets. Contact mdrteditorial@teamlewis.com.

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Showing that second generation can be first class