Fulfilling Promises In the Best and Worst of Times
New York Life Insurance Company Partner Euletta Gordon-Campbell, South Jersey General Office, believes in promises. “When I sell a policy, it’s a promise to be there for my client and their family. And, it doesn’t just stop at delivering the death benefit,” she says, firmly. “I teach my team the lessons that I learned and in particular from this one extraordinary client. Delivering the death benefit was just the beginning.
Gordon-Campbell, now in her ninth year with New York Life, met one of her clients, Dr. Effiong Utuk near the beginning of her career. “I went into my local library to see if I could conduct an educational seminar and met Dr. Utuk, the head librarian. I explained my role as an Agent and my desire to educate the public through seminars.”
A Hard Sell
“Eventually Dr. Utuk called to set up an appointment. I was greeted by a desk with mounds of printed pages from the Internet — information I had supplied, all with colored highlights made by him on mostly of the fine print on material I had presented to him,” she recalls. “In the end, he purchased a Whole Life policy. I remember him signing the papers, putting them carefully into his drawer, and sitting back in his chair, satisfied.”
A Friendship Emerges
Gordon-Campbell continues, “We eventually became good friends. Dr. Utuk was a very nurturing individual who had an interest in improving lives. His wife was a nurse anesthetist and she prided herself on being very much a modern woman. But even still, she deferred to him on the financial decisions.”
Sudden Loss
“One morning I called Dr. Utuk at home and was surprised when he answered,” Gordon-Campbell says, thoughtfully. “I teased him, saying, ‘You slacker,
why aren’t you at work?’ He said his allergies had been bothering him. A few days later his son called to tell me that Dr. Utuk had died. I couldn’t believe it.”
Just the Beginning
“I finally set aside the physical and emotional pain I was feeling. I met with his wife, Affiong, under the worst of circumstances,” says Gordon-Campbell. “I had an opportunity to build a relationship and provide the help I know she’d need; because her husband had always taken care of the finances.”
“She was in pain and who was better to help her? I helped her organize her papers — it became almost a weekend ritual. I would go to her house, go through the mail with her and help prioritize her important items. I recommended that she connect with an attorney and an accountant. Through all this, she has become not only a client, but a good friend as well.” “I think personally delivering death benefits is very important for agents to do. It’s a new beginning, like with Dr. Utuk. New York Life makes a promise to be there for our policyholders and I do too.”
Why New York Life?
For over 168 years, New York Life has provided financial security to families and businesses, and supports the success of its employees. New York Life offers an innovative workplace. In fact, New York Life was recognized by Working Mother Magazine as a 2012 Best Company for Multicultural Women and named by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) to the 2012 NAFE Top 50 Companies for Executive Women list. The company also earned Profiles in Diversity Journal’s 2013 Diversity Leader Award and has been named a ‘Top Company for LGBT Equality’ by Work Life Matters magazine for 2012.
To learn more about what New York Life can do for your career, go to www.nylcareersforwomen.com and www.newyorklife.com/careers. You can also contact a local New York Life recruiter at an office near you.
1 MDRT, The Premier Association of Financial Professionals®, is recognized throughout the industry as the standard of excellence in life insurance sales performance.