Life never disappoints in surprising us. We fail. That is a reality. But sometimes, we fail unexpectedly. When we search the list of prominent figures in the financial world, Robert Ritter is one of the great names. An award-winning individual, he was also the youngest agent when promoted by MassMutual Life Insurance Company to General Agent of a significant New York City agency.
As is the norm, but
Robert’s life has also not been without the challenges. But he has encountered every challenge without reacting to it, and with reason, intellect, and remarkable ability to communicate. Here, he shares one of his interesting life stories about winning an almost lost contract with a major life insurance company after he started InsMark.
Founded in 1983 by Robert, InsMark is a financial software company that produces illustration modules for insurance products like its fabulous InsMark Illustration System.
At the time of the incident, one of Robert’s good friends was a field General Agent for a major life insurance company, a company very similar to MassMutual and a target client for InsMark. His friend constantly recommended that Robert approach his company with InsMark’s product line. He finally invited Robert to accompany him to the Home Office to present to the Senior Vice President of Sales. This is usually an opportunity to excel.
One of the negative issues often facing InsMark is certain Home Office employees who consider illustration design their private turf. To them, InsMark is a competitor, not a resource. Sure enough, such a person was also at the meeting, and he strongly recommended not to acquire InsMark’s product line. After Robert made his presentation, this fellow said, “Whatever you like, I can design it for us,” That comment seriously eroded the discussion.
Robert’s friend spoke up, “‘I’m at the Home Office for a meeting of our top field General Agents; let’s have Robert show InsMark to them.” Robert agreed, but only if the Sales VP would attend.
The next day, Robert made his presentation to that group. Within a week, InsMark had a new six-figure contract with that company. The combination of Robert’s presentation skills and InsMark’s product line saved the day, not forgetting how his friend backed him up.
You can review a video here identical to one of Robert’s critical presentations at that meeting.
This, and because of his other numerous traits, Robert has received multiple awards for his contributions to the insurance industry. He frequently shares the stage with other famous figures on powerful platforms like Million Dollar Roundtable (MDRT), Top of the Table, and the International Forum. He has been a featured speaker at insurance gatherings in the world’s top cities, including London, Paris, Rome, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Istanbul, to name just a few.
Robert remains vitally active with InsMark and lives with his wife, Laurel, in Alamo, CA. They spend their summers in Maine ( Laurel says, “He works too much there”) along with visiting children and grandchildren, of which there are 8 and 22.
