Today I was humbled by having the good fortune to meet Walter Bell.
About two weeks ago, I got a cold call from an account executive looking to secure an appointment on my calendar for me to speak to Walter. Now unlike most individuals who hate cold calls, I love evaluating them for technique and effectiveness. On the other end of the phone was a gentleman with a deep tone, clear and short message, and with a singular purpose. I said yes and my curiosity secured a face to face meeting with Walter.
When Walter walked in and sat down he immediately grabbed my attention. He pulled out three pieces of paper and laid them on the desk and looked me straight in the eye and said “Imran, I’m 80 years old”. I immediately smiled and remarked, well then I’m sure I have a lot to learn from you. The pieces of paper reflected recent press releases surrounding our organization and the opportunities they presented.
Walter owns a lead generation company that specializes in appointment setting within the manufacturing sector. But as he clearly outlines he discriminates with age and only hires individuals sixty five years or older. In his candid words “thirty year olds are great but when you come to our age we’ve handled so much rejection that by this point it doesn’t faze us a pinch”.
Monroe Calculators
Walter started his sales career in 1952 selling Monroe Calculators and bookkeeping machines. Very quickly, I became more interested with his story than necessarily the service he was offering.
I asked Walter two questions:
- What inspires him to wake up and keep moving forward within his sales career?
- What advice would he give someone like me to stay inspired and driven at his age?
For Walter, inspiration comes standard if you find your passion, “the quickest way to death is not working towards something”. Finding purpose and setting goals is what’s made the difference and keeps him excited to wake up every morning.
I left the meeting by letting Walter know that he’s already impacted my life in more ways than he could imagine. How do you find inspiration and a reason to keep pushing forward?
Evoke Change 