Class of 1923
For a long time I have had in mind doing a biographical sketch on Charlie Zimmerman. He has certainly made a name for himself in the insurance business, and while insurance does not exactly fit the requirement of an "unusual vocation," which has been the policy of this column, yet Charlie has carved quite a niche for himself and has done it under his own power, thus admirably fulfilling two other equally important requirements. And by way of confirmation that Charlie should be the subject of a biographical sketch a very interesting thing happened. The story that follows was not written by your Secretary at all. It is a reprint almost in its entirety from a very recent issue of The Eastern Underwriter, trade paper of the insurance world. This story tells what insurance men think of Charlie, and he surely rates a place among the successful men of '23.
"If anybody had told Charles J. Zimmerman while a student of Dartmouth Collegethat his future career would be life insurance and that in a surprisingly short timeafter his graduation he would stand No. 2among the general agents of one of themost important life insurance companiesin the country no one would have beenmore surprised than Mr. Zimmerman. Sonof a hotel owner in New Rochelle, N. Y., hehad not planned the career he was to follow after leaving college. He knew he didnot want to be a poet, a dramatist, anarchitect, or a lawyer, but had a hunch thatmaybe he might take up business, but justwhat business was an enigma and he didn'tgive much attention to it. Life insurance,finance, taxation, economics were mysterious sciences, the grasp of which looked asformidable to him as to the other freshmen. But he started specializing early, naturally, and instinctively in the broad fieldof social relationships, and probably noneof the other undergraduates had morefriends.
"It was through one of these friendshipsthat he heard that the Life UnderwritersAssociation of New York was hunting for afield secretary. His name was recommended;he was subjected to a lowdown: and muchto his surprise he got the job. It was notlong before the Life Underwriters Association of New York discovered that theyhad made a splendid choice, because Zimmerman fitted the position like a glove. Hetook pleasure in seeing a large number ofpeople a day, in inducing many to join upwith the association, and in making himselfagreeable and useful at the dinners andmeetings. Pretty soon he was as well knownin many brokerage offices and generalagencies as a copy of the morning paper.Under his regime the membership wasalmost doubled. It was only natural, therefore, that company executives and generalagencies began to spot him as a young manwith every prospect for a brilliant life insurance future; and, after a time, he joinedthe Fraser Agency of the ConnecticutMutual, becoming supervisor in New York.Quickly making good in that job, he wassejit to Bridgeport, Conn., where Peter M.Fraser—then general agent in New Yorkand now vice-president of the ConnecticutMutual—opened a branch, having jurisdiction over three counties: Fairfield, Westchester, and Litchfield.
"In Bridgeport, which is a manufacturing town and at one time was the winterheadquarters of the old Barnum and Baileycircus, he did not waste much time in demonstrating to the Connecticut Mutual thathe was of general agency timber. Instead ofexperimenting with misfits from a variegated assortment of business and professionshe cultivated men in the general insurancebusiness, who, if they did not already knowlife insurance, at least were familiar withits fundamentals by instinct and theirother experience with coverages of variouskinds. Finding plenty of talent in Bridgeport, at the end of his first year he had anagency which paid for $1,500,000. When hewent outside of the general insurance business for men he managed to land somegood ones, too, including the late PaulHaviland, who had been a golf captain atYale and was a player of top rank in NewEngland.
"On September 15, 1931 (September ishis most important and lucky month), Mr.Zimmerman was appointed general agentof the Connecticut Mutual in New Jersey,headquarters Newark. At the time theagency was paying for f600,000 a year orthereabouts. It ranked fifty-third amongagencies of the company. By the end ofDecember, 1932, it had climbed to thirteenth place. At the conclusion of last yearit stood No. 6. At the present time it is No.2.
"The agency paid for }3,000,000 in 1933.The gain last year was 40%. About 6o°/0of the business came from full-time men.
" 'How are you making your gains whenit is tough sledding for so many general:agencies? he was asked.
"Mr. Zimmerman was silent for a time.Trying to put his finger on the raisort d'etre of his accomplishments is not hislong suit. He looked somewhat uncomfortable. Finally he said:
" 'Well, we have a nice bunch of fellows.'"The reporter gazed out of the window;looked a little bored. Zimmerman sensedthat the answer was not the one which waswanted, so after a few more moments ofsilence he took another tack.
'"Well, I think it is because we look,facts in the face and we don't kid ourelves. We don't believe in saying thatbusiness is good in some lines when weknow it's lousy. We don't expect to getblood out of turnips, or business insurancepolicies from firms which are next door tobankruptcy. We don't expect the impossible from producers. But we do look foreach man to do his best and to put on alittle extra effort to beat his normal.
" 'So at the beginning of the year wecalled in all the men and had a frank,heart-to-heart talk. We told them what weknew and found out what they knew aboutbusiness conditions; told them that wedidn't expect to be bunked nor shouldthey be, but we knew each man was capableof a certain production, and we put themon their mettle; told them to face conditions; urged them to keep on the job; totry and be a little bit better than normal;to upset their routine; to turn on extrasteam. Our faith and confidence in themhave been appreciated. It's a pleasure toreach a goal; it is a great pleasure to passit.
" '1 firmly believe that any gain in production depends upon increase in workingefficiency of the men rather than improvement in business conditions. Consequently,the men, based on their past working efficiency, can lay out a working schedule forthemselves in which they know that theymust make a certain number of calls andget a certain number of interviews in order to reach the desired volume of paidbusiness.
" 'We have inducted new men into ourorganization on the basis, first, of tellingthem exactly what the life insurance picture is. We have emphasized the fact thatthey must finance themselves for six monthsand that, normally, earnings will be verylow during the first two years. This prepares them for future disappointments,and any good breaks that they get encourage them—just so much velvet—whereas thebad breaks do not discourage them. In thesecond place we have tried to give them athorough individual training in the Hf&insurance business, so that they know whatthey are talking about and avoid wasting,the prospect's time.
" 'Finally, I think we all have a prettyaood time in the life insurance business inthis organization. Our motto for the yearis "No profit grows where no pleasure istaken," and our idea is that if you cannotenjoy the business and have a good timewhile you are working at it, then the business is not the right one for the man to bein. I believe this spirit extends throughoutour entire organization. We know definitelywhere we are heading.'"
The class dinner at the Dartmouth Club on April 5 was attended by more '23 men than we have seen together since Commencement. It was a great turnout, there having been more than 40 men (without the 8 horses). Among those present were Kershaw, Jellison, Brooks Palmer, Jack Dempsey, Ted Barstow, Sam White, Mat Jones, Hockenson, Ted Hell wig, Owen Smith, Mark Whitman, Whittinghill, Dwight Keef, Pem Whitcomb, Couch, Flanigan, Aschenbach, Clint Wells, Dodge, Ken Quencer, Ken Fortune, Art Everit, Charlie Kurts, Ardie Herz, Stan Ungar, E. H. Rubin, and a number of others whose names did not get on the list. A smoker was held at the club later in the evening, at which the four new football coaches spoke.
Perhaps there should be a reunion of some sort at the Yale game next year, inasmuch as this date seems to now have definite possibilities.
One night about two weeks ago Sid Flanigan opened a keg of beer at his house, and the flow reached the ready palates of Mox Hubert, Win Wezer, Dick Kershaw, Ed Rowe, the host, and your Secretary. Bobby Coller and Mackedon were scheduled to be present, but ran into liquid difficulties earlier in the evening and failed to appear.
Next to the keg of beer the outstanding event was a showing of movies which were taken at the Tenth Reunion. Before the next class dinner we expect to have a very interesting collection of movies to show at that time.
A copy of "Squeaks from the Golden Gate," publication of the Dartmouth Association of Northern California, carries the following news item: "Dick Townsend'25 recently took a trip East, including Hanover, and brought back confirmation of thethermometer reading in the 30's (belowzero)." It would take a Californian to report that as news.
Secretary, Box 14, Wall St. Station, New York
