Agency Intelligence: The Insurance Podcast Network

Two years ago, we first released our podcast with Chuck Blondino, where he uncovered some very important statistics on agencies across the country. To date, we’ve gotten over 5,000 downloads on that podcast. Chuck is the Director of Agency Capabilities and Programs at Safeco and studies the performance of agencies and how they grow. And it’s no hearsay when […] The post The Growing Gap Between Age...

Impossible is nothing! – Muhammad Ali In this podcast, Jason talks about the different types of organizational cultures. As agents, we’re exposed to the sales and service cultures and he argues that sales cultures are inefficient and why a service based culture retains customers, which achieves growth beyond a sales driven focus. Is he wrong, or is he […] The post Sales Cultures and Why They’re In...

Do you think any good business would keep selling a product if they always lost money on it? Why are you any different? Blindly selling any and every policy someone asks you for is becoming a more unhealthy recipe by the day? Knowing the margins, (commission – time = profit) on each policy you sell and market will make sure you’re always preparing a healthy dish for your agency. Not only will that...

All time isn’t created equal, if you keep treating it like it is than you’ll always be out of control. You have to be able to react, but not nearly as much as we’ve been taught. Reacting to the wrong things will lead to an unpleasant cycle of order taking. The only thing stopping you […] The post Are You Controlling Your Day, or is it Controlling You? appeared first on .

This is podcast #4 in the “Times of the Young Agent” series. This is a bit different. We’ve invited Billy Van Jura back to host our podcast to interview Ryan Sautman and Travis Etheridge, partners with Jason Cass at the newly formed The Insurance Alliance. Like other young agents, they are tweaking the definition of the “independent insurance agent,” and they do so by distinguishing between salesm...

In this series, we are discussing “these times of the young agent,” and in this podcast, Jason Cass gives a heartfelt solo on his own experience navigating his way from a budding agent to an agency owner. He goes deep into his own trials starting his own agency, and points out the challenges of balancing “old” wisdom with new ideas.

We are looking at these “Times of the Young Agent” and for this episode, we are proud to have, for the first time ever,  an interview with a dynamic duo: Lisa and Will Lemanski, owners of Meiers, Lombardini, and Lemanski Insurance in East Lansing Michigan. We are also proud to interview Lisa Lemanski who was just awarded National Young Agent of the Year by the IIABA this past weekend in New Orlean...

It's been a few weeks since we released a podcast, busy with insurance work.  But don't fret because in this episode we pick right back up with Boyd McGee, the National Young Agent Committee Chair for the Big I. We are stepping into our new series, "Times of the Young Agent," where we discuss issues that young agents face. He gives some awesome thoughts on what the agency managements system of tod...

Listen to the last podcast in the Summer of Marketing series with Eddie Emmett, The Godfather of Insurance Edutainment. He talks about some very valuable steps that agents should take to kickstart their local search on Google, spread their brand on Facebook, and ignite a referral program using YouTube. Learn some insights on Per-per-click and per-thousand on Facebook Ads. Join Eddie and Jason as t...

Is it: A.) Agents without a perpetuation plan? B.) The mass consolidation of large local brokers buying up smaller ones? C.) That companies demand high premium volumes but don’t hold up their end of the bargain by providing stable rates and help with marketing, etc…? Would you agree with him? Listen to Jason Cass and how he answers this question as Billy Van Jura interviews the host of Agents Infl...

The Summer of Marketing wouldn't be The Summer of Marketing without our Part 2 of our Top Listen with Chuck Blondino.  In Part 1, Chuck Blondino discussed his background and his outlook on independent agents and the industry.  In Part 2, he discusses what he would do in 2014 to be successful in an era of rapidly changing consumer demands. Enjoy the remix version.

The Summer of Marketing would not be The Summer of Marketing without a special remixed edition of our all-time Top Listen with Chuck Blondino, currently the Director of Agency Capabilities and Programs at Safeco Insurance. Originally released in January, 2014, this podcast answers these questions: What do you see the future small and medium size agency looking like? In the ways of technology and d...

Join us for the second podcast in the Summer of Marketing series with BrentKelly, CEO of BizzGrizz, formerly known as The Insurance Coach. Brent was an insurance agent for 15 years and continues to pour out his passion for the indendent insurance industry by providing coaching and mentoring services tailored to agents, as well as other small business owners.   He answers these meaty questions that...

If Ryan was going to start an insurance blog today his first three post would be validated content about:   ·        Your Company ·        Your Client ·        Your Community   Sounds hard right?  It was before you listened to this podcast.    Ryan Hanley, Head of Marketing for Trustedchoice.com / Managing Editor of Agency Nation stops by Agents Influence to breakdown strategies to GROW your busin...

While the summer of 1967 was tagged “The Summer of Love,” we are calling this summer, the summer of 2015: “The Summer of Marketing.”   Collectively, we can mark the edge of this industry’s creativity in marketing, and openness in marketing communication as we create a counter culture of marketing systems and approaches to the traditional, often archaic execution of the insurance industry.   In thi...

And last but not the least, we bring him in, by listener demand . . . Bob Juracka, the CEO of Nexsure. If you want to learn about a complete platform including a fully integrated accounting system with a high-level horsepower software, listen to this interview for the last segment for The Month of Maynagement Systems.   They were first to come out with mobile technology, first to be on a truly mod...

Just when we thought it was over, we realized we’re just in the middle. The Month of Maynagement Systems brought in a lot of listens and the demand for additional CEOs of management systems, so here we are extending The Month of Maynagement Systems. There are 10-20 good systems out there with the same core functionalities across the board, but what adds deep value is knowing that the developers sp...

You hear it a lot from Jason Cass, but he shouts it out loud, "the independent insurance industry is the best industry that God's ever created."  Today we have the CEO of Applied Systems, Reid French, whose company supports our industry as one of the main developers of another management system.   We've brought to you the CEO of QQ Systems, The VP of Aartrijk, and now the CEO of Applied Systems.  ...

This is podcast #2 of The Month of Maynagement Systems and we have industry veteran Rick Morgan who is the Senior Vice President of Aartrijk.   Join this unscripted conversation between Jason Cass and Rick Morgan as they discuss why agents need to use an agency management system, and why everyone in the agency must be fully invested and involved in the process of their management system.  

This is podcast #1 of our Maynagement Month series with Mark Malis, CEO of QQ Solutions. Learn about the evolution of QQ Solutions and learn why its history makes it so special. Learn the key difference it has over other agency management sytems. All management systems have the same core features so it's up to each user and how they like "the feel" of each management system.  But if you need acces...

Jason Cass is back in action to introduce the next podcast series with an unrelated rant, in true Cass fashion.  You will love it!  The month of may will be a series on Management Systems, but before getting into it, Jason talks about his frustration with people telling him that price is not important to the consumer to whom we sell. Listen to 11 minute rant then email Jason Cass at jason@growprog...

Chris Amhrein is the president of Insurance is Fun, and when you listen to this podcast, you’ll quickly grasp the wit and humor behind the industry expert and history buff himself. Time flies when you’re having fun, and that applies to insurance talk too! Join this insightful conversation where he talks about the industry: historically, generationally, operationally and ‘potentially,’ and see how...

If you like tapping into a puddles of theory and enjoy stretching the outer limits of the box, then The Grow Show is the place for you.  Hinging off Jason's podcast from 3 weeks ago, they further discuss John Chamber's forecast of the internet: “In five years ALL business will be digital and just happen to be in the industry they serve or create things for.” – John Chambers, Chairman of Cisco In t...

Back from a short hiatus, we have Jason and Joey on the Grow Show unpacking Google's role in Insurance.  How do we as insurance agents need to think about this entry by Google?  Is this dark and dismal?  This is a recording from Wednesday, February 11, and we will sprinkle our weekly podcasts with The Grow Show recordings.  Don't forget that you can stream live on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 11a...

“In five years ALL business will be digital and just happen to be in the industry they serve or create things for” – John Chambers, Chairman of CiscoIn this podcast, Jason Cass talks about his weekend epiphany about the internet as he listened to an interview with Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN.   He relates the interview with you, the agent and the insurance professional. It summarizes your business,...