Change Insurance

This might be the best advice you never received, but who says you can't start at the top? It's somewhat of a long held tradition that you need to work your way up in the insurance business.  Start small, learn the ropes and eventually, after years of seasoning and experience, you'll finally be ready to go after the "big accounts." But what if they were within your reach all along and all you had...

Is it your mission to make sure everyone knows you're an insurance agent? Do you also make it a point to never be the first one to talk about insurance? Those two objectives might seem like they are at odds with each other.  However, if you think about it they actually form a very compelling combination. John Darr, Owner and CEO of Darr Schackow Insurance, talks about his secrets to mastering conv...

When was the last time you addressed coverage concerns from every primary stakeholder? It's very easy to overlook, but will undoubtedly create an ultimate level of "buy-in" to close the sale.  Surprisingly, the easiest way to get it is to send everyone a short video discussing all their potential concerns.  That level of efficient consideration will certainly stand out from everyone else trying to...

You might not realize it, but it's pretty important to be aware of how many hats you wear in your agency.  If you're not, it becomes that much harder to eventually get someone else to wear it.  Then you find yourself stuck in an endless, lopsided cycle of work-life balance that leads nowhere.  Maybe all it takes is to remove one or two hats a little sooner than you think.  Michael Cruz, owner of F...

It's easy to worry about all the ways things might not work out. It's even easier to let those fears completely control all your major decisions. However, sometimes, if you just let go you might find a whole new level of freedom. You might find that freedom creating empowerment and ownership for everyone in your agency. Beth DeLaForest, Owner of Aspire Insurance Group, talks about how she constant...

What would it look like if your entire agency was just a little more focused on one thing? It's often discussed but rarely done with complete dedication and execution. Could that focus be repeated over and over again to any and all producers who wanted to participate? It's possible the entire staff could be reshaped and structured to support this new deep dive approach to sell insurance.  Chris Be...

Sometimes, it really is hard to see the forest through the trees. That couldn't be more true when evaluating your own insurance career and agency. However, there's often a strong reluctance to introduce an outside perspective. Regardless of how you achieve a higher level of awareness, there are a few key areas you should look at. Miles Merwin, President and Founder of Advisors Insurance Agency, ta...

If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times.  Insurance gets easier when you can speak the language better than the next guy.  But did you ever think that fluency was more important than insurance knowledge and experience? Well, that's where things get interesting, and you might be surprised at how important talking the talk is with truckers.  Jeffrey Gordon, President at The Bayou A...

What would you do if your first interaction with the industry was less than welcoming? It certainly wouldn't do much to increase your chances of sticking around and figuring things out.  But, if you can push past that initial discomfort, there's plenty of room to explore and grow across the industry.  Certainly, after all that, finding your place and calling it your own with comfort doesn't seem a...

No matter what, there's a good chance it was far from your first choice.  However, it probably remains pretty high on the list of decisions you've made that had the greatest impact.  The reality is far fewer people know this potential life-altering decision is even available.  Then the real question is, how do we make sure more people have a chance to make it?  Jarrad "Rod" Powell, Principal at En...

It's hard to start an insurance agency from scratch, but it could be easier with a bit of help.  Then the challenge becomes finding someone who is willing and able to take the leap with you. It's not always easy to put yourself out there to find that person, but there are a few key things to look for.  Ultimately, it comes down to complementary skills and not letting your feelings get in the way. ...

There are a lot of ways to be good at selling insurance.  There aren't many that are focused on high-quality onboarding spanning the entire first year of a policy.  That might sound excessive and possibly unheard of, but magical things happen the more comfortable people get with your business.  It's easy to get someone to trust you once, and the second, third and fourth times are easier to earn wi...

It's easy for a conversation about insurance to go off the rails.  There aren't many opportunities to talk about it and even fewer people who understand it.  That's why it's all too common to find yourself on the wrong end of an insurance therapy session with a new client. It's in that exact moment you need to take control of the conversation and let them know who's in charge.  Niki Henley, Owner...

For the longest time, you might have thought those two ideas were mutually exclusive.  That's because a lot of good personal lines agencies struggle to capture the same magic insuring businesses.  It's also true commercially dominant shops discount the power a healthy personal lines book possesses.  Either way, someone is missing out on an opportunity to have their insurance cake and eat it too. ...

There's a lot to be said for just telling it like it is.  Direct and informative conversations dramatically improve customer experience regardless of who or what you're talking about. It might seem like an oversimplified solution, but as rates rise, so does frustration.  The fastest relief you can provide comes in the form of clarity.  Brian Blakely, Owner of Stonebridge Insurance, talks about the...

It's possible you've been trying to find a way into the world of trucking and transportation business for years.  What if everything finally made sense, and you saw a clear path to quoting and binding consistent business?  The only thing that you've been missing is confidence in your knowledge and ability to execute.  The best news is, now you should have everything you need to squash any and all...

It's a common story that always comes with unique challenges.  But at its core, there's a limit to how long you can underserve your clients.  Because even if they don't know better, you certainly do, and rate increases taste different with nowhere to go.  That's when your path to independence might start to illuminate and a new customer experience takes form.  Ivan Hudson, Owner of the Ivan Hudson...

The reality is, it takes a while to learn everything about insurance.  Even the word "everything" is usually only relative to the few lines of business you decided to sell. But once you've mastered your corner of the universe, you finally have time to envision what a better customer experience looks like. Now it simply becomes a matter of discovering the areas you can make the biggest impact.  Eri...

Taking over a successful family agency comes with plenty of challenges.  The most important one at the top of the list is not screwing up the whole thing.  While that might be a broad and overwhelming notion, the fear of creating that reality is inescapable.  But what if the exact opposite happened instead and you grew the agency to a level no one could ever imagine?  Well, that's exactly what hap...

If you don't, you could end up building a business you don't want anymore.  That sounds silly to say, but you don't want to underestimate the importance of a simple job description.  That starts with approaching your agency's growth with a fairly intense level of intention.  Ultimately ending with a firm and detailed understanding of what "good enough" looks like.  Craig Lyndall, CEO of Lyndall In...

No matter what, you always have accounts that deserve more attention.  Most of the time, it's because standard markets don't have the time or appetite for that class of business.  Often times that class is justifiably riskier and extra caution should be taken.  However, that doesn't mean they need to tolerate a below-average exchange when it comes to finding coverage.  Laura Allen, RPS Southeast R...

It's the one commercial account you hate to love to write.  There's a certain level of "flying by the seat of your pants" that's built into a contractor's operation guidelines.  Which makes providing them insurance coverage a little more nerve-wracking than necessary. However, the faster you can move to keep up with them, the better your chances get.  Brendan Hanley, Director Binding P&C Product L...

Sometimes it's easy to miss when it's the last thing that needs to get done.  Of course, no one tries to dial up the ambiguity to create a major legal liability...  But, when it comes to serious, more complex claims, there is a decent chance that's exactly what will happen.  The best part is most of it can all be avoided if you stop and add one or two checks and balances to the process.  Jim Skars...

It's easy to get distracted by what you think is missing from your agency.  It's even easier to allow those distractions to turn into excuses that justify maintaining the status quo.  When in reality, there's an entire dimension of maximization you haven't accessed inside your current tools.  But how beneficial would it be to develop super abilities with fairly common technology? Toni Jones, Vice...

The transition to selling more commercial accounts is often easier said than done.  At some point, almost every personal lines focused agent has stated their desire to diversify their book.  More often than not, the status quo prevails, and business continues as usual.  What if you were just missing a few simple steps to finally make a meaningful transition into that commercial space? Jared Bellmu...