Change Insurance

If it's available why not do everything you can to take it?  Maybe the only thing standing in your way is knowing what questions to ask.  Most of the time, it's not even the quality of the question that is the problem; it's simply having the courage to ask in the first place.  When you do, your agency is open to an entirely different level of progress.  Ashley DeCarteret, President of Harbor Brenn...

You could create too much separation in your customer experience if you're not careful.  Even with the best intentions, it's easy to get lost behind automation buildup and fancy insurance lingo.  All of which reduce your reliability to the people you need to feel related to the most.  Sometimes less is more and a simple stream of curiosity is all you need to keep the relationship growing.  Luis Le...

You might not realize it, but the insurance industry is a secret to a lot of people.  Unless you were born into it, there's a good chance you've never considered it a viable career option.  Which is even wilder considering the massive upside compared to the relatively low barrier to entry.  It appears, little by little, the secret is getting out and, hopefully, soon will consist of many more diver...

This is one of those special situations where one plus one might actually equal three.  It doesn't matter how many great people you bring into your agency if you can't train them to stay.  Your ability to transfer knowledge also greatly impacts how far outside the industry you can look.  When both of these skills function together at a high level is when you truly unlock your full potential.  Nikk...

If you're always ahead of the curve it's hard to get left behind.  Of course, getting and staying ahead of any curve is much easier said than done. But with countless opportunities flooding the market your chances of separating from the pack have never been better.  Mix in having access to more detailed insights across the industry and you have a highly potent combination.   Mark Geoghegan, Host o...

There's certainly nothing wrong with saying thank you, but maybe a little extra understanding could mean more. It's a notion you might not have naturally considered, but when you think about it make a lot of sense.  Nothing feels better than when someone understands who you are and where you're coming from.  That's often not the case when it comes to veterans making their way into the business wor...

What if this one conversation could reduce your client's cost of doing business?  What if it was also an area a lot of business owners overlook and plenty of agents don't talk about enough?  That's a dangerous combination that comes with a lot of opportunity attached to it.  You might be surprised just how many accounts you have that could use the extra coverage.  Brendan Neligan, RPS Broker and r...

Sometimes having a purpose just isn't enough.  It can certainly take you further than having a passing interest in your career.  But it's the speed to passion equation that really every agency owner should be trying to solve.  The faster you help them discover that passion the more likely they'll be to stay.  Dustyne Bryant, Personal Insurance Academic Director for The National Alliance for Insura...

There's always that one policy everyone needs but no one really wants to buy.  That could almost be said about any insurance policy on any given day.  That's why the insurance renewal process is such an amazing and underappreciated gift.  You always have another chance to get that less-than-desirable policy added to the stack.  Joel Cavaness, President of RPS, talks about how he approaches underse...

It might all start with two activities you never thought to consider.  Because the simple idea of talent delineation is one often treated as a mild suggestion. It's generally only a matter of time before everyone does a little bit of everything inside an agency.  But maybe it's that amalgamation of skills that are holding you back in more ways than you can imagine.  Mick Hunt, CEO of Premier Strat...

It's long been said that this industry is built on relationships.  But what if the one skill you worked on the most during your career turned out to be the biggest liability?  It turns out, that the more transferable the relationships of your agency are, the more attractive (see valuable) it is to someone else.  The only thing you might want to do now is create a little more distance before it's t...

Things can get a lot easier when you stop selling and start serving.  Often times potential clients respond better when you lead with their best interests in mind.  While on the surface that might seem simple, it's not easy to put your passion for their interests on full display.  Because it's hard to consistently show up and build trust when there might not be anything in it for you that day.  Mi...

It's easy to get caught up in presenting a version of your agency that doesn't fully exist.  How could you not try to impress clients and potential carrier partners? They couldn't possibly be interested in the hard truth that currently exists in the business.  Or just maybe that transparency is just what everyone is looking for.   Adam Augspurger, Owner of Steadfast Insurance, talks about how he l...

It might seem like an oversimplification, but you'll never know until you try.  Because having a firm foundation cemented at the center of your agency makes doing the right thing a lot easier.  That concept is also a lot easier said than done and requires strong action to support those desires.  If you do you'll empower your people to always do what's best regardless of personal outcomes.  Christi...

If you don't already feel like you belong it takes a lot of courage to find your place.  Slowly but surely the industry has been carving out more places people can feel comfortable.  The reality is it won't happen overnight, but it can be accelerated with better, more actionable, data.  However, the ultimate benchmark will be if/when we can stop talking about the diversity balance across the indus...

At the end of the day, everything comes down to time.  That is your greatest enemy when it comes to scaling your insurance business.  There are only so many conversations you can have and applications you can complete in a day.  One of those is more important and probably deserves the bulk of your time.  Mike Levins, Head of Insurance at Counterpart, talks about how you can warm up to new ways to...

It's hard to feel lost when you always know what's going on.  However, making sure everyone is always informed is a challenge you might find easier said than done.  If you're being honest with yourself, your clients are paying you a premium for a reason... That extra communication might be the biggest one.  Andy Tomlinson, President of Tomlinson Insurance Agency, talks about he keeps the informati...

The good news is most of the heavy lifting has already been done for you.  A global recondition over the last two years has helped customers break most of our industry's bad habits. Now the only thing we have to do is not allow an ounce of regression.  Instead, we have to try and carry as much momentum as we can forward. Precious Norman-Walton, Director of Underwriting for Harbor.ai, talks about t...

Sometimes it's tricky approaching diversity in your agency. The fear of not wanting to do the wrong thing often gets in the way of doing anything.  The truth is you can, and most likely will make mistakes expanding your efforts.  The only thing that matters is to own them when you do and effectively communicate what went wrong.  Vanessa Sims, WSIA Director of DE&I, talks about what can be done to...

Sometimes you just have to do things the wrong way to make a difference for your clients.  Because you can't go wrong making sure everyone always understands their insurance.  It's that commitment that goes a long way to stand out against a profitable mindset.   In the end, it's the relationship that wins over and over again far outlasting any transaction formula.  Alvin Roehr, President and CEO o...

There's something to be said for the way things have always been done.  Sometimes they're worth keeping and others require a much more objective examination.  It's not every day you allow yourself broad awareness to see the foundation of the agency through a different lens.  Often times the only way to get there is to take a hard step back and simply ask what's possible.  Meg McKeen, Founder of Ad...

It all starts with your client's need to get serious about cyber prevention in their business. Those are the table stakes for today's coverage as companies struggle to keep up with the constantly evolving landscape of attacks. In some cases, it feels like it's no longer a matter of "if" but rather "when" your clients will have to deal with some form of a cyber threat.  As a result, policies can no...

It's always interesting to see a family come together around insurance.  Especially when that family was already involved in the industry on different sides.  The amount of courage it takes to create something on your own is enormous.   But sometimes it just takes a small investment in your community to survive circumstances you could have never fathomed.  Gigi Jean, Co-Founder of One Way Insuranc...

If you have big dreams there's only one way to accomplish them.  It's by taking chances others around you are unwilling or unable to take.  Things really get interesting if you can aggressively collaborate with others around you. The combination of those two activities pave an accelerated path to your ultimate destination.  Ebens Jean, Co-Founder and CEO of One Way Insurance, talks about his journ...

It might not always be fancy or flashy, it just needs to work.  The real secret is finding comfort in those abilities knowing it's enough to just "do your job."  Because sometimes that's all it takes to create something that stands outs. A potent combination of confidence and effectiveness can probably take you further than you think.  Josh Witt, President of The Insurance Group, talks about his j...