The Agent Leader Podcast

The final episode in our 8-Part series of "Clicks", or breakthroughs, for insurance professionals is all about Leadership. As John Maxwell says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” We see this is true in all the independent insurance agencies we work with. The #1 job of any leader is to improve their people. If leading your people is your job, and your people are your agency’s best assets,...

Click #7 of our 8-part series of "Clicks", or breakthroughs, for insurance professionals is all about moving from Winging It, to having a Proven Process. During this Click, we focus on getting your agency set up with a proven playbook now, so you don’t have regrets later. After all, Yesterday becomes tomorrow unless you do something different today. To read the transcript of this episode, visit ht...

Click #6 of our 8-part series of "Clicks", or breakthroughs, for insurance professionals is all about moving from being Generic to Indispensible. During this Click, you're going to discover little things you can do quickly to establish your agency as unique and indispensable. A lot of agencies have different tools and resources. The question is, how many of them are actually using them? Listen in...

Click #5 of our 8-part series of "Clicks", or breakthroughs, for insurance professionals is all about moving from the Trivial Many to the Vital Few. Do you want more things to do in your agency? Probably not! Our goal is not to give you more things to do. It's to help you focus on the right things, the most important things, and to do those things more often and with more intention. As an agency l...

Click #4 of our 8-part series of "Clicks", or breakthroughs, for insurance professionals is all about moving from Renewals to Referrals. On average, about 90% of clients renew with insurance agencies. That's pretty great when nine out of 10 people are going to pay you money next year. The bad news is that less than 10% of those same people will refer another client to your agency. So 90% + renew,...

Click #3 of our 8-part series of "Clicks", or breakthroughs, for insurance professionals is all about Activity vs. Results. Are you running an activity-based agency that celebrates being busy, or are you a results-based agency that actually gets important stuff done? Roger and Brent talk agency leaders and producers through Red Flags and Traps in your agency, and how to fix them, in this "Click"....

Click #2 of our 8-part series of "Clicks", or breakthroughs, for insurance professionals is all about Teams and realizing you can’t do it all alone. You can try to go it alone as an agency leader, or you can build a team and equip and empower a team around you. Listen in as Brent and Roger share clues to this Click for agency leaders and producers focused on: • The Green Zone • Me, Inc and We, Inc...

#1 of our new 8-part series of "Clicks". What are these clicks for insurance professionals? They could be breakthroughs, busting through a plateau, or it's a mindset shift. We're talking about when you begin to do things at a different level to get the results that maybe you didn't even think were possible prior to that "click." Through the summer, Roger and Brent are going to share some of the cl...

Do you want to avoid the stinky commission breath? If you want to stand out, you want to become the point of comparison in your marketplace, then this episode of The Agent Leader is for you. Brent goes over what it means to have commission breath, and three areas that you as an agency, as a producer, can work on to develop, to make sure that you truly are standing out and not having commission bre...

Producer Jeff Jones of IOA joins Brent to discuss his clues to success with a multi-million dollar book of business. Listen in as Jeff discusses what he believes in the cholesterol of every agency or producer, and how you can avoid it. From his version of the 80/20 rule, to helping his clients move forward while striving for his own personal best version possible, there's plenty to pick up on from...

Long time client and friend Mark Carlson of T. Charles Wilson joins us today to talk about how his Expertise has brought a level of Ease to his niche. Learn from Mark's experience as an independent insurance agency owner and producer as he shares keen insight. If you want to learn about how to produce more business, and some of the challenges and successes that agency leaders go through, this conv...

Brad Rutt of HUB International joins us for a great conversation on being Deliberate, while also being Patient on his path to success as an insurance producer. Get ready to take notes as Brad shares his story of transitioning from a lawyer to a producer specializing in the cannabis industry, clues to his seven-figure new revenue year last year, and examples of things he'll never do again on sales...

Million dollar-plus Producer Barbara Galgiani joins us to talk about transitioning from a CSR to a producer on this episode of The Agent Leader podcast. Pick up tips to Barbara's success as she hustles hard to reach her new goal of doubling her million dollar status. We continuously talk to producers about owning a certain part of the marketplace, and that's just what Barbara has done. Success lea...

Get ready to take notes, we’ve got a new type of guest on today. Curt Vondrasek, EVP of Member Leadership Engagement of the ISU Network, joins Brent to share how he helps agencies create greater value in their network. ISU Network is the second largest in the country, with an average agency size of $3.5 million in revenue, and they’re focused on growth. Curt discusses how he works with the agency...

"When you invest in yourself, when you try to surround yourself with the best, success is imminent - but it is not easy." Get ready for a great conversation with Steve Woodward, Senior VP of Employee Benefits at HUB International. Steve talks with Brent about how investing in himself helped him land the best account of his career, along with challenges and wisdom he's picked up along the way. Stev...

Brent’s bringing some of the key learnings that he’s taking away from recent industry events and sharing them on the podcast today. It all comes down to four areas where agencies can get complacent, and what happens when they do: - Alignment - Green Zone - Retention and Referrals - Obtain As you listen today, challenge yourself, ask yourself, “Why am I settling? Why am I saying good is good enough...

This episode of the Agent Leader podcast features three independent agency leaders in a panel discussion during our recent ProFit Networking event. Mike Malinowski, Dan Elliott and Todd Lykke join Brent to discuss not just agency success, but how they had to get uncomfortable with change to achieve their successes. From celebrating their best quarter in new business sales ever, to advice they'd gi...

He's a newer producer blazing his path to success by being prepared. Listen in as Toye Oshoniyi from Dominion Risk Advisors drops clues to his early success in the P&C world, with a focus on three crucial things: - Asking the right questions - Removing one word from his vocabulary - Being prepared If you're ready to gain the unfair advantage over your competitors like Toye by attending ProducerFit...

"You're choosing your lifestyle with the actions you take every day." Wise words from our guest and agency owner, Kevin Charleston, of Specialty Risk. Kevin drops tons of clues to his agency's success in this episode that you'll want to replicate. Listen in as he talks about - Choosing a niche and focusing on the right types of accounts - Getting buy in from your team - Putting a focus on your peo...

It's OK to be challenged - wise words from a great agency leader, Jeff Kirk or Dostal & Kirk agency in Ohio. Jeff talks about the challenges he faces in leading and growing his agency, his personal life, and how he's never stopped learning after 41 years in the insurance industry. Listen in for great pieces of advice any size agency leader can learn from on this episode of The Agent Leader. To get...

This episode is all about Communication and Consistency, with commercial sales manager Tim Hrehor of First Citizens joining Brent. Tim talks about how their independent insurance agency is finding success that they can replicate, working with ideal clients, and seeing growth by staying focused. Listen in for shared stories of success, struggles in the agency, and more great advice on The Agent Lea...

Brent is joined by sales leader Shane Ideus of UNICO Group for this episode of The Agent Leader. Shane shares their agency's key successes of growing to $30 million in revenue, and how they're keeping their team in a growth mindset. If you're looking for tips on gaining Clarity in your agency, and how to perpetuate growth, listen in, Shane's sharing wisdom. If you’re ready to get great results lik...

Brent is joined by Dan Elliott, Vice President at Diebold Insurance Agency, for this episode. Reflection turns experience into insight, and Dan discusses lessons he's learned while taking over the family agency, struggles, and successes they’ve dealt with. As Dan wisely states, you never know everything, and should never be done learning. So, are you done yet? If you’re ready to get great results...

Brent's talking straight to you, Sales Leaders, in this episode of The Agent Leader podcast. This is a holistic message for the sales leaders in the agency, and others as well, focused on the Three C's - clarity, consistency, commitment. It's something that we talk about frequently and to go back to the very root cause of the clarity, consistency, commitment is a conversation that Brent had with R...

Our book, Best Version Possible, is finally out! In this episode, Roger joins Brent to explain the purpose and passion behind our recent projects, and what is it going to mean for you, the independent insurance agency owner. So, to help agency owners get to their ultimate freedom, we've turned this into a process. There's an actual process of a best version possible. It’s simple, but not easy. The...