Insurance In Your Words

Continues to rage on much longer than necessary and delay an entire industry in the process. The good news is that it looks like there might finally be light at the end of the integration tunnel. Technology partners and carriers are finally starting to see the possibilities of operating in a truly integrated world. That world would finally include unduplicated work and streamlined efficiencies we've never seen before. That's what I talk to Kim Wood, of Tobey & Merrill Insurance, about as she struggles with a simple address change. LISTEN: The Problem No One Can Solve (Part I) P.S. We're still solving a lot of problems here.

Should not be taken lightly and approached with caution. That's how serious things get when you start to focus on personal lines home and auto with your digital marketing. Forget about insurance, that's one of the most competitive categories in all of business. So you're going to want to make sure you have a solid strategy that's actually about to cut through the noise. That's what I talk to Sean Halpin, of MJH Insurance, about as he tried to figure out his plan. P.S. This should help regardless of the type of business you want to sell.

It starts by letting someone else do your job better than you can. When that happens, you're able to find more valuable tasks you couldn't reach before. It's a place a lot of agencies are afraid to reach right now and could be a huge advantage moving forward. Because you haven't lived until you've walked into your office and a month's worth of renewals are waiting. That's what I talk to Nick Thalhammer, of Cincinnatus Insurance, about how he might be able to make it easier. P.S. Did you know you can buy a ticket for Elevate 19?

If you're already doing it, why not try and get the most out of it. You're probably leaving a lot of value and exposure on the table if you're not creating content around your connections in the community. Instead of getting the attention of the 15-20 people that are also highly dedicated, the right piece of content 150-200. The only trick is creating something with enough value those select few want to share and others want to consume. That's what I talk to Jared Bellmund, of Carolina Living Insurance, about as he breaks down his current involvement. P.S. You should get involved with this awesome community.

Early in your insurance career, you're faced with a difficult challenge. There's usually an opportunity you want to pursue and another that seems to be working faster. In those lean moments of desperation, it's hard to walk away from business that's moving faster. Of course, this decision is not mutually exclusive, instead, it's a challenge of finding the right balance. That's what I talk to Landon Benthem, of Callahan and Rice Insurance, about as he tried to figure out his. P.S. There's only one opportunity worth taking here.

You just have to find a few people who remind you to think outside the box. This is actually one of the easiest things you can do to help drive change and results in your agency. If you are constantly surrounded by people who hold you accountable and push ideas forward, you'll have no choice but to keep up.  The biggest challenge is consistently finding time to connect with these people because there's a good chance they won't be in your agency. That's what I talk to Avery Moore, of ECI Insurance, about as she tries to find more of those people.  P.S. There's a lot of people in here waiting for you.

Just because you think they should buy from you doesn't mean they feel the same way. That's the danger of assuming any sale is in the bag because that's exactly the time it isn't. However, the good news is there's a lot that can be done with this assumption to make people think differently. The challenge is upping your game for the people that see it every day. That's what I talked to Bogus Handzel, of Handzel & Associates, about exactly how hard he thinks they should work. P.S. There's a lot hard working going on here all the time.

It's up to you to find them, but once you do then it's time to take action. That's really the hard part of discovering information that drives change. Allowing it to fully take hold and be implemented instead of falling in love with learning. Because once you do it sometimes creates a false reality of the adoption level certain ideas have in the industry. That's what I talk to Ryan Anderson, of Alliance Insurance, about as he shares his learning epiphany. P.S. This is one of the best resources in the industry.

This is really where the art and science of marketing collide as you try to figure out what works. There are no guarantees you will rank for keywords that drive business. However, there are a few key pillars to lean on when getting started to ensure the most success possible. Those pillars, however, might look and feel different to each agent depending on your current position. That's what I talk with Alex Dopazo, of Dopazo & Associates, about as he talks himself into the work he's doing. P.S. Any and all keywords are welcomed here.

It's challenging to break out of traditional agency dynamics and create an insurance rockstar mindset. There are very few agencies that feel like they are the cool kids of the industries and can aggressively do things differently. However, embracing the power and freedom that's possible when you face your creative fear is staggering. That creativity allows you to start relationships in the place people are looking for them the most. That's what I talk to Woody Brown, of The Rhoads Group, about how his agency approaches their opportunity. P.S. Unlock your creative potential by joining the Agency Nation newsletter.

When the solution probably should have happened 10 years ago. You’d think that with all the advances we’ve experienced in technology, that we’d at least be able to pull a client email list together. But that’s not the case for our industry. The dreaded thought of exporting and importing updated client lists, and then scrubbing them for accuracy just to send a simple marketing email out, makes us avoid the task altogether. Agency Management Systems struggle to find the motivation to change. And it’s preventing us from achieving our true insurance potential. That’s what I talk to Kim Woods, of Tobey Merrill Insurance about what she said to do to try to solve her problems. P.S. We solve a lot of problems in here.

Or maybe the better question is, do you have enough content to cluster? This might be one of the easiest marketing tactics to follow that can ultimately dictate your strategy. If you focus on topic clusters, it makes it really easy to understand how deep you can go on a topic to let Google know you're an expert. If you don't have enough content to fill your clusters, that's a good indication your topic isn't big enough or you need to write more. That's what I talk to Sean Halpin, of MJH Insurance, about as he tries to make sense of what he needs in his clusters. P.S. A lot of topics get clustered inside the newsletter, you should come see for yourself.

There's a good chance they're not if their still doing basic service work. With back office support companies becoming more reliable and relevant traditional service roles can do non traditional tasks. If you crunch the numbers, you'll almost always be able to walk away with a chance to make more money. That's the leap that most agents find so frustrating, is the ability to find more time to do high value tasks. That's what I talked with Nick Thalhammer, of Cincinnatus Insurance, about as he starts to seriously consider getting more value out of his people. P.S. There's a ton of valuable people that hangout here.

If not, you could be spending a lot of time on something you're trying not to do. Maybe that's important. Maybe it builds character. Maybe that's why we're still doing it. Or maybe we don't need to waste that much time and there might be a more focused way to do it? It's possible the "liberal arts" insurance education may have run it's course. If all it does is produced "Insurance Generalist" we might find ourselves in trouble. That's what I talk to Jared Bellmund, of Carolina Living Insurance, about as he tries to make sure his feel are planted in the right place.  P.S. Joining the Agency Nation Newsletter is a good way to avoid it.

Sometimes it's good to know if you're keeping up with the best of the best. But, just because you are now doesn't mean it's going to stay that way forever. Because there comes a time during every agency's growth where the potential is challenged. It's how that potential is handled and transitioned that has a good chance to separate you from the pack. That's what I talk to Landon Bentham, of Callahan and Rice Insurance, about as he questions the longevity of his growth. P.S. The Agency Nation newsletter can certainly extend the growth you're looking for.

It's real easy to talk yourself into thinking you talk too much about insurance. The truth is, it's what you do best and it's really hard to give people too many facts about it. However, one thing that usually goes dramatically overlooked is your ability to tell an emotional story all the way to the sale. It's always dangerous to play with emotions, but highly rewarding if executed properly. That's what I talked to Avery Moore, of ECI Insurance, about as she starts to questions her factual approach. P.S. Things get a little emotion from time to time on the Agency Nation newsletter, you should come hug it out with us.

You really have to set the right expectations before you can find out. Because if you haven't taken the time to figure it out, there's a good chance you'll never know. Once that question has been answered you can figure out where the help should come from. That help should be properly positioned to grow the agency where the expectations are currently sitting. That's what I talked to Bogus Handzel, of Handzel and Associates, about as he tried to figure out where to get his from. P.S. People have said there's a lot of successful help happening here.

Can be excruciating or possibly the greatest thing you've ever done. Honestly, the choice is yours initially. However, as you start to see what's involved it should become painfully obvious. When you rise to the Insurance Mindset Challenge, you're requiring that business goes where it goes, you're able to extensively "speak the language" of the industry you're trying to serve and finally have to try and make something of your next company rep marketing meeting. That's what I talked to Ryan Anderson, of Alliance Insurance Group, about as he starts to build his. P.S. You should really see what going on in this newsletter.

If you're going to do something dramatic, you minds well go all in. It doesn't matter if it means moving office locations, encouraging people not to show up there or deciding once and for all who your best client is. Taking that decision to the the next level is something that has a ridiculously good chance of helping. Once you decide who and what are involved it because a lot easier to support them. That's what I talk to Alex Dopazo, of Dopazo and Associates about, as he explains the support he gets. P.S. There's plenty of support here if you're interested.

Not many agencies are brave enough to fix what isn't broken to build something better. It's during that construction process that you'll truly be tested on the strength of your structure. But that's exactly what will happen if you want to try and reach your creative potential. One of the only ways to do it is to have the proper support around. That's what I talk to Woody Brown, of The Rhodes Group, about as he attempts to embrace his. P.S. There plenty of support inside the Agency Nation Newsletter.