You know, a lot of insurance agents look at their most successful peers and they think, ah, there’s no way that I could drive that level of growth and success, but it’s just not true. Anybody can do it, but it’s a matter of whether or not you’re willing to pivot to a sustainable growth model that’s based on truly connecting with your clientele. A successful pivot will produce incredible long-term benefits and it’s a lot easier than you think. In fact, there are really only three main ingredients.
The first ingredient is simply clientele. It’s a list of human beings whom you’re willing to serve and who already do business with you, and if you don’t already have a clientele, you got into business to build one. So this is kind of a no-brainer.
The second thing you need is commitment. As the CEO of your agency, you need to look at the future and say, what kind of business do I want to have and how do I want to grow in the future? That means understanding where technology and consumer trends are going and making the decision to align yourself with those trends, and it also means making the decision that your business exists to serve people and believing that that’s the key to having really great longterm success. In other words, it means running your business on purpose.
The third thing you need, and this is where most agencies fall short, is consistency. If you stop and start a lot or if you only call your clients when you want to sell them something, they’re going to feel it and they don’t like it. Don’t tap your book just for transactions. Instead, make the commitment that you’re going to reach out to each client at least annually to try to meet with them and drive deeper connections. This has to be part of your daily business practice, not something you just try once in a while when you’re in a pinch,
If you are consistent, amazing things will start to happen. First, you’ll start to build trust with your clientele and keep in mind, trust is a function of repetition. Second, you and your team will start to build much better review appointment skills. Third, you’ll become addicted to the real impact that you’re having on people’s lives and to the great stories that you’re starting to accumulate and keep in mind that all of this happens at the speed of trust, so you have time.
If you make the decision to pivot, now you can spend the next two or three years learning how to adapt and align your company’s processes and those priorities and its capabilities. If you commit and you’re consistent, you’ll be able to pivot to longterm sustainable growth and incredible career satisfaction.
