September 1, 2023 • 43 mins
The BIG question is... Can I build a book of business to $1M within 3 years? That is what we are tackling in this episode of The Preeminent Producer Podcast.
If you are a commercial insurance producer and looking to grow your book of business to $1M, you will want to join us for our upcoming LIVE Webinar, where we will do a deeper dive into this topic!
Register Here ➡️ https://webinar.thepreeminentproducer.com/register
See you there!
...
Are you a commercial insurance producer struggling to stand out from the competition? Do you find it challenging to grow your book of business and create a fulfilling career?
Then welcome to The Preeminent Producer Podcast! Each week, we'll be tackling important topics, sharing proven strategies and insights from successful producers that are in the trenches and have traveled the journey to becoming a Preeminent Producer.
You'll discover what it really takes to become Preeminent & build your book of business, in a way that isn’t being taught anywhere else. Our hosts are experts in the field and have built thriving businesses by becoming the most trusted adviser to their clients. Welcome to your journey to becoming a Preeminent Producer.
Let’s dive in!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Is it possible to build your book of business up
to a million dollars withinthree years?
That is the question that weare going to be answering in
this episode of the ParamountProducer Podcast.
Stay tuned to the end because Ihave some important information
about an upcoming webinar thatyou may be interested in.
But we're going to kick thingsoff.
Rick Gregson is going to startthe conversation by answering
the very question of is itpossible to build that book of
(00:22):
business to a million dollarswithin three years?
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Are you a commercial insurance producer struggling to
stand out from the competition?
Do you find it challenging togrow your book of business and
create a fulfilling career?
If so, then welcome to thePreeminent Producer Podcast.
Each week, we'll be tacklingimportant topics, sharing proven
strategies and insights fromsuccessful producers that are in
the trenches and have traveledthe journey to becoming a
(00:48):
preeminent producer.
You'll discover what it reallytakes to become preeminent and
build your book of business in away that isn't being taught
anywhere else.
Our hosts are experts in thefield and have built thriving
businesses by becoming the mosttrusted advisor to their clients
.
Welcome to your journey tobecoming a preeminent producer.
Let's dive in.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Absolutely, and I say that with confidence because
I've seen it done.
We had a young man in ouragency that did just exactly
that.
You built a book of a milliondollars.
Now it's a little unusual.
It takes a great deal of workand a great deal of dedication.
In many cases, a faster way toget there a proven way, is to be
(01:34):
in a niche, or a vertical as wecall it, where you become an
expert in that field, not onlyin the insurance side of the
field, but in that field and youbecome really a critical
knowledge piece for people inthat industry.
We've got people workingverticals right now.
One of them is a cannabisvertical and everybody laughs
(01:57):
when you say cannabis vertical.
I know in some of the names ofour clients are absolutely
hilarious.
But the producer and that's nota million dollar book of
business yet, but it will be theproducer in that and I think
this is one of the key thingsknows the cannabis industry
inside and out thetransportation regulations, the
(02:18):
THC regulations, all of thosethings outside of insurance.
So she is a product knowledgeperson in that industry as well
as insurance there are rules andregulations.
So she is a real source ofknowledge.
We've seen it happen and Ithink that will at some point
become a million dollar verticalfor us.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
I might just add to that.
I agree with that.
I have not personally gone fromzero to zero.
I have not gone from zero to amillion in three years.
I did build up a book of amillion that I sold many years
ago and I'm in the process ofgetting back to a million right
(03:03):
now, just to be clear.
But I did not do it in threeyears.
I think the niching is a greatidea because it strikes me that
that would put you on a fasttrack to get there.
My book has always been more ofa generalist.
The other power of the nichingis that it would lend itself to
(03:29):
getting more referrals withinthat industry or niche, and
referrals is kind of a keycomponent too, I think, if
you're going to get to that butjust to finish up my thoughts,
so Christian can chime in realquick.
Rick, I think you touched onthis it definitely would take
the right attitude that there'shard work, the determination,
(03:49):
the commitment to do it.
But in this industry it's arealistic potential goal and
there's some advantages to ourindustry we talked about before,
where we have recurring income.
So it's something you know.
This is an industry that thatthat is accomplishable, if
(04:10):
that's a real word.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
And that it can be accomplished Now.
What you, or if you knew backthen what you knew now, how much
more realistic would that be?
So when you were starting out,you were figuring out as you
went as well.
So if you, if you had all theknowledge right now, back then,
would that be more realistic todo in three years?
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Yeah, I think it's a realistic goal you have to have
and, as I would, having been inthe business for quite a while,
you have to have a correctrealization of what that's going
to take, you know, but it'sdefinitely achievable in this,
in this industry.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
You know, one of the things that and sorry, Christian
, I'll do this quickly and likeone of the things that exists
now is exactly what we're doing.
Coaching exists now.
When I first got into theinsurance business, believe me,
coaching from anywhere, anyplace, was really not available.
You were lucky if you gotpaired with a successful
(05:06):
producer who was particularly agood coach.
You're trying to stay out ofhis or her way, but I think now
there is, there is, there's whatwe're doing right here that's
going to make things go faster.
If you follow good coaching,you're going to get better.
Professional athletes followgood coaching.
They get better.
So I think that's one of thethings that'll help propel
(05:28):
people, christian.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
Yeah, I was going to say I absolutely think it's
doable.
I think it's doable now, morethan 20, 30 years ago, because
of the fact that there are a lotof coaching programs available,
this particular group of guyswere in it.
I mean, I'm, I have a book ofbusiness, my personal book of
(05:51):
business is greater than amillion dollars and I'm
continuing to grow it and fightfor it.
But I will say that.
Back to the question.
You know, being a niche expert,rick, is absolutely one path of
doing it.
It's probably the mosttraditional path of becoming
that million dollar producerwithin a very short period of
(06:12):
time.
Because you are that expert,you can talk the talk, you
understand what their problemsare, you can bring solutions.
But I also think that now, as ageneralist, which is kind of
where we are I mean, we do haveour different niches or or
verticals, and we have producers, that's, that play in just
those verticals and niches.
But you can also do it as ageneralist.
(06:35):
I believe now more than ever,because of the fact that the
stars have lined up in ourindustry.
We talked about acquisitionsthat have happened recently.
That's really opened up thelane for differentiation.
That matters, that we'll talkabout later.
But you can absolutely become amillion dollar producer.
(06:57):
It takes a lot of hard work,obviously, a lot of dedication,
a lot of practice, but If youhave superior coaches that have
done it and can talk with youand share with you the tools
that have been successful, thatreally do make a difference.
With that, coupled with theinternet, the information that's
(07:17):
out there on the internet aboutbusinesses, I believe you can
go into an account, land thataccount, choose who you want to
go after and that way you canincrementally build your book of
business to that million dollarproducer level very quickly.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yes, that's great, christian.
You mentioned differentiation.
So, as I the listeners know,inside the preeminent producer
program you guys have laid out a12 step success path, but in
today we're really kind of, Ithink, going to cover four
primary pillars on in thisconversation of building a
million dollar book of businessin three years.
(07:52):
So differentiation let's talkabout that for a moment.
How important is that when youknow, I know there's a saying,
if you're not blending it or ifyou're not standing out, you're
blending in.
How true is that inside of theinsurance industry?
Speaker 5 (08:07):
Well, I couldn't bet that that couldn't be more
apropos anywhere, I think, thanthe insurance industry.
I mean, it's so spot on, Paul,because insurance, when people
ask me what I do, I'm aninsurance, you know I always
hesitate.
You know what I want to tellthem.
And the reality is, you know,we can talk about what we really
(08:28):
do, about helping businessesand helping clients manage risk
and stay in business and all ofthat.
But as soon as I mentionedinsurance, it has this dark
cloud of oh, I know you you'rejust like every other insurance
agent who takes my money andovercharges me and that's so
(08:49):
much BS.
But that's what people think.
So again, you're right, and wetalk about this.
If you, if you look, smell andappear just like another
insurance agent, well, you're nodifferent.
So again, what we're talkingabout selling, why would that
person buy from you?
You have to be different.
You have to be different, butyou have to be different in a
(09:12):
way that that prospect sees thebenefit to them.
And you know, people talk aboutdifferentiation all the time,
but differentiation that reallymatters is what it takes to
become preeminent.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
I mean, we see it in otherindustries as well.
This is not unique to theinsurance industry.
Realtors, although they don't.
People don't recoil when yousay I'm a realtor, but they have
.
They take two steps back whenyou say you're in the insurance
business.
I think your appearance, I thinkyour professional manner, I
(09:49):
think your reputation in thecommunity, I think all of those
things matter.
I know, I know a realtor who isa we all do preeminent realtor
and I refer people to him allthe time.
He's a client of mine.
He's had an incrediblysuccessful career.
Everything about him isdifferent.
There's no rush, it's welleducated, he presents himself
(10:11):
well, he makes, he gives you thefeeling you want to do business
with him, and I think we seethat with attorneys.
I think we see that with someinsurance agents I've run into
and we all have some there.
There's some people that reallystand out in the industry and
if you stop and think about itand we say this in our agency
all the time more likely yourclient is going to spend more
(10:34):
money with you than they dotheir attorney for their CPA.
And plus something blows up andthey have a lawsuit not covered
by insurance.
By the way, they're going tospend more money with us, so
they expect the professionalism.
They do want you to stand out.
You do need to be that point ofdifferentiation, educationally
(10:56):
figuring out in advance why theywant to do business with you.
Because when you walk in we'veall said this, we know this when
you walk in the door, whetherthey say it or not, why should I
buy insurance from you, right?
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Yeah, you guys right on exactly.
Only one minor thing I wouldthrow out is and you're right,
it can be a conversation stopperat a cocktail party or
something to say oh, I do, Isell commercial insurance.
You know, a little phrase thatI've used it seems to work
because it leads more questionsis hey, I'm a consultant in a
(11:31):
risk risk mitigation expert andnobody knows what that meant.
You know so hopefully they sayWell what what tell me more
about that?
you know, and then you can kindof get into it, but you've got
to have the meaningfuldifferentiation to back that up.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
Yeah and I think Paul or Matt to take that a step
further, just for the listenerswhen I when I refer to
differentiation, as I was, firstof all, to be successful,
you've got to be true toyourself.
Don't.
Don't try to go out there andbe some clown and consider that
differentiation that thatdoesn't work.
People see through fakeness,take that same mindset and
(12:11):
understanding and say, okay, amI faking solutions that I'm
bringing to the table?
You know, if you're, if youhave different solutions, you
can differentiate yourself bythe solutions that you present.
If those solutions that youhave you actually have work.
That's your differentiationpiece.
If it fits for that client, ifit done for that client, go find
(12:34):
the client that it does fit for.
So again, just to try to definewhat I was referring to as
being different yeah, you got tobe different, you got to stand
out and the good news is is thisis a one of the good news is is
that this is an industry wherepeople are expecting the same
(12:55):
thing.
So the unexpected, I think,many times gets them to say yes
a lot quicker than if you'rejust the same as everyone else.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Yeah, yeah, you know there's.
There's something that comes tomind also because I had this
conversation recently withsomebody in the agency and they
they took a different path onthis and it was kind of
interesting conversation, don't?
Well, first of all, you have tobelieve in what we do is really
vitally important.
Because of it and I do thatconversation all the time that
(13:26):
said, listen, you had $10million in the bank that I
normally say you wouldn't be onthis call because you'd be
lounging around someplace.
But if you had $10 million inthe bank and you wanted to buy a
piece of real estate and youwanted to take eight of that $10
million and put it into a realasset, you're not going to do it
without what we do.
(13:46):
You're not going to risk moneyand investment without insurance
.
So we're sort of the oil thatmakes the industry work and I
believe that, and not everyonethinks that we're bad, and I
think that we walk inpre-expecting that reaction,
which honestly, happens morethan it does, and I get that.
But I think it's like uswalking into somebody in the old
(14:10):
days making price the mostimportant part of our
presentation, where the personwill say I'm not worried about
price.
Oh, you're not.
No, I'm worried about somebodywho knows what I do can protect
it.
I'm not worried about thecheapest product, and then you
hardly knew what to do.
Oh, so you want quality,because I walk in there with the
(14:30):
attitude that everybody wantsthe lowest price and they don't.
Many do Right.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
That's pretty true, good point, christian, you said
something about standing out,and I think it is an important
point to note that we're talkingabout standing out, not
sticking out, and I've alwayskind of looked at that as
sticking out is more of anegative thing rather than
standing out.
And it's interesting.
I remember a number of yearsago, and I think it was at a
(14:59):
business conference where therewas one producer in particular
that and you guys might remember, and I don't remember the name
by any means, but he was alwaysin a three-piece suit, feather
in his cap, walked with a cane,shiny shoes.
I mean he stood out compared toeveryone else.
Now, at the same time, did itfit with what he was actually
(15:22):
doing and who he was actuallytargeting?
That's a whole other story,right, and so I think it comes
to your point.
It's not about necessarilydressing different, although
that's a factor, could be afactor, depending who you're
talking to but it's knowing whoyou are going after, and I think
it was Rick.
I could be wrong, but I thinkit was Rick.
(15:43):
You mentioned a producer, andit may even be the cannabis one,
or you know what.
Maybe I got this wrong, maybeit was Christian and a producer
where one of your producers isnot dressed like a normal
producer because of the nicheand who they're going after, and
so you have to know who you'retargeting right, and so I think
that's a really important pointwhere it's not trying to copy
(16:05):
someone else necessarily, butreally finding your own
differentiation in what you know, how you deliver it and who
you're targeting correct.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Yeah, well, we bought a small agency seven years ago
and there were two producers inthe agency, one I had known for
quite a while and I knew he wasan industry expert and a great
guy, amazing knowledge, and hewas in the construction.
That was his niche.
And as the sale got closer andcloser he I just could feel this
(16:33):
hesitancy of him joining us andcoming over and he was very
uncomfortable.
I said let's go out and have acup of coffee.
What is your problem?
And he said well, I was in abig national agency.
I broke away from there and Idon't wanna dress the way you
dress, which was suit and tieand all that.
I said what he said.
I don't wanna dress like you.
So well, you don't have todress like me, pat, you're a
(16:55):
cowboy.
He has, he literally wrotesteers and stuff like that.
I said you mean, I can wearjeans and boots to go see my
contractor guys.
And I said, pat, you're 55years old for crying that loud.
How am I gonna tell you how todress?
You're going to dress for youraudience and if your audience,
maybe as attorneys you dress adifferent way.
But, pat, you've been verysuccessful and with any producer
(17:19):
who's very successful.
You wanna stay out of their wayand just keep asking how can we
help you?
Speaker 5 (17:25):
Yeah, I would.
Paul.
Your point about standing outand not sticking out, I think is
spot on.
To be successful, you need toalso while you stand out.
Okay, and standing out Ibelieve is standing out with
(17:47):
it's all encompassing in theindividual.
So it's a knowledge, it's inhow you dress, it's in what you
know, so forth and so on.
But to Rick's point, you do needto dress for your audience and
why that's vitally important?
Because the goal in going outand seeing a prospect and
landing a new client is gettingthat prospect or a client to
(18:10):
trust you.
So they need to first of allfeel comfortable with you.
They assume most likely theywouldn't even ask you to come in
if they didn't in some waybelieve that you had the basic
abilities to service and takecare of their needs.
I mean, you're an insuranceagent.
They'd probably think, okay, Iknow what you're like.
(18:32):
But obviously if you go into aauto body shop dressed in a suit
and tie, you've actually hurtyourself because you've created
that barrier between you andthat prospect.
You've actually broken thetrust, you've broken your goal
of what you're trying toestablish with that person,
(18:52):
which is trust.
I believe people trust peoplebecause they have to have some
sense of lightness.
They have to like the person onsome level.
They have to believe in theperson as well.
So understanding your audienceand meaning how you dress
towards them, understandingtheir business their vernacular
(19:14):
is so important and making surethat you also are aware of how
you come across to your audience.
And again on other calls andpodcasts we talk about that.
As far as doing your homework,before you go to see the
prospect, making sure that thisisn't your first attempt at
(19:38):
going out that you've actuallynot only done your homework but
you've practiced it, because asquickly as you can establish
that trust now you're that muchcloser to having that client
join you.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
And Chris, I know you've talked about this in the
past as part of that prep workprior to that first meeting with
a prospect.
In fact, first meeting is gonnabe a subject coming up pretty
soon that we're gonna betackling all by itself, right.
But I know, chris, and you'vementioned that, as part of that
preparation for the firstmeeting, you either know or
(20:17):
you've been able to logicallyanticipate what that particular
prospects issues, what their hotbuttons and problems are, that
you can bring solutions to,which is just the best way to go
into one of those meetings.
Just hey, another big picturecomment, guys, as far as
thinking here about getting backto how to get to that million
(20:37):
dollars in the course of threeyears, a lot of what we've
already talked about I'm gonnastate something kind of obvious,
but a lot of it just flows fromhaving that right mindset that
we've talked about.
And I think two components tothat mindset that are important
to me is one, realizing it ispossible.
This is an industry wherethat's possible.
Two, having that firmconviction.
(21:01):
Some of you have heard me saythis before, but having that
firm conviction and I've toldprospects this before literally,
look, I know I'm the bestbroker for you that I can
accomplish the following thingsfor you.
And I don't say the followingout loud, but having that
mindset that hey, without me,they're gonna be better off with
(21:21):
me than with anybody else.
And so if you really developthat mindset, then I'm not
talking about tricking yourself,but if you develop that mindset
and you firmly believe that Iknow all three of us do we
believe that about ourselves.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I don't think we ever compete against each other.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
If you really develop that mindset, then I think it
comes across in a non-obnoxiousway.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Let's talk about that for a moment, because I know
Christian just brought upbuilding trust and being
free-eminent, as we know, isbecoming the most trusted
advisor.
That is our goal is being atrusted advisor.
There is a mindset shift thattakes place, so let's talk about
this more.
Man, as far as building a bookof business of a million dollars
in three years, part ofbecoming free-eminent is
(22:12):
thinking free-eminent, right,thinking like a free-eminent
producer compared to a typicalproducer, that may not believe
is even possible.
So let's talk about this alittle more.
What is a free-eminent mindset?
And I know we'll be talkingabout this even more in depth in
future podcasts and in ourupcoming webinar but let's talk
about what is a free-eminentmindset to you.
(22:32):
What's needed in that?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
You know what I think is needed?
Two things.
Number one, I think for younewer producers, you probably
don't know as much as anold-season producer.
There's nothing you can doabout that except for learn your
industry over time.
But what you can do is careabout this client more than
anyone else cares about thisclient.
(22:56):
That has nothing to do witheducation.
That is your commitment to thisclient that you care about them
and you're gonna do whatever ittakes to help them succeed, to
help them get the best programpossible.
Now remember, producers, alsowhen you are competing against
other insurance agents.
You don't have to be the bestinsurance agent in America.
(23:18):
You don't have to be the bestinsurance agent in your state or
your city.
You have to be the bestinsurance agent in that
particular fight.
So don't worry, we all wonderabout our confidence level.
Confidence level from time totime.
But again, I think if you caremore than anyone else, it's
gonna go a long way in how youpresent yourself to your
(23:39):
prospect and how they perceiveyou.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
You know another thing that a successful producer
early on in my career so he wasmuch older than me, long since
retired, but he shared with meand I think it kind of fits with
that he shared with me that hesaid, matt, I know I'm not the
smartest guy out there, I'm kindof a C student.
(24:05):
I know I'm not the best lookingguy out there, et cetera.
He said the one thing I cancontrol is I know I'm gonna work
harder than anybody else.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
Yeah, I think, matt, that the absolutely as part of
being preeminent is knowing thatyou're never gonna get, you're
never gonna be outworked by yourcompetition, ever period and a
discussion.
You also believe not boastfullybut in your mind that you are
(24:40):
the best.
You are the best and thatprospect needs you and you are
going to show them why they needyou and why they need to move
over to your agency.
I like, in being preeminent, tobeing a professional athlete.
I mean, I think of myself as aprofessional insurance agent.
(25:01):
I'm a professional, I am thebest.
Now, am I the best in the world?
No, but as far as I know, whenI'm talking to that prospect,
I'm the best.
I'm the best in the room.
Now, how do I know that?
Cause I've done my homework.
I got the differentiationpoints that matter with
solutions that are gonna helpthat client.
(25:24):
But if you're a producer whodoesn't like to win doesn't,
well, let me just leave it there.
Doesn't like to win.
I hate to say this, but you'reprobably in the wrong profession
.
You're not gonna win every time.
You're gonna get your butthanded to you, but you gotta get
up and go again and go in forthe win and think that you are
(25:46):
the best.
Again, not arrogantly.
No one likes an arrogant SOB.
I mean, that's just not.
You know, again we talked aboutyou have to be likable for the
prospect to wanna do businesswith you.
You don't have to be their bestfriend, but they do have to
have a sense of trust.
Okay, and then your job is toalso explain, show however you
(26:08):
do it and we talk about that getthat prospect to say Matt,
you're the person I want.
Yep, okay.
So again I come.
You know what is it to bepreeminent in a mindset?
It means you know in your mindthat you're the right one.
Hopefully you've done all thework.
You know we can talk about thattoo, getting to that level.
(26:31):
But I think a new producer toRick's point was spot on, spot
on.
You know you don't have to bethe smartest insurance agent out
there.
You don't have to.
You know, have been in thebusiness for 40 or 50 years.
I mean jeez, that personprobably doesn't even care about
that client that you're goingto see or that prospect.
All that prospect cares aboutis do you care about them and
(26:55):
can I trust you?
Speaker 4 (26:59):
I really like what you just said and what, rick,
you said a little while agoabout needing to really, to
truly not fake it but to trulycare about that prospect.
You know, and I know that theycan see right through if you're
being fake about something andprobably the death mill to any
presentation would be if theystart feeling like you care
(27:21):
about yourself and the moneyyou're going to make off of them
more than you care about themand they're you know.
So if you have really coolsolutions, a lot of tools that
we've developed to back that upand to present and show them,
then that's going to be evidencethat you really care about them
and you're bringing the rightsolutions, I guess, to the table
(27:45):
.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
I think, yeah, I think my career took a turn when
I stopped selling and startededucating people.
When I started educating people, when I started not selling but
explaining to them variousthings that we do that will
benefit them.
First of all, we have to findout what really will help them.
When we started educatingpeople, rather than a sales
(28:06):
pitch, we were seen in adifferent light.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
I like that.
I think that's huge, that'shuge.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Okay.
So obviously we're going to bediving into this more.
Like I said, an upcomingwebinar and I'll put the
information in the show notes.
So if you're listening to this,definitely look for that and
you can register for the webinar.
We'll be doing a much deeperdive on this.
Well, let's say, okay, nowwe've got differentiation, we've
got a preeminent mindset.
Now we've got to take this tothe masses here and start
talking to prospects.
(28:35):
Right, because withoutprospects, there's no way we're
going to build a book ofbusiness.
So let's talk about that.
What does prospecting look likewhen you are going at this the
preeminent way?
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Oh, finally we get a fun thing to talk about when we
say all the time in these things, listen, we can have fun doing
this.
I mean, we can get this aroundand have fun.
The three coaches on here allhave a great sense of humor.
Well, two of them do.
Mine isn't that good.
Two of them really have a greatsense of humor.
So, yeah, it's all about you.
(29:05):
You can take all of this kindof stuff that we're talking
about, but you have to havesomebody to do it with.
So that means you needprospects, you need to be out
there marketing yourself.
You need people in yourpipeline one of my favorite
subjects, because the quality ofyour pipeline is the quality of
your career, and if you've gotnobody in a pipeline or if you
have names in a pipeline namesthat's not going to do any good
(29:29):
for you.
You've got to research thepeople and again I'll do my
little prospect thing.
A prospect is someone who knowsme.
I know them and they know whatI do.
A suspect is someone I know.
They don't know me yet and Ineed to find a way to get to
know them.
But a prospect I need toresearch those people I want to
know.
Do I want them as a client?
(29:50):
I may not want them as a client.
Life's too short in thisindustry to do business people
you don't want to do businesswith.
So research them.
Christian, you make a goodpoint of this.
Do we have a market for whatthey do?
Do we represent a carrier thatcan really do them a good job?
Are they in my size?
Are they in my minimum countsize, the over my minimum
(30:12):
account size and all of thosethings go into generate what a
real prospect is to me.
Speaker 5 (30:18):
Yeah, I think prospecting from a preeminent
producer perspective, paul,that's a lot of peas, pppp.
Anywho, we do have fun.
I think that prospecting from apreeminent producer's
(30:39):
perspective is just like gettinga cup of coffee in the morning.
I mean, it's just, it'shabitual.
It is the same thing all thetime, all day long.
I'm looking out and about andI'm scouting.
Now I think that a preeminentproducer can absolutely choose
(30:59):
which prospects.
They've done the work that Rickjust referred to, making sure
that that matches up with ourcarrier mix within the agency,
within our belly wick ofexpertise, within our desire and
our own passion, so we can talkthe talk and someone that we
have solutions for.
(31:20):
It's come up before, rick, we'vetalked about if you're a
producer in a small community,can you still do this?
Well, here's the thing Ibelieve.
I believe again, personally, Ibelieve anything's possible if
you set your mind to it and Ithink that even in small
communities you can find thosediamonds.
But you can also look outsideof that community and again,
(31:44):
where we're living now in thisenvironment of technology.
I mean, we have clients allover the world and I have
clients that I have not gone tosee when I started 30 some years
ago, one of the and I'm gettingoff topic, paul, but it is
relevant that I was trained todo don't write someone's
(32:05):
insurance without going andseeing them, because you will
uncover all the lies andmisfortunes that they don't tell
you about.
You'll uncover that in thebasement they're packing black
gunpowder that they're nottelling you about.
They're telling you they sellfurniture out of their store.
And that's not all that they do.
(32:25):
Okay, well, I found that to bevery true, but with today's
technology, I can find out somuch about a prospect that may
be 50 miles away that is largeenough that if I do write it,
it's going to pay for me to gosee them and spend time with
(32:45):
them.
Okay, so, again, I thinkboundaries when it comes to
prospecting have beenexponentially expanded because
of today's technology andinformation.
But when it comes back toprospecting, I mean so sorry.
So I think that any listenerout there who's saying, well,
wait a minute, I'm just in thispo-dunk town, I can't become a
(33:06):
million dollar producer, I thinkthat's an excuse.
I'm sorry, I do.
I think it's an excuse.
I think if you join us in ourjourney, you can be and you put
your mind to it.
You want to be successful.
You can be a million dollarproducer, but prospecting has
got to be just like breathing, Imean, it's just something you
do all the time.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
Absolutely it's.
I hate to keep using the wordmindset, but I don't know a
better word for it.
I think you have to have both aprospecting and a referral
mindset at all times.
You need both.
You need to run down bothtracks.
Very interesting point youbring up Christian.
With today's technology etcetera, and especially if you
have a really good niche,there's no reason that you can't
(33:52):
do that remotely.
If they're 50 miles, heck, ifthey're 150 miles, or I mean
especially with a niche, I wouldsay that that's really doable
these days.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Yeah, it really is yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Well and I know there's so many, so many
directions.
We could go just on the topicof prospecting and we've covered
that in deep dives on othertrainings inside the pyramid
producer.
Let's talk for a moment tooabout, let's say, as a producer,
you get really good atprospecting and you become a
good closure, and I know ofproducers like this where they
(34:23):
have become amazing closers.
But when it comes to the otherside, where it's not just about
building a book of business butwe also want to retain it right,
we want to retain our clientsthis is where some guys fall off
.
Where they're really good atclosing, they hand the client
off to their CSR and they nevertalk to the client again.
(34:43):
And so the retention rate isreally low because someone else
takes them at some point in time.
So let's talk for a momentabout retention and kind of
managing your book of business.
What does that look like whenit comes to doing it?
The preeminent way.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
Well, I think if you're going to be a preeminent
producer, if you're going tohave a book of a million dollars
or more, you're going to haveto have a fabulous service team
on your side.
I say this and I always telleverybody they have to.
Let me finish the sentence now.
That team wouldn't have a jobif I didn't exist, but I would
not have a job or career if theydo not exist.
(35:20):
It is a true team.
You've got to have something inplace where you've got to guard
your time.
It's your only diminishingasset that you have.
So you've got to have a serviceteam that has well-defined
duties.
In my own case, I see myclients quarterly.
That's all I do.
I don't talk to them much.
I do is, to paraphrase an oldbuddy of mine take off, landings
(35:41):
and in-flight emergencies.
Takeoff is when I write thebusiness, landings when we
continue the business or renewthe business.
In-flight emergencies are thosethings that would jeopardize
our retaining that client thathappened during that year or
that quarter.
People don't call me to turn ina claim, to make an auto change
, to need a certificate ofinsurance or any of those things
(36:04):
that can be done by a serviceteam.
They know I've done a servicehandoff.
When I write your insurancepolicy, paul, I'd like to
introduce you to Dee or Laura orJosh, whoever which one will be
handling.
They're the ones it's going tobe the day-to-day operations.
They are licensed insuranceagents.
They are professionals.
They have professionaldesignations Because I'm out in
(36:26):
the community doing things and Imeet with these folks every
week.
They bring me up to date withwhat's going on.
We're never out of touch.
My quarterly meetings are not acup of coffee and comments
about sports.
They have an agenda.
We go over claims.
We go over usage of variousthings that we have in the
agency.
We go over audit checks.
(36:46):
We go over various things.
Make sure that we have alltheir things covered.
They're supposed to be covered.
So many times they'll say oh,did we tell you we sold
something three weeks ago?
No, you didn't tell us.
We'll catch those kind ofthings.
That team in place, if you'regoing to have a book of that
size, is critical.
They've got to be talented andyou've got to do a formal
(37:07):
handoff with those folks.
Speaker 4 (37:10):
Rick such a good point.
It's just absolutely critical.
You've got to have that rightservice team in place.
You're never going to get to amillion without it.
You're just not, because you'regoing to get bogged down in all
the service and putting outfires.
It is so wonderful I've alwaysbeen very blessed this way it's
so wonderful to have suchconfidence in the service team
(37:33):
behind you.
I know I can be out an entireday or two days in a row doing
prospects, meeting with clientset cetera, and knowing that no
matter what comes up, it can behandled back at the office.
You've got to find, train andincubate and educate the right
people.
Without that I'm not sure itwould be possible to get to a
(37:54):
million bucks.
It would be chaotic at the veryleast.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
I would add to that that, again being preeminent,
paul is having okay.
So Michael Jordan went out andwould score 50 points a game If
he didn't have his team playersplaying defense, setting the
right picks.
As great as he was, he couldnever have done that To Rick's
(38:23):
point and this is beating alittle bit of a dead horse but
Rick brings in, he's therainmaker, brings in the clients
.
His residual income depends onthat service team behind him.
So you've got to have goodplayers and any producers out
there.
If you're questioning thetalent that you have behind you,
you need to have a conversationwith your agency principal.
(38:44):
You need to talk about gettingthe right people on the bus.
I've lived it, done it and thatis very critical.
If you're going to besuccessful, you need those
people around you to support you.
You have to have that.
I think you need to clearlydefine the roles of your team,
as Rick had mentioned, when youfirst bring a client on and then
(39:06):
on an annual basis, I think youneed to have continuous,
continual, continuous orcontinual communications with
the clients, both verbally andelectronically.
We're big believers in havingelectronic communications
because we can't touch everyoneall the time and some important
things need to go out.
(39:27):
But again, word of caution isyou can't rely on those
electronic communications toreplace that human touch.
So you have to balance thatwith okay, are we still meeting
with this client quarterly,especially when you gun
preeminent?
Your top 20 accounts make up80% of your income and we talk
(39:47):
about that on other episodes,about shedding and so forth, but
an expanding that top 20 evengreater.
But my point is you have to beable to have some personal touch
, follow through on that andhave a game plan as you go into,
when you're going to firstbring your client on.
(40:10):
I think again, it's foolish notto give clients your mobile
number.
Now there may be salespeopleout there that say that's crazy,
christian, because you're goingto get every call.
Well, here's the thing I don'tget every call and I do that.
But what my clients know is ifthey need me, they can get me,
(40:32):
and that alone has stoppedbecause I've had clients tell me
that.
That's why, christian, I dobusiness with you.
When I get calls from thesesalespeople calling to set
appointments, you can tell this.
One client told me the otherweek.
He said I tell that I askedthem.
Hey, if my car breaks down or Ihave a problem on a Sunday
(40:53):
night at seven o'clock, can Ispeak to the owner of the agency
?
Can I speak to the producer ormy?
Can I speak to my?
And inevitably they say no,because they don't even know who
that is, and that's how thisclient stays with.
I mean not, it's one of thereasons why.
So I think you have to look atit again as if you're preeminent
(41:14):
, you're the best of the bestand you need to choose how.
Put yourself in your client'sshoes.
You know what's best for themand I think so.
That's a lot to throw out there, but anyway, I didn't lose
anyone.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Okay, paul, we may be getting a little towards the
end of this and I don't mean torush us to that at all, but
there's something I wanted toget in about preeminent
producers.
My favorite three words are no,do and master.
Many of you producers know thestuff we're talking about.
You probably know it.
Many of you do some of thethings that we're talking about,
(41:54):
and that's really great.
But very few of us master thethings that we're going to talk
about, not only in today'smeetings but in future meetings.
Will you ever master everything?
No, but it's that desire tomaster these topics that come up
that really will set you apartfrom an average producer your
commitment to not just know itand not just kind of do it, but
(42:14):
to master every one of thesethings.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
All right, there is so many things to cover when it
comes to this very topic ofbuilding a book of business up
to a million dollars, and that'swhy we want to personally
invite you to an upcoming livewebinar training where we're
going to be diving even deeperinto this very topic.
Our coaches are going to bebringing even more stuff than
what you heard in this podcaston the very topic of building
(42:39):
your book of business to amillion dollars within three
years.
So I encourage you to check outthe links below in the
description and register forthis live training, because this
is definitely going to be adeeper dive into this very topic
, all geared to helping you growyour book of business on your
path to becoming a preeminentproducer.
So be sure to register andwe'll see you in the next
(43:00):
episode of the preeminentproducer podcast.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Thanks so much for joining us on this episode of
the preeminent producer podcast.
If you're enjoying the show,please feel free to subscribe,
rate and leave a review whereveryou listen to your podcast.
That helps others find the showand we greatly appreciate it.
Once again, thanks for joiningus and we'll catch you in the
next episode of the preeminentproducer podcast.
Is it possible to build your book of business up
to a million dollars withinthree years?
That is the question that weare going to be answering in
this episode of the ParamountProducer Podcast.
Stay tuned to the end because Ihave some important information
about an upcoming webinar thatyou may be interested in.
But we're going to kick thingsoff.
Rick Gregson is going to startthe conversation by answering
the very question of is itpossible to build that book of
(00:22):
business to a million dollarswithin three years?
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Are you a commercial insurance producer struggling to
stand out from the competition?
Do you find it challenging togrow your book of business and
create a fulfilling career?
If so, then welcome to thePreeminent Producer Podcast.
Each week, we'll be tacklingimportant topics, sharing proven
strategies and insights fromsuccessful producers that are in
the trenches and have traveledthe journey to becoming a
(00:48):
preeminent producer.
You'll discover what it reallytakes to become preeminent and
build your book of business in away that isn't being taught
anywhere else.
Our hosts are experts in thefield and have built thriving
businesses by becoming the mosttrusted advisor to their clients
.
Welcome to your journey tobecoming a preeminent producer.
Let's dive in.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Absolutely, and I say that with confidence because
I've seen it done.
We had a young man in ouragency that did just exactly
that.
You built a book of a milliondollars.
Now it's a little unusual.
It takes a great deal of workand a great deal of dedication.
In many cases, a faster way toget there a proven way, is to be
(01:34):
in a niche, or a vertical as wecall it, where you become an
expert in that field, not onlyin the insurance side of the
field, but in that field and youbecome really a critical
knowledge piece for people inthat industry.
We've got people workingverticals right now.
One of them is a cannabisvertical and everybody laughs
(01:57):
when you say cannabis vertical.
I know in some of the names ofour clients are absolutely
hilarious.
But the producer and that's nota million dollar book of
business yet, but it will be theproducer in that and I think
this is one of the key thingsknows the cannabis industry
inside and out thetransportation regulations, the
(02:18):
THC regulations, all of thosethings outside of insurance.
So she is a product knowledgeperson in that industry as well
as insurance there are rules andregulations.
So she is a real source ofknowledge.
We've seen it happen and Ithink that will at some point
become a million dollar verticalfor us.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
I might just add to that.
I agree with that.
I have not personally gone fromzero to zero.
I have not gone from zero to amillion in three years.
I did build up a book of amillion that I sold many years
ago and I'm in the process ofgetting back to a million right
(03:03):
now, just to be clear.
But I did not do it in threeyears.
I think the niching is a greatidea because it strikes me that
that would put you on a fasttrack to get there.
My book has always been more ofa generalist.
The other power of the nichingis that it would lend itself to
(03:29):
getting more referrals withinthat industry or niche, and
referrals is kind of a keycomponent too, I think, if
you're going to get to that butjust to finish up my thoughts,
so Christian can chime in realquick.
Rick, I think you touched onthis it definitely would take
the right attitude that there'shard work, the determination,
(03:49):
the commitment to do it.
But in this industry it's arealistic potential goal and
there's some advantages to ourindustry we talked about before,
where we have recurring income.
So it's something you know.
This is an industry that thatthat is accomplishable, if
(04:10):
that's a real word.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
And that it can be accomplished Now.
What you, or if you knew backthen what you knew now, how much
more realistic would that be?
So when you were starting out,you were figuring out as you
went as well.
So if you, if you had all theknowledge right now, back then,
would that be more realistic todo in three years?
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Yeah, I think it's a realistic goal you have to have
and, as I would, having been inthe business for quite a while,
you have to have a correctrealization of what that's going
to take, you know, but it'sdefinitely achievable in this,
in this industry.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
You know, one of the things that and sorry, Christian
, I'll do this quickly and likeone of the things that exists
now is exactly what we're doing.
Coaching exists now.
When I first got into theinsurance business, believe me,
coaching from anywhere, anyplace, was really not available.
You were lucky if you gotpaired with a successful
(05:06):
producer who was particularly agood coach.
You're trying to stay out ofhis or her way, but I think now
there is, there is, there's whatwe're doing right here that's
going to make things go faster.
If you follow good coaching,you're going to get better.
Professional athletes followgood coaching.
They get better.
So I think that's one of thethings that'll help propel
(05:28):
people, christian.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
Yeah, I was going to say I absolutely think it's
doable.
I think it's doable now, morethan 20, 30 years ago, because
of the fact that there are a lotof coaching programs available,
this particular group of guyswere in it.
I mean, I'm, I have a book ofbusiness, my personal book of
(05:51):
business is greater than amillion dollars and I'm
continuing to grow it and fightfor it.
But I will say that.
Back to the question.
You know, being a niche expert,rick, is absolutely one path of
doing it.
It's probably the mosttraditional path of becoming
that million dollar producerwithin a very short period of
(06:12):
time.
Because you are that expert,you can talk the talk, you
understand what their problemsare, you can bring solutions.
But I also think that now, as ageneralist, which is kind of
where we are I mean, we do haveour different niches or or
verticals, and we have producers, that's, that play in just
those verticals and niches.
But you can also do it as ageneralist.
(06:35):
I believe now more than ever,because of the fact that the
stars have lined up in ourindustry.
We talked about acquisitionsthat have happened recently.
That's really opened up thelane for differentiation.
That matters, that we'll talkabout later.
But you can absolutely become amillion dollar producer.
(06:57):
It takes a lot of hard work,obviously, a lot of dedication,
a lot of practice, but If youhave superior coaches that have
done it and can talk with youand share with you the tools
that have been successful, thatreally do make a difference.
With that, coupled with theinternet, the information that's
(07:17):
out there on the internet aboutbusinesses, I believe you can
go into an account, land thataccount, choose who you want to
go after and that way you canincrementally build your book of
business to that million dollarproducer level very quickly.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yes, that's great, christian.
You mentioned differentiation.
So, as I the listeners know,inside the preeminent producer
program you guys have laid out a12 step success path, but in
today we're really kind of, Ithink, going to cover four
primary pillars on in thisconversation of building a
million dollar book of businessin three years.
(07:52):
So differentiation let's talkabout that for a moment.
How important is that when youknow, I know there's a saying,
if you're not blending it or ifyou're not standing out, you're
blending in.
How true is that inside of theinsurance industry?
Speaker 5 (08:07):
Well, I couldn't bet that that couldn't be more
apropos anywhere, I think, thanthe insurance industry.
I mean, it's so spot on, Paul,because insurance, when people
ask me what I do, I'm aninsurance, you know I always
hesitate.
You know what I want to tellthem.
And the reality is, you know,we can talk about what we really
(08:28):
do, about helping businessesand helping clients manage risk
and stay in business and all ofthat.
But as soon as I mentionedinsurance, it has this dark
cloud of oh, I know you you'rejust like every other insurance
agent who takes my money andovercharges me and that's so
(08:49):
much BS.
But that's what people think.
So again, you're right, and wetalk about this.
If you, if you look, smell andappear just like another
insurance agent, well, you're nodifferent.
So again, what we're talkingabout selling, why would that
person buy from you?
You have to be different.
You have to be different, butyou have to be different in a
(09:12):
way that that prospect sees thebenefit to them.
And you know, people talk aboutdifferentiation all the time,
but differentiation that reallymatters is what it takes to
become preeminent.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
I mean, we see it in otherindustries as well.
This is not unique to theinsurance industry.
Realtors, although they don't.
People don't recoil when yousay I'm a realtor, but they have
.
They take two steps back whenyou say you're in the insurance
business.
I think your appearance, I thinkyour professional manner, I
(09:49):
think your reputation in thecommunity, I think all of those
things matter.
I know, I know a realtor who isa we all do preeminent realtor
and I refer people to him allthe time.
He's a client of mine.
He's had an incrediblysuccessful career.
Everything about him isdifferent.
There's no rush, it's welleducated, he presents himself
(10:11):
well, he makes, he gives you thefeeling you want to do business
with him, and I think we seethat with attorneys.
I think we see that with someinsurance agents I've run into
and we all have some there.
There's some people that reallystand out in the industry and
if you stop and think about itand we say this in our agency
all the time more likely yourclient is going to spend more
(10:34):
money with you than they dotheir attorney for their CPA.
And plus something blows up andthey have a lawsuit not covered
by insurance.
By the way, they're going tospend more money with us, so
they expect the professionalism.
They do want you to stand out.
You do need to be that point ofdifferentiation, educationally
(10:56):
figuring out in advance why theywant to do business with you.
Because when you walk in we'veall said this, we know this when
you walk in the door, whetherthey say it or not, why should I
buy insurance from you, right?
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Yeah, you guys right on exactly.
Only one minor thing I wouldthrow out is and you're right,
it can be a conversation stopperat a cocktail party or
something to say oh, I do, Isell commercial insurance.
You know, a little phrase thatI've used it seems to work
because it leads more questionsis hey, I'm a consultant in a
(11:31):
risk risk mitigation expert andnobody knows what that meant.
You know so hopefully they sayWell what what tell me more
about that?
you know, and then you can kindof get into it, but you've got
to have the meaningfuldifferentiation to back that up.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
Yeah and I think Paul or Matt to take that a step
further, just for the listenerswhen I when I refer to
differentiation, as I was, firstof all, to be successful,
you've got to be true toyourself.
Don't.
Don't try to go out there andbe some clown and consider that
differentiation that thatdoesn't work.
People see through fakeness,take that same mindset and
(12:11):
understanding and say, okay, amI faking solutions that I'm
bringing to the table?
You know, if you're, if youhave different solutions, you
can differentiate yourself bythe solutions that you present.
If those solutions that youhave you actually have work.
That's your differentiationpiece.
If it fits for that client, ifit done for that client, go find
(12:34):
the client that it does fit for.
So again, just to try to definewhat I was referring to as
being different yeah, you got tobe different, you got to stand
out and the good news is is thisis a one of the good news is is
that this is an industry wherepeople are expecting the same
(12:55):
thing.
So the unexpected, I think,many times gets them to say yes
a lot quicker than if you'rejust the same as everyone else.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Yeah, yeah, you know there's.
There's something that comes tomind also because I had this
conversation recently withsomebody in the agency and they
they took a different path onthis and it was kind of
interesting conversation, don't?
Well, first of all, you have tobelieve in what we do is really
vitally important.
Because of it and I do thatconversation all the time that
(13:26):
said, listen, you had $10million in the bank that I
normally say you wouldn't be onthis call because you'd be
lounging around someplace.
But if you had $10 million inthe bank and you wanted to buy a
piece of real estate and youwanted to take eight of that $10
million and put it into a realasset, you're not going to do it
without what we do.
(13:46):
You're not going to risk moneyand investment without insurance
.
So we're sort of the oil thatmakes the industry work and I
believe that, and not everyonethinks that we're bad, and I
think that we walk inpre-expecting that reaction,
which honestly, happens morethan it does, and I get that.
But I think it's like uswalking into somebody in the old
(14:10):
days making price the mostimportant part of our
presentation, where the personwill say I'm not worried about
price.
Oh, you're not.
No, I'm worried about somebodywho knows what I do can protect
it.
I'm not worried about thecheapest product, and then you
hardly knew what to do.
Oh, so you want quality,because I walk in there with the
(14:30):
attitude that everybody wantsthe lowest price and they don't.
Many do Right.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
That's pretty true, good point, christian, you said
something about standing out,and I think it is an important
point to note that we're talkingabout standing out, not
sticking out, and I've alwayskind of looked at that as
sticking out is more of anegative thing rather than
standing out.
And it's interesting.
I remember a number of yearsago, and I think it was at a
(14:59):
business conference where therewas one producer in particular
that and you guys might remember, and I don't remember the name
by any means, but he was alwaysin a three-piece suit, feather
in his cap, walked with a cane,shiny shoes.
I mean he stood out compared toeveryone else.
Now, at the same time, did itfit with what he was actually
(15:22):
doing and who he was actuallytargeting?
That's a whole other story,right, and so I think it comes
to your point.
It's not about necessarilydressing different, although
that's a factor, could be afactor, depending who you're
talking to but it's knowing whoyou are going after, and I think
it was Rick.
I could be wrong, but I thinkit was Rick.
(15:43):
You mentioned a producer, andit may even be the cannabis one,
or you know what.
Maybe I got this wrong, maybeit was Christian and a producer
where one of your producers isnot dressed like a normal
producer because of the nicheand who they're going after, and
so you have to know who you'retargeting right, and so I think
that's a really important pointwhere it's not trying to copy
(16:05):
someone else necessarily, butreally finding your own
differentiation in what you know, how you deliver it and who
you're targeting correct.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Yeah, well, we bought a small agency seven years ago
and there were two producers inthe agency, one I had known for
quite a while and I knew he wasan industry expert and a great
guy, amazing knowledge, and hewas in the construction.
That was his niche.
And as the sale got closer andcloser he I just could feel this
(16:33):
hesitancy of him joining us andcoming over and he was very
uncomfortable.
I said let's go out and have acup of coffee.
What is your problem?
And he said well, I was in abig national agency.
I broke away from there and Idon't wanna dress the way you
dress, which was suit and tieand all that.
I said what he said.
I don't wanna dress like you.
So well, you don't have todress like me, pat, you're a
(16:55):
cowboy.
He has, he literally wrotesteers and stuff like that.
I said you mean, I can wearjeans and boots to go see my
contractor guys.
And I said, pat, you're 55years old for crying that loud.
How am I gonna tell you how todress?
You're going to dress for youraudience and if your audience,
maybe as attorneys you dress adifferent way.
But, pat, you've been verysuccessful and with any producer
(17:19):
who's very successful.
You wanna stay out of their wayand just keep asking how can we
help you?
Speaker 5 (17:25):
Yeah, I would.
Paul.
Your point about standing outand not sticking out, I think is
spot on.
To be successful, you need toalso while you stand out.
Okay, and standing out Ibelieve is standing out with
(17:47):
it's all encompassing in theindividual.
So it's a knowledge, it's inhow you dress, it's in what you
know, so forth and so on.
But to Rick's point, you do needto dress for your audience and
why that's vitally important?
Because the goal in going outand seeing a prospect and
landing a new client is gettingthat prospect or a client to
(18:10):
trust you.
So they need to first of allfeel comfortable with you.
They assume most likely theywouldn't even ask you to come in
if they didn't in some waybelieve that you had the basic
abilities to service and takecare of their needs.
I mean, you're an insuranceagent.
They'd probably think, okay, Iknow what you're like.
(18:32):
But obviously if you go into aauto body shop dressed in a suit
and tie, you've actually hurtyourself because you've created
that barrier between you andthat prospect.
You've actually broken thetrust, you've broken your goal
of what you're trying toestablish with that person,
(18:52):
which is trust.
I believe people trust peoplebecause they have to have some
sense of lightness.
They have to like the person onsome level.
They have to believe in theperson as well.
So understanding your audienceand meaning how you dress
towards them, understandingtheir business their vernacular
(19:14):
is so important and making surethat you also are aware of how
you come across to your audience.
And again on other calls andpodcasts we talk about that.
As far as doing your homework,before you go to see the
prospect, making sure that thisisn't your first attempt at
(19:38):
going out that you've actuallynot only done your homework but
you've practiced it, because asquickly as you can establish
that trust now you're that muchcloser to having that client
join you.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
And Chris, I know you've talked about this in the
past as part of that prep workprior to that first meeting with
a prospect.
In fact, first meeting is gonnabe a subject coming up pretty
soon that we're gonna betackling all by itself, right.
But I know, chris, and you'vementioned that, as part of that
preparation for the firstmeeting, you either know or
(20:17):
you've been able to logicallyanticipate what that particular
prospects issues, what their hotbuttons and problems are, that
you can bring solutions to,which is just the best way to go
into one of those meetings.
Just hey, another big picturecomment, guys, as far as
thinking here about getting backto how to get to that million
(20:37):
dollars in the course of threeyears, a lot of what we've
already talked about I'm gonnastate something kind of obvious,
but a lot of it just flows fromhaving that right mindset that
we've talked about.
And I think two components tothat mindset that are important
to me is one, realizing it ispossible.
This is an industry wherethat's possible.
Two, having that firmconviction.
(21:01):
Some of you have heard me saythis before, but having that
firm conviction and I've toldprospects this before literally,
look, I know I'm the bestbroker for you that I can
accomplish the following thingsfor you.
And I don't say the followingout loud, but having that
mindset that hey, without me,they're gonna be better off with
(21:21):
me than with anybody else.
And so if you really developthat mindset, then I'm not
talking about tricking yourself,but if you develop that mindset
and you firmly believe that Iknow all three of us do we
believe that about ourselves.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I don't think we ever compete against each other.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
If you really develop that mindset, then I think it
comes across in a non-obnoxiousway.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Let's talk about that for a moment, because I know
Christian just brought upbuilding trust and being
free-eminent, as we know, isbecoming the most trusted
advisor.
That is our goal is being atrusted advisor.
There is a mindset shift thattakes place, so let's talk about
this more.
Man, as far as building a bookof business of a million dollars
in three years, part ofbecoming free-eminent is
(22:12):
thinking free-eminent, right,thinking like a free-eminent
producer compared to a typicalproducer, that may not believe
is even possible.
So let's talk about this alittle more.
What is a free-eminent mindset?
And I know we'll be talkingabout this even more in depth in
future podcasts and in ourupcoming webinar but let's talk
about what is a free-eminentmindset to you.
(22:32):
What's needed in that?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
You know what I think is needed?
Two things.
Number one, I think for younewer producers, you probably
don't know as much as anold-season producer.
There's nothing you can doabout that except for learn your
industry over time.
But what you can do is careabout this client more than
anyone else cares about thisclient.
(22:56):
That has nothing to do witheducation.
That is your commitment to thisclient that you care about them
and you're gonna do whatever ittakes to help them succeed, to
help them get the best programpossible.
Now remember, producers, alsowhen you are competing against
other insurance agents.
You don't have to be the bestinsurance agent in America.
(23:18):
You don't have to be the bestinsurance agent in your state or
your city.
You have to be the bestinsurance agent in that
particular fight.
So don't worry, we all wonderabout our confidence level.
Confidence level from time totime.
But again, I think if you caremore than anyone else, it's
gonna go a long way in how youpresent yourself to your
(23:39):
prospect and how they perceiveyou.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
You know another thing that a successful producer
early on in my career so he wasmuch older than me, long since
retired, but he shared with meand I think it kind of fits with
that he shared with me that hesaid, matt, I know I'm not the
smartest guy out there, I'm kindof a C student.
(24:05):
I know I'm not the best lookingguy out there, et cetera.
He said the one thing I cancontrol is I know I'm gonna work
harder than anybody else.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
Yeah, I think, matt, that the absolutely as part of
being preeminent is knowing thatyou're never gonna get, you're
never gonna be outworked by yourcompetition, ever period and a
discussion.
You also believe not boastfullybut in your mind that you are
(24:40):
the best.
You are the best and thatprospect needs you and you are
going to show them why they needyou and why they need to move
over to your agency.
I like, in being preeminent, tobeing a professional athlete.
I mean, I think of myself as aprofessional insurance agent.
(25:01):
I'm a professional, I am thebest.
Now, am I the best in the world?
No, but as far as I know, whenI'm talking to that prospect,
I'm the best.
I'm the best in the room.
Now, how do I know that?
Cause I've done my homework.
I got the differentiationpoints that matter with
solutions that are gonna helpthat client.
(25:24):
But if you're a producer whodoesn't like to win doesn't,
well, let me just leave it there.
Doesn't like to win.
I hate to say this, but you'reprobably in the wrong profession
.
You're not gonna win every time.
You're gonna get your butthanded to you, but you gotta get
up and go again and go in forthe win and think that you are
(25:46):
the best.
Again, not arrogantly.
No one likes an arrogant SOB.
I mean, that's just not.
You know, again we talked aboutyou have to be likable for the
prospect to wanna do businesswith you.
You don't have to be their bestfriend, but they do have to
have a sense of trust.
Okay, and then your job is toalso explain, show however you
(26:08):
do it and we talk about that getthat prospect to say Matt,
you're the person I want.
Yep, okay.
So again I come.
You know what is it to bepreeminent in a mindset?
It means you know in your mindthat you're the right one.
Hopefully you've done all thework.
You know we can talk about thattoo, getting to that level.
(26:31):
But I think a new producer toRick's point was spot on, spot
on.
You know you don't have to bethe smartest insurance agent out
there.
You don't have to.
You know, have been in thebusiness for 40 or 50 years.
I mean jeez, that personprobably doesn't even care about
that client that you're goingto see or that prospect.
All that prospect cares aboutis do you care about them and
(26:55):
can I trust you?
Speaker 4 (26:59):
I really like what you just said and what, rick,
you said a little while agoabout needing to really, to
truly not fake it but to trulycare about that prospect.
You know, and I know that theycan see right through if you're
being fake about something andprobably the death mill to any
presentation would be if theystart feeling like you care
(27:21):
about yourself and the moneyyou're going to make off of them
more than you care about themand they're you know.
So if you have really coolsolutions, a lot of tools that
we've developed to back that upand to present and show them,
then that's going to be evidencethat you really care about them
and you're bringing the rightsolutions, I guess, to the table
(27:45):
.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
I think, yeah, I think my career took a turn when
I stopped selling and startededucating people.
When I started educating people, when I started not selling but
explaining to them variousthings that we do that will
benefit them.
First of all, we have to findout what really will help them.
When we started educatingpeople, rather than a sales
(28:06):
pitch, we were seen in adifferent light.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
I like that.
I think that's huge, that'shuge.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Okay.
So obviously we're going to bediving into this more.
Like I said, an upcomingwebinar and I'll put the
information in the show notes.
So if you're listening to this,definitely look for that and
you can register for the webinar.
We'll be doing a much deeperdive on this.
Well, let's say, okay, nowwe've got differentiation, we've
got a preeminent mindset.
Now we've got to take this tothe masses here and start
talking to prospects.
(28:35):
Right, because withoutprospects, there's no way we're
going to build a book ofbusiness.
So let's talk about that.
What does prospecting look likewhen you are going at this the
preeminent way?
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Oh, finally we get a fun thing to talk about when we
say all the time in these things, listen, we can have fun doing
this.
I mean, we can get this aroundand have fun.
The three coaches on here allhave a great sense of humor.
Well, two of them do.
Mine isn't that good.
Two of them really have a greatsense of humor.
So, yeah, it's all about you.
(29:05):
You can take all of this kindof stuff that we're talking
about, but you have to havesomebody to do it with.
So that means you needprospects, you need to be out
there marketing yourself.
You need people in yourpipeline one of my favorite
subjects, because the quality ofyour pipeline is the quality of
your career, and if you've gotnobody in a pipeline or if you
have names in a pipeline namesthat's not going to do any good
(29:29):
for you.
You've got to research thepeople and again I'll do my
little prospect thing.
A prospect is someone who knowsme.
I know them and they know whatI do.
A suspect is someone I know.
They don't know me yet and Ineed to find a way to get to
know them.
But a prospect I need toresearch those people I want to
know.
Do I want them as a client?
(29:50):
I may not want them as a client.
Life's too short in thisindustry to do business people
you don't want to do businesswith.
So research them.
Christian, you make a goodpoint of this.
Do we have a market for whatthey do?
Do we represent a carrier thatcan really do them a good job?
Are they in my size?
Are they in my minimum countsize, the over my minimum
(30:12):
account size and all of thosethings go into generate what a
real prospect is to me.
Speaker 5 (30:18):
Yeah, I think prospecting from a preeminent
producer perspective, paul,that's a lot of peas, pppp.
Anywho, we do have fun.
I think that prospecting from apreeminent producer's
(30:39):
perspective is just like gettinga cup of coffee in the morning.
I mean, it's just, it'shabitual.
It is the same thing all thetime, all day long.
I'm looking out and about andI'm scouting.
Now I think that a preeminentproducer can absolutely choose
(30:59):
which prospects.
They've done the work that Rickjust referred to, making sure
that that matches up with ourcarrier mix within the agency,
within our belly wick ofexpertise, within our desire and
our own passion, so we can talkthe talk and someone that we
have solutions for.
(31:20):
It's come up before, rick, we'vetalked about if you're a
producer in a small community,can you still do this?
Well, here's the thing Ibelieve.
I believe again, personally, Ibelieve anything's possible if
you set your mind to it and Ithink that even in small
communities you can find thosediamonds.
But you can also look outsideof that community and again,
(31:44):
where we're living now in thisenvironment of technology.
I mean, we have clients allover the world and I have
clients that I have not gone tosee when I started 30 some years
ago, one of the and I'm gettingoff topic, paul, but it is
relevant that I was trained todo don't write someone's
(32:05):
insurance without going andseeing them, because you will
uncover all the lies andmisfortunes that they don't tell
you about.
You'll uncover that in thebasement they're packing black
gunpowder that they're nottelling you about.
They're telling you they sellfurniture out of their store.
And that's not all that they do.
(32:25):
Okay, well, I found that to bevery true, but with today's
technology, I can find out somuch about a prospect that may
be 50 miles away that is largeenough that if I do write it,
it's going to pay for me to gosee them and spend time with
(32:45):
them.
Okay, so, again, I thinkboundaries when it comes to
prospecting have beenexponentially expanded because
of today's technology andinformation.
But when it comes back toprospecting, I mean so sorry.
So I think that any listenerout there who's saying, well,
wait a minute, I'm just in thispo-dunk town, I can't become a
(33:06):
million dollar producer, I thinkthat's an excuse.
I'm sorry, I do.
I think it's an excuse.
I think if you join us in ourjourney, you can be and you put
your mind to it.
You want to be successful.
You can be a million dollarproducer, but prospecting has
got to be just like breathing, Imean, it's just something you
do all the time.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
Absolutely it's.
I hate to keep using the wordmindset, but I don't know a
better word for it.
I think you have to have both aprospecting and a referral
mindset at all times.
You need both.
You need to run down bothtracks.
Very interesting point youbring up Christian.
With today's technology etcetera, and especially if you
have a really good niche,there's no reason that you can't
(33:52):
do that remotely.
If they're 50 miles, heck, ifthey're 150 miles, or I mean
especially with a niche, I wouldsay that that's really doable
these days.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Yeah, it really is yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Well and I know there's so many, so many
directions.
We could go just on the topicof prospecting and we've covered
that in deep dives on othertrainings inside the pyramid
producer.
Let's talk for a moment tooabout, let's say, as a producer,
you get really good atprospecting and you become a
good closure, and I know ofproducers like this where they
(34:23):
have become amazing closers.
But when it comes to the otherside, where it's not just about
building a book of business butwe also want to retain it right,
we want to retain our clientsthis is where some guys fall off
.
Where they're really good atclosing, they hand the client
off to their CSR and they nevertalk to the client again.
(34:43):
And so the retention rate isreally low because someone else
takes them at some point in time.
So let's talk for a momentabout retention and kind of
managing your book of business.
What does that look like whenit comes to doing it?
The preeminent way.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
Well, I think if you're going to be a preeminent
producer, if you're going tohave a book of a million dollars
or more, you're going to haveto have a fabulous service team
on your side.
I say this and I always telleverybody they have to.
Let me finish the sentence now.
That team wouldn't have a jobif I didn't exist, but I would
not have a job or career if theydo not exist.
(35:20):
It is a true team.
You've got to have something inplace where you've got to guard
your time.
It's your only diminishingasset that you have.
So you've got to have a serviceteam that has well-defined
duties.
In my own case, I see myclients quarterly.
That's all I do.
I don't talk to them much.
I do is, to paraphrase an oldbuddy of mine take off, landings
(35:41):
and in-flight emergencies.
Takeoff is when I write thebusiness, landings when we
continue the business or renewthe business.
In-flight emergencies are thosethings that would jeopardize
our retaining that client thathappened during that year or
that quarter.
People don't call me to turn ina claim, to make an auto change
, to need a certificate ofinsurance or any of those things
(36:04):
that can be done by a serviceteam.
They know I've done a servicehandoff.
When I write your insurancepolicy, paul, I'd like to
introduce you to Dee or Laura orJosh, whoever which one will be
handling.
They're the ones it's going tobe the day-to-day operations.
They are licensed insuranceagents.
They are professionals.
They have professionaldesignations Because I'm out in
(36:26):
the community doing things and Imeet with these folks every
week.
They bring me up to date withwhat's going on.
We're never out of touch.
My quarterly meetings are not acup of coffee and comments
about sports.
They have an agenda.
We go over claims.
We go over usage of variousthings that we have in the
agency.
We go over audit checks.
(36:46):
We go over various things.
Make sure that we have alltheir things covered.
They're supposed to be covered.
So many times they'll say oh,did we tell you we sold
something three weeks ago?
No, you didn't tell us.
We'll catch those kind ofthings.
That team in place, if you'regoing to have a book of that
size, is critical.
They've got to be talented andyou've got to do a formal
(37:07):
handoff with those folks.
Speaker 4 (37:10):
Rick such a good point.
It's just absolutely critical.
You've got to have that rightservice team in place.
You're never going to get to amillion without it.
You're just not, because you'regoing to get bogged down in all
the service and putting outfires.
It is so wonderful I've alwaysbeen very blessed this way it's
so wonderful to have suchconfidence in the service team
(37:33):
behind you.
I know I can be out an entireday or two days in a row doing
prospects, meeting with clientset cetera, and knowing that no
matter what comes up, it can behandled back at the office.
You've got to find, train andincubate and educate the right
people.
Without that I'm not sure itwould be possible to get to a
(37:54):
million bucks.
It would be chaotic at the veryleast.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
I would add to that that, again being preeminent,
paul is having okay.
So Michael Jordan went out andwould score 50 points a game If
he didn't have his team playersplaying defense, setting the
right picks.
As great as he was, he couldnever have done that To Rick's
(38:23):
point and this is beating alittle bit of a dead horse but
Rick brings in, he's therainmaker, brings in the clients
.
His residual income depends onthat service team behind him.
So you've got to have goodplayers and any producers out
there.
If you're questioning thetalent that you have behind you,
you need to have a conversationwith your agency principal.
(38:44):
You need to talk about gettingthe right people on the bus.
I've lived it, done it and thatis very critical.
If you're going to besuccessful, you need those
people around you to support you.
You have to have that.
I think you need to clearlydefine the roles of your team,
as Rick had mentioned, when youfirst bring a client on and then
(39:06):
on an annual basis, I think youneed to have continuous,
continual, continuous orcontinual communications with
the clients, both verbally andelectronically.
We're big believers in havingelectronic communications
because we can't touch everyoneall the time and some important
things need to go out.
(39:27):
But again, word of caution isyou can't rely on those
electronic communications toreplace that human touch.
So you have to balance thatwith okay, are we still meeting
with this client quarterly,especially when you gun
preeminent?
Your top 20 accounts make up80% of your income and we talk
(39:47):
about that on other episodes,about shedding and so forth, but
an expanding that top 20 evengreater.
But my point is you have to beable to have some personal touch
, follow through on that andhave a game plan as you go into,
when you're going to firstbring your client on.
(40:10):
I think again, it's foolish notto give clients your mobile
number.
Now there may be salespeopleout there that say that's crazy,
christian, because you're goingto get every call.
Well, here's the thing I don'tget every call and I do that.
But what my clients know is ifthey need me, they can get me,
(40:32):
and that alone has stoppedbecause I've had clients tell me
that.
That's why, christian, I dobusiness with you.
When I get calls from thesesalespeople calling to set
appointments, you can tell this.
One client told me the otherweek.
He said I tell that I askedthem.
Hey, if my car breaks down or Ihave a problem on a Sunday
(40:53):
night at seven o'clock, can Ispeak to the owner of the agency
?
Can I speak to the producer ormy?
Can I speak to my?
And inevitably they say no,because they don't even know who
that is, and that's how thisclient stays with.
I mean not, it's one of thereasons why.
So I think you have to look atit again as if you're preeminent
(41:14):
, you're the best of the bestand you need to choose how.
Put yourself in your client'sshoes.
You know what's best for themand I think so.
That's a lot to throw out there, but anyway, I didn't lose
anyone.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Okay, paul, we may be getting a little towards the
end of this and I don't mean torush us to that at all, but
there's something I wanted toget in about preeminent
producers.
My favorite three words are no,do and master.
Many of you producers know thestuff we're talking about.
You probably know it.
Many of you do some of thethings that we're talking about,
(41:54):
and that's really great.
But very few of us master thethings that we're going to talk
about, not only in today'smeetings but in future meetings.
Will you ever master everything?
No, but it's that desire tomaster these topics that come up
that really will set you apartfrom an average producer your
commitment to not just know itand not just kind of do it, but
(42:14):
to master every one of thesethings.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
All right, there is so many things to cover when it
comes to this very topic ofbuilding a book of business up
to a million dollars, and that'swhy we want to personally
invite you to an upcoming livewebinar training where we're
going to be diving even deeperinto this very topic.
Our coaches are going to bebringing even more stuff than
what you heard in this podcaston the very topic of building
(42:39):
your book of business to amillion dollars within three
years.
So I encourage you to check outthe links below in the
description and register forthis live training, because this
is definitely going to be adeeper dive into this very topic
, all geared to helping you growyour book of business on your
path to becoming a preeminentproducer.
So be sure to register andwe'll see you in the next
(43:00):
episode of the preeminentproducer podcast.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Thanks so much for joining us on this episode of
the preeminent producer podcast.
If you're enjoying the show,please feel free to subscribe,
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