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01/20/2020 · 7 min read
Bill Cline survived year one of agency ownership by accepting the valley (months 4-8) as a feature, banking 12 months of personal living expenses on top of business capital, outworking larger agencies on response time, and investing in community presence before digital spend. Track warm-market vs cold-market close rates separately.
01/17/2020 · 7 min read
Use a smartphone to record daily 45-second hook-value-CTA videos answering real client questions. Video builds trust faster than any other medium because prospects evaluate a person, not a claim. Nicholas Sakha's phone-camera content compounds into a 24/7 lead engine.
01/15/2020 · 6 min read
Three enemies stall most insurance agencies: complication (adding unnecessary steps as preparation), hesitation (waiting for 100 percent certainty instead of moving at 70 percent), and excusenation (treating conditions as reasons to surrender). Strip every project to version 1.0, set a 48-hour decision rule, find one agent winning anyway.
01/14/2020 · 7 min read
Captive agency growth comes from three places: diversifying lead sources so no single channel exceeds 40% of new business, cutting first-contact time to under five minutes, and treating retention as the highest-leverage growth activity available. An agency improving retention by 10 points can double its net growth rate.
01/06/2020 · 6 min read
Build a tribe in four steps: proximity through in-person community presence, shared identity clients can belong to, co-creation that puts them in your content, and generosity with no strings. Track referral rate, not just policy count. Fans refer. Customers shop.
01/03/2020 · 7 min read
Grant Botma cut turnover to near zero over a decade by hiring for values alignment, onboarding around mission before skills, weaving purpose into weekly rhythms, and modeling the values himself when it costs him something.
01/01/2020 · 7 min read
Resolutions fail because they are wishes without structure. About 80% are dead by mid-February. Replace them with an honest audit, three specific targets, 90-day sprints, a weekly scoreboard, and an external accountability partner. That is the revolution that produces a different year.
12/30/2019 · 7 min read
Fix the insurance hiring crisis with a five-stage system: define the role before posting, write a job ad that sells, run scored structured interviews, install a written 90-day onboarding plan, and start retention on day one. Most agencies have a process problem, not a talent problem.
12/27/2019 · 7 min read
Stefan Aarnio's three closing pillars translated for P&C: expect the close before you open your mouth, treat every objection as a buying signal that maps the path to yes, and compress the timeline (present and close same call, not next week). Ask for the business more than once.
12/25/2019 · 7 min read
An agency accountability system has four parts: clear daily numbers per role, daily visibility for the person and the manager, a 10-minute morning huddle plus 5-minute end-of-day report, and real consequences and recognition tied to the numbers. The owner has to be inside the system, not exempt from it.
12/20/2019 · 6 min read
Double digit growth math: lift retention above 90% first, build a trigger-based referral system, invest in team capacity before lead spend, and track leading indicators daily. Pick two lead sources and master both before adding a third. Hope is not a strategy.
12/18/2019 · 7 min read
Process selling builds a repeatable insurance sales system on five stages: opening frame, discovery, recommendation, concern handling, and close. Document the flow, train through role play, review recorded calls for stage adherence, and measure drop-off at each stage.
12/16/2019 · 6 min read
Veteran agents navigate insurance industry change by filtering signal from noise: meet new consumer service expectations, position your agency as a retention partner to carriers, and rebuild your talent pipeline. The core value of expert risk advice does not change. The delivery mechanism does.
12/13/2019 · 6 min read
Every P&C sales producer fights three problems: inconsistent lead flow, confidence erosion during slumps, and isolation on the sales floor. Fix lead supply, install a process that survives bad days, and build real team rituals. These are systems problems with systems fixes.
12/11/2019 · 6 min read
P&C agencies lose 10 to 15 percent of their book annually to non-renewals. Cutting marketing or freezing hiring during flat quarters accelerates the decline. The fix is a growth floor: a monthly new-business minimum that beats attrition, tracked weekly with a team that knows the number.
12/06/2019 · 7 min read
Bryan Dulaney's Perfect Funnel System for agents: lead with a free coverage guide (not a quote pitch), nurture through a 7-12 email sequence over 3-4 weeks, convert via consultation instead of quote, then automate the referral ask. Owned funnels run $15-$75 CPA vs $100-$400 on aggregator leads.
12/04/2019 · 6 min read
The Insurance Dudes Inner Circle is a paid coaching program for serious P&C agency owners built around three pieces: direct coaching access for tailored guidance, peer accountability with operators in motion, and proven frameworks tested in real agencies with assigned implementation timelines.
11/29/2019 · 6 min read
Millennial producers stay where they get purpose, frequent specific feedback, and thoughtful flexibility. Keep production and activity minimums firm. Replace the annual review with weekly 15-minute one-on-ones, pair every new hire with a mentor, and recognize progress, not just top writers.
11/27/2019 · 6 min read
Small goals let agency owners hide inside busywork. Goals 50 percent bigger than what feels realistic force systemic change: reverse-engineer daily activity targets from the outcome, block your three highest-leverage hours first, and review every Friday so drift cannot survive.
11/25/2019 · 6 min read
Victor Gray wrote 600 items in the Midwest by eliminating decision fatigue, treating the phone as the only revenue tool, measuring close rate and dials-to-contact obsessively, and hiring service support before he needed it. Volume plus systems beats volume alone every time.
