You knew it was coming. The annual wrap up post is always a great way to catch up on what you may have missed when you were too busy and chose to move on past or use the delete key. We all do it.
Over these holiday days, slow down a bit and see what ideas we discussed this year that resonated with your peers and may be valuable to your firm come 2021. Let us know what strikes a chord with you, what questions you have about any of these ideas, or what you’d like to hear more about from us in the coming year!
To say our lives, personal and business, have been different this year would be a ridiculous understatement. However, “back to normal” will have a whole new look. Insurance agencies are in the midst of the most significant shift ever experienced. Here are three predictions for how it will impact our industry.
The hybrid nature of the industry so often has each person playing dual roles. Producers are often responsible for writing new business and holding on to current clients. The dual role can make sense. After all, the producer is a primary reason a client engaged in the first place. However, the "structured properly" doesn't always happen. Okay, it almost never happens.
A crisis doesn’t build character; a crisis exposes character.
The pandemic crisis is exposing our core in the rawest fashion possible. Before the crisis, we were in a healthy economic environment, and many agencies and individual producers were successful in spite of a frail business structure. Many were able to avoid the heavy lift of shoring up their structure and blissfully convince themselves all was good.
Agencies and vendors in the employee benefits supply chain are sales organizations. But an oft-asked question comes up: “Isn’t it a relationship business?” Declarations used as click-bait about relationship selling can put out conflicting advice, especially if you don’t read the articles to learn what case is being made. Seemingly opposing ideas may actually have similar premises, and the differences mainly come down to semantics.
Let’s talk about the racial crisis we’re facing as a country and the injustice faced by the Black community. Is this a crisis we recognize and own as a country, or do too many of us feel as though it’s a crisis that belongs to someone else? Or, what I believe to be the case, are we experiencing the same crisis but in significantly different ways?
Producers and agency leaders know that competing on price alone isn’t enough. Yet, too many don’t take the time to build a sales process that takes the decision away from price alone, which is typically the level playing ground. But by competing on price, brokers don’t give themselves a fair shot at earning new business and see lower close ratios and new business volumes that are much too low.
Thank you!
Thank you to all of our readers who have been with us for years and to those who are just joining the community! We appreciate each of you and value your reading, sharing, and commenting. Most of all, we appreciate the inspiration you provide to keep digging into agencies and vendors' needs and keep challenging everyone to show up and be the best versions of themselves. Together, we are all stronger and make the collective better!
Wishing 2020 a peaceful passing. Salud to a healthy, fruitful, and rewarding 2021! 🥂 🎊
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