Here’s a simple question for you: why do new producers fail?! Reviewing our archives from nearly 2 decades of recruiting and developing new commercial insurance brokers, these are 7 common failure personas, i.e. the distinguishing attributes of new producers that didn’t make it (either got fired or quit): The weak prospector. Couldn’t create 2-4 qualified… Continue Reading
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Maslow’s Pyramid and Your Sales Career
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is about my only recollection from Psychology 101 class in college. The gist of Maslow’s theory is that humans are motivated by five ascending kinds of needs. The hierarchy suggests that basic needs must be met prior to less basic needs; for example, a starving person will seek food before self-actualization… Continue Reading
Creating Positive Constraints in a Commercial Insurance Career
As a recruiting business owner, I get to be my own boss. What a blessing. And a wretched curse. The blessing far outweighs the curse or else I’d return to being an employee. That and I’m too far gone to be an employee again. What’s the the most bedeviling self-employment curse? (No, not buying small… Continue Reading
Insurance is Not Boring
Young professionals misperceive insurance as an old man’s business. Cutting-edge-of-yesterday. A boring industry. Thus a career field to avoid. These findings won’t surprise anybody in the insurance industry. We’ve forever struggled with a public relations challenge. Even many smart folks don’t grasp insurance’s vital role in a market-based economy. Nor do they know about the… Continue Reading
Great Insurance Sales Books
Great insurance sales books. An oxymoron? Could be. A short article? You betcha. A salesperson we placed asked for insurance sales book recommendations. He’s preparing to start his commercial insurance broker career. I hesitated. Read a book about how to sell business insurance? About as practical as reading a book to learn how to swim… Continue Reading