How I Can Tell if Your Insurance Agency Is Amazeballs
I sometimes think I have super secret insurance agency size-up powers. Within 5 minutes of coming to your office, I will know if you are in it to win it. In talking to my carrier rep friends, they also have these secret ninja powers. In business, everything we do leaves an imprint. Our first impression better be awesome. I’m not talking about some super stuffy impression, I’m talking about an awesome one.
Be objective and look around your office, do these things happen?:
Someone greets me
My name is posted in the lobby to welcome me
The waiting area is nice, homey and clean
Your office looks like a real working business
Your team looks happy
I don’t hear needless chatter or negativity from your team
Your receptionist appears to like to answer the phone
You have a conference room
If I am meeting with your team, they are all on time and they have paper and pens in hand
Someone offers me a cup of coffee
You have done your homework on me and my company (cause I have on you)
You don’t leave the meeting 10 times to put out emergencies
You want to be present in the meeting and provide your attention
Just this week, I had two situations which just reeked of unprofessionalism. One agent arrived at a sales training 40 minutes late because he forgot. All this shows is a lack of commitment, and organization on the producers part. At another agency, I was conducting training with their team and the manager asked if they had to go. Well heck yes you have to go! Don’t you want to be able to reinforce the principles with them and see how they interact?
One agency I’m working with needs help recruiting. I had to have a hard conversation with them that they needed to spruce up the office. The lights weren’t on because the staff liked it dark. The waiting room looked like a Salvation Army of hodge podge furniture. If they want an A player, they need to show them this is a viable, awesome business. A rockstar isn’t going to walk into a dungeon and sign on the dotted line. Only a desperate person would.
It’s called bringing your A Game! Trust me, I’m nothing special but when an agency invests in insurance training, insurance coaching and insurance consulting, I show up to the party! Going back to my gym analogy, if I show up to my trainer tired, hung-over and not willing to give it my all, she should fire me as a client or charge me double. Great news, the only person I’m hurting is myself if I do that. Bring your A
Game every day and the office will follow but if they see you are not committed, getting their commitment will be a struggle.
