The Agent Leader Podcast
By Brent Kelly--The Agent Leader Podcast
With our focus on a total-team approach to improving independent insurance agencies, we dive into sales, service, and leadership teams.
Leadership is not a title. Leadership is influence. Become a better leader and gain influence with your clients, team, and community.
The Agent Leader PodcastOct 19, 2022
Cow vs. Buffalo Mentality
Are you a cow or a buffalo in the insurance industry? Brent Kelly introduces a "cow mentality" and a "buffalo mindset" and how each pertains to different areas of an independent insurance agency.
Learn how to shift from a cow to a buffalo with eight specific areas:
- Focus on problem vs. a focus on the solutions. (7:30)
- Activities vs. Results (9:00)
- Living in the past vs. Focus on what's next (10:07)
- Showing up and give up vs. Prepare and practice for desired results (11:43)
- Energy takers vs. energy makers (12:56)
- Complacent vs. Charging ahead (14:25)
- Already knowing vs. Always learning (16:55)
- Making excuses vs. seeking accountability (19:16)
Does your agency currently operate as cows or buffalos?
Assess where your agency falls in each of these areas and strive for a buffalo mindset in order to achieve your Best Version Possible.
To access our Agency Transformation Scorecard, visit ww.sitkins.com/scorecard
Connecting with CFOs to Achieve Goals
What's the secret to building powerful relationships with CFOs?
Unlock the key to establishing meaningful connections with CFOs by understanding their priorities, challenges, and strategic goals with this episode of The Agent Leader.
Brent Kelly and Kari Glennon dive into what makes a CFO tick, from the nuances of their day-to-day responsibilities to the overarching strategies that drive their decisions. Learn why empathy, strategic alignment, and thorough preparation are your best tools for engaging with these top executives.
Whatever your role in an insurance agency, this conversation offers valuable insights into the CFO's world. Discover the importance of differentiating between tactical and strategic roles within an organization and why knowing the psychographics of a CFO can be just as crucial as understanding their demographics.
Don't miss out on learning how to communicate effectively with one of the most pivotal roles in any organization.
Begin transforming your interactions with CFOs today.
Resources mentioned:
Agency Transformation Scorecard sitkins.com/scorecard
Subscribe to CFO.com to stay informed about current financial and business trends.
To access the full video and transcription of this episode, visit www.sitkins.com/blog/connecting-with-cfos-to-achieve-sales-goals
Dunking Agency Success
Brent Kelly discusses the parallels between dunking a basketball and achieving success as an independent insurance agency in this episode of The Agent Leader.
Brent explains how training applies to both basketball and insurance agencies. Much like our producer program, ProducerFit, which focuses on building foundational blocks for success, you can't build success with weak links.
So how can you avoid weak links in order to achieve long-term success with your agency? Brent urges leaders to understand the importance of mindset, alignment, retention, performance, and productivity in the insurance industry.
Whether you're looking to build a lasting legacy or seeking strategies for immediate improvement, this episode offers invaluable insights and practical advice for agencies aiming to achieve their Best Version Possible.
To access the Agency Transformation Scorecard to provide feedback on your agency's current standing visit www.sitkins.com/scorecard
To access the full episode transcript and video visit https://www.sitkins.com/blog/dunking-agency-success
3 Reasons You Aren't Cross Selling
What are three reasons why agencies and their teams often avoid one of the most powerful areas of agency growth?
Brent Kelly introduces the concept of the Ultimate Growth Strategy in this episode of The Agent Leader, along with the three reasons for avoiding this strategy:
- Complacency (6:30)
- Lack of capacity (7:40)
- Lack of confidence (9:43)
If you're ready to address these issues and implement strategies to improve your agency results, visit www.sitkins.com
To read the full transcript and access the Agency Transformation Scorecard visit our site
Think vs. Thing
Is what you're thinking stopping you from achieving? In this episode of the Agent Leader podcast, Brent Kelly and Roger Sitkins discuss the importance of beliefs and thinking in achieving success.
Listen in for tips on how to turn internal convictions into external actions and desired outcomes. Our coaches are big believers in positive thinking as a driving force for desirable results. Learn how to adopt this same positive approach that is crucial for insurance agencies intent on improvement.
Brent and Roger touch on strategies like targeted referrals and the reverse referral process, offering innovative methods for business growth through high-quality lead generation. Coupled with the emphasis on delivering an exceptional client experience and focusing on Green Zone activities, agencies are provided with a strategy for transformation.
Get inspired by best practices that prioritize efficiency and client satisfaction to position agencies for sustained growth and success.
This episode will have you set to align your beliefs with behaviors and results.
To access the Agency Transformation Scorecard, visit sitkins.com/scorecard
Is "Good" Good Enough?
In this podcast episode, Brent discusses the easy, normal, and comfortable things that insurance agencies often do that can hinder their long-term growth and success.
Listen as Brent highlights four specific areas where taking the easy way currently could be making your future harder:
- Accountability (6:20)
- Productivity (11:30)
- Agency profitability (13:50)
- Having a defined selling system (17:17)
Isn't it time you step out of your comfort zones and start doing the harder things upfront, to achieve better results in the long run?
To access our free resource, the Agency Transformation Scorecard, which provides feedback on key areas of your agency's performance visit www.sitkins.com/scorecard
Best Way to Transform Your Agency into a Sales Powerhouse
What's the secret to transforming your independent insurance agency into a high-performing powerhouse?
Discover the undeniable power of a structured selling process in our latest episode. Brent Kelly delves deep into why relying solely on talent isn't enough and how a systematic approach can significantly elevate your agency's success.
Learn the critical difference between talent and the ability to teach, and understand why preparation goes beyond mere planning to become your ultimate competitive version.
We highlight the value of a sales playbook, likening it to a 'set offense' in sports, and explore how continuous skill development and self-awareness can set you apart in the competitive insurance market. Whether you're looking to refine your sales strategy or seeking ways to stay ahead, this episode is packed with insights aimed at driving your agency toward operational excellence.
Join Brent as he breaks down key components, offering actionable advice and strategies to not just survive, but thrive in today's fast-paced market.
It's time to give your agency the clarity and competitive edge it deserves, visit sitkins.com/experience to learn about our programs.
Take the free Agency Transformation Scorecard assessment at sitkins.com/scorecard
Three Questions Everyones Asking About You
In this podcast episode, Brent Kelly discusses three important questions that people are asking about you as an agency leader:
- "Can you help me?" (3:00)
- "Do I trust you?" (8:43)
- "Do you really care about me?" (15:00)
Brent emphasizes the importance of these questions in determining a leader's impact, influence, and results. Listen in for practical examples and suggestions for improving your status in each of these areas.
To take the Agency Transformation Scorecard quiz, visit www.sitkins.com/scorecard to gain awareness and clarity about your agency's current standing.
To watch the video or read the full transcript of this episode, visit our site.
What Can Leaders Learn From Eagles?
Learn how to make your agency soar with seven characteristics of eagles that can be applied to independent insurance agencies in this episode of The Agent Leader.
The characteristics include:
- Vision (5:20)
- Fearlessness (9:30)
- Tenacity (16:30)
- Hunting (19:40)
- Vitality (23:15)
- Flying high (27:00)
- Nurturing (29:10)
Listen in for highlights on the importance of having a clear vision for your agency, being proactive and fearless in pursuing goals, staying committed and persistent, actively seeking out ideal clients and talent, surrounding oneself with growth-minded individuals, and prioritizing the growth and development of your team members.
Get ready for an action-packed episode learning how to soar above your competition from eagles.
To access the Agency Scorecard, visit sitkins.com/scorecard
To watch the video or read the transcript of this episode, visit www.sitkins.com/blog/lessons-on-leadership-from-eagles
Unlock Agency Growth by Eliminating Hysterical Activity
Unlock the secrets to skyrocketing your agency's revenue and client satisfaction by escaping hysterical activity! Roger Sitkins joins Brent Kelly to unravel the art of prioritizing top customers, managing the 80/20 rule, understanding revenue concentration, and much more.
Whether you're struggling with client management or looking for ways to boost your profitability, this episode has got you covered with Seven Ways to identify if you're stuck in Hysterical Activity on the Way to the Grave, and how to escape it:
- The Call Me Syndrome (6:00)
- Confuse Pay Time with No Pay Time (9:10)
- Practice Quoting (13:07)
- Lack of a Sunday or Weekly Plan (18:00)
- No Future Ideal Client (25:25)
- Not understanding the 80/20 Principal (28:35)
- Making promises without plans (36:00)
To learn more about our programs, visit www.sitkins.com/experience
To read the full transcript or watch the video of this episode, visit https://www.sitkins.com/blog/unlock-agency-growth-by-eliminating-hysterical-activity
Mastering Conversations: Guide the Talk to Success in Insurance
In this podcast episode, Brent Kelly discusses the importance of asking questions in order to improve communication, engagement, and connection with others. Brent emphasizes that asking questions is the number one skill to learn for agency leaders, sales professionals, and insurance service professionals.
Listen in for four reasons why asking questions is important:
(5:36) #1- It allows you to truly control the conversation.
(8:23) #2 - It creates pain and opens new files
(11:03) #3 - Questions provide buy-in
(12:29) #4 - Asking questions creates action
Brent also highlights the difference between closed-ended questions (which should be avoided) and open-ended questions (which are more effective).
Get inspired to practice asking better questions and to seek out opportunities for low-risk practice.
If you're ready to grow your agency and learn more skills to Sell More, Retain More and Earn More, visit Sitkins Group
To read the book mentioned in this episode, visit 21 Secrets of Million Dollar Sellers, by Steven Harville
To read the full transcript or watch the video visit our blog
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Don't Run Your Agency on One Wheel
In this episode of the Agent Leader Podcast, Brent Kelly discusses the importance of aligning all aspects of your insurance agency - sales, service, leadership, and marketing.
Brent emphasizes the need for three areas to align your agency and improve overall performance:
- Commitment (8:15)
- Culture (11:00)
- Communication (12:40)
Listen in for examples of how sales and service, leadership, and marketing should work together to create a high-performance team.
If you want to align your agency with the resources and programs available visit sitkins.com/experience
No Practice Quoting!
Brent Kelly dives into three reasons why Practice Quoting is Stupid in this episode of The Agent Leader.
What is practice quoting? We define it as "the art of providing a quotation to an unqualified prospect in order to force the incumbent agency to lower their renewal price while retaining the account."
Practice quoting is a waste of time, energy, and money for insurance agencies. Need more reasons why practice quoting is a bad idea?:
#1 - It undermines your professionalism as an insurance agent. (6:48)
#2 - It eliminates the opportunity for proper diagnosis and analysis of the clients' needs. (10:55)
#3 - It makes you look and sound generic. (16:04)
Brent encourages insurance agencies to establish rules of the game upfront, focus on providing value and expertise rather than just quoting, and differentiate themselves in the marketplace.
To get your copy of the No Practice Quoting poster for your office, visit www.sitkins.com/npq
Mastering Cohort Management: Insights from Insurance Pro Kari Glennon
Join us as we dive deep into the inspiring journey of insurance industry veteran, Kari Glennon. Brent and Kari discuss her background and experiences in the insurance industry, as well as some of the key challenges and successes she has witnessed.
Kari emphasizes the importance of accountability in agency leadership and suggests using cohort management to tailor support and resources to individual producers based on their needs and goals.
With highlights on perpetuation, the 80/20 rule and the value of going with your gut instinct in decision-making, Kari's insights provide valuable advice for agency leaders looking to improve their operations and achieve success.
Tune in for a dose of inspiration and professional wisdom from the inspiring Kari Glennon.
If you're ready to grow your agency, visit www.sitkins.com to find out more about our programs.
Don't Be Afraid to Be Great with Jim Koster of TRICOR
In this episode, host Brent Kelly interviews Jim Koster, the Vice President of Sales for Property & Casualty at TRICOR Insurance to discuss the challenges and successes of building a growth-oriented agency culture.
Jim emphasizes the importance of finding quality producer candidates, and investing in training and development to ensure their success. He also highlights TRICOR's success in implementing high-performance teams and the Green Zone approach, which has led to improved relationships, high retention rates, and organic growth.
In the end, Jim advises listeners not to be afraid to be great and to focus on mastering the basics consistently and exceptionally well.
If you want to join TRICOR's journey towards becoming their best version possible, visit www.sitkins.com/fasttrack.
World Class Leadership Produces World Class Results with Chet Rhoads of HUB
In this episode of the Agent Leader podcast, host Brent Kelly interviews Chet Rhoads, president and CEO of HUB Three Rivers. Chet discusses how his leadership tactics have helped double the size of their agency while maintaining a great culture.
Listen in for highlights on organic growth, the significance of role-playing, and executing the right behaviors to further your career in the insurance industry.
If you want to get great results for your agency like Chet, visit sitkins.com/fasttrack to learn more about our programs.
Planning Agency Growth with Harrison Brooks of Reagan Consulting
In this episode Brent Kelly interviews Harrison Brooks, a partner and consultant at Reagan Consulting, to discuss the growth and challenges faced by independent insurance agencies.
Harrison shares success stories of agencies that have grown their revenue and offers advice on how to compete in the current marketplace.
Harrison emphasizes the importance of being creative, equipping employees with the right questions to ask, offering more than just economics to retain talent, and institutionalizing the business to create a unique client experience.
Harrison concludes by highlighting the significance of investing in unvalidated producers, and encourages agencies to benchmark themselves against top performers in the industry.
To learn more about Reagan Consulting, reach out to Harrison Brooks at harrison@reaganconsulting.com
To learn more about our Fast Track program, visit www.sitkins.com/fasttrack
Visit our sponsor, The Rough Notes Company.
Be Like Mike Malinowski of EHD Insurance Agency
In this episode of the Agent Leader podcast, Brent Kelly interviews Mike Malinowski, the president and CEO of EHD Insurance. Mike and Brent dive into the challenges and successes of running a successful insurance agency, with highlights including:
- the importance of developing a sales culture within the agency
- the benefits of creating a separate business unit for smaller accounts.
- the value of continuous learning and personal development for insurance professionals.
Listen in for tips on the importance of leadership, culture, and ongoing education in the insurance industry.
If you want to Be Like Mike and get outstanding results in your independent insurance agency, visit www.sitkins.com/fasttrack
To watch the video recording of this episode or read the full transcript, visit www.sitkins.com/blog/be-like-mike-malinowski-of-ehd-insurance-agency
A Holistic Approach to Growth with Jim Welsh of WIS&G Insurance Agency
In this episode of the Agent Leader podcast, Brent Kelly interviews Jim Welsh, the CFO of Winton-Ireland, Strom & Green (WIS&G), a California-based insurance agency.
Jim Welsh shares his experience so far working with the Sitkins Group to improve their agency's performance, especially finding value in the holistic approach of our training programs.
Get ready to hear how identifying and leveraging their points of differentiation and deepening their relationships with clients through community-oriented events has become part of the culture at their agency.
Jim doles out advice for younger professionals on taking risks, exploring opportunities, and finding enjoyment in their work.
If you want to join Jim and WIS&G in improving their growth-minded agency, visit www.sitkins.com/fasttrack to find out more about our 90-day program.
Avoiding the Four Most Dangerous Trends Impacting Your Agency in 2024
The recent Best Practices Study showed that the most critical issue facing independent insurance agencies today revolves around one thing, people. How can you find, develop, and retain the best talent?
This episode is a special replay of a Live webinar with Brent Kelly built to help show you how to:
- Get your sales & service teams working together; same goal, different roles.
- Increase productivity to get your Producers in the "green zone" at least 80% of the time.
- Structure your teams and processes to allow for greater capacity.
- Free up time for you to actually focus on your agency; not just work in your agency.
Let's face it, with the continual increase of mergers and acquisitions, and producer and team member lift-outs, the issue of people isn't going away any time soon. Not only is this issue a consistent drain on your time, energy, and effort, but it is also costing your agency millions of dollars in agency valuation.
If you're ready to address this issue head-on, so that your agency can achieve the maximum value possible, we're ready to show you how.
https://www.sitkins.com/fasttrack
This is Not an Emergency!
In this episode of the Agent Leader podcast, Brent discusses the issue of treating everything as an emergency in your insurance agency.
He emphasizes that not everything is an emergency, and treating everything as such can cost the agency time, money, and create culture issues.
Brent shares insights from conversations with agency leaders in our coaching programs, highlighting the importance of defining what constitutes an emergency and empowering and trusting the team to handle non-emergencies.
To read the full transcript or watch the video recording of this episode, visit sitkins.com/blog/this-is-not-an-emergency
To learn more about our 90-Day Fast Track program, visit https://www.sitkins.com/fasttrack
Are They Not Interested, or Are You Not Interesting?
In this episode of The Agent Leader, Brent Kelly discusses the importance of becoming more interesting in order to be more successful as a leader or professional in the insurance industry.
So how do you become a more compelling and engaging communicator in order to connect with others and build relationships? As Dale Carnegie said "to be interesting, be interested."
With that in mind, what is your communication growth plan? It's worth crafting one so you don't look back at a year or three years or five years and realize you haven't grown.
Brent offers ideas such as open-ended questions, actively listening, and preparing for meetings and conversations to improve your interest levels.
If you're ready to get your agency on the path to more success in the new year, check out our 90-day program called the Best Version Possible FastTrack, which aims to help agency leaders and their teams achieve better results.
To read the transcript or watch the video recording of this episode, visit www.sitkins.com/blog/not-interested-or-are-you-not-interesting
That's Impossible, Unless...
The purpose of this episode of The Agent Leader is to challenge you and to encourage you to think bigger than you've ever thought before.
As an individual, as a department, or as an entire agency, so often we don't realize how limited our thinking really is. In fact, our limited thinking creates limited results. But, if we can think bigger, we have better behaviors, and our behaviors drive our results.
Get ready to expand your thinking and realize what your "Unless" is as Brent challenges you on this episode.
Referenced resources in this episode:
10x is Easier Than 2x
Two Impact Items from the Agency Leadership Institute
Brent shares areas of impact from his recent three-day Agency Leadership Institute hosted by Cincinnati Insurance and led by Reagan Consulting.
Listen in for what great agencies from around the country discussed as their top areas of impact.
Get ready to take notes and learn more on:
Recruiting and training producers, having a culture of accountability, green zone focus, leading with excellence, and having a sales process or plan that can be reinforced.
To learn more about our 90-day training program for independent insurance agencies, visit www.sitkins.com/fasttrack
To read the transcript or watch the video recording of this episode, visit sitkins.com/blog/two-impact-items-from-the-agency-leadership-institute
How to Avoid the Multi-Million Dollar Mistake Most Agencies Make
What is the greatest asset your agency possesses?
Technology? Data? Insurance carrier relationships? Community involvement? Knowledge? Credibility?
While all of these are great assets, the number one asset every agency has is its people.
In fact, in the recent Best Practices Study, the concept of developing your people was mentioned 8 times in the opening section - with IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE!
The problem is that most agencies don't have a true plan or process for developing, growing, and training their most important asset.
During this replay of a live presentation, Brent Kelly, President of Sitkins Group, shared the top three impact areas for personal and professional development that will lead to increased organic growth and profit - AND MILLIONS of dollars in agency value.
Listen in to learn:
1. How to install a training and development program for ALL of your key personnel that actually works
2. How to get "buy-in" from your team and get them excited and engaged in the process.
3. How to get the greatest agency return on your investment of time and training/development.
To learn more about our Fast Track program, visit https://www.sitkins.com/fasttrack
Meaningful Meetings with Ben Zimmer of Ethos Insurance and Risk Management
Brent is joined by one of our awesome members, Ben Zimmer, CEO and founder of Ethos Insurance and Risk Management.
Ben is an excellent example of the growth-minded leaders we like to work with at Sitkins Group, and when you listen you'll know why.
Get ready for an impactful discussion with Ben on what is working in his agency - that's been growing 20-25% YOY.
As the episode title implies, Ben's agency is a true believer in the organization of meaningful meetings. Learn how Ben's agency has grown from Vulnerability with Accountability, and many more clues to success, in this episode of The Agent Leader podcast.
To attend the Live event with Brent on September 7, 2023, register on LinkedIn.
Click here to order a copy of our book, Best Version Possible.
3 Reasons You Need to Fire Your Producers From Service
What would you do if someone on your team made a mistake 80% of the time?
Reprimand them? Possibly.
Train them? It better be a lot of training!
Release them? Hard to argue.
When you ask agency service team members how many times a producer gets a service request or change 100% accurate and 100% complete, the first time, the answer is usually about 2 out of 10.
In other words, producers make mistakes on service duties about 80% of the time.
In this podcast, Brent shares the Three Reasons You Need to Fire Your Producers From Service.
To watch the video or read the transcript of this episode, visit www.sitkins.com/blog/fire-your-producers-from-service
If you're ready to get your agency to its Best Version Possible, visit www.sitkins.com
Controlling the Controllables
How often do you or the people in your agency focus on things that, although they may be impactful, they have no control over?
How much time, energy, and effort goes into anger, frustration, or anxiety wasted on others' mistakes that we can't change?
Do others' actions impact you? Yes. But the bigger question is, do they control you?
In this episode of the Agent Leader, Brent Kelly will provide ideas on where agencies can take charge of areas of impact vs spending too much time, energy, and effort in areas outside of their true control.
To learn more about our programs for insurance agencies, visit https://www.sitkins.com/
Leading Meaningful Change in Your Agency
How can you make meaningful change in your insurance agency? Brent talks over four ways agency leaders can create greater buy-in with their agency teams.
7:30 - Having a Clear Vision vs. Confusion
11:08 - Having a Culture to support the Change
14:30 - Having Consistency vs Intensity
16:50 - Commitment vs Complacency
If you're ready to make impactful change in your insurance agency and want to learn more about our programs, visit www.sitkins.com/programs
or get a jump start with our Best Version Possible book.
Easy vs. Hard, It's About the Choices You Make in Your Insurance Agency
Are you simply making the easy choices in your insurance agency, that are actually making your life harder in the end?
As we always say, if you make easy choices today, it'll make your life harder long-term. Brent challenges independent insurance agency leaders to think through five choices that can impact your business long-term.
4:30 - Choice #1, Does your agency have a Team Training and Development Plan?
9:08 - Choice #2, Having High-Performance Teams, which means having clear and consistent communication between your sales and service teams.
12:42 - Choice #3, Producer Accountability to Results
16:28 - Choice #4, Leveraging the Power of the 80/20 Rule
21:15 - Choice #5, 3P's - Playbook, Preparation, and Practice
Are you willing to make some of the hard choices now that are going to make the long-term success of the agency easier?
If you're ready to get predictable and guaranteed results in your insurance agency, visit sitkins.com to learn more about our programs.
To watch the video or read the transcript of this episode, visit www.sitkins.com/blog/easy-vs-hard
Producer Improvement Strategies
Have you ever wondered what you could gain from producer training program? You're not alone, producers keep asking if our programs are right for them. Brent Kelly goes over the core strategies from our #1 program, ProducerFit, to help develop insurance producers.
Get ready to take notes on the tips to success in insurance sales that Brent shares from our 8-week virtual program. Whether you're a veteran in the insurance industry or a brand-new producer, we guarantee you'll get better results with ProducerFit. If you're ready to increase your sales, have full pipelines and create the perfect schedule that allows for more freedom with ProducerFit, visit www.sitkins.com/profit to sign up for the next session.
Consistency Builds Results
Brent is bringing some excitement and thoughts back to you, the audience, from two events he recently participated in.
Great ideas are everywhere for improving your agency. The real challenge is how can you as agency leaders keep the intensity through consistency for change?
One of the biggest frustrations we see in working with agencies like you is the fact that we start things, we just don't finish them real well. So let's get in to three practical ways to help your agency have more consistency.
If you're ready to jump start true change in your agency, visit sitkins.com/profit to learn about our popular Producer Improvement Program.
To read the transcript or watch the video of this episode, visit sitkins.com/consistency
Three Shifts to Become Indispensable
Brent highlights three shifts that insurance agencies can make to truly become indispensable in their marketplace.
As an agency leader, or within your agency, your agency culture, what needs to change to get you to the next place?
Follow along as Brent goes over three shifts you can make to transform into indispensable, along with some deep questions to ask yourself as a leader.
Shift 1: Shifting from quotes to risk advice
Shift 2: Shifting from transaction to relationships
Shift 3: Shifting from a vendor to a risk partner
To watch the video or read the transcript of this episode, visit www.sitkins.com/blog/become-indispensable-in-insurance
To learn more about our agency transformation process, visit www.sitkins.com/experience
To order our Best Version Possible book, visit www.sitkins.com/bvp
Increasing Service Capacity in Your Agency
Roger Sitkins and Brent Kelly finish their discussion on Service Capacity in Part Two of our Two-Part Series on Sales & Service Capacity.
Listen in as Roger shares how simply knowing your numbers can increase your service capacity, how to use technology to enhance client relationships, and KPI's to help you measure capacity in your agency.
If you missed part one, you can catch it on our playlist or website, Increasing Sales Capacity
To learn more about our programs for independent insurance agencies, visit www.sitkins.com/experience
Increasing Your Sales Capacity
Roger Sitkins comes back as Brent's guest for a 2-Part series about Sales and Service Capacity.
In this first part, our coaches tackle the topics that can help you increase, and improve, your sales capacity.
Get ready to take notes on agency valuation, how to invest in your agency, and examples of what independent insurance agencies have done, can do, and should do to help improve their sales capacity.
Stay tuned next week for Part Two of this series, focused on Service Capacity.
To learn more about our Membership Experience, visit www.sitkins.com/experience
To read the transcript or watch the video recording of this episode, visit https://www.sitkins.com/blog/the-impact-of-your-capacity
Sales Leadership Capacity
Brent Kelly continues his series on capacity and shifts it into the 4M's of sales leadership from a book called Becoming a Person of Influence by John Maxwell.
Listen in and take notes as Brent talks you through what these 4M'S mean to you as an insurance agency sales leader.
- 5:00 – Model – To model the right behaviors and strategies are
- 6:50 – Motivate – Provide motivation, understanding, and support
- 7:53 – Mentor – Provide Mentoring and coaching when you go deeper with those that you serve
- 18:20 - Multiply – Getting great buy-in and watching your investments in your people multiply
If you’re ready to increase your capacity and start Selling More, Retaining More and Earning More, visit www.sitkins.com/experience
Three Questions for Leadership Capacity
This is the first in a series about agency capacity. There's a lot that goes into that, and a lot to discuss, from leadership capacity, sales capacity, service capacity, and what all that means for your agency in terms of results, processes, systems, and pretty much everything you can think of.
How can you gain clarity on your leadership capacity? Start by asking yourself these three questions:
- What must I change to stop trying to have it all?
- What "good" things can I stop doing, in order to do the best things?
- What must I do to become more proactive, and less reactive?
To learn more about our private client network, visit sitkins.com/experience
To watch the video or read the transcript, visit sitkins.com/blog/three-questions-for-leadership-clarity
Five Reasons Why You Don't Need a Coach
Let's talk about five reasons why your agency doesn't need a coach in this episode of The Agent Leader podcast.
Now obviously this title shouldn't be taken seriously, and be taken as more of a challenge to you as an insurance agency leader. Are you willing to work with others to develop and improve yourself and your team? After all, no one ever accomplished something great, alone.
So let's dive into these five reasons why you wouldn't need to be striving for the best version possible of you or your agency.
- You’re immune to the outside forces in the world
- You’re waiting to sell out
- You believe that your team is not worth investing in
- You are the competition that is feared in your marketplace
- You’re getting incredible results
If you’re ready to grow your agency and want to learn more about how we work with agencies, visit sitkins.com/experience
Two Vital Questions for Sales Leaders
What are the two vital questions that every sales leader should be able to ask, and of course, get answers to?
As an agency leader or as a producer, it's important to hear this message so you can develop your own personal accountability in becoming a great sales professional.
It’s all about how you can Define, Document, and Deliver within your agency. As Brent says, it’s really hard to manage air – if nothing has been defined or documented, it cant be delivered.
Get ready to add these two simple but powerful questions to your leadership repertoire:
“I thought we agreed on.”
“Help me understand…”
To learn more about our network of growth-minded agencies, visit sitkins.com/experience
To read the transcript or watch the video recording of this episode, visit https://www.sitkins.com/blog/two-vital-questions-for-sales-leaders
Intentionality
Brent Kelly starts this episode off with a challenge to insurance professionals - how many of the things that you can control are you truly in control of?
How much of your time, energy, and effort is lived with intention, intentionality, versus accidental and reactive?
With that in mind, Brent goes through three areas where you can be more intentional to become your best version possible.
- Be Intentional with your communication
- Be intentional with your calendar
- Be intentional with your commitments
Listen in for specific examples for each of these three areas of intentionality and some impressive stats from our member agencies – including an 80% growth rate!
To learn more about our network of growth-minded agencies, visit sitkins.com/experience
To read the transcript or watch the video recording of this episode, visit sitkins.com/blog/intentionality
Seven Barriers to Your Success
Brent talks you, the agency leader, through beliefs that are holding you or your agency back in this episode of The Agent Leader podcast.
Get ready to discuss seven beliefs that could be holding you back from the true results you want in your agency:
- Your past is better than your future
- Fitting in is better than becoming world class
- We replicate vs. revise
- We can’t write larger accounts
- We can’t work on referrals only
- We can’t really differentiate
- We’re done learning, expanding, and growing.
If you’re ready to break through these belief barriers and become your Best Version Possible, visit www.sitkins.com/experience to learn more about our network of growth-minded agencies.
To read the transcript or view the video recording of this episode, www.sitkins.com/blog/seven-beliefs-holding-you-back
A Culture of Excellence in Your Agency
Brent shares some solo thoughts on a really important topic today - your agency's culture. What is a culture of excellence? What does a culture of excellence mean to you as an agent leader, to your agency, your team, your clients, and your community? You name it. It's all about a culture of excellence.
So let's go deeper in this idea of what excellence means to you and having the ultimate competitive advantage.
Listen as Brent shares some heartfelt clues to success on becoming the competition that is feared, never losing to someone who is more prepared than you, and personal accountability in this episode of The Agent Leader podcast.
To read the transcript or watch the video recording, visit www.sitkins.com/blog/culture-of-excellence
To learn more about our client group, visit www.sitkins.com/experience
Marketing Your Agency for Growth
Mary Savage, Director of Marketing at UNICO Group, joins Brent to share her experience in agency development and growth through marketing.
Listen in for a great perspective on agency challenges from the marketing side, including how Mary's team builds relationships with their advisors so that they're seen as a trusted team member, and not as a service center. Using our Risk Concierge Program, UNICO's marketing team branded a sales playbook that has helped their producers, and agency, grow and succeed together.
Get great tips to independent insurance agency success, and a little basketball talk, on this episode of The Agent Leader.
To learn more about our membership group, visit https://www.sitkins.com/experience
Ten Building Blocks of Producer Success
Brent Kelly gives an overview of our producer improvement program, ProducerFit by sharing the 10 Foundational Blocks of Producer Success.
As Brent goes through this list, ask yourself how well you as a producer, or your sales team, are doing in this area. Get ready to rate yourself on these 10 foundational blocks of insurance producer success:
- Having a high performance team
- Having your producers in the game
- Continuations, not renewals
- Relationship Management
- Pipelines that are comprised of Future Ideal Clients
- Having a unique Selling System
- Relentless Preparation
- Ultimate marketing strategy
- Having a sales playbook
- Personal Accountability
If you're ready to be in the room with other growth-minded insurance professionals, visit www.sitkins.com/profit to learn more about our programs.
We're All In This Together - Interview With Allison Hammons
Allison Hammons of Knight Insurance Group joins Brent on this episode to share tips to her success in independent insurance.
Listen to gain clever tips on:
- Recruiting talent, both internally and externally
- Creating a solid culture that includes praise within the agency
- The importance of having mentors
Plus more great takeaways, available in video and text format at https://www.sitkins.com/blog/were-all-in-this-together-with-allison-hammons
If you're interested in getting your agency to its Best Version Possible, visit sitkins.com/experience
Wisdom in the Room - Interview with Dan Mickells of UNICO Group
There's plenty of Wisdom in the Room with Dan Mickells of UNICO Group joining Brent as a guest on The Agent Leader for this episode.
Dan shares stories of success, and stories of failure, that will help anyone in insurance sales learn some important lessons along the way - including why it's important to not be afraid to fail.
Get ready to take notes, Dan's agency has the success to support their strategies like:
- Going deep in conversations with clients
- Meeting expectations
- Meeting people to make good things happen
- Sunday planning sessions
- Perfect schedules
- Getting your team all on the same page
- The importance of stepping out of your comfort zone to grow
Plus more great conversation and ideas from a great independent insurance agency leader.
To read the full transcript or watch the video recording of this episode, visit www.sitkins.com/blog/theres-wisdom-in-the-room-interview-with-dan-mickells
If you're ready to be in the room with growth-minded leaders like Dan Mickells, visit sitkins.com/experience to learn more about our private client group.
Holiday Wish List for Agencies
Our coaches, Roger Sitkins and Brent Kelly, talk over a Christmas Wish List for independent insurance agencies in this episode of The Agent Leader. Get ready to imagine your agency accomplishing the following things in 2023 and beyond:
- Having your entire team 100% aligned around a common goal.
- Have all of your team members in ongoing personal development programs
- Sales and Service teams working together as High Performance Teams
- Improve your Sales and Service Capacity
- Weekly sales Improvement Meetings
- 90%+ of your producers meet or exceed their sales goals every year
- Achieve a 99% effective retention rate on the clients you want to keep
- The 80/20 Rule
- Having Future Ideal Client only pipelines
- Have a unique, repeatable sales process
- Have Points of Differentiation that give you an Unfair Advantage against the competition
- Relentlessly Prepared for every opportunity
- Have organic Growth rates that are twice the Best Practices numbers
- Earn an operating profit of over 30%
Be like one of our clients that increased their value from $16.8 million to $30.3 million. If you’re motivated, our network of high performing agencies wants you in the room with them. Visit sitkins.com/experience
To read the transcript or watch the video recording of this episode, go to sitkins.com/blog/wish-list-for-insurance-agencies
Recruiting Agency Talent with Art Betancourt of AEBetancourt
Art Betancourt of AEBetancourt joins Brent today to share his expertise on how to attract, find, select, and hire great talent for your agency.
By far the biggest challenge we hear from agency leaders is finding agency talent, because there simply isn't enough right now.
Art shares tips on how to:
- Go find and develop talent - because once you need to fill the position, it's too late.
- Using performance-based hiring metrics
- Create a total talent pipeline
- And more great clues to success in your independent agency
To read the full transcript or watch the video of this episode, go to www.sitkins.com/blog/recruiting-agency-talent
To find out more about how AEBetancourt can help your agency find the right fit for a position, visit https://aebetancourt.com/
To learn more about the Sitkins Experience visit https://www.sitkins.com/experience
Sales Improvement Meetings
Is your agency committed to being a true sales organization? Without weekly (not weakly) held sales improvement meetings, you aren't efficiently developing your sales team.
Brent talks agency leaders through three important parts of a sales meeting, what to include, what to leave out, and how to keep the impact going all week long so you can unleash the collaborative genius within your team.
To learn more about becoming one of our growth-minded agencies we work with, visit www.sitkins.com/experience
To order our book, Best Version Possible, visit www.sitkins.com/bvp
How to Get More Buy In
How do you get your people to buy-in to new ideas or strategies in your agency?
No matter how good your idea is, if you can't get your team to buy into it, it's a failed idea. Let's talk about this and your agency. "How can you get more people to buy in?" It takes consistency, communication and collaboration. Because again, without it, no idea matters.
To read the transcript or watch the video of this episode visit sitkins.com/blog/get-more-buy-in-with-your-agency-team
To order a copy of the Best Version Possible book, visit www.sitkins.com/bvp