The Agent Leader Podcast

No one ever listened themselves out of sale. When most people think of the best leaders and sales producers they envision someone who is a great talker. While verbal communication is important, there is nothing more powerful than asking great prepared questions and listening. On today's Agent Leader Podcast, I discuss why and how the best influencers sell their best ideas through the power of listening.

If you don’t value yourself, rest assured your clients won’t raise the price If you sell your products or services like everyone else, you probably don’t have much value to offer anyway. That’s why you default back to price. So how can you truly add value to your prospect and clients? It's start by valuing yourself first and asking important questions.

I’m guessing there are some things in your life and in your business that you have put off because you didn’t feel you were ready. Maybe it’s calling the big prospect, or adding a new team member, or just launching a new campaign for you business. This could be due to the fear of failure, or maybe it’s due to lack of confidence. Regardless, at some point, to grow, you will have to begin to do things before you feel you are fully equipped and ready. My mentor asked a fabulous question on a recent phone call. He said, “When is the last time you did something for the first time?” That question stopped me in my tracks and now I ask you the same question. You will never be ready, but you must always be willing.

Most insurance agencies talk and walk much the same. Many leaders ask me how to differentiate their agency in today’s marketplace. I truly believe that empowering leadership is often the primary advantage your agency has over another agency in todays’ competitive market. When you empower your agency team, you will improve the agency culture, build confidence, and most importantly, create a world-class experience for your clients and company partners. On this episode, I discuss the 7-steps to empower your insurance agency to success.

At the very top-level of agency leadership develop is significance. My leadership mentor believes that only about 1% of organizations reach this level. After synergy, many agencies feel that they have accomplished their mission, but significance is the last step. Significance is where multiplication occurs. Leaders of significance develop and reproduce leaders who stay with the agency, help them reach their potential, but there is one more critical area that occurs when agencies reach significance.

Leaders are learners. Leadership experts Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus wrote about the relationship between growth and leadership: “It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers.” There should be no goal to attend an event other than it provides you with greater ability to improve and build on your current progress every single day. It’s been said that if I need to be inspired to take steps forward, then I’ll attend an event. If I want to improve, I’ll engage in a process and stick with it. This Agent Leader Podcast episode will help you engage in the process so you that you maximize every event.

We influence someone everyday of our lives. Is your influence positive or negative? There is no neutral. You are either adding emotional deposits into others lives or you are making withdrawals. Leadership is one thing…..influence. It doesn’t matter if you are influencing your team, your clients, or your community; you have the ability and responsibility to become a person of “positive” influence in the lives of others.

Every organization reaches their lid at various times. The key is to having the awareness to understand when you have hit your lid so that you can look at ways to improve your leadership. When most organizations are stuck they focus only on ways to work harder and dedicate themselves to success. While this is a noble pursuit, at some point, you will run out of time and energy for only a small level of return. However, if you focus on increasing your leadership ability (people skills, planning and strategic thinking, vision) you will begin to increase your results rapidly. That’s because when you understand and apply leadership skills to your insurance agency, you will so realize that it has a multiplying effect.

How does the 30-second rule motivate people to achieve more? *Motivation helps people who know what they should do…to do it. *Motivation helps people who know what habit they should break…to break it *Motivation helps people who knows what commitments they should make…to make them *Motivation helps people who know what path they should take…to take it When you apply this rule, you will create more powerful connections, gain influence, and achieve better results.

The question I ask you today is, “Are you ready to grow?” “Are you ready to maximize your potential?” Are you ready to be more, do more, and have more in your life?”