The Agent Leader Podcast

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discover the ten foundational blocks crucial for insurance producer success. Topics include building high-performance teams and ensuring active engagement from producers. Emphasize the importance of relationship management and developing unique selling systems. Learn the value of relentless preparation and having a structured sales playbook. Explore strategies for effective pipelines filled with ideal clients and personal accountability for ongoing growth. It's a deep dive into accelerating your agency's performance and client relations!

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

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. 

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