Insurance agents can do WAY better if they understand the relationship between their impact and their revenue. Learn how to transform your business to make a LOT more money.

1. 7 identity-crushing insights to help your agency do way better.
serious money
On the other side of real impact lies

2. Matt Wagner
Vice President
Client Focus
in/mattstrategic

3. Your business is undifferentiated.
First things first:

4. Being better is not a differentiator.
Everybody thinks they’re better.

5. “Different” is better than “better”.

6. To be better, compete with other businesses.
To be different, compete with yourself.
Pro Tip!

7. Commodity businesses
suffer common ailments:

8. supervisor mentality
lack of purpose
short-term thinking
low-value assumptions
crippling ROI apathy
disregarded CLV
price orientation

9. “I will stop doing what
everyone else is doing and
pursue these seven insights.”
Resolution

10. A business without a
purpose doesn’t matter.
Insight #1

11. Q.
”What made you start
a small business in
the insurance/FS
industry?”
A.
“I want to help
people. That’s why I
always provide great
customer service!”

12. Really?
How many of your customers will need a
gofundme account if tragedy strikes?
(How many will never recover financially?)

13. The only thing standing between
them and financial devastation is
YOU.
Stop running a service operation.
Go sell important things.

14. “I will not allow tragedy to
ruin my customers and my
neighbors financially…”
…is a very strong statement of purpose,
especially if you act on it.

15. “I will align my heart, my
mind, and my business to a
strong and worthy purpose.”
Resolution

16. Exponential growth is
for long-term thinkers.
Insight #2

17. Long-term thinking is strategic;
over time it’s value compounds.
Short-term thinking is linear and results in “the grind.”

18. Long-term thinkers
develop and integrate:
• vision
• purpose
• values
• strategy
• leadership
• continuous improvement
• self-development

19. Long-term thinkers scale
their impact.
Consequently, they scale income and fulfillment.

20. Spend 15% of your time thinking
strategically about your business.
The 15% RULE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5EHjzakNtM

21. “I will envision, design, plan,
and lead the agency that I
want to have in three years.”
Resolution

22. Your low-value assumptions
are merely assumptions.
Insight #3

23. Assumption-Expectation Cycle
Welcome to the

24. You make assumptions
about other people.
Your assumptions dictate
your interactions.
Your interactions drive
other people’s
expectations.
Their responses reinforce
your assumptions.
1
2
3
4

25. I can’t find employees
whom I can trust.
Customers only care
about price.
You can’t do business
around the holidays.

26. If you make low-value
assumptions about
• customers • employees • the market • yourself

27. You will be right.
Low-value assumptions will become your
stories.
Try listening to other people’s stories. You’ll see.

28. high-value assumptions.
But so can

29. “I will make high-value
assumptions until the world
begins to respond differently
to me.”
Resolution

30. Insight #4
ROI apathy is your business’s
Achilles heel.

31. Your highest, long-term ROI comes from
Capabilities and Relationships.

32. Capabilities Relationships
bigger impact.
bigger opportunities.

33. Next: 3 Comparative ROI Examples

34. ROI = $2000 / $1500
Lifetime Commissions on 5 Sales $3500
-100 Internet Leads @ $10 ($1000)
-Prospecting Labor ($500)
Profit $2000
Internet
Leads

35. ROI = $3000 / $500
Lifetime Commissions on 5 Sales $3500
-100 In-Book Leads $0
-Appointment-setting Labor ($500)
Profit $3000
In-Book
Reviews

36. ROI = $3200 / $300
Commissions on 5 Sales $3500
-10 Referral Leads @ $25 ($250)
-Prospecting Labor ($50)
Profit $3200
Customer
Referrals

37. That’s an 8x ROI.

38. The Costs
Develop Skills.
Be Patient.
Focus.
Have Purpose.
High ROI
Work harder.
Hire more.
Earn less.
Grow slowly.
Low ROI

39. “I will realign my Biz Dev
activities and build skills
to maximize ROI.”
Resolution

40. Insight #5
CLV* is where the profit is.
*Customer Lifetime Value

41. Revenue Profitability
Monetize
existing
customers
Acquire
new
customers
Monetize
existing
customers
Acquire
new
customers

42. Unfortunately, many small businesses
value a sale over a customer.
They’re willing to work harder and pocket less.

43. Sale Bias
Cost Revenue Cost Cost
New Customer New Customer New Customer
Revenue Revenue

44. Customer Bias
Cost
Cost
Revenue
Cost
Revenue
New Customer Second Transaction Third Transaction
Revenue

45. Don’t celebrate
closing a sale.
Celebrate opening a
relationship.
-Patricia Fripp-

46. Even better than a customer is a
FAN.
All the benefits of a customer plus free, targeted marketing!

47. = Transaction
= Referral
Sale vs. Customer vs.
Fan
Sale:
Customer:
Fan:

48. “I will spend 25% of my Biz
Dev budget creating and
monetizing customers and
fans.”
Resolution

49. Insight #6
Price orientation kills profitable
growth.

50. If your go-to-market strategy is
focused on price…
Customers will experience you
as a price taker.
You’ll build your capabilities
around price competition.

51. A silent agreement that your
relationships are about price.
Result:

52. Problems With Price Orientation
• You have to make it up on volume.
• Price-sensitive customers will leave you.
• Value-focused customers will avoid you.
• You won’t develop strong expertise.
• You won’t solve important problems.
• You’ll have a heavy service burden.
• You’ll always worry about competition.

53. Solution: Compete on Value
• Develop better skills.
• Solve bigger problems.
• Focus on acquiring customers, not just sales.
• Attract the right kinds of customers.
• Win referrals of ideal customer personas.
• Be more fulfilled.

54. “I will start positioning my
agency based on value rather
than price.”
Resolution

55. Insight #7
Don’t supervise. Lead.

56. The #1 barrier to agency growth is
team turnover.

57. Why?
Either because you hire the wrong people or
because you don’t develop them.
(If it’s any other reason, you’re powerless to fix it.)

58. To attract your ideal candidates, you need 2 things:Hire
1. A compelling value proposition that explains
why a great candidate should work for you.
2. Core values that portray what working for you
will feel like on a day-to-day basis.

59. Getting this right could be worth hundreds
of thousands of dollars for your agency, so
you need to be honest and committed.
Hire
(It will also turn a more expensive candidate a bargain.)

60. Hire a Good Fit!
Hire
(You can teach skills, but you can’t change character.)

61. Pay for Value.
Hire
(An employee who costs 20% more
might produce 200% more value.)

62. To keep your ideal candidates, you need 2 things:Develop
1. Delivering on your value proposition.
2. Making good on your core values.

63. Develop
Developing your employees’ market value
should be at the heart of your value proposition.
(The best candidates will stay until they stop growing.)

64. Develop Ways to help them grow:
• Teach them to build relationships/network.
• Teach them ownership of outcomes.
• Teach them to provide value.
• Teach them to make important decisions.
• Teach them to act independently.
• Teach them to solve important problems.
• Teach them to lead others.
• Teach them to delegate important things.
• Teach them to do your job better than you.

65. Develop
Most companies have core values.
Very few live by them.
(This represents a huge competitive differentiator.)

66. Develop
Being true to your core values, especially when
it’s hard, gives your employees something to
align to and believe in.
(They care about this as much as money.)

67. Remember, your objective is to hire and keep
great employees
Who can create tremendous value for your agency.

68. “I will hire and develop great
people based on fit, rather
than hiring people for skill
and supervising them.”
Resolution