The Preeminent Producer Podcast

Commercial Insurance Success: Creating A Prosperous Sales Pipeline - Part 2

• The Preeminent Producer • Season 1

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Wondering how you can create a successful pipeline and amass a distinctive book of business? Tune in and unlock the strategies with Christian Wright, our expert coach, as he empties his treasure chest of wisdom from an hour and a half training session on pipelines. 

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Are you a commercial insurance producer struggling to stand out from the competition? Do you find it challenging to grow your book of business and create a fulfilling career? 

Then welcome to The Preeminent Producer Podcast! Each week, we'll be tackling important topics, sharing proven strategies and insights from successful producers that are in the trenches and have traveled the journey to becoming a Preeminent Producer. 

You'll discover what it really takes to become Preeminent & build your book of business, in a way that isn’t being taught anywhere else. Our hosts are experts in the field and have built thriving businesses by becoming the most trusted adviser to their clients. Welcome to your journey to becoming a Preeminent Producer. 

Let’s dive in!

Ready To Grow Your Book Of Business? 
For More Information go to: 
https://www.thepreeminentproducer.com/

Speaker 1:

Welcome everybody to another episode of the Pre-Iminate Producer Podcast. Today is part two in a two-part series where we started last week on the topic of pipelines. So today we got a treat for you. We are going to be going into some clips from a full hour and a half training that Christian Wright, one of our coaches, presented on pipelines. So you're going to get bits and pieces of this training. Still some really good takeaways here, so be sure to take lots of notes and once again implement. So, without further ado, let's dive in.

Speaker 2:

Are you a commercial insurance producer struggling to stand out from the competition? Do you find it challenging to grow your book of business and create a fulfilling career? If so, then welcome to the Pre-Iminate Producer Podcast. Each week, we'll be tackling important topics, sharing proven strategies and insights from successful producers that are in the trenches and have traveled the journey to becoming a pre-Iminate producer. So discover what it really takes to become pre-Iminate and build your book of business in a way that isn't being taught anywhere else. Our hosts are experts in the field and have built thriving businesses by becoming the most trusted advisor to their clients. Welcome to your journey to becoming a pre-Iminate producer. Let's dive in.

Speaker 3:

Well, I'm stoked. I'm stoked for a lot of reasons, but first of all because you all are out west and I'm on the East Coast, so I've been up for six, seven hours, had a lot of coffee. So I'm sorry if I seem too cheery this early in the morning, but it's really not early in the morning for me. So really, what I wanted to do today is kind of take the baton from where Rick had left us on our last call, where he had gone over the 12 fundamental steps of becoming a pre-Iminate producer. And I guess the first thing is I'm just kind of going back just a second is that again we're talking about fast-tracking a producer to become the best that he or she can be as quickly as possible and hopefully learn from those of us coaches who have already made a lot of errors, put in our time and worked hard to get where we are. You can hopefully leapfrog us if you follow what we're about to share with you and have shared with you. So anyway, I also just want to kind of set the framework here.

Speaker 3:

Pipeline is the first step and there's a lot of different sales programs out there that you can buy or look into or whatever.

Speaker 3:

And I guess, as I started thinking about what really is the difference between your standard producer and that pre-Iminate producer is, to me, pipeline is not a sales funnel, and you'll hear a lot of salespeople talk about and coaches a sales funnel. To me, a sales funnel is a lot of if you can picture this a lot of potential opportunities that you're just kind of dumping in and then hopefully some of them come out at the bottom and become customers when, to me, the pre-Iminate producer does not use the sales funnel but uses the pipeline, Pipeline being more narrow, being more focused and really going after those prospects, those soon-to-be clients, not wasting time on going after ones that don't meet with your carrier appetite or don't meet with your agency portfolio and who you are really spending your time going after, businesses that you have a very, very high potential possibility, probability of them becoming a client right out of the gate. So, again, the difference between, say, a sales funnel and a pipeline. So, Paul, can I share my screen and kind of walk through this?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you sure can. There should be the there you go.

Speaker 3:

So hopefully everyone can see my screen here and this is something that I put together only because I'm a very visual person and this helps me to understand exactly what I'm talking about and for you all to see how you work through the process. So I already discussed this between, say, a sales funnel and a sales pipeline. But to me it really starts and I actually I have it here starting with knowing your carriers, and we'll talk about that in a minute. But as I thought more about this last night and this morning, it actually starts a little bit before this. What I don't have on this page is this is really a golden nugget that If you take this to heart, you will leapfrog other producers. Know your own self and know your own passions and try to, if you can, marry that passion with prospective clients. Okay, what I mean by that is an example that we had here in our agency.

Speaker 3:

We had a producer a very new producer was a female and she was very passionate about cars and collector vehicles and she was a gearhead and we got to talking and she said, yeah, I mean, this is what I like to do in my spare time. My husband's into cars, I'm into cars. So her success. Looking back on her success really came when she was calling on garages. Of all businesses. It's a very simple step, but her passion was cars. Yes, she's an insurance producer, but her passion was cars. So I think when you're deciding, okay, how does, how do I fill my pipeline, how do I create a pipeline and how do I work through that pipeline? New producers I would start with taking time to do some self introspection and say, look, what am I passionate about? Write them down, see them on paper, think about them. Okay, I have a new producer that's going to start with us, hopefully very soon, who is passionate about healthy lifestyles, happens to be a Pilates instructor, husband has a restaurant, I guess. Well, they both have a restaurant, they're foodies. You know those are her passions. When she focuses on those, if those meet with our carriers appetite, if those meet with our agency goals and objectives and who we are, she's going to have very fast success in placing business Okay. So hopefully everyone understands what I'm talking about.

Speaker 3:

When you, when I'm saying, look at yourself first, then jumping into this, you know you can come up with a list of prospects, but here's the reality. If they don't meet, if you don't have, let me back up. If you don't have insurance companies that want to write that business, you're absolutely wasting your time, and I'm sure Matt and Rick can can attest to this. You know, wanting to write a manufacturer of widgets but not having the insurance company who can actually do that, you're wasting your time. You're wasting your time. You're going to waste your marketing person's time. You're wasting the underwriters time, everyone's time. Okay. So I think a successful preeminent producer is going to start with an introspective of who they are, what they like, what they're passionate about, but then they're going to spend time with their.

Speaker 3:

We have a marketing rep internally, a person who oversees all of the marketing, which I mean taking the business out to the insurance companies, spending time with that person to truly get to know our carrier mix, our insurance companies. Okay, what do they like to write? What types of businesses? You know? You know, maybe it's the travelers and they have a passion for writing contractors, where maybe a company called, say, mutual benefit has really no intention of writing contractors. Okay, what size business?

Speaker 3:

You know a lot of insurance companies say you know, we, we want to see businesses that are doing at least $10 million in revenue. Okay, well, maybe you know that's a, that's a carrier you have, that your prospects better be over that $10 million in revenue threshold. Or maybe it's a fleet size, number of vehicles could be, number of employees, could be the geography or location of the business. So you know you're not going to go after businesses. Again, I'm in Maryland guys. So I'm not going to go after a business in Oregon Because, number one, I'm not licensed there, but, number two, I really my carriers aren't wanting us to go after business in that area. Okay, so knowing your carrier mix, knowing what they want to go after, is the proper starting point to filling and creating your pipeline of opportunity.

Speaker 4:

I just want to make an observation backing way up to the very first thing you talked about, about trying to figure out what you're passionate about, what industries or whatever. I haven't been able to get that out of my mind ever since you said that. So anything you said subsequently went over my head. But, like my experience, an industry that I'm passionate about is anything to do with wood wood manufacturing because I'm a woodworker. It's a hobby. I just love going out and meeting new prospects in those manufacturing wood related industries. I really get jazzed about walking through, and I speak the same language. I guess.

Speaker 4:

My observation is yeah, if somebody is starting out with a blank slate, I think that's a really good suggestion. Find the things you're passionate about, because I truly believe that the prospects that you meet with they'll see that passion. Chances are like the producer you mentioned, who's a gearhead she speaks that language, she has a knowledge, she can throw things out. It gives you instant credibility. But I think people want to do business with producers that are enthusiastic. It's hard to be enthusiastic, I guess, about something you're not enthusiastic about. So I think that's a great first step. I just want to throw that out there. I mean, I've experienced it myself. I probably did not go about that intentionally like you're suggesting.

Speaker 3:

I think handwritten letters are really important today because people don't get them. So, again, you're trying to be a preeminent producer is different than every other producer. They're at the top of their game and in doing so you can't be the run of the mill. So a lot of sales programs will tell you email, email, email, phone call email. Well, here's the reality. I don't get a whole lot of mail anymore. So I get a handwritten piece of mail from Matt Starchy telling me, for example, he saw one of my because I use this saw one of my trucks out on the road and told me how clean the truck was, almost to a point that he said he could eat in his jellyfish sandwich off the top of the hood. To me, all I'm doing here is I want that prospect to remember me, to get to know me, however that takes. So handwritten letters have their place.

Speaker 3:

Personalized email you got to be careful about drip campaigns and emails that they do not look like they're one of many getting the same email. Ok, so, for example, I go by my middle name, christian, so we use a marketing system that pulls contact names, starts with the first name. My first name is Frederick, so in our computer system. Under my personal insurance account it says F Christian Wright. So if the email drip campaign comes out and says hi F, did you know? You know, rick Gregson is an incredible preeminent producer. Blah, blah, blah. I'm already like I stopped reading when it said hi F. So you got to be aware of that. And I think the check here is ask yourself what would I think if I received that email. What would I think if I received that drip campaign? What would I think if I received a handwritten letter? And if you're not warm and fuzzy about it, don't do it, yeah, ok.

Speaker 3:

And then, of course, the good old fashioned phone calls. You can't be afraid of the phone if you're a preeminent producer. I mean to a point. Yes, I understand a lot of people are just getting started and you have to break through that. There's no, unless others on the call know. I don't know, of any secret sauce to get one past the fear of picking up the phone other than picking up the phone and dialing and making the calls, and sure you're going to get hung up on. Every preeminent producer has been hung up on way more than they've ever had. The other person on the other line say hey, sure, come on over and talk to me. So the point is in the pipeline. That step is to get that prospect to know you.

Speaker 1:

All right, we're going to stop there. I hope you enjoyed those bits and pieces. If you want full access to the entirety of not only that training but our entire roadmap to success, I would highly encourage you to check us out at thepreeminentproducercom and check out our different coaching programs, where, each and every month, our coaches just like you heard today dive into very specific topics and not only present their expertise, but this is an opportunity to get personal coaching from them. Ask your questions and they will answer you live on these calls. It's a great opportunity. So check us out at thepreeminentproducercom and if you like this episode, be sure to like, subscribe and leave a review. And until next time, we'll see you in the next episode of the Preeminent Producer Podcast.

Speaker 2:

Thanks so much for joining us on this episode of the Preeminent Producer Podcast. If you're enjoying the show, please feel free to subscribe, rate and leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. That helps others find the show and we greatly appreciate it. Once again, thanks for joining us and we'll catch you in the next episode of the Preeminent Producer Podcast.