The Preeminent Producer Podcast

Facing Obstacles As An Insurance Producer - Part 2

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Ever been sucker-punched by life? Our expert coach, Christian Wright, equates losing a million-dollar account to a punch in the gut. But, like a seasoned boxer, this knockdown was not a knockout. Christian's tale is one of resilience, of picking himself up and dusting off. Despite losing an account he had painstakingly grown over years, he managed not only to recover but to thrive. He replaced the business he lost and learned some hard-earned lessons along the way.

Our second segment brings Christian together with our other expert coaches, Rick and Paul, to dissect the lessons learned from weathering storms and persevering. We discuss the importance of resilience and hard work in business and how even our darkest moments can be transformed into opportunities for growth and learning. It's a raw, honest, and motivating conversation that'll inspire you to embrace your setbacks and make your comebacks even stronger. Get ready to be challenged, to be inspired, and to see losses in a whole new light. Tune in!

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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?
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Speaker 1:

Welcome everybody to another episode of the Preeminent Producer Podcast. This is part two of a two-part series where last week I asked the coaches to share a time about a difficult time, an obstacle that they faced on their journey of preeminence. And last week we heard from Rick Greixin and today we are going to be hearing from Christian Wright, who's going to be sharing what we're calling the gut punch story, and we're also going to be hearing from our other coach, matt Starchy. So let's dive in and hear what they have to say.

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 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 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 preeminent producer. Let's dive in.

Speaker 3:

So the story I have was probably the most difficult learning experience I've had in this journey to becoming preeminent. Years and years ago I wrote an account that happened to be a home builder and I remember writing the premium. I actually remember going in to see the account I was nervous as heck. There were probably 10 people in the office and I wrote the insurance at the time. I think the total premium was like 20 grand, so it was a nice size account when I first started. But over the years the account grew and grew and grew to become one of the largest home builders on the East Coast. I actually learned a lot in going through the metamorphosis up with the company and I think, looking back on it, because I learned so much and had gone through such learning experience with the client as they grew, I really took ownership of that account to a point that I didn't take it for granted but I just felt like it was almost one of my children. I really just felt very strongly about this account. Then what happened was at some point the client brought in a new finance person which I had not gone through that experience and typically when there's a change in management they bring in their team that maybe worked with them in their past life. So I should have seen that coming, but nonetheless, that's what happened and the account.

Speaker 3:

At the time that I'm getting ready to tell you of what happened, I think the account was probably paying about a million in that long-term premium, which is a pretty substantial account for us at the time. And so I get the call, the account renewed in late fall. I get the call on my phone, I answer the call and let me tee this up I'm actually backing out of my driveway with my family, everything's packed to the hilt in our mini van, as we head out for our vacation, our summer vacation, our once-a-year vacation. My children were very, very young. Anyway, I answered the phone and the client proceeded to tell me that they had decided to move their insurance. It was not at expiration, it was midterm, and I said I was just taking it back. I mean, I felt like someone literally punched me in the gut. I could feel the color leave my body and I said what did we do? And his response was you did nothing. This is a business decision. I was so floored, I think I just sat there dumbfounded for several what seemed like minutes, probably several seconds and I finally said okay, hung up the phone. That was all I could do.

Speaker 3:

I was so blindsided by this. It wasn't a situation where we didn't perform as an agency or the carrier didn't perform from a claim standpoint or anything like that. And it was a difficult account. I really really worked hard to place the structure that they had at the time, working with a lot of different carriers. We had towers of coverage, so forth and so on.

Speaker 3:

So needless to say that that eight hour drive was miserable. It was supposed to be a happy time for me and my family. It was miserable. I would looking back on it my wife may say differently, but I think probably for the first half of the vacation I was just in a terrible depressed state, angry, didn't know what to do, and I'm here trying to have fun with my family get. Someone just punched me in the gut.

Speaker 3:

So the lesson that I took from that, which really changed kind of the trajectory of what I was doing, is that business is business. And that is so hard to swallow because as producers we take I think everyone takes ownership in their business. I mean, you give it your all and unfortunately, business is business. It's really difficult for me to separate that and when I used to hear that I thought, no, you're crazy, it's not just business. Well, it is from the standpoint that there was nothing I could have done differently, nothing my agency could have done differently or the insurance carrier to change that decision, so I had to accept it. So the lesson of learning acceptance and realizing that sometimes things happen out of your control and really devastating things can happen is a lesson that you have to learn at some point to become preeminent.

Speaker 3:

Now, on the backside of that, I was able, over the next couple of years, to replace that business. I happened to turn that bad situation into something that I found some positivity in and I, just when I got back from vacation, put my nose to the grindstone and I just went crazy with call on accounts, really trying to focus on what we were good at, and I was able to replace that business and looking back on it now I can say that account well, it was a large account to us and one that it took great pride in. You know, it taught me a lot of lessons. It taught me what I just mentioned about business is business and you're going to lose as much as you win, that you're going to lose, sometimes outside of your control, to accept that and give grace to it, but to also learn that you can absolutely replace any business and you're going to come out the other end stronger.

Speaker 3:

It was a situation, as I say, where I wouldn't wish it on my competitors or my worst enemies, but the reality is it's. We're in a business where there are winners and losers and the deal is to be on the winning side more often than losing, but sometimes you just happen to get a bum wrap or a bad flip of the coin. So if it ever happens to anyone, just know if I can get through it. You can, and you need to just turn that negative into a positive, realize that it happens to everyone and it really isn't personal.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, christian. I'm reminded of a conversation I had with, again, a stockbroker buddy of mine who was quite successful, had a large organization and he made a point of saying I hire high level athletes. And I said, oh, men and women who have been at high level sports, I'm an old jock and I thought, well, I get it because they're competitive and they want to win, and all that. He said no, no, they know how to lose and recover, which you're just talking about. One of the best things in our industry is that's it. If you're a jock, you need to learn. You need to have a little bit of amnesia to, and you certainly wanna learn from your mistakes, but you need to put it behind you very quickly, never repeat it, and learn how to recover from defeat, which you did.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, I really just made up my mind after that, Rick, that we're gonna be better and stronger and that's not trying. I mean, I really sat down with my team and said, okay, we just lost a big account. Of course, I saw the color come out of their faces and were drained from their faces and it was like but we can get through this and that's not BS If we're preeminent, if we're gonna be the best, we're gonna do this and we're gonna be better. We don't need them If they do not depend on us for what we do. We need to find people that do. And you're right, it's a hard thing to lose, but you can't win without losing.

Speaker 5:

Wow, christian, when you were telling that story and I think you said it was like getting punched in the gut or whatever I could literally. I'm sure, rick, I could literally feel that, because I've been there and I had something not quite as dramatic happen to me once. Ironically, on my first drive on a brief vacation also, I just got a very distasteful phone call from somebody, and it just the first half of that first day of my vacation just wasn't good. So I totally get that boy, that being punched in the gut like that.

Speaker 5:

One thing that occurred to me, though, is it sounds like if I got it right, you did nothing wrong. Okay, and in a way I guess it's easier. We've probably all been there. I know I have. I've lost an account here or there where I knew I really wasn't doing my best work or whatever, hadn't kept in touch with them, whatever. That's almost easier to lose one like that, because you can blame yourself, and correctly blame yourself, but when you've done nothing wrong, boy, that's a tough lesson. So it sounds like it wasn't a matter of that. They BOR'd it away from you.

Speaker 3:

They is that right, they secured it Well actually what they did was they did BOR it, and so this happened about 10 years ago. To this day, they still have the same program that I developed for them the same carriers, the same towers, maybe some higher limits, but it was as I said. I learned a lot. I learned a lot about dealing with difficult accounts with this account, but I know that because I stay in touch with the underwriter and I ask him yep, we still have it, still the same structure. So you know. But you're right, sometimes losing an account when you know, unfortunately, you deserve to lose it, or they carry your mess up, your team messed up, you messed up I do find that easier to swallow because then we can absolutely regroup. It's okay. What was the mistake? This was the mistake. How do we prevent that from happening again? And, as I said, come out better when you lose, but just realize, unfortunately it's a part of this game that I was not prepared for at that particular time.

Speaker 5:

You know, paul, it's a really good question I had to think a little bit about and I'm not sure this was the worst thing that ever happened to me, but I had to think a little bit about what happened and what I came up with was really the very beginning of my agency, my first agency. I was 30 years old. I had two kids, a four year old and a newborn. I formed this agency with a partner 50-50 partnership. We borrowed money from another industry person, a preeminent producer you know, who was 20 years, our senior. He lent us a couple hundred grand. My partner and I each took out seconds on our houses. You know we both left good jobs. My job was a at that point I was a surplus lines broker, had a pretty good position, made a decent base salary plus commission, and we got this crazy idea to start a retail insurance agency, and so we did so.

Speaker 5:

Here I was in debt, had zero accounts you know, we didn't have an account to start with or anything and 30 years old, two kids left a good job. But all excited and the first, the very first account that I wrote and I picked up a deposit check because I've been told that's what you better do, etc. Etc. That check bounced. They never were able to make good on that. The second account I wrote this is all in that first 30 to 60 days or whatever. It seems like it was in within the first month. The second account that I wrote, you notice, I was all excited. About a month went by and they went chapter 11. So at that point I'm thinking excuse the French, but what the hell have I got myself in debt? What the hell have I got myself into here? I left the other secure job, the salary I got these two kids. Now I'm totally in debt. You know I've got zero business now.

Speaker 5:

My first two accounts went totally sideways and I had no choice, though at that point I had to forge ahead right, as did my partner, and I'm sure he had something similar to happen to whatever account he wrote at the time. But boy, that was a tough time. But you know, at that decade of the 30s, you know those are going to be some real strong sales years, a lot of energy, and looked a lot better than I do now. So I remember literally what I did and what my partner did is we each had the office space that we had we were sharing with some other firm that I can't remember the nature of them, but they worked in the evening. You know, everything was on a shoestring and we each had our individual office.

Speaker 5:

My partner and I, we locked ourselves, so to speak, in our office and made cold calls over the phone for at least four hours each day. You know, we I'd like to say that we instructed our staff not to interrupt us, but we had no staff we did, it was just my partner and I. We had the CSR, the book, he would just the whole thing at first. You know, and I guess the I don't know the lesson or whatever I learned from that. Maybe it's twofold or multi-fold. One, yeah, bad things are going to happen and it was almost better to have those bad things early on in that in the career.

Speaker 5:

Maybe Number two is you got to work at it. You know, we locked ourselves in our offices, like I said, and man, we just we just hit the phones and came up with a couple of niche programs just by happenstance, and that helped. But yeah, we just worked our butts off. And I'm not sure what the third lesson was. Essentially, you got to persevere, you know. You just, you just got to keep. And now you know it's great to look back at those times, be able to laugh about it, but at the time I got to tell you it was sort of what's the phrase I use these days existential, I mean. It was. It was that serious. So, anyway, that's kind of a short story, but you can't almost have a have a worse start than that. But it ended up working out okay.

Speaker 3:

You know, matt, that's a great story. I think that how do I say this politely? I don't know how to say politely, but to be preeminent and look back on that you got to be scrappy. I mean, we're scrappy, scrappy a lot of people. You know you get beat up, you got to got to push, push, push and I think that you know looking back on it now and laughing about it, man, I'm sure that really just helped you as a person through not just insurance but also just life in general, and you know, never giving up and moving forward.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, like I said before, this is a full contact sport. Business is a full contact sport. You're going to get knocked down. It's going to be unfair, matt. You're going to have people bounce checks and do crazy stuff. And you're right perseverance you've got to persevere.

Speaker 5:

Yeah, they're so true. There's that great speech by Winston Churchill that he gave to some college member who says never give in, never give in, never give in. And and yeah, just, and sometimes, sometimes it's easier said than done, but at other times, out of necessity, like that situation for me, I had no choice. You know, I was in too deep, I had to just keep going forward, yeah, yeah, and I will say on the road to preeminence, although, as I think we said earlier, it's never easy, but it can become easier. And boy, you know I think I've said this before man if I'd had some coaches at that point, that would have helped get me through that, maybe a little bit better, little bit quicker, you know.

Speaker 1:

All right. Well, I'm sure those stories resonated with many, and I'm sure you also have your own stories as well. The main takeaway here is you know, on this journey and on this road to becoming a preeminent producer, there are going to be obstacles, there's going to be challenges. It's part of the journey, it's part of the process, and we have to ensure that we are not the ones that get discouraged, give up and give up on our dreams in our careers. We've got to make sure we press through, push through and say you know what? This is just part of the process and I'm not going to give up. I'm going to keep pushing forward Because this is not just a job, this is my career. So if you enjoyed this, if you would like more information about being coached by the coaches that you have heard today, visit us at thepreeminentproducercom. And until next time, guys, we'll see you in the next episode of the Preeminent Producer.

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 podcast. 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. Not much to thank anyone this morning.