Thinking of Getting Out of the Business

[Guest]

My mother used to tell me I was BORN with a mid-life crises (I'm 43 and it's STILL going strong)

 

[bill3173]

An agent told me the other day he would love to have hair of any color just as there were more than one of them.

There's plenty of it, but it was mostly grey until a few months ago, and then it started turning brown again.

My age showed in my hair not my face. The other day I walked into a local business to see the owner, and one of his desk jockeys upon seeing me said yo what up bro, can I help you?

Prior to my hair magically changing color, that same guy would have said, can I help you sir? you look tired have a seat while I get the boss. Freaking amazing the impact grey hair has on people.

 

[xrac]

Maybe Yellow has already quit the business. We have had 22 additional posts and haven't heard a peep from him.

 

[thespur1]

Maybe Yellow has already quit the business. We have had 22 additional posts and haven't heard a peep from him.

hheh i think your rite

 

[SalemInsuranceGuy]

The most successful agents I know have one thing in common. Focus. They focus on one niche and don't get distracted or don't try and divest themselves to much. For example ask a floundering agent what he does and he'll tell you he is in the insurance business. Ask a top producer what he does and he'll tell you something like "I help families that are paying too much to add their spouse and dependents to their employer sponsored group plan, how to save money by purchasing individual health insurance". They have razor sharp clarity on who their market is and how to go about selling to them. They have become EXPERTS in their niche whatever it is. They don't vacillate between products or strategies. They stay focused on their target and relentlessly go after that niche market without becoming distracted by the latest and greatest and newest. You can't be a "Jack of all trades" in the insurance business or you might end up master of none and burn out.

I agree. I used to bounce around from one thing to the other. Then years ago I finally settled on focusing on small group health insurance. I would still write some individual health and of course some life policies along the way but my main focus was small group health. It worked out good. Then I saw where I was "leaving money on the table" because some guy had 100k in his 401k to roll over to mutual funds. So of course I can out and got my securities license. Eventually I got so greedy I didn't want to leave any money on the table or allow another agent to write anything for fear he would step in and take my business. Soon I was offering everything in the world you could think of except P&C. Oh trust me I thought about getting that license too. Needless to say I was overwhelmed trying to keep up on everything and eventually starting losing business because of it. Now years later I focus mainly on term life insurance. Sure I'll still write an individual health plan here and there but my main focus is on term life. It seems to work out much better being an expert in one area than trying to master them all. I've seen it work for a large independent P&C agency who appears to offer it all. But if you looked closer inside the agency were agents who only focused on P&C and agents who only focused on life or heatlh, and the they even had two guys who did nothing but securities. Even though some had multiple licenses they all tended to focus on their niche and would refer their client to the other expert as needed. It worked well for them.

 

[somarco]

mostly grey until a few months ago

Are you a Brit?

then it started turning brown again.

Do you have a picture of yourself that is aging?

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

I trip off new agents starting out and thinking in after a few years the referrals just start pouring in. The do come in but more at a trickle.

You can effect this in a positive manner.

Letting your clients know on a regular basis (in a low-key, non-threatening way) that their referrals are important to you is like shaking a tree.

It's worked for me.

 

[VolAgent]

Moon is spot on. The key to getting referrals is to effectively ask for them. You can't expect them to just come, sure you will get some people calling you, but no where near enough. If your client has that deer in the headlights look when you ask for referrals, you're not asking right.

You can effect this in a positive manner.

Letting your clients know on a regular basis (in a low-key, non-threatening way) that their referrals are important to you is like shaking a tree.

It's worked for me.

 

[arnguy]

....Prior to my hair magically changing color, that same guy would have said, can I help you sir? you look tired have a seat while I get the boss. Freaking amazing the impact grey hair has on people.

Did that magic happen to come in a bottle?

 

[ABC]

You can effect this in a positive manner.

Letting your clients know on a regular basis (in a low-key, non-threatening way) that their referrals are important to you is like shaking a tree.

It's worked for me.

This is the one aspect that I am just not very good at.
I have tried going the route of asking for referrals with little success. All my clients say the same thing if something comes up they will give my name out.
I guess I might just be a bit timid of looking like I am begging for business but I do always ask.

Maybe I should beg for business?