231. How to Sell the Next Thing with Brent Kelly

Speaker 1 This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally responsible, financial geniuses, monetary magicians.

Speaker 1 These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home, and more.

Speaker 1 Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it. So your dollar goes a long way.
Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance.

Speaker 1 Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary.
Not available in all states or situations.

Speaker 3 Hey, Fidelity.

Speaker 4 What's it cost to invest with the Fidelity app?

Speaker 4 Start with as little as $1 with no account fees or trade commissions on U.S. stocks and ETFs.
Hmm. That's music to my ears.
I can only talk.

Speaker 5 Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Zero account fees apply to retail brokerage accounts only.
Sell order assessment fee not included.

Speaker 5 A limited number of ETFs are subject to a transaction-based service fee of $100. See full list at fidelity.com slash commissions.
Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC member NYSE SIPC.

Speaker 3 We all take good care of the things that matter. Our homes, our pets, our cars.
Are you doing the same for your brain?

Speaker 3 Acting early to protect brain health may help reduce the risk of dementia from conditions like Alzheimer's disease.

Speaker 3 Studies have found that up to 45% of dementia cases may be prevented or delayed by managing risk factors you can change. Make brain health a priority.

Speaker 3 Ask your doctor about your risk factors and for a cognitive assessment. Learn more at brainhealthmatters.com.

Speaker 4 So I'm,

Speaker 4 well, I'm currently seeing a woman, but at the beginning of seeing her, and this is not the first time

Speaker 4 that I've heard this, but like,

Speaker 4 uh went out on a date with her the first date, you know, whatever. We have a great time.
I thought we had a great time. Okay, We go to see each other again.
And we were dinner, and

Speaker 4 she made me dinner. That's how I knew she was a winner.
She, the second dinner, was she actually made me dinner. I was like, this is awesome.

Speaker 4 Yeah, it's a very good start. But she said, she said, you know, you did something really funny during our first date.
And I was like, oh my God, what did I do?

Speaker 5 In a crude laboratory in the basement of his home.

Speaker 4 Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the show. Today, we have a tremendous episode for you.
A conversation with one of my favorite people in the industry, Brent Kelly, the president of Sickens Group.

Speaker 4 Brent is one of the premier consultants and coaches in the insurance industry and works with some of the best agencies in our space.

Speaker 4 Brent's a former producer, had his own consulting firm, then hooked up with Roger Sickens and Sickens Group, and has really taken them to a whole nother level.

Speaker 2 I love Brent.

Speaker 4 I love every conversation we have because where I tend to be like action first, you know, sometimes the words coming out of my mouth, I haven't even put any thought behind.

Speaker 4 They're just my immediate reaction to things, which for better or for worse tends to be my way as I think through things out loud. Brent is more measured, more thoughtful,

Speaker 4 probably slightly more consistent.

Speaker 4 And what I, and I, and I mean that in all the positive ways, that you know, when we get together, when we're able to have these conversations on the podcast, which, you know, usually I have Brent on once a year, et cetera,

Speaker 4 it, They become, I believe, so valuable because you're getting this kind of yin and yang back and forth around concepts.

Speaker 4 And what comes out, I believe, is a really solid representation of how to do whatever the topic is that we're talking about.

Speaker 4 And that's why I love Brent, having Brent on the show, because these are always some of the most valuable shows that I create are the ones where I'm able to talk with people like Brent.

Speaker 4 And this is no exception. This is a phenomenal episode that you are going to love.
And I'm happy to share with you.

Speaker 4 Before we get there, I want to remind you about the Insurance Growth Masterclass, my first

Speaker 4 coaching program that I've ever put together. And it's going to be exceptional.

Speaker 4 And by exceptional, I mean it will be unique to every other coaching program you've ever been part of because it's going to be me and my way.

Speaker 4 And what I mean by that is

Speaker 4 I am an action-oriented person. I test things.
I am unafraid to try something and fail. I am perfectly fine talking through not only the victories, but the defeats.

Speaker 4 And I want to dig in and help people grow. I do not want what I've learned over the last 18 years to die with my former agency.

Speaker 4 This is what we will teach is not the only way, nor should it be the only way that you do business.

Speaker 4 But if you embrace what we teach in the Insurance Growth Masterclass, and in particular in this first season of the class, we're going to be teaching, we're going to be focusing specifically on inbound sales and marketing, you know, launching with our Fill the Funnel program.

Speaker 4 It will have coursework. There will be monthly

Speaker 4 webinars, trainings,

Speaker 4 communities. We'll have all sorts of resources.
And guys, I just want you to grow, right? Hard market, soft market, all things are solved by growth. Carrier, you know, reduces commission.

Speaker 4 Carrier gives you bonus program, whatever, right? Employee leaves, employee, you know, you're able to poach some great employee, you cultivate someone, you bring in a second generation.

Speaker 4 These are all things that are going to happen. And if you're growing, all of them end up being fine, right? Everything is solved through growth.

Speaker 4 It doesn't mean more problems don't come out the back end, especially if you're not growing the right way, meaning, you know, having some tactical operational things in place to make sure that that growth happens in a proper,

Speaker 4 you know, in a way that you can manage. But

Speaker 4 all problems are solved through growth. That is what we're going to be talking about every day, every week, every month.

Speaker 4 Every piece of training, every piece of coursework is going to be about growing your agency. And if you want to come along for that ride,

Speaker 4 I'll be honest with you, I haven't been this passionate and excited about something in a very long time. I just want to help people.
It's all I've ever wanted to do.

Speaker 4 And I couldn't be more proud of how the Insurance Growth Masterclass is coming together. So if you want to be a part of that, go to masterclass.insure.
That's masterclass.insure,

Speaker 4 masterclass.insure. Learn more, sign up.
I'll see you inside the masterclass. Let's get on to Brent Kelly.
Dude, I am

Speaker 4 excited to connect with you, man. It's been a long time since you and I have had a chance to chat.
And, you know, I think both of us went back and forth.

Speaker 4 We've been going back and forth for a month trying to find a date that both of us worked and you were sick and then this happened.

Speaker 4 But I'm glad that we finally have a chance to connect and chat because, yeah, I mean, I love what I see you're doing. You're just continuing to grow.

Speaker 4 And obviously it's been a while now that you've been with Sitkins and growing and, you know, really, you know, becoming, if not, you are, the face of that group and, uh, and, and all the work you've done.

Speaker 4 It's just, it's incredible to see. And I'm, I'm so happy for it.
And I just want to chat about, about what you, uh, what you're seeing in the market. You're in a unique, a unique place here.

Speaker 4 And, um, I'm interested in your perspective. Yeah, same way.

Speaker 4 I mean, it's always interesting because, I mean, I always forget how, I mean, I don't want to do the whole thing, you know, how fast time goes and all that, but I, I, I certainly stay in touch and watch your stuff and love what you're, you're doing as well and authenticity and different things.

Speaker 4 And I mean, I, there's a lot going on in the world in general, but I love where you're going and what you're doing.

Speaker 4 And, and, and at the same time, it's just like one of those things where you look back and you're like, man, we used to think we were the young, young guys out there.

Speaker 4 And, and you very quickly are like, am I sounding like the old guy now? Yeah.

Speaker 4 Oh, you whippers snappers. You don't understand how it really goes out there.
Right. So it dude.

Speaker 4 It wasn't that long ago that that was the case. I mean, when do we, when do we first connect? 2010?

Speaker 4 Probably 2010, 2011, somewhere in there, maybe, you know?

Speaker 4 Nope.

Speaker 4 And, you know, so that's 14 years ago, which is a crazy amount of time to think about. I've been to like seven different companies.
You've been

Speaker 4 through

Speaker 4 three, right?

Speaker 4 Yep.

Speaker 4 When you were producing, and then you started your own consultancy, and then you moved over to Sitkins,

Speaker 4 which is awesome. And

Speaker 4 yes, it is funny. And I will say that I don't feel like

Speaker 4 the young guy on the streets anymore. You know what I mean? It doesn't.
And I don't mean that like

Speaker 4 I don't mean that like I feel old. I certainly don't feel old.
I feel good. I think I've kept myself healthy.
I feel like I stay on top of things and feel innovative. However,

Speaker 4 there is definitely that

Speaker 4 late 20s, early to mid-30s juice that you have where it's like, you know, you just feel like you could run through a brick wall and no one's opinion matters and you know everything and everyone older than you is stupid.

Speaker 4 Like I definitely, I definitely have matured out of that phase of my career and I have much more respect for

Speaker 4 probably the broader industry as a whole, the challenges everyone faces, more perspective. I think all the things that come with time, I guess.
Yeah, it's just, that's just the way it goes.

Speaker 4 Interesting, I heard this. This is from even an older perspective, but I think it's true.
Maybe you relate to this, but like the older I get, this is what I heard.

Speaker 4 The older I get, the more I know that I don't know, meaning that there's just because

Speaker 4 you're more aware that

Speaker 4 this could change, or I don't have a full grasp of this. But he said, the more more that I do know,

Speaker 4 I mean, the more that I do know, it's less, but, but I know it with more conviction, right? Because it's this idea that

Speaker 4 maybe, and again, just to stereotype ages, maybe in their 20s, it's like, you're this and that, and everything, and all this. And, and you've got the gusto and the passion.
And here I am now.

Speaker 4 I'm 46, just heard 46, which is like 40 wasn't a big deal to me. Getting close to 50 is kind of weird, at least for me.

Speaker 4 I'm like, that can't be right. But the things that

Speaker 4 I'm less brash maybe in like, oh, I heard this one thing, you got to do it, because I think there's more of an evolution, but I also have a lot more, just like you do, Ryan, of like, of track record and history and experience.

Speaker 4 And I've lived it and seen it, had multiple conversations. And this one thing, I really know.
And

Speaker 4 because it's not just an idea that popped in my head one day. So I don't know if you relate to that or not, but I think it's critical.
I completely do.

Speaker 4 There's another, I think, another thing, too, to the knowing, you know, there's a lot that you don't know is also, there's a lot that I don't care to ever know, right?

Speaker 4 Like there's like stuff now that I just don't care to know about.

Speaker 4 It's just, you know, and not that I don't think it's important, just simply there's only so much you can learn and really master and own.

Speaker 4 And I think I in general, I find myself to be the type of person who I like to know, I like to learn things all the time and all different kinds of stuff.

Speaker 4 And one thing I've had to throttle a little bit in order to become just more

Speaker 4 of a master at the things that I want to be good at and where I can be good at is I've had to like take certain items and just be like, I'm

Speaker 4 at this point, at this season in my life, I do not have the time nor the ability to be good or learn that thing. I have to leave that to someone else.

Speaker 4 and focus on the things that I can be really good at. And that wasn't an easy transition for me because when I was younger, it was like, give me all the knowledge.

Speaker 4 I want to know everything and I want to know every aspect of the business. And, you know,

Speaker 4 I'll tell you, let me give you a good example. One of the areas that I have given up on is knowing the technical side of technology.

Speaker 4 I just don't care. I don't.

Speaker 4 And not that I don't think it's important. I think it's highly important, right? I think it's very, very important.
But what I've learned, and I think this is something that

Speaker 4 I think this comes with age and experience and maturity, is like, I'm now willing to outsource that to people that I trust.

Speaker 4 So now I have a half dozen, a dozen or so people that really know the technical side of our industry well. And if I have a question about that, I just call them.
So I'm not going to learn it.

Speaker 4 I don't care to learn it. I know enough, just enough to be dangerous.
But now I can call them and be like, yo, what's up?

Speaker 4 What's really going on with, you know, generative AI or what's really going on with APIs or data lakes?

Speaker 4 Like I had a really good discussion on an episode that um, it just, it actually just went live the week that we're recording this with Peter McDonald, the founder of Wonder Write.

Speaker 4 Awesome dude. I think he's one of the smartest guys in the space.
And we were talking about data lakes, right?

Speaker 4 And that's one of those things where like you hear people talk about data lakes and data warehouses and blah, blah, blah. And I'm just, you know, we kind of, I just kind of said to him, like, what?

Speaker 4 What's the deal? Like, you know, are these important? Is this something we should be thinking about? Do we need to care?

Speaker 4 Like if our carrier or a vendor comes out with, hey, we got a new data lake is that something i should be excited about should i not give a shit about you know what i mean like those are the kind of things that i just have stopped really trying to go deep on because

Speaker 4 i'm never going to be a technical expert so i don't know have you found that have you are there things what's something that you've done that for like is there something that you kind of outsource now well there yeah but there's a number of things right i mean it goes all the way from professional and personal i'll start with the personal which is kind of funny but i mean like you know and you're maybe this is me but like you're a guy and you're starting a family, and it's like, I should know how to do some of this.

Speaker 4 Like, I should be able to put a storm door on my house. You know, I don't know.
I got

Speaker 4 like, oh, yeah.

Speaker 4 I don't, I never learned. I don't care.
I don't want to know. Um, but early, you're like, well, I have to, I have to try.

Speaker 4 And, you know, the silly example of this is you spend all day Saturday doing something that would take someone else 30 minutes. And two years later, the door doesn't open right.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 Like, so, like, from a personal level, you're like,

Speaker 4 why am I worried about this? From a professional level, there's so many examples.

Speaker 4 And I know you've, I think you've talked about it, read the, the 10X is easier than 2X. Yes.
Yep. Right.

Speaker 4 Which obviously goes into so many of these concepts of understanding unique ability and your top 20%. And I've been to the strategic coach program.

Speaker 4 And just, it's one of those things, I think you hear it a few times,

Speaker 4 but it takes a while to go, oh.

Speaker 4 Now I get it. Yeah.
Like, I don't have a passion for this. I'm not good at it.

Speaker 4 But when I really tap into where I go, this is this is where the experience thing. I think it takes a while to discover who you really are and what you love.
I mean, like, it really is.

Speaker 4 Like, what is it that I tap into that when I wake up in the morning? Like, I don't want to get the whole passion thing because there are a lot of things to do, but it's like, I'm excited to learn.

Speaker 4 I want to go deeper in this. Like, I really want to.

Speaker 4 So, I mean, professionally for me, it's here's an example: like,

Speaker 4 I'm pretty good and love to communicate and speak and be able to take concepts to our members and professionals and make them understandable, relatable, and help them do things behavior-wise.

Speaker 4 Like, I love putting those pieces together where maybe they haven't got clicks before, and boom, now I've got it.

Speaker 4 Like, so when I'm doing that stuff, like, I'm in my putting rocket fuel in the engine, right? Like, this, we got it.

Speaker 4 But,

Speaker 4 I mean, I've got a full-time executive assistant, which years ago, you'd be like, well,

Speaker 4 I can do this. I can do that.

Speaker 4 No, like, it's just a different world. So I don't know.
I mean,

Speaker 4 the example I think of this too, maybe this isn't good in a political environment. I'm not going political, but like a great president, in my opinion, any generation.

Speaker 4 Like, I don't have to know everything. I have to surround myself.
with really talented people and smart people and people I trust in key areas to do exactly what you said. Tell me about this thing.

Speaker 4 What do I need to know? Because I got to make a decision that's going to impact a lot of people.

Speaker 4 I don't have time to know all the ins and outs. I just need to know what it means.
I'll tell you what.

Speaker 4 I was a huge fan of Vivek Ramaswamy.

Speaker 4 And he said some things that, whatever, but to be honest with you, I think that I think it is a sign of a lack of intelligence or intellectual honesty.

Speaker 4 when people act because somebody says one thing they don't agree with, that they can't agree with everything he says or like him, right? And that goes for everybody.

Speaker 4 I mean, there's, you know, there's another politician, Dean Phillips, on the Democrat side, who's running against Joe Biden.

Speaker 4 And, you know, there's some things he said that I think are freaking brilliant. And I'm not a Democrat.
I don't tend to, I don't tend to agree with too much that goes on on that side.

Speaker 4 However, I think he's a really smart guy.

Speaker 4 He's also got Trump derangement syndrome hardcore.

Speaker 4 I don't agree with that at all, whether, you know, but it's like, geez, I can still like the guy and like that aspect of him.

Speaker 4 But we've gotten to this point with everybody, with celebrities, with thought leaders, with

Speaker 4 politicians, even with people in our life, our friends. I feel like there's this cultural idea that's been created around like,

Speaker 4 I can agree with everything except for one thing, but if I disagree with one thing, then you're a moron and I can't like you.

Speaker 4 And it's like, guys, you know, in general, from everybody, whether it's a, whether it's some, you know, Silicon Valley, you know, Stanford graduate dick who comes in and tells us that we have no idea what we're doing, like, you know, and the independent insurance agency space, like

Speaker 4 maybe we hate that aspect of them, but are there realities to some of the things they're seeing that we can learn from? I mean, that's one of the things that I always said about,

Speaker 4 oh, shoot, a lemonade. She's, I keep, I almost forgot them.

Speaker 4 was like, was like, yes, I couldn't stand the way that guy spoke about our industry and about the professionals and you know literally us as people you know we talked very much like uh very poorly about us however there were some things that he said and some ways that he built his product that i thought geez we can't discount what he's saying like like yes do i wish that you know someone would would uh you know put him in his place in terms of you know who we are as professionals and what we've done for the last 400 years and building, essentially building the bedrock of the, you know, the capitalistic society.

Speaker 4 But geez, man, his thoughts on UX and customer experience, we should really learn from them. And, you know, I think

Speaker 4 I do wish for our society that in general across the board, not just thinking about politicians, that we could

Speaker 4 be better at cherry-picking the things that are really valuable and not just focus on the things that we necessarily disagree with.

Speaker 4 Because a lot of people we disagree with have really good ideas that we can learn from. Yeah.
I 100% agree.

Speaker 4 And I know for human behavior, it can be a challenge because, especially if it's certain things that really are like, you know, points of contention, right? But you're, you're 100% right. And I mean,

Speaker 4 you know, again, I have no doubt, and we haven't talked about this, but like, there are things that you have probably said over the past five years, I go, I don't know about that.

Speaker 4 And I'm sure there's things that I've said, you'd be like, I don't know about that, right?

Speaker 4 Like, and this, and by the way, this is why, and I appreciate I see some of these things too, where like you'll put stuff out there and people will challenge it. And you go, let's talk about it.

Speaker 4 Because that's, that's solid discourse. Like, and that's important because you're exactly right.

Speaker 4 Like nine out of 10 things could be really useful and helpful and valuable to me or organization in some way, but because of the one thing, I'm shutting you out. Yeah.

Speaker 4 Like, that's a pretty stupid mindset. Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 4 I agree. You know, it's funny.
I, uh, so I, you know, My coaching program or consultancy or whatever you want to call it, I'm not sure how to properly frame what I'm doing yet, but

Speaker 4 it's launched focus is going to be on the inbound side of the business. That's what I do best.

Speaker 4 I'm not, you know, I can speak on all the other aspects of running an agency, but the part that I think I know better than anybody is inbound, is how to build a foundational structure around the inbound side of your marketing and sales program.

Speaker 4 And I posted recently a little clip from a solo show that I did, which you can listen to the full thing in the podcast somewhere. I'm not exactly sure which episode it was, but

Speaker 4 around how

Speaker 4 I believe when it comes to inbound specifically, just inbound, we're not talking about outbound, we're not talking about necessarily even referrals.

Speaker 4 When it comes to someone who has filled out a form or calls your agency cold, right?

Speaker 4 They don't, you don't know them, they've watched your content or whatever, that when that person reaches out to you, your primary objective is to solve the problem

Speaker 4 with which they call not to round out their account not to do some huge deep dive on all the other things you could possibly sell them not to pontificate about why your agency is the best and your experience and legacy and tool it is just to solve their problem then

Speaker 4 you come back around and you do all the things you need to do to make them to maximize the lifetime value of that client. But that was essentially what I said.

Speaker 4 And man, did I get some pushback on that particular issue, right? Everyone's bad, you know, and this is, you know, this is what I love. And

Speaker 4 I love this because

Speaker 4 I view this partially as

Speaker 4 I think it's a legacy mindset and partially I think it's ego. And I'm sure some of it is also based on results.

Speaker 4 But I see the first two, I want to make sure that when people push back on me on this particular viewpoint, and I want your take on this, I'm just setting it up for you, but I want to make sure that when you push back on me on this particular issue, that it is not reasons one or two, that it's reason three.

Speaker 4 If it's reason three, right, that you have found that with the highest conversion rate, the highest retention rate, and the largest lifetime value.

Speaker 4 is based on going through an hour-long sales process when someone calls in cold, then I will take that as feedback. But if what you're saying is,

Speaker 4 we're risk managers or we're value creators or we're relationship-based and that's why you're doing it, that's your fucking ego.

Speaker 4 That is not real because there is nobody in this space that I, that I, I would love to have someone come at me who has as much

Speaker 4 inbound experience as I have in terms of taking calls, listening to calls, coaching people on inbound. I don't think there's anybody else in the space that has as much experience as I do.
So

Speaker 4 with that said, what is your take on this? And how do you approach it? You know, if you were coaching somebody, how would you approach this? Like, how would you talk them through this?

Speaker 4 Where do you stand on this particular issue?

Speaker 4 At first response, I have to go and watch and see the comments because I don't have the full context.

Speaker 4 I don't say that to protect myself, but I just say it because I really don't know.

Speaker 4 But I think where I'm at, like on this. And again, I just, just from what I know and what you said there, which is probably a small sample size of stuff,

Speaker 4 here's what I know. This is an example we talked about earlier.
I know that I'm not an inbound specialist.

Speaker 4 So my first response is, is if I've taken more reps than you in this area, maybe we can have dialogue and maybe I can really tell you, I think this is what I think.

Speaker 4 Otherwise, I'm talking with just, I don't know, philosophies that seem right, but I haven't lived that.

Speaker 4 So my first step is, I wouldn't challenge you there on that because I don't know enough to challenge you. Other things I might, but that one I wouldn't, right? Here's the other thing.

Speaker 4 I would just say overall of this, and again, this maybe is just an approach in sales, but to me, again,

Speaker 4 we've talked about this before. I mean, this isn't new to you.
Selling is,

Speaker 4 it's just a transfer of an idea

Speaker 4 of a concept. It's moving something along.

Speaker 4 And so all I wrote down as you said that is I think there is similarities, even if I was having a sit-down meeting with someone who didn't know me, is I'm not trying to sell the whole thing.

Speaker 4 I'm trying to sell the next thing.

Speaker 4 And what I mean by that, I guess, if I'm relating to what you're saying, Ryan, is if there is a problem, that's the next thing. That's where they're at.

Speaker 4 And the other part about it is people don't buy or care about you. They buy and care for them.

Speaker 4 So I would certainly agree with you in the fact that if I came in and be like, this is my issue, this is my issue. This is my issue.
And you kept talking about something else,

Speaker 4 I would be annoyed pretty quickly, right?

Speaker 4 So I don't know if that goes along with what you're saying, but I just,

Speaker 4 my biggest thing is after this today, I'm going to go watch your video and then I'll give you more context. How's that? Yeah, yeah.
And it's funny.

Speaker 4 I obviously, I'm cherry-picking one thing that I've said

Speaker 4 because one, I know that I'm right. And two, that

Speaker 4 I just got, I was surprised at how much pushback I got. People are like, oh, you know, when someone calls, we, we risk, we're, so, so I thought the interesting, the interesting part about it was

Speaker 4 the

Speaker 4 mindset that

Speaker 4 solving the problem they had. So there was a couple of interesting, so that, so here were, here was the major pushbacks, right?

Speaker 4 And again, I'm just talking through this as a way to think through any problem because I love your thoughts, right? Sell the next thing.

Speaker 4 I think, I think that's a really interesting way to think through it. And I'm going to have to put some thought into that saying because I like that quite a bit.

Speaker 4 So one of the pieces of pushback I got was

Speaker 4 monoline clients are less profitable. Okay.

Speaker 4 So fair and statistically accurate and 100% agree, unless you are a covered specialist, right? Like let's say you're a workers comp specialist, et cetera.

Speaker 4 That would be the exception. I'm not taking that exception.
I'm saying I agree that

Speaker 4 monoline clients are less, tend to be less profitable and retained at a lower level.

Speaker 4 What's up, guys? Sorry to take you away from the episode, but as you know, we do not run ads on this show. And in exchange for that, I need your help.

Speaker 4 If you're loving this episode, if you enjoy this podcast, whether you're watching on YouTube or you're listening on your favorite podcast platform, I would love for you to subscribe, share.

Speaker 4 Comment if you're on YouTube, leave a rating review if you're on Spotify or Apple iTunes, et cetera. This helps the show grow.
It helps me bring more guests in.

Speaker 4 We have a tremendous lineup of people coming in, men and women who've done incredible things sharing their stories around peak performance, leadership, growth, sales, the things that are going to help you grow as a person and grow your business.

Speaker 4 But they all check out comments, ratings, reviews. They check out all this information before they come on.

Speaker 4 So as I reach out to more and more people and want to bring them in and share their stories with you, I need your help. Share the show, subscribe if you're not subscribed.

Speaker 4 And I'd love for you to leave a comment about the show because I read all the comments. Or if you're on Apple or Spotify, leave a rating review of this show.
I love you for listening to this show.

Speaker 4 And I hope you enjoy it listening as much as I do creating the show for you. All right, I'm out of here.
Peace. Let's get back to the episode.

Speaker 4 However, what I think is interesting, and again, this is why I love approach. This is why I love attacking the first two reasons, traditional legacy thinking and or ego, and not real results.

Speaker 4 Because real results would would tell you, yes, if you only solve their immediate problem and never cross-sell, upsell, et cetera, then these individuals are 100% right that based on real results and statistics, that that monoline account is going to be less profitable and not retain.

Speaker 4 And what they're saying is accurate. However, they're operating under the assumption that you don't have a system or process in place.

Speaker 4 through either onboarding or through your retention team to make sure that that account is properly rounded out, that you're asking for reviews, for referrals, et cetera, and all the other things that could possibly come with it, which has to be part of the process.

Speaker 4 So that's the one pushback. The other pushback is that

Speaker 4 somehow, and this speaks to the legacy thought process that I just,

Speaker 4 my core, like, just, I cannot help but fight.

Speaker 4 I've been fighting it since basically the day I joined this industry, is that somehow only solving their immediate problem is not being a true trusted advisor or risk manager.

Speaker 4 And to that,

Speaker 4 that is the one.

Speaker 4 So the first one I can understand

Speaker 4 and I certainly can listen to the, you are not being, you are somehow not doing your job properly or you're not like of a quality, right?

Speaker 4 There's like this aristocracy to this, to this, the way that these comments come across of like, look at me, I'm a, I'm a trusted advisor because I round out accounts, you know, or we use education or whatever the fuck, you know, I'm like,

Speaker 4 yeah.

Speaker 4 But that's you.

Speaker 4 That's ego talking, in my opinion. That's not a customer.
Cause, and this is where I feel like our industry, and this is, this is where like, I'm, I'm really interested in your take on this.

Speaker 4 I feel like we don't put ourselves in the customer experience enough when we think through how we operate.

Speaker 4 I feel like we think about how we like to provide our product product to our customers, right? Like, what's my preferred way of helping Brent and his family or his company, et cetera?

Speaker 4 But what we don't think through is, what if I were Brent coming to my agency, right? Because I just feel like a lot of the way we position our business is how we like to do business.

Speaker 4 And we do not think through how our customers want to be served, if that makes sense. One, do you agree with that? And two,

Speaker 4 how do you address that with people how do you think you start to help people better understand the experience that they're providing not just what they want to do and do you even think that's important i think you asked me like seven questions i did yeah pick whichever one you want hey well not very good even though i've been doing this for a long time brand i'm still very good at it i'm just giving your heart

Speaker 4 i i but there's a lot there so um

Speaker 4 And I was trying to think how to unpack some of that because

Speaker 4 I think in most ways,

Speaker 4 I understand and hear your frustrations and agree with your process. And then I guess I want to, I've got some sub points in my mind here.
Yes, please. So, to me, let me start off with this.

Speaker 4 And we talk so often about what is your business model, because to me, it all comes back to like your philosophy and your model. So, first of all, my answer of like, should you do this or this?

Speaker 4 Well, I would say, well, it depends. What do you want your business model to be? What does it look like?

Speaker 4 I think that's where I think sometimes people get in a little bit of trouble because I think there's just this one way. Well,

Speaker 4 you work with independent insurance agencies. You've been part of that.
We know how many thousands there are. I always say an independent insurance agency.
The best thing is that you're independent.

Speaker 4 Do what you want. The hardest thing is you're independent.
You can do what you want.

Speaker 4 That's the crux, right?

Speaker 4 So now, how do we put this together? Well, I think going back to your question of like, and your two, your two points, to me, I go back to sell the next thing.

Speaker 4 What is the purpose of this conversation? Like, where are we at?

Speaker 4 And whether it's an inbound or if I was having an initial meeting, now maybe there was more qualification up front, but you're talking about inbound. That's different.

Speaker 4 But like, just if I'm having an initial conversation, the first question is, okay, is this the right person to be talking to?

Speaker 4 Well, inbound, maybe you don't have as much control of that to some degree, right? Depending on what they read or saw. It's very true.

Speaker 4 Here's some stuff that we start off with. Like, if I was having a conversation, Hey, Ryan, what's frustrating you the most right now? Yeah.
That has nothing to do with my business model.

Speaker 4 It's me just getting to know you as a human and what's on your mind. Because every person, this is cliche.
It's been around a billion years. Everyone listens to the same radio station, W-I-I-F-M.

Speaker 4 What's in it for me? That's all I care about. So I 100% agree that if I would have a conversation with someone, the first thing is, let me tell you about our process and our model and why we're great.

Speaker 4 Well, I don't know that I care. Yep.

Speaker 4 Now, here's the caveat to this. I also think if I was having a conversation, and I'll put this in insurance context, and again,

Speaker 4 we know that price and coverage is important, but we also know there's a greater depth. This is where you get into your risk management, trusted advisor stuff.

Speaker 4 If after a number of questions, here's my problem, here's my frustration, here's my challenges, and it comes back to things that don't fit our business model or where we really help and add value to client, I would say, hey, Ryan, whoever that is, I really appreciate where you're coming from in our conversation.

Speaker 4 I don't know that we're a good fit moving forward. Yeah.
Like, not everyone has to fit my model. I think that's a tremendous point.
That what you just said there is a really tremendous point.

Speaker 4 Is that, um, and just to pin that before we move on, I think it's very important. And I hope that I never come across this way, which I may,

Speaker 4 to say that I think everyone who reaches out to us, we should try to help because there are most certainly going to be people who reach out to us cold, who just, as you've said, just.

Speaker 4 We are not going to be the best solution for them and put we as in whoever that, whoever you are.

Speaker 4 like your agency is going to serve serve some people really well some people you can serve but might not be the best for and there are other people where there are absolutely better solutions and we have to be able to say no to them i i just want to clear that up because i have had people mention that and i want to make sure people who are listening know that i do i'm not advocating for you have to try to help everyone who reaches out there absolutely going to be people who as brent is saying very very accurately and succinctly that uh you you shouldn't try to help because you're you're not the best solution for them or they don't fit your model.

Speaker 4 So awesome. I love that point.

Speaker 4 Yeah, it's just, I mean, we always say this too: your current business model is perfectly designed for you to get the results you're currently getting. And just think about that for a second.

Speaker 4 Your current business model is perfectly designed for you to get the results you're getting. We always say, if you don't like your results, look at your mob.
So it comes back to that to a degree.

Speaker 4 And then, of course, there's questions and fine-tunements after that. But

Speaker 4 I mean,

Speaker 4 our overall approach, and again, this is

Speaker 4 a very simplistic term over a larger issue, but like you do stuff right and you're asking relevant and right questions.

Speaker 4 And again, as you're qualifying, in my perfect world, you're helping to design a program. You're asking questions, design something that they're going to eventually buy from you.

Speaker 4 And it's going to look a little bit different for everybody

Speaker 4 because it comes back to like, what's your model? Yeah.

Speaker 4 I don't know what it is. And people say, well, I don't really have a business model.
Yes, you do.

Speaker 4 Your results are your business model.

Speaker 4 Yeah. I'll leave it at that.
It's kind of like,

Speaker 4 you know,

Speaker 4 what's that saying? Um, whether you believe you can or you can't, you're right. It's the same thing with your model.
Whether you believe you have a model or you don't, you do. You know, like

Speaker 4 you do have a model. And maybe this will go.
I did, I didn't watch the whole thing either, so I apologize, but I saw part of it. I know there was some stuff you talked about.

Speaker 4 I think, didn't you know some about like niche? And, you know, like, yeah, yeah, we're doing

Speaker 4 riches and the niche is wrong. Yeah.

Speaker 4 And like, and part of this comes back. And again, I didn't, I haven't taken forever to go okay let me really unpack this but my initial thought on this is

Speaker 4 depends on your business model yeah

Speaker 4 like what do you want and again i know there's subset we could probably go down a rabbit hole here but like you know the idea of niches it could be certain areas of niche i've seen producers be really successful and we believe this i think the better word is specialize and specialize as part of your model Here's how we specialize.

Speaker 4 It may be different. Again, maybe it's just

Speaker 4 words. Yeah, there could be some semantics in there.
I get it.

Speaker 4 But I think the bigger thing is knowing and owning your approach.

Speaker 4 And then from there, being able to create the system that either allows people in or says, hey, it's not, and be good with that because we own who we are. Yeah, that was another good one.

Speaker 4 I mean, I

Speaker 4 could have just like burped into the camera for a half hour with that title and I knew the title would do well just because that's just like, that is, that is like create conversation gold in that title.

Speaker 4 But the whole, the whole thought process behind that video was not that having a niche is wrong, which is, I found I could tell where people stopped watching.

Speaker 4 And this is not saying anything about you. This is others based on where they reached out to me because they reached out and they're like,

Speaker 4 then I was like, then you didn't watch the whole thing. Because essentially what I, the case that I made.

Speaker 4 I was being inflammatory on purpose because I wanted, because oftentimes if you can evoke emotion, people will spend, will

Speaker 4 have a a greater chance of actually taking in the message, right?

Speaker 4 So purposefully evoking some emotion to the idea that I think the part of the conversation that we miss around niche marketing is mindset, right? We think I write, you know,

Speaker 4 cold storage warehouses. That's what I write.
That's my specialty. I have this market.
And that's tremendous. And I think it's phenomenal.

Speaker 4 And it is a great way to put revenue on the books and be a specialist and all that. But the part that we miss, in my opinion, is the mind, just because a business owner,

Speaker 4 just because someone owns a cold storage business does not mean that their mindset aligns with how you want to operate and the type of customer that you want to have. And

Speaker 4 what I was trying to convey is that, is that you can, I actually particularly, again,

Speaker 4 Always coming back to the idea that my specialty is inbound marketing. I actually believe that a better way to do inbound marketing is mindset oriented versus industry class oriented, inbound.

Speaker 4 If you're cold calling, et cetera, different. But when it comes to inbound, I would rather have a broader set of industry classes, but with a mindset that mirrors my value structure and

Speaker 4 what I want to bring to them. versus I'm going to try to market to a specific class of business and then have them bounce off my agency because our mindsets don't align.

Speaker 4 That was where I was trying to go with that, if that makes sense. No,

Speaker 4 it does, but it reminded me of something. And this is something we talked to our agencies about.

Speaker 4 This is something that we've talked internally at Sitkins about because, you know, and this is the idea, I think, some of what you're talking about is the difference between demographics and psychographics.

Speaker 4 Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep.
Right. And, but, I mean,

Speaker 4 we've talked about that as an organization. Yes, we have some demographical trends of agencies agencies we work with that we relate to really well.

Speaker 4 However, it's definitely more important with the psychographics and how do they view the world? How do they see things? How do they think? How do they approach issues and solutions?

Speaker 4 I could talk to a president of an agency that's 50 million in revenue and one that's 500,000 in revenue. And there are some significant differences to say the least.

Speaker 4 But I could probably tell in two minutes, is this someone that we click and connect with and how they view and think about things?

Speaker 4 So I think there's gray substance in what you're saying. I don't think this is, and maybe you're already saying this, doesn't always have to be.
This goes back even earlier conversations.

Speaker 4 Like, well, if it's not this, it's nothing. This is not an either or.
It's probably a both hand. Yes.
Yeah, I think you're right. So anyway.
Also, trial and error.

Speaker 4 Like, you know, one of the things that I think people don't realize about. all the crazy shit that I say is that I test all this stuff.

Speaker 4 Like, you know, that's one of the things that a lot of people, when they disagree with what I'm saying, this is not theory.

Speaker 4 And if it is theory, I'll usually tell people that it's an untested thought that I'm having, right?

Speaker 4 Like, I've, you know, and I'll try to make that very clear that this is something I'm kicking around in my head, but I haven't really had a chance to put this into the market yet. Right.

Speaker 4 But most of the stuff, and I know this is true for you, and I, you know, is that it's very much tested either through your own work, your own experience, or through clients, coaching clients, et cetera, that you've worked with.

Speaker 4 You've seen these things in market and watch the feedback because you know i'll tell you there are also certain classes of business um or sorry certain industry classes where mindset's not as important it's just not right there's certain size businesses where mindset's not as important there's certain lines of business where their mindset towards that line of business is literally the only thing that's going to sell the policy.

Speaker 4 And a good example of that for me is cyber.

Speaker 4 If you market cyber cyber hard and you are not taking into account psychographics, you will absolutely get dashed across the rocks. Your cost of acquisition will go through the roof, in my opinion.

Speaker 4 Because people right now, my belief based on the results that we had at Rogue Risk, in particular,

Speaker 4 with cyber was if you believed in it, we could sell you what you needed with a great company. at a competitive price with the coverages that you needed.
We could get it in place.

Speaker 4 If we were trying to force it on you or you thought it was BS or you thought you were too small, we, it would, there was no way we were getting that policy in, in because you were just like, we don't need it.

Speaker 4 You know, and if we did, they would cancel it the next year or be the first thing to go or they'd constantly beating, beat us up about it.

Speaker 4 And it's like, that's a policy that for whatever reason, right now, it's just not in the consciousness of business owners that even though every insurance professional in the world says this could be one of the most important policies you have, most consumers either believe it or they don't believe it.

Speaker 4 And it's just, and then the question becomes, for E ⁇ O purposes, you certainly want to offer it, but from a business opportunity standpoint, how much time do you want to waste and how much leverage and trust?

Speaker 4 Like if there were, if trust was a meter, how much of your trust meter do you want to waste?

Speaker 4 pushing this policy on them versus maybe something else.

Speaker 4 And I think those are real things that we have to consider, you know, when we're marketing certain products, You know, there's just certain products like workers' comp.

Speaker 4 If I have an employee, I know I need it. You know what I mean? So it's like, there's a completely different mindset around it.

Speaker 4 Same thing surprisingly that I found with like EO and professional. Like if people feel,

Speaker 4 if people are in a class that even closely traditionally has, you know, a professional characteristic to it, they kind of know they need it.

Speaker 4 And, you know, maybe you got to massage them a little and talk about it. Marketing professionals tend to fight it a little more, et cetera.

Speaker 4 But like, but for the most part, you can get them into a good policy. But man, cyber, they don't think they need it.
Oh my God, they'll take out a knife and fight you even if you saw it.

Speaker 4 There's a lot. Now, I hear you.
And like,

Speaker 4 this is something my mom said when I was little and I didn't get it. You know, those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And right, we kind of know that.

Speaker 4 But I mean, to your point, Ryan, like,

Speaker 4 I'm not going to beat you over the head with it a million times because it's not going to change how you view it, right? it's, it's, it's your viewpoint.

Speaker 4 And I think the other thing you said there that I think would be interesting,

Speaker 4 I found very interesting about like, I've done it. It's practical, right? And some things that aren't.
But, and there's an evolution to that.

Speaker 4 There are a lot of things that I go, I think this would work. And then you do it and you go, okay, this part works.
This part doesn't.

Speaker 4 And then I go back to what works and you modify and fine-tune that, right? And you continue to go deeper in this.

Speaker 4 And this comes back to something I heard from a mentor a few years back. He's like, right, you can't improve a result till you get one.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 4 Did anyone tell you you have like the best diddies? You got all the best diddies, the radio station one and the sell the next. Your diddies, you got the best like little one-liners.
I love it.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 4 Maybe it's the world of Twitter X. You got to talk to something.

Speaker 4 No, I don't know. I talk a lot, right? It's one of the things.
Oh, I love it. That was not a knock.

Speaker 4 That was an envious. That was an envious comment.

Speaker 4 I love it. I think it helped.
Honestly, I think it is

Speaker 4 a sign of a good communicator because where I take 10,000 words to say something that should be said in seven, you're able to say it in 19, and that seems

Speaker 4 a lot easier to remember these things.

Speaker 4 So, no, that was a compliment. I meant that as a compliment.
I know, and I'm just giving you.

Speaker 4 Well, but it's one of those, and it is. This is, I'm going off of it because you said communication, so I'm going to go there because that's what I'm doing.

Speaker 4 It's, you know, I heard this from John Maxwell. I love love it like keep the cookies on the bottom shelf like and people will will be like well that's that's really simple

Speaker 4 it is and guess what it's memorable and it's actionable i don't like you know the analogy is i mean and maybe you've had this i've had this i always tell this to audiences or if i'm working with a group like have you ever had a teacher professor that their goal when they teach and talk to you is to show you how smart they are yes

Speaker 4 And how did that, how connected were you with them? Not at all, right? Or have someone else say, I really want to be with you, right?

Speaker 4 And then communication, it's everything from like, I'm not here and you're not here. We're here together.
We're having a real authentic conversation together.

Speaker 4 Yes, I may be the expert in a certain area, right? Or whatever it is as a teacher, but my biggest goal is to transfer it to you.

Speaker 4 And no matter how much I have here, if this doesn't go to you, it's worthless.

Speaker 4 And I think this is true for insurance producers and agencies as well, right? Like this idea of the techno-babble, all of this. And yeah, you got to know that.

Speaker 4 But if someone doesn't relate to it, if they don't understand it, if it doesn't, if there's not some form of, of even the rapport and the relationship built into it, there's a lot of different ways of that.

Speaker 4 It's just a bunch of stuff that makes you feel good and smart that does nothing. So anyway, can I ask you the question about something you just said?

Speaker 4 The techno-babble piece, you said, yeah, you have to know that.

Speaker 4 Do you actually have to know it and that and that that's an honest question like i guess and let me frame it just a little bit differently

Speaker 4 is how much do you actually need to know um to be a uh a valuable yeah producer not not just to your agency but to but to the client that you're serving as well like how much do you actually need to know you and i both and we used to talk about this all the time back in the day you and i both went very deep on coverage we could talk about coverage you know cic

Speaker 4 reading the man Okay. So, so I've been there, done that, and I know it has value.

Speaker 4 But I've always asked myself, is it better to be someone who is very good at understanding your customer, communicating with them, relating to them, getting to their problem?

Speaker 4 And maybe you're, if you had to be, a little lighter on coverage and et cetera. Or is it better to be that hardcore, man, I can ferret out every potential pitfall in this policy, et cetera?

Speaker 4 Like, where do you fall in there if you, if you had to pick?

Speaker 4 So I'm going to, it's a really good question. And I don't want to go, it depends, but man, it really does.
Cause, I mean,

Speaker 4 I've seen producers outside of this. I will say this, though, with pretty clear conviction, some of the most successful producers, they certainly understand the concepts, right?

Speaker 4 Because you got to understand enough to ask really good questions. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 But like as far as going like really deep, this goes back to we said earlier, most of these, in some of these, with these agencies, they've got people around them.

Speaker 4 That's their unique abilities, what they love to do. Let me take this and really start diagnosing stuff, right?

Speaker 4 Of course, you've got underwriters and things that, I mean, they said that's what they do. But what I'm really good at is learning the most about you, right?

Speaker 4 Being able to ask the right questions at the right time, to be 100% present in the conversation.

Speaker 4 And yes, it's relatability. Yes, it's rapport.
All those things, oh, that's, and those things are crucial.

Speaker 4 I do think that, and again, I'm not just throwing out numbers, but I mean, I think of producers who are two, three, four million in their own personal book of commission, not premium.

Speaker 4 And I asked them a lot of questions because I'm curious. Like, how'd you do that? That's pretty impressive.
And it was interesting.

Speaker 4 Like, one of my guys been with us for a long time and super smart and funny. He's got a lot of just great guy.

Speaker 4 But I sat sat there in a room with him and he was up to about a $4 million book of business. And I said,

Speaker 4 What's the one thing? It's never one thing. What's the one? He goes, from very early on stage, I've always considered myself a business consultant or advisor and never an insurance agent.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 All I think to myself is, how can I help you move your business forward? And it actually comes back to kind of what you said earlier a little bit, right? Like.

Speaker 4 What they say may not be where you're at or where you want to go, but I'm going to start with it.

Speaker 4 you know like my one goal is how can i help you move your business forward at some point we may get to some of the stuff that'll do that and by the way he has a team that helps him with most of that yeah

Speaker 4 so long-winded answer no i think you're right dude i um

Speaker 4 i think that when we gave up or was taken away from us however you want to position it the idea of being frontline underwriters we can pretend to be frontline underwriters and really i think we should take a mindset of being a frontline underwriter to a certain extent.

Speaker 4 I do advocate for that. So I'm not trying to poo-poo it, but technically, we're really not anymore.

Speaker 4 In most cases, there are some unique contract situations with certain carriers where I'm sure that's the case.

Speaker 4 But in most scenarios, we are no longer the frontline underwriters that we were 30 or 40 years ago.

Speaker 4 When that dynamic of our position was, we'll just say diminished, maybe not remote, but diminished.

Speaker 4 I believe we went from being true underwriters and needing to know,

Speaker 4 you know, how far a step could be from the ground before it needed a handrail and what would happen if this overhang wasn't, you know, whatever, you know, those dynamics to

Speaker 4 now we can lean on our underwriters or subject matter experts inside a larger agency if we have them in exchange for what you just described, which I think is absolutely the more productive way to be, not just from a business revenue standpoint, but from a value to client standpoint, which is that consultant, that advisor.

Speaker 4 I don't love the term trusted advisor, but I do think a consultative approach, a relationship approach, a relationship-based approach is absolutely the way to go.

Speaker 4 And it's why I advocate on inbound, because you're not going to have as much frontline relationship building, right?

Speaker 4 That, you know, and our process is really what we've done with our inbound process is kind of flipped it on its head, is we've made information gathering last instead of first, which is the way 95% of the agencies do it.

Speaker 4 And the whole concept is what you just described is

Speaker 4 how do we become a business consultant for you?

Speaker 4 And if your problem is workers comp today, even if we write and we write commercial auto and cyber and all these other things, if your problem is comp, I want to solve that problem for you today so you don't make another phone call or have to make another phone call, right?

Speaker 4 And I think

Speaker 4 then extended to whether you're selling on BORs or you're doing, you know, prospecting or you're a networker or whatever you are,

Speaker 4 I think you defined a much more productive way for us to write business is that consultative relationship building approach.

Speaker 4 And however it works for you, because I don't think over-indexing on the nerdiness of our industry pays the dividends that it once did. That doesn't mean it's valueless.

Speaker 4 It doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. And I'm not advocating people don't get designations or whatever.
I had my CIC. And to be honest with you, I wish I still did.

Speaker 4 And I'm very honestly, that's very honest. But

Speaker 4 I just don't know that it pays the same dividends that it did in the past.

Speaker 4 Well, as you're saying that, it came to my mind. Like, I mean, again, this is, this seems like communication 101, but it comes back to like, are we asking enough questions?

Speaker 4 As simple as that is, I mean, you go, I'm looking for work comp. What most people, okay, great, good.
We've got so much great work comp stuff. Let me tell you about it.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 Versus just taking a step back and go, well, tell me more about that. Like, you know, again, just getting to know, right? And just, I'm not saying go forever, but just ask a few.

Speaker 4 Certainly, you can do some of these things online as well. But I think that the challenge of this, and I tell some of the story, like

Speaker 4 you, in our programs, you need to be able to know your stuff. Like, you should be a professional and learn and be educated and all those things.

Speaker 4 But I think what gets missed is there's a difference between insurance knowledge and business acumen. And they're both important.

Speaker 4 But what happens sometimes, and maybe it's not so much like one or the other, but like obviously the more knowledge you get in insurance, the more that you think there's a level of assumption and arrogance that can happen many times in conversations, right?

Speaker 4 I know more than you. I don't say that, but I know more than you.
So here's what you need to do. Versus really understanding the fact that it's not about what I know,

Speaker 4 it's about your impact. Like there's a difference.
So taking taking the more that you know, what typically happens is now I know more so I can tell you more.

Speaker 4 The great ones say, now I know more so I can ask even better questions. Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 4 Like that's, that's a big nuance I think people miss because it's easy when you know more because you did like,

Speaker 4 I learned this thing. I went to a cyber class.
Let me tell you all about cyber. Versus what the thinking should be is.
I went to the cyber class.

Speaker 4 I've now unpacked two or three different ways of thinking or questions that I should be asking that I haven't.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 4 You know, it's funny. I was talking to a coaching client the other day, and I may have even shared some of this on the podcast before.

Speaker 4 If I have, I apologize to the listeners, but we were talking through this process of questioning inbound leads because I do think my experience has been that questioning a cold inbound lead, meaning a lead that has reached out to you that you don't know, versus someone you've prospect or networked or been referred to, is just different.

Speaker 4 And I said, are you asking them why they didn't call their current agent?

Speaker 4 So that, so the idea was if someone calls for workers' comp, they most likely already have a bop with a current agent or whatever.

Speaker 4 And, and I, you know, if someone calls and they're asking for a policy that usually isn't the first policy that someone buys, uh, commercial auto, comp, et cetera, then I'll usually follow up with, awesome, we would love to work with you.

Speaker 4 You know, just how come you didn't reach out to your current agent? And they're like, you would ask them that?

Speaker 4 Like, you know, why would you, you know, and it was funny, you know, they weren't, weren't the the idea was more like they didn't feel like they were allowed to ask them that question and i was like you can we want to ask all we want to get to know them right like they could tell you that they could tell you a whole bunch of things they could tell you that their current agent they can't stand their current agent and that even though today they just need comp from you really they can't wait to get everything away They could tell you that they went direct and they're unhappy with directs.

Speaker 4 They don't have a great relationship. And again, they don't want to solve that problem today, but they want to get this from someone they can work with.

Speaker 4 They could tell you that their current agent is their brother and they're really just trying to get a quote to hold him accountable so they can give him shit at Thanksgiving.

Speaker 4 And, like, you know, and again, it goes back to the more confident we are in what we know about policies, the more confident we are in ourselves as professionals,

Speaker 4 the better questions we can ask.

Speaker 4 And those questions, if asked, and I think, you know, this is, this is comes with experience and training, The more we can ask open-ended questions and, and then, and then turn our ears on, right?

Speaker 4 Instead of question,

Speaker 4 what's the next question I need to ask? It's question,

Speaker 4 open your ears and, and listen to what they actually say, because you could get all the answers you need, you know, and that's what we try to teach is like ask open-ended questions and they will literally give you the keys to the sale.

Speaker 4 Um,

Speaker 4 that, but it just, I think a lot of that comes from just confidence. If we're not thinking about, oh my God, what's the next question I have to ask to get the right information to quote?

Speaker 4 Because we own that, right? We've gone deep enough to own that, then we can really, we can allow ourselves to ask some of these more open-ended questions that we get real answers from.

Speaker 4 If that makes sense, does that make sense to you? No, I mean, listen, I'm 100% on board with open-ended questions. We teach whole sessions around it.

Speaker 4 People just think they're naturally good at it, but they're not.

Speaker 4 I mean, I mean, listen, because you'll get, oh,

Speaker 4 I mean, this, I know,

Speaker 4 I know, you know, but like, do you really work on it? Because there is a skill and an art to it. And the best are really good at it.
Like, I gave you a really simple, quick analogy.

Speaker 4 And I said this on our programs all the time. If you go to

Speaker 4 a restaurant with a server, right? Taking your order and that whole deal, right? At the end of most meals, the good ones say something like this.

Speaker 4 Mr. Hanley, how is everything today?

Speaker 4 Which you're going to say, good, great, fine. They checked a box.
They asked a question. They did what they were supposed to do, right? One nuance to this is coming over and going, Mr.

Speaker 4 Hanley, hope you had a great dining experience tonight. What's the one thing that I or we could have done to make this even a better experience for you? Yeah.
Like,

Speaker 4 you have to answer that question now. You have just like the human brain's like, oh, well, I guess the roles were kind of hard.
Oh, interesting. Like,

Speaker 4 you've got more information in that. And just imagine compounding those things.
Like,

Speaker 4 it's again, it's, it's fine-tuned and it isn't that complicated, but most people don't do it because they overlook it.

Speaker 4 Yeah, there's a question that I taught every one of our producers at Rogue that they hated to ask. I don't know why, but they hated.

Speaker 4 And when they started to pick it up and started to become more comfortable with it, they, I would inevitably get a slack message like, wow, screw you.

Speaker 4 This actually does work or whatever, you know, grumble, grumble, which was simply before you hang up the phone, no matter what was going on, before you hang up the phone, you ask them, what would make your relationship with a success?

Speaker 4 Just a simple question.

Speaker 4 Just, hey, just, you know, I would just say, hey, before, before I let you go, just, you know, I just like to ask this because, you know, it just lets me, you know, I want to do what's right by you.

Speaker 4 What would make this relationship a success for you? And some people would have nothing to say. Some people would say, hey, just do what I told you, you know, whatever they said.

Speaker 4 You You know, hey, I just need this. And some people go, you know, man,

Speaker 4 I just want to be able to like text you and have you get back to me.

Speaker 4 And you just literally got the keys, the key, the Tumblr key to everything that you need.

Speaker 4 You could shovel a bag of insurance shit onto them. And if you at the end can go, but you know what? You can text me anytime at this number and I'll make sure I get back to you with an answer.

Speaker 4 They're going to buy from you.

Speaker 4 And it's like simple, simple things like that that you just can build into your process and make part of your routine that I believe change the entire experience for people.

Speaker 4 Because not only, and I know we're at the number, I want to

Speaker 4 finish up here, but what I believe open-ended questions do personally,

Speaker 4 and I know you teach them. I knew you were on board.
It was kind of like a softball I wanted you to knock out of the park there. But

Speaker 4 I believe that when you ask open-ended questions, and this goes for your spouse, your kids, your friends, anybody in your life, when you ask open-ended questions,

Speaker 4 no matter what the question is, people immediately feel heard.

Speaker 4 They immediately feel like you care and they feel heard because now they're like, I don't, I'm not being forced to answer yes, no, or one, two, three, or tomorrow or whatever.

Speaker 4 I get to tell you what's going on in my brain.

Speaker 4 And so we have so few opportunities to honestly share what's going on with us that when when someone asks us that kind of question, we're like, I love this guy.

Speaker 4 I love her. She's the best.
You know what I mean? Because she, you know, and all you did was ask a simple, open-ended question. And I just think it's the most powerful tool we have in our tool belt.

Speaker 4 Yeah. And again, I'll respect your time here.
I'll just say just a couple of thoughts on. Yeah, please.
I do believe this. I say this, I say this more with conviction than I ever have.

Speaker 4 I believe in today's noisy, distracted world, and we all know it, right?

Speaker 4 We all got one of these everywhere. The greatest gift you can give another another human being is your complete

Speaker 4 time and attention. Yeah.
Like above anything else for 30 seconds, three minutes or 30 minutes, whatever it is, like I am with you because I tell you, that is really not done in today's world. Yeah.

Speaker 4 And like, this goes back to Dale Carnegie, right? So this isn't the,

Speaker 4 but this idea of like when he said to be interesting,

Speaker 4 be interested. 100%.

Speaker 4 Like, don't complicate it. Like, And I have to, I'm laughing because the open-ended questions, like, these are things with your spouse or whatever.
Like, I play this game with my kids. I have three.

Speaker 4 Well, my oldest daughter is not a teenager. She's 20 now.
I basically three teenage daughters. They don't like to say much.

Speaker 4 But when you actually get smart, and again, this is, I don't always do this, but like ask little nuanced questions. It's funny just to see how the human brain works.

Speaker 4 Like most people at the end of the day, how was your day at school? Bye. Fine.

Speaker 4 Fine. Fine.
I don't know. I don't know.
Fine. And like, I know this is so stupid, but I've done stuff where I've been like, they just sit there, I look at him, and I go,

Speaker 4 what's the weirdest thing you smelled today? Yeah,

Speaker 4 dude, I love that. I asked my kid the other day, I go, what's this, what's the stupidest thing your teacher said today?

Speaker 4 And then, you know, and then

Speaker 4 you know, it was like, you know, it's so good. Yeah.
What was the funny, what was the weirdest thing they said? I'm trying to remember something in the lunch or whatever.

Speaker 4 What was funny is like they look at, I mean, that's a pretty weird question, right? And they'll look at me like, like, you're an idiot, idiot, right?

Speaker 4 Which they do a lot anyway, because I'm their dad and they're teenage daughters. But they'll look at me, they'll be like, and then they kind of stop.
But again, the human brain's going,

Speaker 4 they're starting to think, and they go, and I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was like, yeah, there was something weird that burned in the cafeteria today. It was awful.

Speaker 4 I'm like, oh, tell me about that. Well, I think it was popcorn.
And like, all of a sudden, you'll be like, I just started a conversation that never would have existed. You're talking to dad.
Gotcha.

Speaker 4 Now they kind of, they kind of got me figuring out now.

Speaker 4 Anyway, that's funny. I, dude, I think,

Speaker 4 yeah, I love it. I, uh, very last thing, and then we'll go.
We'll be respectful of everyone's time. I like to try to keep to an hour, but

Speaker 4 so I'm, well, I'm currently seeing a woman, but at the beginning of seeing her, and this is not the first time

Speaker 4 that I've heard this, but like,

Speaker 4 went out on a date with her the first date. You know, whatever.
We have a great time. I thought we had a great time.
Okay. We go to see each other again.

Speaker 4 And we were dinner And uh, or she made me dinner, that's how I knew she was a winner. She, the second dinner was, she actually made me dinner.
I was like, This is awesome.

Speaker 4 Um, yeah, it's a very good start. But uh, she said, She said, You know, um, you did something really funny during our first date, and I was like, Oh my god, what did I do?

Speaker 4 Like, weird facial expression, or said something. If you've listened to the show long enough, you know, I probably don't even know what it was that I did or said.

Speaker 4 Um, and she goes, You didn't look at your phone,

Speaker 4 and I go, What do you mean? And she's like,

Speaker 4 You didn't look at your phone when we were at dinner. And I was go, well, I was with you.
Why would I look at my phone? And she's like,

Speaker 4 that's not the way most dates go. And I'm like, what do you mean? She's like, guys will be scrolling through their phone during dinner.
And I'm like, that's crazy. Because one, she's hot as shit.

Speaker 4 And I couldn't imagine paying attention to her. And she's a very funny and interesting person.
And I really enjoy her. But like, I was like, is that really what people do?

Speaker 4 Like they're on, you know, and it just went back to your point of like, to be interesting, be interested. Like,

Speaker 4 I mean,

Speaker 4 I would like to believe that when I'm on these with you, you feel like you have 100% of my attention. And I'd like to believe that I do that.

Speaker 4 I don't think I'm the best at it always, but, you know, I'd like to believe that I do.

Speaker 4 I couldn't believe, and to her, it was such a positive quality in me as a potential partner that like we could go. two hours during dinner and I could not look at my phone, which I didn't,

Speaker 4 and which I would never even think of doing, but like, you know, unless something was up or whatever, but like then, even then, I would like excuse myself.

Speaker 4 I'd say, hey, you know, me, my kids, or whatever. But like,

Speaker 4 it was just wild. That was something that she pulled out to your point, interesting is being interested.
It's like, I didn't look at my phone during our first date.

Speaker 4 And I'm like, if that's the fucking bar, I'm going to dominate the dating game because that's crazy. No, I'm kidding.
I'm crazy.

Speaker 4 No, I mean, it's, that's, it's really, it's an interesting, interesting story. I mean, it really is to think about the world we live in.

Speaker 4 And we talk about it, but it's like, and by the way, I suck at it. Like, I mean, like, I have to really be aware and cognizant of it because

Speaker 4 I've got adult onset ADD with phones and this and stuff. And like, and again, I got five kids, like,

Speaker 4 and like, just to be like, nope, I'm here

Speaker 4 is hard for me. But when I'm there, I love it.
And of course, the conversation is at a whole different level. Completely.

Speaker 4 They get, and maybe it's 30 seconds. It's amazing, even 30 seconds.
Like, hey, for 30 seconds, like, I'm totally with you because we live in a world of not that.

Speaker 4 The last thing I'll say, and then let's go, is that don't give yourself a hard time if you feel distracted in a conversation.

Speaker 4 I found that even moments of pure attention in the course of a longer conversation can generate similar feelings. Then, like, you know, I gave this woman, say, two hours of my full attention, right?

Speaker 4 But, but I think let's say there was something else going on in my life and I had moments where I did need to break from that.

Speaker 4 I think if in the moments that you're there, you're there, you know, don't give yourself too hard a time. Like it is, it is very difficult today.

Speaker 4 I think, I mean, if you read, it was difficult for people back in the 20s, right?

Speaker 4 In the, in the, in the 1800s, in the 70s, this is not something people, I mean, I think today we have more distractions, but I do think that this is something that people have dealt with their entire, you know, for the human history.

Speaker 4 But I think

Speaker 4 as often as you can, try to be fully present and things will go well.

Speaker 4 And certainly in sales scenarios, if you can just be present 100% in a sales scenario, you will watch your conversion rate, the quality of the relationships, your closure ratio go up.

Speaker 4 Brett, I love our conversations, man.

Speaker 4 I appreciate the hell out of you. Obviously, I respect and believe everything that you're coaching and teaching.

Speaker 4 And everyone who works with the Sitkins group is obviously blessed to be able to work with you.

Speaker 4 Where can people connect with you more, learn more about what you do and your programs and all that kind of stuff? Yeah, I mean, our organization, just go to our website.

Speaker 4 We've just revamped it. So it looks all clean and crisp.
Hopefully simplify, but sitkins.com. And then as far as for me, the best place,

Speaker 4 I'm a main LinkedIn guy. I know some people like it, some people don't.
Go to LinkedIn and connect with me, put stuff out there and have some conversations there as well. So it was great.

Speaker 4 It was great catching up with you. I know it's been a while.
Yeah, awesome, bro. Appreciate the hell out of you.
Wish nothing but the best. Take care.

Speaker 4 I'm going to shampoo.

Speaker 4 Close twice as many deals by this time next week. Sound impossible? It's not.
With the one call close system, you'll stop chasing leads and start closing deals in one call.

Speaker 4 This is the exact method we use to close 1,200 clients under three years during the pandemic. No fluff, no end-less follow-ups, just results fast.

Speaker 4 Based in behavioral psychology and battle-tested, the one-call close system eliminates excuses and gets the prospect saying yes, more than you ever thought possible.

Speaker 4 If you're ready to stop losing opportunities and start winning, visit mastertheclose.com. That's masteroffeclose.com.
Do it today.

Speaker 2 Lowe's knows that saving is always top of mind, especially this season. That's why we've picked some great deals for early Black Friday.

Speaker 2 Get free select DeWalt, Cobalt, or Craftsman tools when you buy a select battery or combo kit. More tools? Why not?

Speaker 2 Plus, we've got select pre-lit artificial Christmas trees starting at $59.98 because it's never too early to think Christmas. Get Black Friday prices without the crowds.
Lows, we help. You save.

Speaker 2 While supplies last, selection varies by location.

Speaker 6 October brings it all. Halloween parties, game day tailgates, crisp fall nights.
At Total Wine and More, you'll find just what you need for them all.

Speaker 6 Whether you're hosting friends or enjoying the cool fall air, you'll find thousands of wines, spirits, and beers at the lowest prices. Mixing up something spooky?

Speaker 6 Total Wine and More is your cocktail central for all your Halloween concoctions.

Speaker 6 With the lowest prices for over 30 years, you'll always find what you love and love what you find at Total Wine and More.

Speaker 6 Spirits now sold to Virginia and North Carolina drinks sponsorsly.