by Tom Wiecek
Yesterday, my mastermind friend, Russ Lowry and I were talking about our upcoming webinar interview with Ethan Kap in a couple of weeks. As we discussed some of the points that have helped us get the most freedom from our agencies, I brought up the mail. I said to Russ, “I wonder how many agents still open their agency’s mail?” Russ immediately fired back “I LOVE opening the mail!” We chuckled and agreed that we both love opening the mail.
We also agreed that it was a huge waste of time. Both of us have passed this task on to those that make less money than we do, but there are a few exceptions. Of course, we like to check out the “junk” mail. Why, because as a marketer, it’s good to see what other marketers are doing and steal good ideas from them. And, anything to do with fishing, I’m reading it!
Opening the mail is one of the tasks that many agents have a hard time letting go and is probably the biggest waste of money. Why? Because, Time is Money! Every minute of your day should be spent doing what makes you the most money. Everything else should be delegated.
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by Russ Lowry
The answer is, 24 hours in a day. They wake up just like you and start every day with 24 hours, yet they control and manage Billions even Trillions of dollars every day. So how do these guys do so much in the same time as you have? I can sum it up in two words delegation and systems.
Sounds easy enough but is it? Do you have what it takes to delegate and automate your daily tasks? How about that one client you always handle just because? Or better yet the “mail”? Who doesn’t love to spend valuable time going through the mail? I mean why pay someone $8.00 an hour to do this when you can do it yourself (at a cost of what $150.00, maybe $200.00 per hour)?
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by Tom Wiecek
My staff has always been trained to go for the “no” when working with prospects. Meaning don’t give up until you hear the word “no”. We never accept “I’ll think it over”. Of course, when we get a “yes”, I’ll accept that. This rule has helped us close more additional sales that would have simply gone away. It’s too easy for a CSR or a producer to accept a “think it over” and move on to the next prospect. It’s an easy way out and a common trait of a lousy salesperson.
Early in my career, I have to admit I used to focus on grabbing the “low hanging fruit” especially, when we had an abundance of prospects to work with. I remember a time when my agency couldn’t handle the amount of prospects coming into our office. We were the low price leader and everyone knew it. It was during a hard market and I had some very competitive carriers. We were order takers and business was good. Today, it’s a little different.
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by Tom Wiecek
Don’t you love it when sales happen out of the blue? Like when someone calls in and wants you to sell them a policy. They don’t waver or concern themselves on how much it’s going to cost. They just want it and they want it now.
Well, this has been happening a lot in my agency lately. We’re getting clients that we’ve had a long time, calling our office and telling us exactly what they want. Just the other day, we got an email from a client that said, “I need a million dollar 30 year term policy and I need to get this handled today”. That was the easiest $1400+ commission I’ve ever made. Cross selling policies to our current clients has jumped an astounding 17% last month with no effort from my staff except quoting and issuing the policies. They’re not calling anyone or sending letters. Just taking the calls and writing policies.
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by Tom Wiecek
A couple of years ago I read Tim Ferriss’ now famous book The Four Hour Work Week for the first time. It’s a book that I pick up and re-read quite often and it has made a world of difference in my life and agency. Most importantly, it helped me free myself of the many low paying jobs I used to be responsible for. Today, I work less than four hours a week in my agency. However, I do work more than four hours a week on my agency, but I work where and when I want. And I only work on what makes me the most money.
I am often asked by other agents, “How can you spend so little time in the agency while it continues to grow faster than ever?” It comes down to eliminating and delegating the tasks that bring less value to me and using systems. Our time is the most valuable resource we have. It’s not our insurance knowledge or even our ability to service our clients. We only have so much time in a day and every minute of it is as valuable as you make it.
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