After nearly 10 years on the agent side and now being a carrier rep, I can attest this is the way to hit your production and commission goals. Here is a strategy I encourage you institute at your shop:
Lie to yourself and tell yourself that working for your high maintenance client is a pleasurable experience. (What you are forced to learn increases your value as an agent.) Lie to yourself and tell your brain that your inaccessible, unknowledgeable sales rep is an asset to your agency. (What you are forced to do yourself makes you less dependent on someone else for your success.)
Lie to yourself and say that waiting on hold for the customer service department of a carrier is good time management. (Use this time to check your e-mails that are piling up.) Lie to your competition and tell them it doesn't pay to go after the high maintenance clients (that forces you to learn more about your craft and thus sharpens your skills for the next challenging case that you are now better equipped than your competition to handle.)
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Cheat yourself out of that extra hour looking for something in the Texas insurance code by joining Health Underwriters and utilize your resources to quickly get the specific answer you need. Cheat your employer groups out of the experience of scrubbing apps and do it yourself. (You know what the carriers are looking for and can cheat the UW out of sitting on your messy group another day. You are more likely to do a better job than the HR lady at your client's office so use this as a chance to educate your employer groups and your own internal staff anytime you catch something from which they could learn.)
Cheat your reps out of calling their billing department to get that bill audited and do it yourself. Cheat your in-house account managers out of the opportunity to talk to the irate wife of an employee who is waiting her ID card (and show your staff you are willing to take some of the tougher calls.) Cheat your competition out of the chance to build better relationships with your reps and employees by being the type of agent that gets in the trenches and therefore builds stronger relationships with your clients and employees, ensuring higher persistency and employee retention.
Steal an extra moment with yourself to pump motivation up by thinking positively before talking to a client about their rate increase. Steal an extra moment of your reps time to thank her for going the extra mile and putting out a fire that wasn't even in her jurisdiction. Steal an extra 30 minutes from the work day and let your employees go home early every once in a while when the work load is stressful or they took the initiative to learn something helpful for your agency. Steal that client away from your competition due to your stellar knowledge, in-house support, hard working, money saving attitude.
Bottom Line? Lie, cheat, and steal your way to more business by reframing how you look at situations and people. Remember, every interaction with your client, carriers, and own employees is a chance for you to add value and gain loyalty.
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