Embrace your inner start-up

We could all benefit from operating with the energy and excitement that is more common in startup businesses.

Too many agencies fall into the trap of positioning themselves as a better version of their boring competitors. (Image: Adobe Stock)

We hear alarm bells all the time. According to some, the insurance and benefits industry is dying. Our supposed demise will result from the youngest generations not wanting anything to do with insurance.

Seriously? This is somehow a new phenomenon?! Of course they don’t want anything to do with insurance! But that doesn’t make them any different from any generation that came before them. The insurance and benefits industry has a reputation for being conservative, traditional and boring. Of course, once you’re in the industry, you learn this isn’t the case.

Related: Taking flight: The next generation of broker entrepreneurs

Kevin Trokey is founding partner and coach at St. Louis-based Q4intelligence.

We could all benefit from operating with the energy and excitement that is more common in startup businesses. In fact, it’s becoming increasingly necessary in order to overcome a reputation that may keep young talent from giving the industry serious consideration.

Maybe it happens with every generation, but we keep harping on millennials and Gen Z for being “different.” We keep bemoaning the fact they want to:

Hell, who wouldn’t want that? It sounds pretty good to me!

Sadly, too many businesses in our industry believe they can’t satisfy these needs or desires. Stop selling yourself short.

Change the conversation

Whether potential team members or prospects, most people find conversations focused on insurance products incredibly boring. Almost nobody wants to even participate in the discussion, let alone make it the focus of their career.

But the thing is, insurance products are such a small part of the reality. It’s time to start emphasizing what you do. It’s time to share the significant impact you have on your clients and their businesses.

When you do your job the way it needs to be done, no other advisor makes a greater impact on a client’s business. You have the opportunity (I would say responsibility) to impact your clients’ businesses strategically, financially, operationally, and, because of your connection to their employees, emotionally.

No other advisor has such a broad and significant impact. And the effect isn’t limited to the business itself; you impact every employee associated with those businesses. I’m guessing this is what has kept many of you in an industry you never intended to enter.

You don’t merely sell insurance. You:

If that list sounds familiar, it should. It is the same list I used above to describe what the youngest generations desire.

I hear opportunity

The way some in our industry run their businesses reinforces our less-than-interesting reputation. For those businesses, the alarm bells of their imminent demise will only ring louder. However, you can turn the alarm bells of demise to the sound of opportunity. You have the chance to attract young talent and bring startup energy into your business. To do this, you need to shift the way you brand and promote yourself.

Too many agencies fall into the trap of positioning themselves as a better version of their boring competitors.

That’s not enough. “Better boring” is still boring!

You must help others see you in an entirely different category, a category that can check all the boxes.

Do this, and not only will you attract new talent, but you will also find yourself attracting new clients. I’m going to guess you will also find personal energy you may have thought you lost a long time ago. Now, go embrace your inner startup!

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