As an agent in the insurance industry, it is possible that you will get wrapped up in the day to day tasks of working at an insurance agency. Things get busy and you rush from one client meeting to the next or one agency meeting to another. Your day is filled with tasks and trying to complete them seems impossible in the moment. You forget about what your ultimate purpose as an insurance agent is; to be a trusted insurance advisor to the customers you serve. How do you earn the trust of your customers? By connecting with them. Not over an email or a phone call but perhaps in person if physical location allows.
In the last couple of months, I have listened to three memorable speakers. Brent Kelly from the Sitkins Group spoke at our Michigan Young Agents conference in Lansing this past June, and touched on what it means to be an intentional leader. Kevin Brown spoke at our National Young Agents conference in Savannah this past September and discussed the HERO Effect, which he described as “Being your best when it matters the most”. Andrew Mellen also spoke at the National Young Agents conference and talked about how to “Unstuff Your Life” by eliminating distractions and organizing your time more efficiently. In my mind, all three speakers had a common theme: How can you better yourself to be more connected to the people around you? And that got me thinking: If I am able to better organize my time and eliminate the distractions in my life, like my cell phone and emails and my ever long to do list, will it allow me to be fully present in the moment to be a more effective leader? Would that also allow me to improve my relationships with our customers by creating the exceptional customer experience? And would it allow me the opportunity to take those behaviors and reflect them on to my agency to increase the efficiency of how we operate?
When I sat down this week to write about an insurance related topic that I thought was relatable to others and I reflected on what I had learned in 2019, the lightbulb went on in my head. We are in the business of serving people and the way we present ourselves to the customer is a direct reflection of the agency. We want our customers to know that our agency is reliable and that we are the trusted choice. It’s a lot about self-awareness. As a leader if we project the right attitude, structure, and personal skills on to our staff, then we hope that it will allow us to keep the right staff in place and in turn increase productivity. Ultimately, this will allow us to keep our customers satisfied with the experience that they received and we would hope that they would want to share that experience with their friends and family. So in wrap up I will leave you with this question to ponder, what can you do to increase the human connection with the people you come in contact with every day?