- Industry specifics and Issues:
There are almost 6000 insurance companies in the United States. How on earth can someone that does not work in the insurance industry give product or coverage advice on an industry of this size without being immersed in it every day? It is impossible. This is why there are specialists. There are almost 6000 stocks on the stock exchange. Why would one ask your neighbor about what stocks they are buying after he or she works 8 hours at their full-time job? This process is not even rational, but it is what we do in today’s world. Our country is full of armchair quarterbacks. Everyone has the answer in hindsight. Our team has the answers today because we take a macroeconomic approach, and then we take microeconomic specialists to fine tune one’s business.
Multiple sources of Income
If a business planner specialist wants to be successful in this business, they are going to need multiple sources of income. Notice that I did not say they need to sell multiple products. What I mean by this is that when I am working with a client and my team has determined that the client will need employee benefits, my employee benefit specialist will do what they do, and I will in return get a piece of the commission if I am properly licensed. I will focus on what I do best, and that will be the bulk of my pay. I will not “refer” business to someone to help my client and not be compensated and you should not either. There are five major sources of income in business planning. One is life insurance. Two is disability insurance. Three is property and casualty insurance. Four is employee benefits and retirement planning. Five is investments. “If you are the rain maker, make it rain.” I must say again, one must be licensed to receive any commissions. Check with each state’s law to confirm.
Team Model
Creating a team in this industry is not as simple as one might think. For example, if I want a good property and casualty agent on my team, where would I look to find one? In the business owner space, I would not go to a Farmer’s or a State Farm agent. Not to pick on these two, but I need an independent agent that specializes in commercial insurance only. If the p&c agent tells you that they sell personal lines as well, then they are not the right person for this job. Partner with someone that only sells commercial insurance and has a team of their own. Stay away from the big box shops. It can be difficult to share work. After you identify the right P&C agent, we now must train them in business financial planning. This is the hard part. Because they only focus on coverage and price, we must teach them financial strategy. Thay must be on board with the concepts and strategies that one could be using. Example: If part of our strategy is to raise deductibles and self-insure some risk to lower premiums, then a business owner must have those savings set aside to pay a claim for their portion of the risk. I have had property and casualty advisors tell me they use this strategy on a regular basis. My question to them is “where did you put the money.” There usually is no answer to this. My point is this, they must be trained. This is the same for your other specialists.
Knowing that the 80/20 rule is probably in effect in everything I do. I must learn how to operate doing 20% of the work and let my team do the other 80% to achieve success. If I am doing half the work, the numbers will simply not be the same. I will not achieve maximum success. I need to be 20% of my total team to create the best scenario for myself. If I am doing more than this, then I am cheating the principle and probably not performing at my peak. Trust the model and build a solid team.
I had issues with believing that I could compete because I didn’t have CPA or CFP behind my name. I worked in one of the largest CPA firms in America with over 5000 CPA’s and 500 CFP’s and I can promise you this, none of them can compete with my team. I have spent the time and energy to go learn this for myself and the worst part is that I had it the whole time. I didn’t believe in myself. This journey has tought me everything I need to know about believing in yourself. Build your team that has your back. You must put in the time. Like Kobe Bryant said, “why would I pass you the ball when I have seen how you practice.” This is not just another book. It is the playook for business planning that can separate you from all of your competition. You have to put in the time to become a star piece.
Kobe is not going to pass you the ball, and you are going to blame him. Put in the time. Know what your teams capibilites are. Learn from these people. Study previous cases. Ask questions. LEVEL UP!
I will not be the person that you see today when you see me tomorrow. I am not the person I was 3 years or even a year ago. I will keep growing, and I will learn what I do not know. A 50/50 work life balance by definition is mediocre. I will rest when my work is done and not until then. Do your job and trust your team, and great things will happen to you.
