This week I got to watch a group of uber achievers in action. These people have grown their businesses, hockey-stick style (doubling, tripling, and even growing a business 10X in just a few years). They're living the dream. So I took the opportunity to ask a few whether there was a formula, training manual, or course one could take to learn how to scale a business hockey-stick style. I was eager to learn the secret. The answer was unanimous, "No formula...you just have to figure it out. Sell something people really want and then figure out how to sell a lot of it fast. Map out what you can. Make mistakes, recover as fast as you can, and persevere."
Now not everyone is interested in scaling their business ten-fold or more. But, this whole exponential growth conversation gets me bouncing in my seat. The insurance agent community is ready for some hyper-growth.
Most successful insurance agents max out at their own personal capacity to create and manage a book of business. Scaling beyond that requires a different thought process. Generally, businesses that hockey-stick scale are led by big dreamers with big goals...people who enjoy disrupting the status quo. They want to solve a ton of problems, make the world a better place, or simply do something immensely better than anyone else. And they go for it! So let's flesh out the secret to hockey-stick growth...
1. Create a lead generation machine - Separate out lead generation from the sales process – It's a big mistake to think that salespeople will find new business on their own. They generally don't like to cold call and rarely find time to do so. To scale, the agency will need to define its "universe of ideal clients", market to them by email and voice mail, qualify potential candidates and then serve them up to professional insurance salespeople to close.
2. Present online and by phone – People are time starved. We actually WOW them when we can exceed expectations without an in-person meeting. However, "WOW" is the operative word. To win people virtually, the presentation and takeaways have to be world-class and we'll have to demonstrate that we're a team they can't live without. We can always meet them later, if it makes sense, should they want to meet.
3. Offer great service using leading-edge technology - One of our top goals has to be helping our clients save time. We should use technology to make them more competitive and more profitable than others in their own industry. Personal attention that set the standard for world-class customer service in the past is now considered "slow and old-school". Give them a tech platform with instant access to anything they could possibly need from us and they become raving fans.
4. Redefine relationship – If you think your "great relationship" with your clients is an exit barrier, beware! Customers are loyal to you right up until someone else delivers them better service. Now here's the catch, the definition of "better service" just shifted. They may love you but as soon as someone offers them the tech platform of their dreams they will shift allegiance. Consider what happens to the friendly, faithful gas station operator, when his customer falls in love with a new electric car?
5. Quicken the pace. – The leader sets the pace. An insurance agency that scales is no longer ok with 10 sales a month (for example). Instead, the norm goes to 100 sales per month and the focus shifts to what they offer that will cause people to drop what they have to join them...and on how to onboard new clients amazingly, at that pace.
Lastly, the achievers who make it end up kicking their ego to the curb. They appreciate the people who help them along the way. And they both give back and pay it forward to help others.
Lynne Wallace is the CEO and president of VANTREO Insurance Brokerage and co-founder of NDOI, the National Directory of Insurance.
