I’m sure you’ve heard it said before that your network is your net worth. Today we’re going to talk about why you need to focus on being a connector as a producer.
Understanding the importance of your network is paramount as a producer, and if there’s one thing I feel I’ve done good over the course of my career, it’s that I’ve focused on being a connector. I have taken great pride in solving problems for peers, company people, and even employees and team members in my agency. I typically know who can solve their problem if I don’t have the solution myself.
Think about this for a second. If you can introduce your client, who has a payroll problem, to an outstanding payroll rep in your network, what have you just done? You’ve solved the problem for your client, which immediately gives you credibility and better standing with them, but you’ve also helped somebody make money because they sold a deal to somebody in need. By connecting those two, I didn’t necessarily make money right then and there, but what I did do is I made a big deposit in the relational bank account that I have with my client and the person to whom I referred the business.
Though think about how to build your network, think big. The problem is that too many people do what we do have a scarcity mindset. They want to keep everything close to the vest, and the problem is that they can’t grow that way. With an abundance mindset, you’re willing to talk to peers who do the same thing. You can talk to service providers who are servicing the same types of clients that you have. You’re able to introduce your peers to carriers who may be able to solve their problems or, in some cases, wholesalers.
And listen, even if it never comes back to mean money for you, you’re going to sleep well at night knowing that you took the time out of your day to take a relationship that you’ve harvested. You’ve nurtured it over the years and introduced that relationship into someone else’s professional life. And that, I can tell you, is equally as satisfying as any dollar you’re ever going to make.
Workers’ compensation is one of the most misunderstood and underestimated lines of coverage in the middle market. Too many producers view it as a commodity, something to quote, bind, and move on from. But as the market heads toward 2026, that mindset is becoming a liability.
For years, commercial insurance producers could survive by being good enough across a wide range of industries. They could write a little construction, a little manufacturing, a little hospitality, and a little habitational business and still build a respectable book.
The commercial insurance industry is in the middle of a quiet evolution.
While most conversations still revolve around premiums, deductibles, limits, and carrier appetite, a different category of risk transfer has been gaining traction beneath the surface—parametric insurance. It is not new, but it is finally becoming accessible, relevant, and actionable for middle market producers who are willing to think differently about risk.
In a recent episode of the Power Producers Podcast, I sat down with Brian Thompson from Descartes Underwriting to unpack what parametric insurance actually is, what it is not, and why producers who ignore it may be leaving their clients—and themselves—exposed.
This article breaks that conversation down into practical, producer-friendly language and shows how parametric insurance fits into modern middle market risk management.
The last several years have reshaped the landscape of property insurance across the country. While most national carriers have retreated from coastal states, wildfire zones, and other catastrophe-exposed regions, a handful of disciplined players have taken the opposite path—leaning into difficult markets with a strategic, data-driven approach.
For most entrepreneurs, the decision to start a business is rooted in the promise of freedom. Freedom from a boss, freedom to control income, and freedom to build something meaningful. Yet for many business owners, particularly in service-based industries and middle-market companies, that freedom slowly erodes. What begins as ownership eventually turns into obligation, where the business demands constant attention and the owner becomes the single point of failure.
The insurance industry is full of shortcuts. Some producers look for ways to streamline the quoting process, others avoid hard conversations with clients, and many rely on endorsements or extensions because they are “easier” than diving into the details. Nowhere is this more dangerous than in the world of cyber insurance.
Too many agents assume that a cyber endorsement on a BOP or commercial package policy is “good enough.” It isn’t. In fact, treating a BOP cyber extension as a replacement for a standalone cyber policy leaves clients dangerously exposed, puts producers at risk of losing accounts, and opens the door to costly errors and omissions (E&O) claims.
Cyber threats evolve faster than any other area of risk, and endorsements simply can’t keep up. If producers want to protect their clients and themselves, it’s time to understand why standalone cyber insurance is non-negotiable.
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