As producers, we’re always trying to reinvent the wheel and come up with the craftiest way to get in front of people. But today, I’m going to talk to you about three things that you can do that are proven tactics in the sales game that still work today, and I’m going to give you one way that you can embellish them and bring them into the 21st century.
Why are we trying to reinvent the wheel? Producers are looking for ways to get in front of people every single day. And I feel like sometimes there’s a rat race to figure out who can come up with the trendiest new sales tactic. Guys, I got to tell you something. Occasionally, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel in our jobs. Three things have worked for as long as I’ve been in the sales game that still works today.
Number one is the marketing drop. Cold call marketing drops still work. Now I understand that COVID has affected that to a certain degree. Nevertheless, suppose you’re in an open area and feel comfortable with it. In that case, people want to see other people, whether consciously or subconsciously, you will get an audience that you may not have expected to reach. Use the cold call marketing drop where it’s appropriate and assure you that it will get you great results.
The second one is using phones. Telemarketing works. The problem is, we try and close the deal instead of closing the appointment. Keep your telemarketing script simple, and ask for an appointment. Here’s my thing, buyers don’t understand how to buy insurance. They didn’t take a class in college called Procuring Insurance for my Business. Where did they learn? They learned from guys like you and me. We taught people how to buy insurance. So they’re used to getting those phone calls 60 to 90 days before their renewal asking if we can meet with them. Embrace that, don’t push against it. Keep your call simple. Tell them you’re calling to meet with them about their upcoming renewal, and that’s it. Get the appointment that way.
Then the third thing, and this one requires a little bit of effort on your part, is handwritten notes. People understand that you put forth extra effort when you take the time to write a letter to them by hand. Please do it. It doesn’t take that much effort, and it’s not that expensive to get yourself some nice personalized stationery, so you hit home when they get that special piece of mail, open it up, and take the time to read it.
Now, I told you these are tried and true, and you don’t need to do anything special, but if you want to take this to the 21st century, you have to incorporate probably the fastest growing area where you can market and interact with your prospects, and that’s video. Let’s look at each of the three things we talked about, and I’m going to share a quick tip on what you can do to incorporate video to take your success to an entirely different level.
First, cold call marketing drops. Have it set up so that when you get back to the office, an email goes out with a thumbnail that, when they click, links to a video that you have created for that person thanking them for their time and letting them know you’ll be back in touch with them. It doesn’t have to be over the top. Please keep it simple. If you didn’t see the decision-maker, do the same thing. As long as you have the email address, send an email with the thumbnail that says, “Hey, sorry, I missed you today. But Sally at the front desk gave me your email address, and I want to let you know I’m going to be around in the next couple of weeks, and I’m going to reach out to you beforehand to set up a time for us to talk and meet in person.” Easy enough to do.
On the phones, once you book that appointment, have a video ready that goes out. Send that prospect a meeting request to lock it on their calendar, but in that meeting, request have a video. “Hey, I just wanted to tell you, thanks so much for agreeing to meet with me. Here are some of the things I plan on discussing when we meet. If there’s something you’d like for me to add to that list, feel free. If there’s something that you’d like me to take off of that list, I’m happy to delete that as well if you don’t find it to be valuable in our conversation.” But use the video to create that personal touch and human interaction, even though they’re not interacting with you yet.
And the third one’s a handwritten note. This one’s easy. Write the handwritten note, whether it be congratulations, whether it be thank you, whether it be just thinking about you, or maybe you saw an article about that prospect in the business journal, and you wanted to memorialize that with a handwritten note. Why not create a video message to go with that where you include the link to a video that you created just for that person to deliver that same message with maybe a little bit more flair, and they can see how you operate so that they can make that personal connection?
If you do those three things, you’re going to be great. But if you add a video to the mix and enhance that experience, you’re going to absolutely kill it in commercial insurance.
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.
In the middle market, producers don’t lose because the competition has better pricing.
They lose because the competition understands people better—their motivations, their fears, their priorities, and what makes them say yes.
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