Every one of us is worried about maximizing our potential. But my question for you is, how do you even know if you’re getting close?
We’ve been dealing with it since we were kids in school. “David needs to reach his potential.” But the question is, how do you even know if you’re getting close? Your potential is the absolute best you can do with the skill set you possess to show that you utilize all the tools you use to achieve success. This concept applies whether it be in your career, in a sport, or an extracurricular activity. We are all pressured to reach our potential. There are a couple of things I want you to think about today that will help you understand just how far away you are.
Number one, if you’re getting close to achieving your potential, you are uncomfortable more than you are comfortable. Suppose you’re pushing the boundaries of your own skillset, and you’re trying to be the absolute best that you can be. In that case, you have to put yourself in uncomfortable situations to expand your skill set and ability to succeed.
The second thing that you need to do is you need to lose. If you’re not losing, you’re not pushing yourself as hard as you can. You have to beat the best to be the best. And that means you’re going to have to lose sometimes to learn from that and push yourself forward. If you’re not uncomfortable, and you’re not losing at least a little bit, then you’re probably not getting close to your potential.
The third thing you can do is have accountability partners or an accountability partner, and they can sit back. They can give you an objective view of what’s going on in your life, your career, whatever it is you want them to provide you with feedback on, but having an unbiased third party that tells you, “No, you need to do this. You need to do this.” Whatever they can give you in terms of feedback to help you reach that potential is priceless.
Those are just three things of many, but I absolutely implore you that if you’re not uncomfortable, if you don’t have accountability partners, and you’re not getting your butt kicked at least once or twice a month, you got a lot of work to do to push yourself to the next level. And until you do, never going to kill it in commercial insurance.
In the ever-evolving world of commercial insurance, marketing has become a critical lever for growth. Yet most agencies still struggle to understand what’s actually working. From websites that generate leads with no attribution to CRM systems that silo vital data, insurance agencies are often flying blind.
If you’re a commercial insurance producer trying to grow in the middle market, you’re probably aware that the old-school prospecting methods—cold calling hundreds of businesses, dropping off trinkets, hoping someone is “coming up on renewal”—are no longer enough. In today’s competitive environment, success isn’t about how many people you reach. It’s about reaching the right people at the right time with the right message.
Too many agents stop learning once they’ve earned their license. The bare minimum—meeting continuing education requirements—is not enough in today’s climate. Producers often resort to online forums, asking where they can complete CE hours “as quickly as possible.” This mindset directly impacts their ability to communicate complex subjects like reinsurance or risk modeling to clients in an understandable way. As a result, they struggle to retain accounts and close new business in an increasingly competitive market.
The problem? Too many producers are pitching too soon, to the wrong people, with nothing more than a quote to offer. This article walks through how to close more business by positioning yourself as a trusted advisor, selling Total Cost of Risk (TCOR) outcomes, and using a structured approach to differentiate at every stage of the sales process.
In the modern commercial insurance landscape, trust is no longer built solely through in-person meetings, networking events, or polished brochures. It’s earned digitally—often before a prospect ever takes your call. As sales dynamics shift and competition tightens, the producers who will thrive are those who understand one thing: educational content is the new handshake.
Most commercial insurance producers think of referral networks as an afterthought—something that might generate a lead or two if they attend enough events, shake enough hands, or stay active in their BNI chapter. But the producers who consistently dominate the middle market think differently. They treat referral networks like revenue engines, built with the same discipline as a sales pipeline, and they use those relationships not only to generate appointments but to recruit the next generation of elite producers.
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