As we wrap up our series on what it takes to be a five-tool player in the production game, I’m going to throw you a bit of a curve ball today and tell you that number five is you have got to be involved in it your community. Don’t understand what that has to do with production? I’ll break it down for you.
Well, we’ve gone through the other four, and now it’s time to hit number five. The fifth thing you have to do to be a five-tool player in the production game is you’ve got to be involved in the community. Now, listen, I realize that that sounds like work, and that’s because it is. I want to make sure that you guys understand something. The number one way for you to push forward is to look backward and to give to those organizations and those people that have helped you get to where you’re at today. I’m not talking about writing the check, pencil-whipping a donation, and calling it a day. The most expensive thing that any of us can give is our time. But that also is what gets the greatest return on your investment.
See, I’m a big believer that I’m always going to give two to three times more than I receive, and it’s done very well for me throughout my career. I’m giving it to you right now in terms of free content, just like I always do. And there’s a reason for that. It’s because when I got into the insurance industry, nobody wanted to give me a chance. I didn’t have the resources. I had to teach myself. And I made a promise to myself that day that I would never let that happen to anybody I came into contact with that was trying to make it in this industry.
Now I’m not saying you need to go out and become an insurance industry content creator, but I do think you need to volunteer. And I believe in that so much that it’s ingrained in the things we do at Florida Risk Partners. Every quarter, my employees get two things from me, they get a day off, paid for them to invest in themself, lay at the beach, read a book, do some fun activity. Go zip-lining, bungee jumping, whatever it is you want. The only requirement they have with that is they have to report back during our weekly sales meeting and talk about the experience, what they learned and what they’re going to do in the future as a result.
We do that same thing with community service every quarter, one paid day off to invest in the community. It doesn’t matter if you’re working at the polling booths for voting or if you’re volunteering at an animal shelter or your favorite nonprofit. All I want is for them to invest back into the community that’s supporting our business. And as a result, they come back, and they share their experiences with the rest of us so that we can learn from what they learned. And it makes our team as a whole better.
I challenge you as we wrap up this series to figure out what you’re passionate about, what you want to volunteer and donate your time to, and then invest in that. And what would be awesome is if you send me a message and let me know what you’ve decided to do, keep me in the loop with how it’s going. And then I want to have you come on the Power Producers Podcast when we do our community service series next year and talk about what you’ve done, what you’ve learned, and what it’s meant to you going forward. If you can do the five things we talked about in this series and put the icing on the cake with number five, you’re going to 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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