Learn to Listen so That You can Listen to Learn

I spent the last few days thinking about everything we’re facing right now in our world and even things that are going on in our industry, and what I’ve come up with is that we can’t communicate. Communication’s a big problem. Most importantly, listening is a big problem. All of us want to talk. Nobody wants to listen.

Look, it’s no secret. We got a lot of stuff going on in our country right now. And as I sat this weekend, thinking about all of the things that are happening, the one thing that stuck out to me more than anything else is we have a communication problem. It’s not just the things that we see happening in the media; it’s across the board. Think about how many divorces there are. Think about how many fractured homes there are. And I don’t want to get political, or religious, or anything in this article, but it proves a point that we just don’t know how to communicate. And for me, the biggest thing that I need to work on, and I feel like all of us need to work on is how to get better at listening. See, we need to learn to listen so that we then listen to learn.

When we go into appointments, we should be asking open-ended questions. That’s basic, basic sales 101. But what happens when you ask that question? How actively are you listening? How do you show your prospect or your client that you’re listening to them? What are the things that you’re doing? I want to talk about three things today that you can do to improve your active listening. Now, I’m not going to get into something like sit at the edge of your seat and lean forward so that you appear more engaging or make good eye contact. I want to talk about subtleties.

Mirroring

The first one I want to talk about is mirroring. Mirroring is where you repeat the last one to five words that someone said, just very casually when you’re talking, and it validates that you heard them and, psychologically, they feel like you’re on their side. So, if I was talking to a client and the client said, “I am so sick and tired of my insurance premiums going up,” I would probably say, “Yeah, your insurance premiums are going up. I get it.” I just mirrored what they said. That is a very active listening technique, and then an outward validation that you heard and understood what they said.

Labeling

The second one is labeling. Labeling is when you label the emotion or feeling that this person has. So, if they said, “I’m sick and tired of our insurance premiums going up,” I would say something like, “I hear that you’re frustrated by the current level of your insurance premiums.” You just validated the frustration and the angst that they have towards what’s going on.

Paraphrasing

The third one is paraphrasing. Paraphrasing is different than mirroring. Mirroring is where you’re using the last one to five words that the other party use. Paraphrasing is when you take that same information, and you put it in your own words but repeat it back to them. So, in the same scenario, if someone says, “You know, I’m sick and tired of our insurance premiums going up,” I would say something like, “I can understand that this was probably a huge strain on your budget this year because the costs were more than what you had anticipated.” Now, I didn’t repeat exactly what they said, but what I said identifies with what they said.

Blend the Techniques

Now, if you want to take things and make them more powerful, use a combination of two or three of the techniques we have covered. If someone says, “I’m sick and tired of our insurance premiums going up,” “Yeah. Your insurance premiums are going up, and I can get it. I bet you’re frustrated because of the strain that this put on your budget because you didn’t plan on the premiums being as high as what they were.”

If you can do those things and show that you’re actively listening in any kind of an interaction, whether it’s your spouse, your kids, your parents, clients, prospects, whoever you encounter, and you focus on listening to mirror, label, paraphrase, or blend any of the three, you’re going to kill it in commercial insurance, but more importantly, you’re going to change the world. People want to be heard. Are you listening?

Maximizing Revenue with Surety Bonds and Niche Contractor Insurance Strategies

August 5, 2025 No Comments

The middle market commercial insurance landscape is evolving at a rapid pace. Agencies that once relied solely on traditional property and casualty products are now discovering untapped revenue streams by embracing surety bonds and specialty coverages. By understanding how to position niche products—such as drone insurance for contractors—alongside licensing and permit bonds, agencies can capture high-intent leads, accelerate earned premium, and foster deeper client relationships.

In this post, we’ll explore a comprehensive bonding-first growth strategy: from the fundamentals of surety bonds to advanced marketing funnels, partner ecosystems, and actionable implementation checklists. Whether you’re a seasoned producer or a rising agency principal, you’ll walk away with a playbook to maximize revenue, differentiate your brand, and become the go-to resource for contractor clients.

Reclaiming Time and Building Efficiency: How Technology is Reshaping Insurance Servicing and Agencies Growth – A Conversation with Colby Tunick

August 5, 2025 No Comments

In the world of independent insurance agencies, servicing existing policies often overshadows the pursuit of new business. It’s estimated that 80% of agency time is spent servicing renewals rather than generating new opportunities. With the average cost of servicing a policy renewal totaling around $135 per policy, agencies are dedicating significant resources simply to maintain the status quo.

This servicing burden presents a major scalability problem. For every thousand policies on the books, agencies are effectively employing two full-time account executives just to keep up. The result is a “tyranny of insurance” where agency growth becomes harder as success increases. This challenge is even more pronounced for agencies focused on the middle market or attempting to backfill their books with small commercial insurance and personal lines.

Scaling a book of business while trapped in administrative quicksand isn’t just inefficient; it’s unsustainable. Agencies need a way to break free if they hope to thrive in today’s competitive and evolving market.

Maximizing Middle-Market Workers’ Compensation Success: Data-Driven Prospecting, Compliance Wedges, and Claims Excellence

July 31, 2025 No Comments

Middle-mazrket businesses face unique challenges when it comes to managing their workers’ compensation programs. Unlike large enterprises, they often lack dedicated in-house resources for safety, compliance, and claims oversight; yet unlike small businesses, their scale subjects them to more sophisticated regulatory scrutiny and larger potential losses. In this environment, commercial insurance producers who master an integrated approach—combining precise prospecting data, impactful compliance applications, and exceptional claims handling—can both win new accounts and build lasting client relationships.

Strategic Market Access for Independent Agencies: Unlocking Growth, Stability, and Profitability

July 31, 2025 No Comments

In the most challenging insurance market many of us have ever seen, independent agencies are grappling with a familiar foe: limited carrier access. Whether you’re a former captive agent trying to break into the independent space or a small agency trying to grow your commercial book, the obstacles are real. Direct appointments are hard to come by, especially for shops under $5 million in revenue, and wholesale markets can feel intimidating or like a last resort.

But they don’t have to be. With the right partner, wholesale and brokerage relationships can become a strategic advantage, not just a stopgap. This post explores how agencies can leverage smart market access to grow confidently, preserve profitability, and position themselves for long-term success.

Building High-Performing Remote Insurance Teams: Core Values, Hiring, Onboarding & KPI Strategies

July 30, 2025 No Comments

The insurance industry is undergoing a profound transformation as middle-market agencies recognize the benefits and challenges of embracing a fully remote workforce. No longer viewed as a temporary workaround, remote models offer the potential to tap into nationwide and offshore talent pools, reduce overhead, and increase flexibility in an increasingly digital world. Yet, flipping the switch to virtual operations can expose gaps in documentation, dilute corporate culture, and strain traditional oversight mechanisms. In this post, we’ll explore the four pillars essential to building a high-performing remote insurance team—core values, hiring practices, onboarding processes, and KPI strategies—while also delving into best practices for managing domestic versus offshore employees, ensuring data security, leveraging productivity tools, and fostering trust and autonomy.

Captive Insurance Strategies for Middle Market Success: Empowering Independent Agents with Risk Control and Profitability

July 28, 2025 No Comments

In today’s hard commercial insurance market, middle market business owners are more open than ever to solutions that give them greater control over their insurance costs. While guaranteed cost programs remain the default option, they often lack the flexibility and long-term savings that high-performing businesses crave. That’s where captive insurance comes in—a powerful but often misunderstood tool that enables clients to turn insurance from a sunk cost into a strategic asset.