I don’t like insurance. Guess what? Neither do I. Honestly, insurance is the commoditized shuffling of paperwork, in my opinion. But the good news is it’s the funding mechanism to our value proposition. I don’t like insurance so much; it’s not even in the name of my company.
Probably one of my all-time favorite objections is, I don’t like insurance. That is music to my ears. I love it when they tell me that more than anything else because I’ve got a straightforward, standard response. Oh my gosh, it’s fantastic. I’ve been calling people to get appointments all day, and you’re the first one that I can say is my spirit animal. You are aligned with me entirely. I don’t like insurance so much it’s not even in my company name. Florida Risk Partners is a licensed insurance agency, but quite honestly, I don’t want to be tied to that. I don’t want people to find my identity in an insurance relationship. We talk about the total cost of risk, risk management, and all of the other things that go into what you’re paying right now. So for you to tell me that you don’t like insurance is fantastic because that means that we can have a conversation about everything else going on in your organization that is not insurance-related but does have an effect on what you ultimately pay for insurance.
Examples of things that we want to talk to you about are your human resources function. Tell me a little bit about your employee benefits program. Tell me about your disability offerings. Let’s talk about your return to work program and how that’s working out for you. Let’s talk about the training that you’re offering. Are you doing defensive driving and distracted driving? What types of risk management things are you doing for your fleet? Do you have a predetermined hiring matrix for drivers that outlines the criteria that must be in place? Do you have a list of things that are absolute no-nos that you’re not going to accept when somebody comes in to drive for your company? Do you have real-time MVR monitoring, meaning if one of your people gets popped over the weekend for a DUI, do you have an email waiting for you on Monday morning, letting you know that that happened over the weekend?
See, there are so many things that I can help you with inside your business that have nothing to do with the actual placement of insurance products. We’re going to get along great. I promise you. Let’s make it fun. Let’s make it a contest. Let’s see how long we can talk about your business and the risk management function of your business without ever using the word insurance. I’m confident I can go for at least 45 minutes or an hour and never say the word, but yet I will show you real dollars that I can save you, and you can save yourself by having that conversation.
Listen, people, if you practice not talking about insurance, if you practice talking about all of the other things that go into what ultimately leads to increases in premium, you’re going to have a different conversation than all of your peers are having with the same prospects. You’re going to differentiate yourself, you’re going to capture their attention, and most importantly, you’re going to kill it in commercial insurance.
Influence is one of the most powerful tools we have in business, leadership, and personal life. Used well, it inspires people, builds trust, and creates ethical results. Used poorly, it can slide into manipulation and self-interest.
Reinvention is one of the most powerful themes in the insurance industry. Some of the best commercial producers in the country did not grow up wanting to sell insurance. They did not study risk management in college. They did not come from an agency family. They found this industry after they tried something else. They found it after life pushed them toward a career where performance, autonomy, and mindset determine the outcome.
The most successful producers in the middle market did not get there because they quoted faster, smiled bigger, or knew how to talk longer. They got there because they learned how to differentiate themselves so clearly that prospects had no choice but to see them as trusted advisors. They learned to operate like businesspeople first and insurance technicians second. They learned how to tie operational mechanics to insurance outcomes. They learned how to control their time, their pipeline, and their future.
In commercial insurance, the most dangerous threats to your book of business aren’t always visible on the loss runs. One of the most overlooked vulnerabilities for middle market producers is ignoring the personal lines needs of their business owner and executive clients.
The commercial insurance industry is one of the few professions where someone can enter with no experience, no connections, and no background in risk management and still build a long, lucrative career. But success is never automatic. It requires hunger, humility, curiosity, and the willingness to keep showing up even when the process feels overwhelming. That is why the story of Pam Seidler has already started making waves among new and aspiring commercial producers.
In an industry where tradition often outweighs innovation, artificial intelligence and automation are slowly but steadily reshaping how independent insurance agencies operate. The push toward smarter, more efficient workflows is no longer a matter of if—but when. While many agencies are still evaluating how AI fits into their operations, early adopters are already reaping the benefits of streamlined submissions, faster processing, and actionable data insights.
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