Listen, if you’re going to be successful in this game, you got to turn yourself into a hybrid. If you don’t understand what that means, you need to read this post.
There are three kinds of people in the insurance industry today that are out attempting to produce business. The first one is the technician. The technician is the person that goes in and knows every coverage form, every endorsement. They know so much that they scare their prospect. Technicians lack sales skills, and many times they lack interpersonal skills, and I’m not making a knock on underwriters. Still, technicians are more suited for an underwriting role than they are a production role. I’m not talking about guys that can sell and be a technician or ladies that can sell and be a technician. I’m talking about straight technicians period. Okay. I’ve been in so many appointments where technicians speak way longer than they need to. They need for that person to understand how much they know, and they spend the whole meeting demonstrating their intellect and coverage form, memorization, and understanding. They talk themselves out of deals.
Now at the other end of the spectrum, we have the sales guys, the salespeople, saleswomen out there. What do they do? Well, they sell. They sell at all costs. They’re far from technicians. They don’t understand the technical piece, and they don’t understand coverage. They don’t understand endorsements and all of the things that need to happen to make a program successful, and so they seal the deal, then they hope for the best. Salespeople may sell more and produce more than a technician will. They’re also a walking E&O time bomb.
The third group is the hybrid. That’s what you need to strive to be. A hybrid is someone who has technical insurance abilities and also an ability to open and close deals. Hybrids are where it’s at. And so my challenge to you as you start this next week is, what are you going to do to sharpen the saw? What are you going to do? If you’re a technician, how are you going to push the needle into becoming more of a salesperson? If you’re a salesperson, how are you going to push the needle to become more of a technician? Because at the end of the day, if you’re either one of those two, and you’re competing with a hybrid, the hybrid’s going to run all over you. If you can self assess and determine what you need to do to strengthen your game and move the needle one way or the other and push yourself to become the ultimate hybrid, you’re going to kill it 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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