Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

In this episode of The Power Producers Podcast, David Carothers and co-host Kyle Houck interview Toby Hansen, Owner of Toby Hansen Insurance Agency, and co-founder of GSTsoftware. Toby talks about his move from captive to independent agent, what’s going on in the world of Insurtech, and how GSTsoftware helps insurance professionals get their business done in the most efficient way possible.

Episode Highlights:

  • Toby discusses his background. (2:30)
  • Toby believes that insurance agents sometimes wonder if the carriers have a clear vision. (5:11)
  • What has Toby learned as a result of his transition from captive to an independent agent? (9:50) 
  • Toby explains the idea of their payment portal and how it helps people. (13:28)
  • How does Toby get their product into the market? (16:46) 
  • Toby mentions that if you don’t have a good tasking system, you won’t realize how much your employees are avoiding such issues. (25:09)
  • David, Kyle, and Toby discuss the significance of accepting all forms of communication. (29:04)
  • Toby explains the advantages of making the best use of technology. (41:44)

Tweetable Quotes:

  • “If you don’t have a good tasking system, you don’t realize how much your staff is avoiding that stuff.” – Toby Hansen
  • “When you’re in the agency world, and you’ve been the principal, you start to understand that for every person that just doesn’t want to pay their bill, there’s four of them that you just need you to hold their hand to pay their bill.” – Toby Hansen
  • “Technology is not in the agency world to replace human interaction in the human experience. It’s here to enhance human interaction in the human experience.” David Carothers

Resources Mentioned:

The Power Producers Podcast where we are refining and redefining the sales game.

Kyle Houck

Insurance

Solving Insurance Back Office Bottlenecks: How Automation and Compliance Tools Empower Agencies and MGAs

The insurance industry is undergoing a quiet transformation. While headlines often focus on the flashy front-end tools and direct-to-consumer disruption, the real revolution is happening behind the scenes — in the back office. From agency onboarding delays to outdated compliance workflows and manual licensing tasks, these friction points cost MGAs, carriers, and agencies valuable time, revenue, and relationships.

Read More »
Employee

Why Employee Ownership is the Key to Sustainable Agency Growth and Talent Retention

In an increasingly competitive commercial insurance landscape, agency owners are struggling to find long-term solutions for succession planning, talent retention, and business perpetuation. Many have considered private equity sales, others offer limited equity to top producers—but a growing number are discovering a more powerful alternative: the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).

Read More »
Sales

How to Reverse Engineer Your Sales Funnel and Crush Your Q4 Insurance Production Goals

As we enter the fourth quarter, many commercial insurance producers begin to panic. Whether you’re behind on your goals or just trying to hit that final sprint, the Q4 crunch is real. But the producers who consistently win don’t treat Q4 as a Hail Mary. They plan with precision, reverse engineer their goals, and execute with ruthless consistency.

In this post, we’ll break down how you can reverse engineer your sales funnel, identify your revenue gaps, and finish the year stronger than you started. Whether you’re writing workers’ comp or cyber liability, these strategies apply across all middle market verticals.

Read More »
wholesale

Mastering Wholesale Partnerships: Submission Strategies, Underwriter Relationships, and Technology Tools for Middle-Market Success

In today’s competitive insurance marketplace, middle-market agencies must leverage every available advantage to win and retain business. One of the most underutilized yet powerful resources at an agent’s disposal is the wholesale market. By establishing strong partnerships with wholesalers, agents can access capacity, expertise, and proprietary programs that are often unavailable through direct channels. However, success in the wholesale arena requires more than simply submitting risks and hoping for the best.

Read More »
Killing Commercial Login