You Can Compete with the Big Boys and Girls | Shoptalk Series, Episode #20

In this episode of The Power Producers Podcast, David Carothers and co-host Kyle Houck, discuss how to have the right mindset when getting into an account and closing the deal, and the benefits of being in a community that has the same goal.

Episode Highlights:

• David shares that there’s a huge problem with agents who think that they don’t have what it takes to compete with the big ones. (2:29)
• David shares that if you’re dealing with an agency that doesn’t specialize in middle-market commercial and they lose an account to an agency that does specialize in middle-market commercial, they automatically lose their mindset. (3:07)
• David thinks that some people don’t believe that they’re capable of getting in front of those accounts. (3:40)
• David mentions that it’s the community that makes Killing Commercial valuable to everybody and the fact that it’s a network, and everybody has the same goal. (7:47)
• David shares that insurance is about going in and understanding the problems that these operations have and how you can fix those problems. (9:01)
• David shares that they’re working on forming a proposal template that can be customized for all of the member agencies that are in there. (11:45)
• David shares that the root cause of the price is never the insurance policies themselves. (15:03)
• David mentions that the paradigm shift is a shift in the thought process, and it’s something that you need to learn about and embrace. (15:10)
• David shares that if somebody signs an agent of record letter to move your account to somebody else, it’s not a price play. Because they just moved the same policy. (17:30)
• Kyle mentions that you have to believe in what you’re able to deliver and you shouldn’t base your conversations around the price. (18:43)

Tweetable Quotes:

• “I like it when we’re going up against the big dogs because, in my head, they’re not paying attention as closely as I am to some of these accounts.” – Kyle Houck
• “When you’re in the middle market, you have to be more than a one-trick pony. You cannot sit here and hang your hat on, ‘I’m going to place your insurance real good for you.’ No, that’s not going to work.” – David Carothers
• “Understand that insurance is common between you and everybody that you’re competing against. The carrier’s forms are the same for everybody unless you request changes to be different. But for all practical purposes, insurance fees are the common denominator and the variable is what you do to make yourself different.” – David Carothers
• “If you’re upset that you lost an account, step back and look in the mirror. The reason you lost the account is 9 times out of 10, staring right back at you. It was the time you chose to sleep in a little bit longer, instead of getting up and doing extra you needed to do to prepare for that meeting.” – David Carothers

Resources Mentioned:

• David Carothers LinkedIn
• Kyle Houck LinkedIn
• Florida Risk Partners
• The Extra 2 Minutes