The 3 Moves That Win $40K Accounts

In commercial insurance sales, there is no such thing as a “win-win.” If you want to grow your book of business, someone else has to lose.

In this episode of the Agency Growth Machine Podcast, Randy Schwantz breaks down the hard truth most insurance producers avoid: every prospect already has an incumbent agent. If you want the account, you must create a reason for the buyer to fire their current broker.

Instead of competing on price or hoping relationships win deals, Randy explains the real strategy top commercial insurance producers use to take accounts from competitors.

Inside this episode you’ll learn:

• The 3 brutal realities that control every commercial insurance sales conversation
• Why pain is the only true motivator that gets buyers to switch brokers
• How prospects lower their expectations and why that creates opportunity
• The sales questions that expose weaknesses in the incumbent agent’s service
• Why the best producers differentiate with process instead of price
• How to shift a conversation from a quote meeting to a competitive takedown

You’ll also hear the story of how one producer used this approach to take a $40,000 revenue account from an incumbent who held it for 11 years.

If you sell commercial insurance, this episode will change how you approach every prospect meeting.

Because the real competition isn’t the other broker.

It’s the comfort your prospect has with staying exactly where they are.

Transcript

It is May 2nd, 2011, Abbottabad, Pakistan, two black hawk helicopters. Descending to dark Navy seals fast [00:00:10] rope into a compound. 40 minutes later, one word comes across the radio. Geronimo, EKIA enemy killed in [00:00:20] action. Osama bin Laden the most hunted man on earth. He was gone. Now, why am I telling you this on a commercial insurance podcast?[00:00:30] 

Well, it's because those Navy seals didn't fly halfway around the world hoping for a tie. They didn't show up to negotiate. [00:00:40] They didn't say, Hey, let's see if we can find common ground. They went in with one objective win [00:00:50] completely and decisively. And here's what I need you to hear before we go one second further into this episode.

In commercial insurance, somebody has to [00:01:00] lose for you to win. And the sooner you get comfortable with that, the sooner your book of business starts to grow. So stay with [00:01:10] me because before this episode is over, I'm gonna give you the questions that when you ask them in your next sales call will make your competitor [00:01:20] more nervous.

Than you've ever been able to make them before.

Welcome to the Agency Growth Machine Podcast, where it's all about transforming potential [00:01:30] into profit. And now your host, Randy Schwantz.

So welcome to the Agency Growth Machine [00:01:40] podcast. I'm Randy Schwantz, author of the Wedge, founder of the Wedge Group, and for over 30 years, the guy that commercial insurance agencies call when they want producers to stop [00:01:50] quoting and start winning. And this podcast is about one thing, helping you take accounts from the agents who have them now.

No [00:02:00] fluff, no feel good theory. Just the system that works. So let's go. Hey, I wanna start with a pizza [00:02:10] and stay with me here. You see, I've got four daughters. They're all healthy. They eat a lot, and I learned something early on at my kitchen table that applies directly to selling [00:02:20] commercial insurance. A pizza is a pizza.

It doesn't get bigger. By staring at it, it doesn't expand because you wish it would. [00:02:30] There's no negotiation with the pizza. You either get a slice or you don't. And commercial insurance is the [00:02:40] exact same thing. It's a zero sum game. You win, they lose, or they win and [00:02:50] you lose. And there's no such thing as a win-win in this business, not when it comes to taking accounts.

Now I know some of you were [00:03:00] trained to believe in relationships and referrals and being the nicest person in the room, and I'm not gonna say those things don't matter, but lemme give you a brutal dose [00:03:10] of reality. Right now. Every single account in your prospect portfolio in your already has an incumbent agent, [00:03:20] and that agent has a relationship too.

That agent's been sending Christmas cards and playing golf and going to industry events. They have a cash flow coming in every [00:03:30] month from all those accounts, and they're not gonna hand it over to you. So here's the question you need to sit with. If you can't get your [00:03:40] competition fired, how do you expect to get hired?

And that's not a rhetorical question. That is the central challenge of selling [00:03:50] commercial insurance. You are not just selling a policy, you are staging a takeover. And the producers who understand that, the ones who wake up every [00:04:00] morning knowing this is a zero sum game. They're the ones building the big books.

The one still playing the relationship game, still hoping a better [00:04:10] price wins the deal. They're grinding their way to mediocrity. Three games are being played in this industry right now. I call them the old [00:04:20] game, the new Game, and the real game. So what's the old game? Well, let's build relationship, find a coverage gap, get a better price present and hope.[00:04:30] 

And that model erodes producer confidence. It makes you worse, not better. It is cancer. Slowly, invisible [00:04:40] and deadly. And the new game. Hey, it's call yourself like a risk advisor. Talk about total cost of risk. Do a needs assessment. [00:04:50] Sounds good until your prospects heard the same pitch from the last four people who walked through their door.

So what's the real game? Well, that's what this [00:05:00] podcast is about. That's what we're covering here today. Look, I've watched a producer use what I'm about to teach you to take a $40,000 revenue account from an [00:05:10] agent who had held it for 11 years. I'll tell you exactly how he did it, but first you need to understand three brutal realities that [00:05:20] keep most producers from ever getting there.

So when I ask agency owners why their producers are struggling, I get the same answers every time. [00:05:30] Well, Randy, it's a tough market. You know, the incumbents are tough. Most of 'em have big 10 year relationships. You know, it's just hard to compete on price. But we try [00:05:40] and all of that might be true, but here's what's actually going on beneath the surface, there are three brutal realities at [00:05:50] work and every single sales situation you walk into understand them and you stop being surprised you start being [00:06:00] dangerous.

So let's look at 'em. Reality number one, pain is the only real motivator. See, nobody changes insurance agents because they [00:06:10] found a nicer one. They change when something hurts. Think about how human beings actually make decisions. When do people buy a [00:06:20] new car? Well, it's when the old one breaks down.

When it won't start. When the repair bill exceeds the monthly payment. That's pain. When do people change [00:06:30] jobs? Well, it's when the current one becomes unbearable. When they feel invisible, when the boss becomes insufferable. That's pain. [00:06:40] And your job, before you ever talk about your agency or your carriers or your service team, is to find the pain.

And [00:06:50] here's the hard part. Most of your prospects are pretending they don't have any.

The next brutal reality. Your prospect has lowered their [00:07:00] expectations. Look, this one will mess with your head if you let it. People adapt. Human beings are incredibly good at getting comfortable with things they [00:07:10] should not be comfortable with your prospects experience mod is too high. Their safety program is a joke.

The carrier doesn't pick up the phone on claims. [00:07:20] Their coverage has gaps you could drive a truck through. But they've been living with it so long. They think it's normal. They [00:07:30] justify it. They rationalize it. And when a salesperson comes in talking about better coverage and improved service, well, they barely [00:07:40] blink.

Why? Because they've heard it before and nothing ever changed. So your prospects lowered expectations are your [00:07:50] opening. But only if you know how to raise them back up without making them feel stupid. And that's a skill, a specific trainable skill. [00:08:00] And we'll get into exactly how to do that. And here's the next brutal reality.

Number three. Nobody wants to admit they have a problem, [00:08:10] even when they clearly do. Look, if a business owner's insurance program is a mess, it's almost never their fault in their own mind, it's the market. It's the carrier, it's the [00:08:20] previous broker. Something out there caused this, not them. And that is actually great news for you if you play it right, because [00:08:30] the moment you walk in and say, Hey, here's the thing, the system is broken.

The cots take advantage of complacent buyers. And frankly, you've been working with what you've been given. [00:08:40] Suddenly, you're not attacking them. You're on their side. You've taken them off the hook. You've positioned the incumbent [00:08:50] as the bad guy, which brings me to the core of what the wedge is all about.

It's not about being smarter, [00:09:00] it's not about having better coverage. It's about taking out the bad guy. And every great story has a hero and a villain in your prospect's insurance journey. You [00:09:10] need to make sure the incumbent plays the villain, not by saying anything bad about them, but by asking [00:09:20] questions to let your prospect figure it out for themselves.

So that $40,000 account I mentioned, here's what happened. Producer named Jason [00:09:30] Prospecting a mid-size contractor. The incumbent had held that account for 11 years, had a strong relationship, always [00:09:40] provided competitive pricing, and there were no obvious problems. Jason could have done what most producers do, quoted it, lost it, and moved [00:09:50] on, and then called back again next year to see if they can quote.

But instead he asked a couple of questions, and those questions planted a seed in the prospect's [00:10:00] head, which immediately raised expectations to a point that the 11 year incumbent didn't look so good. He started looking [00:10:10] lazy. It looked like he had taken his client for granted, and none of these things were a big deal by themselves.

But when it added up, it [00:10:20] shifted the tipping point. A claims review, looking at high reserves, a mod review going deep on work. Comp classifications, a marketing narrative [00:10:30] that the client signed off on so they knew how they were being sold to the underwriter and each one illustrated a simple service the incumbent could have been doing [00:10:40] but wasn't.

And after each question, the business owner said, well, they haven't done that. They haven't done [00:10:50] that. No, they haven't done that either. 11 years of relationship, and the crack was wide open. [00:11:00] Because brutal reality number one kicked in. The pain was already there, and Jason knew where to look to find it. [00:11:10] So here's what I wanna give you today.

Not a theory, not a framework. Three moves that shift every sales [00:11:20] conversation from a quote meeting into a competitive take down. So here's the first move. Find the pain. Don't assume it. [00:11:30] Too many producers walk into a meeting trying to impress the prospect of what they know. Market knowledge, coverage expertise, service capabilities.

The [00:11:40] top producers walk in with questions, not softball questions, not getting to know you, questions, scalpel [00:11:50] questions, questions that cut, and they cut deep. Questions designed to find where it hurts. And you're looking for [00:12:00] the service gap between what they have and what they need. Between what the incumbent promised and what they actually delivered. [00:12:10] Between the story they've been telling themselves and the reality on the ground.

You're not selling. You're letting the prospect [00:12:20] discover out loud in their own words, all that something's wrong. And that's what great detectives do. They don't [00:12:30] accuse, they ask questions until the truth emerges. And then move number two, differentiate on process, not price, not [00:12:40] coverage. And here's where most producers blow it.

They've done everything right. They found the pain, they've driven the wedge, the prospect's leaning forward, [00:12:50] engaged, ready to hear something different, and then the producer leads with a better quote. Price. Coverage. That's it. [00:13:00] And the prospect thinks same song, different verse. Top producers do something entirely different.

They lead with their [00:13:10] process. They help the buyer describe specifically and tangibly how they want these services delivered. Again, you're not selling, you're [00:13:20] cooperatively building a service plan with your buyer. Which gains an immense amount of buy-in because it's their plan, not yours. [00:13:30] It's not, we have great service.

Anybody can say that. It's not, we're different from other agencies. Every agency says that. Instead, it's, [00:13:40] let's talk about what you'd like to have happen in regard to the claims review. How big would the reserve have to be before you wanna take some action? [00:13:50] What would you like to see about the reserve?

The adjusters notes? Would you wanna know how much has already been paid out? And what about if a lawyer's involved somehow [00:14:00] would you wanna know that? And so you're getting the buyer's vision: how they wanna be served. Concrete, [00:14:10] specific, and tangible. Now that's differentiation. That's how you get hired without being the cheapest quote in the room.[00:14:20] 

Look at the top of this episode, I promised you the questions that makes your competition nervous. And here it is before the meeting is over. After you've found [00:14:30] pain, after you've helped the prospect get really clear about how they want the services delivered, you rehearse them through the process of telling the incumbent that it's [00:14:40] over.

And we're gonna cover this more in future episodes. So here's the thing about selling commercial insurance, that nobody in this industry wants to say out loud, [00:14:50] the incumbent agent, the one sitting on that account right now. Well, it's not your competition or your [00:15:00] real competition is the comfort your prospect has built up around staying Exactly

where they are. And the only way you break that comfort is pain. [00:15:10] You find it, you amplify it, you give them the path out of it, and that's the wedge. That is the real game. And that's [00:15:20] what we're gonna dig into episode by episode on this podcast. And next week I'm gonna walk you through the exact pre-call strategy that top producers use before every meeting.[00:15:30] 

The 10 to 15 minutes of prep that changes everything about how you walk in the door. And it's called pre-call strategy. It's the [00:15:40] forethought and it'll make you look like the most prepared person your prospect has ever seen sitting across from them. And if you got something out at today's episode, here's what I need you to do:[00:15:50] 

subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and leave a review and share this with one producer in your agency who needs to hear it. Because [00:16:00] here's the truth, there are producers out there right now working hard, putting in the hours, losing accounts, they should be winning, and the only reason they're losing is that they [00:16:10] haven't been given the system.

This podcast is that system. I'm Randy Schwarz, go take someone's account and [00:16:20] we'll see you next week.