By Brent Kelly

Are Business Cards Still Relevant Today? Is There a Better Way?

Networking and business cards. They go together like peanut butter and jelly.

If I have learned anything from my 15 years of business networking, it’s that you can collect a ridiculous amount of business cards in an hour.

I have a drawer full of hundreds of business cards from people whom I have connected with in the past. Many of these cards have not been touched or looked at in many years. In fact, many were not even addressed the days following the networking event.

Why?

Besides the fact that I did a terrible job of following up, there was no real connection made, no engagement, and no valuable reason to follow-up.

Great networking has never been about a business card, it’s always been about a connection.

I used to keep track of how many business cards I collected and how many business cards I gave out. The more cards obtained and given, the greater level of success I felt I...

By Brent Kelly

One of my all-time favorite business books, is Simon Sinek’s, “Start with Why,”

His TED talk on this exact subject called “The Golden Circle,” is something that every business professional should watch. In fact, I’ll make it easy for you. Click here to watch now.

The simplicity of “The Golden Circle,” makes it easy to understand. However, when I challenge insurance agents and agencies to apply this philosophy to their own business, they often get stuck.

Simple doesn’t equal easy!
Every insurance agency knows what they do. Most insurance agencies can clearly explain how they do it. Very few insurance agencies know why they do it.

Why has nothing to do with revenues or profit.  Why is about your purpose, mission, cause, or belief.

As Simon Sinek so eloquently states, “Why do you get out of bed each morning, and why should anyone care?”

Can you...

By Brent Kelly

“Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” — Helen Keller

If you have been an insurance sales producer longer than 10 minutes, you know all about risk.

Risk is defined as “exposure to danger.”

Danger surrounds insurance producers everyday. It could be in the form of a manager, company, prospect, client, product, or service. That list could go on and on, but the key point is that risk is clear everywhere you turn.

I believe you could categorize sales risks into three areas:

1. Risk of rejection
2. Risk of failure
3. Risk of financial hardship

These three risks highlight that even though the sales profession is the highest paid industry in the world, only a small percentage of the population enters this line of work. Furthermore, this is why even a smaller percentage of sales producers survive.

I have dealt with these three risks consistently in my own sales career. Although the context of these three risks...

By Brent Kelly

I rarely frequent fast food restaurants, but on one particular Saturday morning, I took my kids for breakfast at a local McDonalds. Besides their awesome and underrated coffee, I found something even better.

There was an employee I noticed who was in charge of sweeping the floor, cleaning up trays, and other typical unappreciated jobs. I would assume he makes minimum wage and gets little to no benefits. However, you would never know that by watching him.

In twenty minutes, he struck up countless conversations, engaged the customers, and put smiles on their faces. It was awesome. As I sat there listening to him talk to other customers, I couldn’t help but think; How come most salespeople don’t do this?

No, he wasn’t selling anything. He wasn’t making a commission. He just genuinely cared about the people in the restaurant. It wasn’t fake, rehearsed, or manipulative. It was simply from the heart.

I learned more in 20 minutes watching...

By Brent Kelly

You want others to believe in you, your company, your product or service, and the value you provide. However, the most important question to ask yourself is, “Do you believe in you?”

Do You Breed Confidence in Others?

How others perceive you is in direct correlation to how you view and carry yourself.
You must project your self-image in a way that breeds confidence in others.

Have you ever met someone who looks sloppy, give a wimpy handshake, or can’t look you in the eye? They portray little to no confidence in themselves and therefore portray minimal confidence in the product or service they represent.

I am sure you have heard the phrase, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Although that made a great Head and Shoulders commercial, it is also true.

Whether fair or not, people make quick judgments and those judgments are difficult to alter.

How you think about yourself translates directly into how you act and...

By Brent Kelly

How many times have you actually listened to the flight instructions before takeoff from the flight attendant?

Unless you are petrified of flying and feel that these instruction may indeed save your life, the answer is probably close to zero.  Most airline travelers are reading a book, whispering to their neighbor, or staring out the window during the pre-flight instructions. They are NOT engaged.

Watch this video. Every passenger is listening and laughing. How often do you see that on a flight?

Southwest Airlines is one of the few (maybe only) airlines that has recently been profitable. Southwest Airline customers are loyal. In fact, I have heard some people tell me that they wouldn’t fly on any other airline unless they had to. That’s powerful stuff.

Why?

Well, there are many reasons, but humor is near the top of the list.

Southwest is actually a fun airline to fly. Are they perfect? Of course not, but they allow their employees to...

By Brent Kelly

Technology is changing at such a rapid pace that none of us can imagine what new technologies will be available in the next 20 years.

I found a clip on YouTube recently, and it absolutely blew me away. Not even 20 years ago, some of the “smartest people” on television didn’t know anything about the internet. I am not making fun of them, because in 1994, none of us really did.

In 1994, a new technology was surfacing that most of had no clue about. Today, we use the internet for just about everything and businesses would be crippled without it.

What’s my point?

The point is that new technologies are being developed right now that will completely change how we do business in 20 years. We don’t know exactly what they will be, but I guarantee you the face of business will change again in 20 years.
How do I know? Think about the changes made from 1934 to 1954 to 1974 to 1994. Does the automobile or television come to mind?

With that...

By Brent Kelly

Over 50% of People Now Shop For Insurance Online, Is the Independent Agent Doomed?

A recent article found that over 50% of people looking to obtain auto insurance quotes now go online to shop. This trend will probably continue as insurance buyers are looking for convenience and competitive pricing.  Large companies like Geico, Progressive, and Allstate are spending millions of advertising dollars to get these customers.

Does this mean the local independent agent is doomed? 

Quite the contrary in my opinion. I think this presents one of the greatest opportunities independent agents have had in a long time.  What do I mean?  Let me back up and point out a couple of things relating to that article first.

1) The article stated that 54% of consumers turn to the internet for a quote, but most still purchase through an agent or call center.

2) Customers still highly value customer service and typically will still only move to a new company...

By Brent Kelly

“Hi my name is Brent. I help insurance leaders communicate with purpose, connect with confidence, and lead with greater influence so they achieve world-class results. I would love to see how I could help your organization. Here is my card, would you like to grab coffee or hop on a call sometime so you can learn more?”

While this is true and I am proud of what I do for insurance professionals and organizations, this is NOT the best way to open up a conversation. Yet this is how most people start conversations with others……by talking all about themselves.

The 30-second rule

I learned something from my mentor called the 30-second rule and I have applied it to my conversations with prospects, clients, business partners, and my family. It’s one of the best communication and leadership ideas I have ever learned and it’s something that any leader can and should apply to their daily conversations.

Most of the time, we focus our...

By Brent Kelly

If you had to pick one word that gets you out of bed each day and motivates you to attain success, what word would it be?

My business partner asked me this question recently and I had never really thought about it in great depth.

There are many words that came to mind for me and some of these will probably relate to you as well. Words like purpose, family, achievement, success, security, goals, and legacy came to mind.

Those are all true in some capacity, but didn’t get to the heart of why I wake up each day with a plan of action.

My word is challenge.

All of those words I described above are a challenge. I’m challenged to become a man who lives out his faith through action, to become a dad who is a spiritual, emotional, and a physical provider to his family, and be a man who achieves in business by empowering others.

The list could go on and on, but the it all comes back to challenge. Every day presents new challenges, which thus provides new...