Vertafore Insurance Podcast

Change your mindset, up your sales, with Charles Specht

Charles Specht joins us this week to talk about the life-altering power of this simple act: changing your mindset. Charles is President and CEO of Permission Network Insurance Agency, Inc., and he has firsthand experience with how agents can transform both their professional and personal lives by developing a growth mindset.

Charles believes that mindset is 90% of the sales game, and the most successful professionals will fully embrace this technique to close more deals. He lays out the best ways to get started to grow a healthy mindset, and why time-blocking is one of the most valuable tools for building confidence.

InsuRant: Good data, great relationships

In this week’s episode, Rick is digging into a recent survey sharing how carriers are currently using data at their companies and how that impacts agencies. He uncovers opportunities for carriers to lean on data to make better business decisions, as well as areas where carriers are already heavily investing in data to unlock value for their clients. 

Find out how carriers are using data to differentiate their business and guide decisions on client satisfaction, actuarial pricing, cybersecurity, vendor management, and more.     

Insurance is an industry run by data, so tune in to learn more about how carriers (and agencies, too!) are optimizing it to make their businesses run better. 

Sharpening your saw, with Shawn Michael Walker

Shawn Michael Walker joins us this week to talk about “sharpening your saw.” Shawn is SVP at Premier Group Insurance, and he talks with Rick about how agencies can get ahead of the curve as the industry goes through rapid changes.  

Shawn believes that the most successful agencies in five years will be the ones who are educating themselves now. He lays out his favorite ways to get educated and how to best prepare for the future, plus his go-to websites and other resources to get ahead of the game.  

InsuRant: Building better agency-carrier relationships

In this week’s episode, Rick talks about how agencies and carriers can strengthen their relationships. Rick dives into data from a recent survey from Celent, a leading research and advisory firm that polled hundreds of agencies to find out what they need for an optimized experience with carriers and InsurTech.  

Find out what agencies are saying about why they choose one carrier over another (hint: it’s not always price), how agencies feel about portals, what different generations of agency employees think about technology, and more.  

Tune in to hear Rick’s three main takeaways that apply to both agencies and carriers in a time of increasing channel complexity. 

You can download a copy of Celent’s report, “Optimizing the Independent Agency Experience,” from our website.  

Do less and make more money, with Jason Walker

We’re back from summer break with a new guest episode, new music, and a new look. This week we welcome guest Jason Walker, a heavy hitter in the insurance world who helps agencies modernize and, in his words, “Do less and make more money.”  

Jason is Founder and CEO of Agency InsurTech, where he eliminates “business as usual” and delivers simple growth strategies and solutions.  

In this episode, Jason details his unique four-step approach to helping agencies implement tech. No two agencies are alike, and Jason’s approach is unique because from step one it’s all about creating a snowball effect of positivity throughout the process.  

This is the perfect episode to kick off the rest of 2021, and we hope you enjoy the episode as much as we do. 

Rerun: Creating a job you love, with Tim Wilson-Humphries

Today on the show we have Tim Wilson-Humphries, an independent agent who specializes in health, life, and Medicare.  

We’ve heard a lot of “how I got here” stories on the podcast, but Tim chose the insurance industry for a reason we haven’t heard yet: PTO. Tim and Rick discuss the challenges of starting out as an independent agent as well as the positives that eventually come, how to find an ideal demographic, and the importance of adaptability.  

Tim taught us all something about finding a niche and creating a job you love, and we hope it will teach you something as well.  

Rerun: Get comfortable with discomfort, with Torey Maerz

Our guest for this episode is Torey Maerz, Founder and CEO of Rocket Referrals. Torey is here to remind us that we can do hard things, and 2021 is going to be a year of adjustment for insurance. In this episode, listeners get a dose of tough love from a guy who knows what it takes to build strong and lasting relationships with clients to build success in times of change.

Rerun: Just press record, with Kelly Lennon

We are taking a 3-week summer break from producing new episodes while we book new guests, revamp our brand, and get a little R&R. 

We encourage you to listen to this episode from earlier this year with guest Kelly Lennon, vice president and risk advisor for technology at USI Property and Casualty. Kelly and Rick Fox talk about innovative sales and marketing tools, including different ways to use video to your advantage. She’s also here to remind us that it’s okay to try new things (and then try them again if they don’t work).  

InsuRant: Ready or not, here tech comes

There are three types of insurance agencies out there:

• ”Tech-forward” agencies that fully embrace and leverage technology to improve all aspects of their business.
• “Tech-friendly” agencies that use technology at a baseline level.
• ”Tech-opposed” agencies that are averse to implementing any new technology.

During this week’s episode, Rick breaks down why technology is so essential for enhancing the customer experience and why it will be impossible to grow without it—because, ready or not, tech has already changed everything.

No matter which of the three camps you fall into above, we think you’ll learn something valuable in this episode. Enjoy!

Building a more powerful agency brand, with Peter van Aartrijk

We’ve heard time and time again that insurance is strictly a “referrals business,” but that’s no longer the case in a digital, post-pandemic world. More than ever, insurance agencies need to invest in their brand to keep up with customer expectations and make their presence known in the market. But where to begin? 

Today on the episode, Rick talks to insurance marketing expert Peter van Aartrijk about the essential toolkit agencies need to build their brand the right way. Learn how agencies can harness the power of their brand to form emotional connections with clients and employees, and make sure you have a pen ready when Peter shares his top three tips for brand-building!