Agent Link - January 2022

Agent Link - January 2022

JANUARY 2022

INSIDE Why Use Agent Link?

Stick to Your Resolutions — For Real, This Time 3 Benefits of Sharing a Vision With Your Team Include These in Your Post-Workout Meal

Here at Agent Link, our goal and focus every day is to connect the insurance world, one great opportunity at a time. As 2022 begins, we couldn’t be more excited about it! The connections we help our clients make have extremely rewarding results because they bring a win-win situation into being. Sometimes this takes the form of a carrier finding a new way to support their team and growing their distribution. Other times, it takes the shape of an FMO finding an easier way to recruit, an industry vendor reaching an ideal segment with their messaging, or a regional PPGA expanding their local footprint by bringing in more agents. Each of these success scenarios is different, but they have one thing in common: They happened with help from Agent Link. Our team offers growth-focused producers around the nation the opportunity to ensure more people and families can access their great products and financial services. Our many clients — including companies, agencies, and individual producers at all levels and throughout all industry segments of the insurance industry — are the ones who take advantage of this opportunity and use it to grow their companies. I see these results firsthand. Recently, I received an email from a recruiter with one of our carrier clients. Her feedback really made my day! She told me that she anxiously waits for

he had almost doubled his production as a result of coming on board with this IMO, and he was even considering bringing agents under his wing to accommodate more growth.

Because of these conversations and many others, I believe our industry has a bright future despite the challenges of the last couple of years. Agents have continued to thrive, expansion is taking place, and newly licensed producers are entering the industry driven by a vision of prosperity or the hope of greener pastures. The incredibly successful people I’ve spoken with recently are great examples of how much good is being done. Helping those people and their companies not only grow but also work more easily and effectively is our guiding purpose at Agent Link. As we enter into the new year, Stu, our team, and I wish you an amazing and fulfilling 2022. If you have any feedback for us or would like help with your success and expansion this year, we’re only a phone call or email away. “Each of these success scenarios is different, but they have one thing in common: They happened with help from Agent Link.”

each new Agent Link prospect to reach her inbox. Compared to the other sources she counts on, she said an Agent Link prospect is the best. I had a similar phone conversation with a life producer not long ago. We connected him with one of our IMO clients offering a great opportunity for producers to take their game to a new level.That’s exactly what happened in his case! He told me that

-Senia Gramajo

1 +800 535 4545

Ignite Your Team’s Spirit! By Sharing Your Vision for 2022 It’s hard to believe, but in a few short weeks, the year 2022 will be here.This is the time when executive teams — including ours at Agent Link — review their strategic plans and get ready to launch an exciting new year. My partner and I were recently at the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA) and it was really nice to see some great people face to face and chat with them. Many of the key industry players we met were well ahead of the game, actively working on bringing their grand visions for 2022 into being.

How to Keep New Year’s Resolutions

For Real, This Time

New Year’s Eve has come and gone, and now that the champagne is finished and the decorations are put away, it’s time to buckle down and work on those New Year’s resolutions.The only problem is ... your resolutions for this year and last year are the same. Change is tough, so you’re not alone in being unable to stick to your resolutions.This year can be different, if you want it to be. Here are some tips to keep you on track. Have a specific goal. Many resolutions are vague — along the lines of “exercise more” or “eat healthier.”That’s too ambiguous to inspire motivation, and vagueness leaves room for excuses. Make your goal more concrete, so you can measure your success. Specific goals could include going to the gym three times a week, being able to bench a certain number of pounds, or only indulging in fast food once a month. Make your goal realistic — if it’s too drastic or difficult, it’s easier to give up. Have a plan. Bad habits are hard to break, so change won’t come about naturally. It’s important to consider how you’ll structure your day around your resolution and what obstacles you might face. When will you go to the gym, and what will you do if that time gets interrupted? How will you plan meals to avoid spontaneous drive-thru visits? Write down what you want to accomplish and all the things that might stand in your way.Then, figure out how you’ll deal with them before they happen. Start small. On Jan. 1, you’re probably enthusiastic about your resolution and ready to hit the ground running. Not so fast — doing too much too soon is a classic mistake. It’s okay to be excited, but working out until you’re sore all over or constantly eating salads you hate will turn your resolution into a chore that you’ll want to avoid. Start with light workouts or replacing some of your carbs with veggies. Once you get the hang of that, you’ll be ready to scale up slowly. Using these guidelines, you’ll make lasting changes that extend beyond February. Get 2022 started off on the right foot, and next year you’ll be ready to make a whole new resolution — and keep it. 2 www.AgentLinkMarketing.com

With that in mind, I want to take a minute and share some of my ideas and findings regarding vision with you. I’ve found that creating a crystal- clear vision can add tremendous fuel to our activities and ignite growth. Specifically, there are three BIG benefits to clarifying not just your personal vision, but also your team’s vision. 1. A great vision inspires extraordinary performance. 2. A properly shared and cultivated vision promotes team cohesion, teamwork, and strong company culture. 3. A well-defined vision helps a group overcome its dependence on a few key individuals and grow collectively. It ’s not always easy to get an entire team on board with the same vision. Sometimes this is because different people/executives have different concepts of what constitutes vision and how to express it. I love James C. Collins and William C. Lazier’s take on this topic in their book “Beyond Entrepreneurship.” In essence, they explain that vision consists of three components. Core Values: These are your organization’s guiding principles — often an extension of the personal core values and beliefs of its leaders — which constitute a philosophy of business and life. Purpose: This is the fundamental reason for your group’s existence; it is the guiding star that gives your team definite direction. Mission: Your mission stands in contrast to your purpose. It’s an audacious goal, a plan with a clear finish line and a specific time frame. Once you finish one mission, you must set a new one.

As leaders, our primary function is formulating and communicating a clear and shared vision to our group, then securing their commitment and pursuit of that vision. As I said earlier, now is the time to do just that. Each January, my partner and I reassess our company and our industry and fine-tune our strategic plans based on our vision. I recommend you do the same! Senia and I would love to hear your feedback on this concept, and we’d certainly like to hear from you if you feel we could contribute to your company’s growth. We’re here to help! Wishing you tremendous success in the near future and in 2022, -Stu Gramajo

3 +800 535 4545

Optimizing Your Cost of Producer Acquisition Phase 2: How to Clarify the Value You Bring Producers As I write this, our team at Agent Link is conducting a survey of producers to identify key problem spots in the BGA and IMO recruitment process. We’ve uncovered something surprising: Many high-performing producers find it very difficult to differentiate between the FMOs, IMOs, and BGAs offering them carrier product access and support.

Yes, you read that correctly! It’s possible the producers you’re marketing to have not agreed to write business for you simply because they can’t tell you apart from the competition. One seasoned annuity producer actually told us this, pointing out that “a lot of [these companies] say the same thing.” This is a major problem standing between you and recruitment success, but it’s also a major opportunity. It indicates that by doing something as simple as improving your marketing message, you’ll be able to attract the talent you need. At least 40% of producers claim they’re open to new ways of doing things and have considered working with a new marketing organization or distribution line — all you need to do is snag them and set yourself apart. You Can Stand Out From the Crowd At this point, you might be thinking, “My company can’t possibly be one of the IMOs or BGAs getting lost in the shuffle. We’ve experienced significant growth and onboarded hundreds of producers, and they’re actually writing business with us!” That may be true, but you can always do better. “Rich Dad Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki once wrote, “You won’t learn if you think you already know everything,” and that’s true in this situation. Perhaps your company rarely gets lost in the shuffle, but you still do sometimes — that’s an opportunity to optimize your cost of acquiring producers (which you might remember from our last newsletter is “salaries + operational costs + ad spend / producers acquired”) and give a boost to your bottom line. Every executive can get behind that idea. Clarifying the unique and competitive value you bring to producers will not only help you catch their eye, but it will also

empower your entire marketing team to send out a better message through your promotional channels. To get those results and hook

the producers you need, take these three steps. Step 1: Understand your value proposition.

Business author Ryan Deiss writes, “The value your company provides is far greater than the products or services it sells. In fact, people don’t buy products or services at all; instead, they buy outcomes.” More simply, your company will attract producers only if you offer the outcomes they are looking for. You need to take them from what Deiss calls the “Before” State (wanting something they do not have) to the “After” State (achieving what they want). “This shift (or outcome) is the value that your business brings to the marketplace,” Deiss writes. “Furthermore, the role of your marketing is to articulate this move from the ‘Before’ State to the ‘After’ State.” So, what outcome can you offer producers? Figuring that out is your goal in Step 1 of this process. It’s important to note that this outcome can’t just be something you can provide; it also needs to be something your targeted producers actually want.

To figure out those wants, the first thing you need to do is visualize the type of agent you’d like to attract.Then, contact and interview a few of the producers already actively writing business in your channel who fit this description.They can answer key questions more accurately than you could by pretending to be in their shoes. Here are a few of the most important ones: 1. Before you started writing business with us, what challenges and problems were you facing? 2. Were there specific areas where your previous BGA/FMO/ BD relationships were weak? 3. What worries/fears/anxieties kept you up at night? 4. What were the red flags you saw when considering other potential BGA/FMO/BD relationships? 5. What, if anything, made you hesitate before coming on board with us? 6. What did you want to get out of a new BGA/FMO/BD relationship? 7. What do you appreciate about working with us? If you don’t have enough ideal producers of your own to talk to, reach out to a few outside your ranks, either over the phone or face to face. You can also hire a professional to conduct this qualitative research. The answers you get to questions 1–5 will help you understand your prospects’ “Before” State, and the answers to questions 6 and 7 will help you understand their “After” State (assuming they are happy working with you.) With that information, along with a prototype of your ideal producer, you can move on to Step 2. Step 2: Conduct a competitive analysis. In order to stand out from the competition, you need to know what messaging they’re using and what they’re promising to producers. To figure this out, start by listing 3–5 of your biggest competitors.Then, examine their websites, social media pages, online reviews, print and digital marketing materials, SEO strategies, and business partnerships as thoroughly as you can. During that process, look for the answers to these questions. • What are their best offers? • What perks do they promise producers? • What are their strengths and weaknesses? (Surveying reviews on Google and Facebook will be helpful here.) • What is their company culture like? (Examine employee review websites like Glassdoor as well as the company’s own website.) You can either simply answer these questions or write a full competitor analysis for each of your adversaries. (BusinessNewsDaily.com offers an excellent guide for this. To find it, simply search “How to Do a Competitive Analysis” on their website.) Then, it’s time to move on to Step 3.

Step 3: Put your message into action. Now it’s time to put what you’ve learned in Step 1 and Step 2 together to create or revise your Value Proposition.This declaration of what you offer producers will be the basis of your marketing message. You can format it like this: [Your company name] enables producers to [outcome(s)]. It really is that simple. Once you have your Value Proposition, use it to create a new and improved marketing message. Remember, you’re targeting producers who are in a “Before” State to help them reach an “After” State. Your new marketing copy should hit on the pain points they’re experiencing, promise the results they want, and highlight what makes you different from your competitors. When you’re ready, disseminate this new message throughout your content, web copy, and marketing literature. You should also train your recruiters, wholesalers, and marketers to use this updated message during meetings and phone calls with producers. If you’re consistent across the board, your message will appear authentic as well as unique. Bonus Step:Watch your company thrive! If you followed Steps 1–3 correctly, you’ll be surprised how quickly and effectively your new marketing brings in ideal producers. A Value Proposition targeting with what they actually want and need will inevitably boost your lead generation results, improve your closing percentage, and reduce cost of acquisition — in that order. As icing on the cake, you’ll never have to worry about being confused with your competitors again. - Stu Gramajo

www.AgentLinkMarketing.com 800 535 4545

1130 Cleveland Street, Ste. 120 Clearwater, FL 33755

3 Things to Include in Your Post-Workout Meal

There’s plenty of emphasis lately on what you should eat before a workout, but not so much about after a workout. What you eat after exercising is just as essential for maximizing your workout’s effectiveness. After intensive exercise, many of us will feel hungry and turn to just about anything to satiate our hunger, but the wrong food could negate the effects of our workouts. During your workout, you will use up your body’s carbohydrates and the glucose stored in your muscles. A proper post-workout meal, including the right fluids, is necessary to replenish these nutrients. When preparing the perfect post-workout meal, there are three areas you should focus on. Protein Including protein in your post-workout meal is important to repair and build muscle. Muscle tissues get broken down during exercise, and protein helps put them back together stronger than before. Eggs, tuna, chicken, and Greek yogurt are great sources of protein and should be implemented into your post-workout meal. Carbs Carbs are essential for replenishing your body’s glycogen levels. Glycogen is the fuel that helps keep us moving and active. If you feel exhausted and hungry after a workout, it’s usually your body telling you that your glycogen levels are low. Including carbs such as sweet potatoes, rice, oatmeal, pasta, and chocolate milk in your post-workout meal will help you feel energized and ready to continue with your day. Fluids You should always drink water while working out and continue to do so after your exercise is complete. Water regulates your body temperature, lubricates your joints, and transports nutrients throughout your body. In one hour of exercise, your body can lose more than a quarter of its water. Continue to drink water or other hydrating drinks after your workout to replenish your missing fluids. Lastly, avoid having a giant fast–food meal after exercising.There are plenty of options for preparing a truly beneficial post-workout meal, so find what makes you feel your best and what you enjoy most and run with it.

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