Darci Darnell, Partner, Global Head of Customer Practice, Bain & Company You know insurance is changing. So do consumers—and it shouldn’t surprise you that they want it to change. They don’t want it to be slow, frustrating, or confusing. Few people know the insurance consumer better than our gest, Darci Darnell, Partner and Global Head of Customer Practice at Bain & Company. Bain’s insight on the relationship between the industry and the modern consumer is legendary. In this conversation...
Jul 06, 2022•52 min•Ep. 230
Mark McLaughlin, General Manager - Insurance, IBM Market forces continue to shift and agents who want to thrive in the future must be ready for change as the market demands it. Our guest, Mark McLaughlin, IBM’s General Manager of Insurance, reveals the direction their research shows the wind is blowing—and the response agency principals must have today. Listen to this discussion for Mark’s powerful insight: What 12,000 insurance execs reported as the top driver affecting their business How the c...
Jun 09, 2022•48 min•Ep. 229
James Benham, CEO, Co-Founder, JBKnowledge Savvy agents know they need to make critical decisions now to thrive in the future of this fast-changing industry. James Benham, CEO, and Co-Founder of the leading insurtech, JBKnowledge , freely shares insight and surprises he’s found from over 20 years of creating and distributing insurtech that’s used every day throughout the insurance industry. In this conversation, James reveals insights on: Major emerging trends in insurtech, including AI, big dat...
May 18, 2022•40 min•Ep. 228
There’s a looming cybersecurity threat over small and medium business clients. Jack Kudale, Founder & CEO of Cowbell—a leader in cyber insurance for SMBs—has the bird’s-eye view on the critical trends in cyber risks. His company monitors 23 million US based businesses for cyber threats (for perspective, that means nearly 3 out of every 4 of your commercial lines clients). And Jack doesn’t like what he sees. In this podcast, Jack shares his remarkable insights on cyber threats and insurance, ...
Apr 27, 2022•51 min•Ep. 227
For the insurance producer, COVID claimed a reliable marketing tool—in-person meetings. Agents were forced to communicate online; some figured it out, some hated it, and many were in-between. Now, a series of best practices can make online selling a high-leverage (and easy-to-use) avenue that saves time and boosts conversion rates. In this workshop-style episode, Amazon best-selling author, international sales trainer, and Founder and CEO of The Authority Factor, Steve Brossman, shares his metho...
Apr 06, 2022•50 min•Ep. 226
Jeff Harris, Co-Founder, CEO, Appulate Years ago, this tech entrepreneur groaned at the sight of the insurance application process. So he decided to do something about it. 250,000 users later, Jeff Harris, Co-Founder, and CEO of Appulate can claim some progress. Founded 17 years ago, Appulate is one of the industry’s earliest insurtechs and one of the most widely distributed today. In this important essential discussion, Jeff shares insights on: What parts of the insurance process can be fixed b...
Mar 23, 2022•58 min•Ep. 225
Aaron Gordon, Vice President, Gordon Companies Insurance Services Our guest Aaron Gordon is a second-generation insurance agent with 11 years in his family’s agency in Manhattan—and is rapidly becoming a leading voice for millennials in the insurance industry. Aaron has something to say to boomers as well as younger generations: “The future is bright.” However, there’s a big “but” attached to that optimism. Listen to hear Aaron share insights on: What to know about recruiting and retaining talen...
Mar 09, 2022•51 min•Ep. 224
Mike Becker, CEO, National Association of Professional Insurance Agents The Industry is changing, consumer behavior is changing, and so are agencies. But how well are today’s agents keeping up with market trends? What about your agency? Our guest, Mike Becker, CEO of the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents will help answer this question and share the results from the just-release 2022 Annual Independent Agent Survey. PIA and National Underwriter worked together to ask thousands...
Feb 16, 2022•53 min•Ep. 223
Kingsley Flynn, Head of Insurance, Sayata A client shows up at their office at 8 am, turns on their computer… and sees a ransom demand. After breaking out in a cold sweat, they call you. What do you say? This scenario doesn’t “only happen in movies” anymore, it could happen to any agency, as it already has for others. And protecting, advising, and guiding a client’s cyber decision-making is quickly becoming an agent’s job. Our guest, Kingsley Flynn, Head of Insurance at Sayata brings 46 years of...
Jan 27, 2022•40 min•Ep. 222
Michael Jans, Co-Founder, Agency Revolution, Principal, Michael Jans Advisory In recent years we’ve seen a dizzying pace of change, a steady stream of new tech, and constant changes in consumer behavior. Against a backdrop like this, how should an agency grow in 2022? Our podcast host, Michael Jans, dives into that very question and delivers 7 predictions for insurance marketing, including: What fast-growth agencies are doing differently than average agencies How will the agency tech stack look ...
Jan 12, 2022•34 min•Ep. 221
Jim Kouzes, WSJ Best-Selling Author, The Leadership Challenge Whether you’re recruiting talent or guiding your agency to new strategies, your business demands the clarity, vision, and direction of a strong leader. In this conversation, Jim Kouzes delivers straight talk to agency principals. Jim is the author of The Leadership Challenge , a WSJ Best-Seller and Fast Company’s Best Business Book of the year. Jim was declared one of the twelve best educators in the U.S. In this eye-opening discussio...
Dec 22, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 220
Nobody is a fan of the insurance application process, especially not your busy customers. Peter MacDonald, Cofounder, and CEO of Wunderite sees a better way to do things—where technology handles the heavy lifting to make life simpler for agents and customers alike. In this robust discussion, Peter and Michael discuss: How agencies can recruit and retain talent in a competitive job market What agents are doing now to simplify the application process Understanding the key triggers that drive peopl...
Dec 02, 2021•54 min•Ep. 219
Mike Mathisen, CEO, Owner, Colorado Insurance "I bought a small, $1.5 million premium book. We had an 85% retention rate. Now, we're pushing $100 million in premium with a 93% retention." Mike Mathisen, President, Colorado Insurance, made a few key, strategic decisions in the year 2000. 21 years and almost $99 million in new premium later, Mike looks back and shares key insights to the secrets of super-high Organic Growth: The method Mike uses to keep his team focused on key growth indicators Mi...
Nov 17, 2021•53 min•Ep. 218
Luis Pino, CEO, Founder, Agentero Many insurance agents push back on new technologies in fear of losing the human touch. Luis Pino, CEO & Founder of Agentero and former Analyst at McKinsey & Co., believes the right use of tech will do just the opposite, freeing you up for more human touches and supporting you where expertise is most needed. Luis shares insights on the fast-moving world of agency distribution and technology: How to use new tech to enhance the agent’s role as a trusted adv...
Oct 27, 2021•43 min•Ep. 217
Marc Petersen, President, American Advantage - Petersen Group How did Marc Petersen, President of American Advantage - Petersen Group , pull off such fantastic growth results? Most agencies do it by “hiring more producers,” but for this agency, the secret to success was a robust communication strategy. In this revealing podcast discussion, Marc openly shares his strategy for rapid and reliable growth: Why building the right content for your audience changes everything Marc’s strategy for nurturi...
Oct 13, 2021•36 min•Ep. 216
Agents who are serious about the growth of their agency need to know what the future looks like. And if anyone has a crystal ball, it would be Susanne Chishti. Editor of The Insurtech Book , CEO of FINTECH Circle, and Investment Week’s “Social Media Influencer of the Year,” Susanne is a leading insurtech investor, and winner of too many awards to list here. In this robust conversation, Susanne shares her perspective on: What insurtech will likely look like in the near and midterm future for agen...
Sep 29, 2021•52 min•Ep. 215
The internet gave everyone a megaphone. Every business is a communications business, and the airwaves are full of noise, clamor, and confusion. How can your agency stand out from the crowd? To be the one your market listens to, respects, and follows? Michael Jans shares his journey for finding the answer with thought leadership marketing. Listen now to hear Michael share: The 4 building blocks of thought leadership marketing A step-by-step method to earn the attention that becomes long-term loya...
Sep 15, 2021•53 min•Ep. 214
Commercial lines producers know the desk can be chaos—making it harder to provide clients with a great experience without getting overworked. Erik Mitisek, CEO of Highwing believes he’s solving that problem with a multi-carrier and multi-line platform that slashes time and cuts out the confusion. In this conversation, Erik shares his perspective on what today’s agency must know and do: Why “the biggest currency is speed” and how agencies can move faster than their competitors with the right tool...
Aug 18, 2021•35 min•Ep. 213
Lucas Jans, VP, Product, Agency Revolution Technology has been changing everything from consumer behavior to carrier strategy to agency operations. Lucas Jans, VP of Product at Agency Revolution, has been building tech solutions for insurance agencies for more than 20 years. With one of the industry’s largest tech teams, he oversees a constant stream of updates, product innovations, and new technologies with the goal of making tech useful and easy for agents to use. In this important podcast, Lu...
Aug 06, 2021•36 min•Ep. 212
Steve Lekas, Co-Founder, CEO, Branch Insurance Branch Insurance has convinced some of the top investors that it’s cracked the code on “instant insurance” for independent agencies—and it’s convincing more and more consumers of the same. How? By asking fewer underwriting questions. Name and address don’t just get you a quote, it gets you one click from binding insurance. In this episode, Branch Insurance Co-Founder and CEO shares insights and secrets on: How public data is transforming the client ...
Jul 21, 2021•42 min•Ep. 211
Whitney Norcup, COO, Columbia Insurance & Wealth Management Whitney Norcup, COO of Columbia Insurance & Wealth Management tells the “before and after” story of her company. How they went from a small, stagnant agency trying to figure out the modern insurance landscape to a fast-growth agency with deeper customer relationships and a bright new future. When Whitney joined her family-run agency, she brought experience from outside the industry with her and was able to see different ways of ...
Jul 07, 2021•45 min•Ep. 210
You might think your customer only wants the lowest price—but that isn’t the case for independent insurance agencies. Selling on price kills profits and brings bad customers. But when today’s customer hears about saving money on insurance all day long, how do you avoid selling on price? On this episode we have one of the nation’s top pricing experts, Reed Holden, Founder and Coach at Holden Advisors and author of Pricing with Confidence: Ten Ways to Stop Leaving Money on the Table . With article...
Jun 23, 2021•45 min•Ep. 209
Jeff Hogue, Director - Insurance, Agent Sales, QuoteWizard When the loan giant, Lending Tree, entered the insurance industry by acquiring QuoteWizard, they gained powerful data about how people shop for insurance. Last month, they received 1,000,000 online quotes, 50,000 inbound phone calls, and thousands of conversations with insurance agents. Jeff Hogue, Director of Insurance and Agent Sales at QuoteWizard shares his unique perspective on: The turbulence in the captive agency market, and what ...
Jun 09, 2021•42 min•Ep. 208
Anurag Shah, CEO, Co-Founder, Aureus Analytics Anurag Shah, CEO and Co-Founder of Aureus Analytics has been studying how customers feel about their insurance providers. First with carriers around the globe, and most recently with independent insurance agencies. After processing management systems and interaction data across more than 60 million policyholders, Anurag has crafted a way to measure customer loyalty en masse and down to the individual level. In this eye-opening podcast, Anurag shares...
Jun 02, 2021•45 min•Ep. 207
Tom Super, Head of P&C Insurance, J.D. Power Tom Super, Head of P&C Insurance at J.D. Power, returns to the podcast with the latest research and insights on the modern insurance consumer. The pandemic pushed already changing consumer expectations farther and faster than ever. Don’t let your agency fall behind the curve. In this important discussion, Tom shares research on: How the pandemic changed insurance shopping, and what’s different after one year Market segments and demographics be...
May 26, 2021•44 min•Ep. 206
Brad Ruben, President, Archway Computer You may be surprised by some of the advice delivered by insurance technology and cybersecurity expert Brad Ruben, President of Archway Computer—but you may be more surprised by some of his predictions. Brad delivers practical advice every insurance agency principal and IT support person should listen to immediately. Listen to this episode to learn: Real examples of agencies that were struck by ransomware, and which actions would have protected them Why phi...
May 19, 2021•41 min•Ep. 205
When Zenefits ran into one of the largest compliance crises in the industry, they turned to Niji Sabharwal. He learned two important lessons. One—in his own words—brokers aren’t going anywhere. Two, they really need help with compliance. So a new insurtech was born. Rapid traction in the marketplace, $36 million in Series A funding, and 61 employees later, Niji, as CEO of AgentSync , sees a new wave of insurtech heading our direction. Niji and podcast host Michael discuss: Why agents and brokers...
May 12, 2021•43 min•Ep. 204
Jeffery Arnold, President, Rightsure Insurance Group In this podcast, President of Rightsure Insurance Group, Jeffery Arnold delivers practical advice based on real-world experience for a robust conversation that will open your eyes to modern insurance marketing. Jeff and podcast host Michael discuss: The three most important technologies to add to your agency How the role of agency leadership has changed in recent years How to be enabled and forward-thinking about tech without being shackled to...
May 05, 2021•34 min•Ep. 203
In some niches, premiums are on the rise. Today’s agency principals and producers need a plan. For this discussion, podcast host Michael Jans turned to someone who spends his time in the midst of this turbulence. Former CEO of Bigfoot Insurance—one of the fastest growing MGA’s in the U.S.—and now a Managing Director for One80 Intermediaries, Martin Burlingame describes today’s insurance pricing as the perfect storm. In this podcast, Martin pulls back the curtain on: How the last four years of na...
Apr 28, 2021•44 min•Ep. 202
Scott Knowles, CEO, Modgic Scott Knowles, CEO of Modgic , works with commercial lines producers every day. His warning may be familiar—step up to the modern age of insurance—but his advice is practical and proven in the real world of commercial lines sales. In this fast-paced podcast, Scott shares his insights on: What “super-producers” do differently than most commercial lines producers How to get your prospects to focus on the long term when they think of your agency The simple method great co...
Apr 21, 2021•45 min•Ep. 201
