I have been asked several interesting questions today by friends and clients. A friend asked me where we come up with the ideas for the three blogs that we post on our website each week. The answer is that the ideas present themselves in our everyday lives and business dealings. Luckily, our prospects and clients provide us with an unlimited number of good ideas. I rarely have a conversation with a client without making some type of reference to a blog that we have posted in the last month. Today’s idea came from a friend who works at my golf course. Gail had some free time this summer and wanted to take the real estate exam. We talked on the Monday before the exam she planned on taking on Friday.
Gail asked me to wish her luck. I told her to forget about luck. I suggested that she spend Tuesday through Thursday studying from dawn to dusk. We discussed that good luck and hope wasn’t a strategy and that it would never replace effort and knowledge. Gail called me to tell me that she passed her exam and that my strategy seemed to work much better than relying on luck.
Hope is Not a Good Strategy
We create blogs by trying to relate everyday life issues to the issues that are faced by agency owners. During the years, we have listened to many agency owners whose plans are based on a hardening market or their ability to generate a new large client. We have witnessed many successful events at these agencies. We have also witnessed many disappointments. These successes are gained through a formalized and effective sales process. They are never based on luck or hope. Hope is realized by the hard work and the creative ideas of the owners and employees of the agency.
The last several years have been very difficult for agency owners. It doesn’t seem that long ago that the market was hardening and businesses were growing. As the business climate eroded and markets softened, too many agencies hoped that things would get better. “If we could just get the new account,” or “if the market would just start to harden,” we wouldn’t have to reduce costs or implement new strategies. I’m not aware of too many agencies that were able to survive with the strategy of hope. The agencies that were able to deal with the business environment made the tough decisions required to maintain their business.
Hope Never Replaces Planning
A client confided in me that they were apprehensive about the prospect of selling their insurance agency and what it would be like working for another party. We talked about how we would be talking to many parties about buying the agency. We didn’t have to hope that we would find the right party. We would work very hard by meeting with each party and learning everything we could about each of the potential buyers. We would talk to others who have gone through the process and are now working for the buyer. Our efforts would remove the uncertainty and create a situation where the owner was energized about the next phase of their career. We would not hope for a good outcome. We would work hard to produce a good outcome.
If you are considering selling your agency, then please take the time to read our Ten Reasons to Hire Sukay & Associates.
