I’m not the world’s greatest typist. I love to write and I enjoy the process but my typing regularly lets me down. As I was proofreading the most recent post and cursing my typing for the millionth time, I realized something.
There are a lot of similarities between learning to type and growing your insurance agency. From one finger typing at the beginning to never looking at your fingers and making typing decisions in a split-second, there are plenty of steps to go through. The same goes for running your agency.
Don’t Try To Do Too Much Too Soon
The biggest mistake you can make in learning to type is trying to become too proficient too quickly. If you’re used to typing with one finger and watching that finger move around the keys, you can’t jump to staring at the screen and bashing keys with both hands. You need to start small. The same goes for running an agency.
When you start out, set short-term, achievable goals. Decide where you want to be at the end of month one, then quarter one, then year one. You have to learn each step before you can reach the next one.
Don’t Be Afraid To Make Mistakes
During your early years as an insurance agency owner, you shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes. You will make them anyway.
When you start trying to type faster, you inevitably make mistakes. You will strike the wrong key every few words or miss a vital letter. It’s all part of the learning process and as long as you spot your mistakes and learn from them, you will be a better agency owner.
Take Advice From Experienced Experts
Not every mistake will be obvious. Your word processing software will highlight the really obvious typos, but other mistakes may be hard for that fail-safe to spot. It is possible to type a correctly spelled word in the wrong place or to use the wrong grammar for what you are trying to say. Spell check can find it hard to grasp the context.
As you build your agency, talk to peers and experienced contacts. They will see the bigger picture and identify the problems that may have passed you by.
Work On Becoming More Efficient
The most important advice I can give you on typing is to keep trying to get better. You will reach a plateau at some point. You might get to a point where you can type quickly, with both hands, but you still have to watch the keys. Don’t let that plateau discourage you from improving your speed or keeping your eyes on the screen. You can make those extra improvements; it takes time and effort to attain that level.
Too many insurance agency owners reach a plateau in growth or revenue and sit back, assuming they have hit their peak. You always have the opportunity to improve your agency and grow your business. The key is perseverance and belief in your ability to improve.
Running an insurance agency, like typing, may not seem like something you need to improve. You already do it every day. However, there is always room for improvement. If you can improve your typing with a bit of focused practice and a clear goal, imagine what you could do with your agency.
You’ve reached your goal of being an ultra-precise typist, putting out 100 words per minute. So you’ve decided to sell your agency, to move on. You’ll need a trustworthy selling partner, we can help. Contact Sukay & Associates for advice and information.
