Building Your Business Today by Being Curious - ITB Insurant with Rick Fox

Rick:
Welcome back to another episode of the ITB podcast. That's Insurance the Brightway. I'm the host, Rick Fox. And first and foremost, I just want to take a second here and thank all of you that have joined our family here, that have joined the movement, the Insurance the Bright Way podcast community, and thank all of you who have sent me notes on LinkedIn, made some great recommendations for rant topics. Really, really good. recommendations for guests on the show. Um, man, it's been, it's been really humbling and I'm extremely appreciative of all of you. And I hope, and I'm hoping that even more of you out there are getting out of this podcast as much as we're putting into it because we do that. Cause we love this industry and we love all y'all who listen in. Uh, so thank you again. Make sure, as I've said many a time, but we would appreciate it if you are subscribed wherever you get your podcasts. that you are reviewing and putting a comment in wherever you get your podcast. So far, we have a 5.0 rating, so don't mess it up. But we do have a 5.0 rating so far. We'd love to get a bunch more reviews. If you wouldn't mind, if you like what we do, that would be extremely well received by us. And then, of course, make sure that on LinkedIn, you and I are connected. You will not only be able to... easily click on some of my posts and get to the podcast, but other content that I share from not only things I'm doing, but then reposting or liking things that other people in the industry are doing to help this industry to move along and continue to not just survive, but thrive. So thank you everybody, much appreciated. Wanted to call that out. Also want to give a big thank you to Brightway Insurance for letting me. letting me continue to do this and Don Foley, my producer, who's doing a great job of not only getting the sound right and getting the editing right, but keeping me in line with things I need to make sure I'm doing right. 

And so, okay, that's enough of that. Let's rant. 

Today's a rant. So again, welcome back to the ITB. Today's rant comes, as most of them do, off of something that's been on my mind. This is something I think I've podcasted about this before. It's something that people say, some of the most famous athletes that I've heard say it, Kobe Bryant comes to mind, and it is be curious, stay curious. The reason I say it is I'm having, as you would expect, not only through LinkedIn, but with my business, many, many conversations, daily conversations with agents, with carriers, with... uh, associations with the people I work with, with just everybody in this industry. And the constant theme is this stuck. The market is causing the stick stickiness to so many of us that are. And I say stuck. I don't mean stuck in a, I do mean stuck, I guess. I mean, stuck in the way we do things stuck in the way that we think about things. or stuck in our own way from thinking about things in a different way. So when I say be curious, it's one thing to be curious for a few seconds. It's another thing to be curious and then stay curious. So as I talk to agents and I hope this, maybe this strikes a chord with even one of you, I'll take it as a W, but when you think about what's going on in the world and this is, I'm going to get more specific with insurance, but if you think about the world. We've got, you know, it's a thousand degrees where I live and we have, we had the warmest days we've ever had. You can't fly anywhere right now and not get stuck somewhere or get, you know, your flight delayed four hours. I heard TSA a few weeks ago had the biggest day they've ever had right around the 4th of July, ever. Almost 4 million people in one day. 

So the, the sort of The oxymoron of that is the economy is rough, nobody has money, inflation is killing us, but somehow everybody's still able to travel and fly and have fun. So that's something that makes me curious. And the reason I only bring that up is because this world is so crazy right now. And then more specifically, our insurance industry is bonkers. I mean, it is absolutely crazy out there in the insurance world. That we and you've heard me say this, I'm not saying something I haven't said before, but let me frame this up before we get to the curious part. We tend to dig our heels into the sand and prepare for the hit that's coming, prepare for the blow. And that's in a lot of cases, the general sort of human nature of the way we react. And what that causes is us to be stuck in that spot. So when I, I think it was. It's probably been three years since I literally have podcasted on this same topic. And so those of you that listen to it, it's okay to listen to it again because it is time again. But at that time, it was more about, you know, everything's new and everything's changing and the world to change with the pandemic and all of these things were going on and we had to think about it from how do we be curious and stay curious? 

I'm going to start with be curious right now. When I say curiosity, what do I mean? I mean open-minded. That's one of the things I mean. I'm gonna name off a bunch of things. And open-mindedness means that you have the willingness to look at things with an open mind and not constantly say, get what, say it with me. We've always done it that way. We're not gonna ever say that again. Write that down, put a red line around it and circle through it, we don't say that anymore. So open-mindedness. 

A willingness, this is the second one, a willingness to change. Are you, and be honest with yourself, are you willing to change? And a lot of you will say this, and I've heard people say this, well, I'm willing to change, or I'm looking at that through a different lens, but I just know the people in my office won't be ready for that. That's BS. I'm serious. Like, this is the time, and this is the industry that is dying for change. And you... or your office or everybody get to get on the train and be willing to change. Are you? Ask yourself that question. Look in the mirror and say, am I willing to change? And not giving yourself the out of, well, other people around me won't be ready to change. Okay, third, so we've got open-mindedness, willingness to change. 

Number three, is there a willingness to admit that you don't have all the answers? This is a big one. This is just big in life. I think... and I'll just give my wife, you know, shout out to Megan Fox for putting, yes, her name is Megan Fox, for those of you who haven't heard me before, putting up with me, you know, for the last 20 plus years. And I can tell you when I was younger, I do not believe I had the willingness to admit that I didn't know everything. Definitely had a tough time admitting I was wrong. I've gotten better, I'm working on it. I only, I only, I preach what I practice. So I am going to, I pride myself on Be Curious. This is one of, like I said, one of Kobe Bryant's big things. Kobe Bryant is a influence in our house because of the way he lived his life, the way he worked hard. You all know my son's a basketball player. That's his favorite player. That's based on the work rate and his ability to say, stay curious. Michael Jordan would say, of all the players I ever played with, Kobe asked me the most questions. He wanted to learn the most. And that means that Kobe had the ability to admit that he didn't have all the answers. So that's the third one. Okay, this is where it gets a little more specific to our business, because any of those first three, you can apply to any part of your life, to your parenting, to your marriage, your partnership, your... friendships, the way you are with your parents, like whatever it is. But this is when we get into our business, okay? 

So number four, understanding that status quo is not okay in our business today. Let me say it again, understanding that status quo is not okay in our business today. Let me expand. So if you think about your business today, and you think about how fast things like technology are moving, how much money your competitors, whether they are the guy down the street or the gal down the street with an agency, or the gecko and flow and the billions of dollars they're spending to put their face in front of all of your potential customers. Status quo is a no-go for today. You have to be looking at ways to change. So if you look at the first three, and you understand the status quo is not okay, are you willing to change? Are you open-minded? And can you admit that you don't have all the answers? So that kind of ties the first three together to your business. And then the final one, which is sort of like a bow. It's not really a fifth one, but it's because those are your four. 

Then the fifth point I'm going to make, which is the, the tie together of the other ones is an acknowledgement that your competitors are changing. And I need to be curious. Question, stay curious to keep up. I need you to think through that. Because if you're in your head right now and you're saying, you know, we're doing fine, yeah, you probably are. And what was great then was good is now fine. You know what comes after fine? Not great, not good. So this is the time in business, in life, like this be curious, stay curious is a great mantra for anything you do in life. But we're going to talk, we're going to take this down. So if you can acknowledge that your competitors are changing and you're, but, but you're willing to be curious, be open-minded, be willing to change, admit that you don't have all the answers, know, and know that status quo is not good enough. then you really have a chance here to do something really, really awesome. And if you're feeling stuck, if you're feeling, I don't know, repetitive or like in a loop, this is the way to break out of that. Challenge yourself, challenge your business. Again, it's not okay to say, well, I'm thinking like that, but I don't think the rest of the people around me are. It's not okay anymore. That's actually worth time to say, then the people that are around me might not be the people I should have around me. And that's harsh, but that's real. And that's the way you need to be looking at this. 

I would say right now. 50% of the agents that I talk to say that the market we're in right now is the biggest opportunity that they've ever been a part of, while simultaneously the other half are saying this is the hardest time I've ever had in the insurance business. Which one are you? And that first half that I shared with, the ones that see the opportunity, these are the ones that are poking and prodding at the way they do things. curious about ways that they can change. They're admitting the things they don't have answers to. They are acknowledging that they're competitors. The rest of that 50% think about it this way. If you're in the 50% that says, this is the biggest opportunity I've ever seen. That means that you and 50 out of 100 agents are going after it. So one, you better stay all the way up with them to compete. Your advantage is the other 50% are saying, I'm stuck, I'm here, this is horrible, the market's killing me. You have an advantage over those, but only if you grab it, take it, and run with it. Think about it from that lens. Do you wanna be a have or a have not? Do you wanna be curious? Do you wanna look for ways to get better or do you wanna be stuck and hope it all works out? That's on you. It's on you and your business. And I am specifically talking to leadership and agency owners, but this is everyone. 

If you work in this industry right now, and you work, and I'm putting every owner and every leader on blast. If you work in a place or an environment that isn't giving you the opportunity to be great, and we're working on it right now. I've only been at my new job for seven months now, I think, is that right? Seven months. And we, we are baby stepping into some of these things, but I'll tell you the one thing I'm doing on a daily basis is I'm being as curious as I can. And I am trying my darnedest to make, to trickle that and cascade that down to the people that work in my organization and to all of the agents that are part of our system and the, and it is just smashing me in the face with those that are willing to change as hard as it's, you know, buckling my knees. with those that are not, that are stuck. So I'm having these conversations one-on-one. I'm having them in smaller groups, and now I'm having it, and I'm shouting from the mountaintops that all of you out there need to be curious and stay curious, okay, how do we do it? You can talk about it all day, and I can sit here and pretend like I'm being curious, and that I'm gonna stay that way, and that I'm gonna be open-minded, and then I'm gonna go back to my day, and it's gonna get really busy, and I'm gonna get stuck. So how do we do it? Well, first and foremost, and anybody that has ever, ever listened to me has heard me say, you have to have a plan. So what is your plan? What are your goals? What numbers are you trying to hit? What problems are you trying to solve? And which one of those things, and this is one that we just talked about in a recent rant about the great resignation and whether or not your agency or your business was finding the right talent, whether or not that was your fault or not. 

So what's your plan? I'm making these numbers up. I don't have big year businesses, but let's say my plan is 200 new pieces of business before the end of quarter to three. And then the next thing we do, that's great, we set a number. But have we made a plan around it? Have we decided how we're going to attack that? Have we tried new things? Have we gotten curious and open-minded to new opportunities? The only way to reach plans and they should be stretches because the opportunity is there right now, is to go through this process for yourself. Ask hard questions, look at new things. It might, they might seem difficult. And then in a month, two months, six months, you'll say, man, why didn't we do that before? And... We can't live with the way we did that change. And we can't live without it now. And let me say this, if you ask yourself the question, if you're saying, am I open-minded and what do I not know or what would help my business? And your answer is nothing. I'm running away from you as fast as I can as somebody I'd ever wanna be in business with. I'm just trying to be as real as I can because you need to educate yourself that it isn't enough. And I don't mean that you're not being, that you're not successful right now. That's not what I'm saying. You might be doing great and you might have your arms folded if you're listening to this or already have turned it off and said, we're fine. Okay, good luck with the fine as you fall farther and farther into that 50% that's stuck and farther and farther behind the 50% that is taking this opportunity, grabbing it and running with it. There are always things to look at and decide if they can be better. And if you make a plan, man, that's, that's how you find it. Like if you say, we're going to try really hard. Okay, great. What does that mean? Well, we did 112 sales this last quarter. Okay. Was that, did you, did you hit your plan? Uh, we didn't have a plan. Okay. Well then was it successful? I don't know. Wrong plan. How do I get to my plan? Measure my plan. Then be curious how I can get to my next plan. Set goals. Make. plans, give your employees expectations. If you're an, if you're an employee and you don't, and that hasn't been set for you, demand it. Hey, what are we trying to accomplish before the end of the year? So I can drive toward that. What is the expectation you have of me as it relates to customer service, retention, new business, cross, whatever it is, claims, anything. Okay. So we make a plan. The second thing we do is we ask questions. I use an example again, I brought her up once, I'm doing it again, Megan Fox. She will never, ever ask where things are in the grocery store. Whether it's our grocery store where she knows everything is, or if we're, you know, having to stop somewhere and it's like, we got to find the, uh, the salsa. I'm making that up. She will literally go line by line and try it. Cause salsa, it doesn't say salsa on the, on the thing up above. So you have to find some places it's international foods, others it's with dressing. So she'll just kind of run around until she finds it. My approach, willing to, and I know a lot of people aren't like, they used to ask, when asking for directions was a thing, wouldn't ask for directions, now you just plug it into your Siri and you have a map. But the grocery store, I'll just walk right up to the gal or the guy at the front and say, hey, where's the salsa? Isle seven, right side, end of the road, thanks, done. 

Ask questions of your business, ask questions of yourself, ask questions of the people in your organization to see what their input is and then be curious, meaning listen to the answers. Because if you're one of the people who is not willing to admit that you don't have all the answers, Wait, did I say that right? Hold on. If you, let me say it again. I think I might've said it right, but I was actually thinking about my next thing. If you are someone that says, I have all the answers, then don't ask any questions. You're already stuck. But if you're willing to hear them because you know you don't have all the answers, boom, that's it. And then try, measure, and have an open-minded decision whether it worked or not and move to the next thing. This seems simple, it is not. This is hard and it takes work. I've used this example before, but you have to train that kid at the front of the grocery store line that asked for candy and on the fourth time, the mom says yes. On the fourth time, you tell your folks or you work in a group and you stick to the plan, the new plan, the plan that was created out of curiosity, the plan that was created out of open-mindedness. Now you're doing something. So now you're trying, you're measuring, you're making a decision and you're moving on, keeping an open mind around that. That is the way of the world now for those that wanna just crush it. And I don't wanna, I'm not gonna beat a dead horse here too long, but I am gonna go back and give you my four things one more time. 

And I want you to ask yourself these questions. Number one, are you open-minded to change? Number two, are you willing to change? And are you willing to push hard enough on change that you can get others on the same train with you to change? Are you willing to admit that you don't know all the answers? And finally, do you understand that status quo is not okay in the business, in your business right now? Status quo is no-go. It's not okay. And all of those together should give you an acknowledgement that your competitors are changing. And especially that... half of those that are seeing our current status of this market as the largest opportunity I've ever seen. Man, it is out there. What are you willing to do? What are you willing to change? And how can you get there? 

Take a deep breath. Be willing to be open-minded, and the world is your oyster. I really believe right now is an opportunity for some of you that are in that 50% that are stuck to move over to the other side. Take this, write those things down. Look in the mirror, ask yourself those questions. Be honest with yourself. You can change everything right now by just being curious and then staying curious. Hopefully that helps everybody. I tend to get on these rants. This one, again, came specifically out of having conversations with agents that were not being curious. They weren't asking questions. They weren't challenging things with an open mind, and they are stuck. I don't want you to be one of those stucks. I want you to be one of those that's out there just crushing it right now. 

So once again, there's my rant. Be curious, stay curious. Shout out to Kobe Bryant. for that, not the only one, but the one that we use as a sounding board on that. And as I said at the very beginning, thank you everyone for listening to this. I hope you're finding little tidbits of knowledge or tidbits of inspiration that are helping you move your day forward. If one of you got one piece of info out of this that was helpful, then it was worth all the work that we put in. So we'll see you next time. Thanks again for tuning into the ITB, and we'll be back next week.