Pan for Gold

Did you ever see the movie “The Treasure of Sierra Madre” with Bogart? It’s a great old flick! This isn’t the point of the movie, but what I remember being struck by the last time I saw it was how hard prospecting for gold is! In fact, there is a show running on TV I saw a few months ago where guys are prospecting for gold in South America today. It’s unbelievable what miners do looking for wealth “the easy way”!

Contrast that to the insurance agency business. In our business we prospect too.   But it’s a lot easier!

Do you prospect? As agency owners we should be ready to hand out a business card to every single person we meet.   Aren’t you always being asked, “What do you do?”. I am. Do you hand out your card, give your elevator speech and offer to review insurance?

Why not? Do you really want to do it the hard way by cold calling or mailing thousands of mail pieces?

Literally every one you know and every one you’ll ever meet in your life is a potential customer. They are all buying insurance somewhere from somebody. Why not from you?

Most agents don’t prospect at all. I think most agents are afraid to be pushy. Some are scared. Some are lazy. But the agents that everyone admires on company trips are the guys that prospect. Relentlessly.

Look success is a habit. Or rather it’s the result of lots of habits. Prospecting is a habit.

There are lots of hard ways to make money in this life. Prospecting for gold is one of them. Prospecting for insurance customers isn’t. It’s easy.