Summary:

During this episode of AI your host Jason Cass talks about where he’s been, what he’s been doing and his plans for the podcast going forward.

Show Notes:

• There have been a lot of changes going on in Jason Cass’s life.
  • He bought an agency and the process was longer than expected.
    • Purchased the agency through an SBA loan.
    • The process has been longer than expected.
    • You go through five layers of underwriting, you have to be pretty clean.
  • Had his agency that went out about a year.
    • Not a big fan of business plans that go out past a year.
    • A business plan only matters until you get punched in the face.
  • Went to the IAOA – Insurance Agency Owners Alliance
    • Run by Dave Jackson and Nicholas Ayers.
    • This is about real change by listening to people who do what you do every day.
    • In January go to IAOA, then Elevate in June, and AI Lab
    • IAOA was a very positive thing for his business.
    • He and his peers sat around as business owners and critiqued each other’s businesses.
      • We use criticism in a negative light and it doesn’t always have to be.
      • Randomly listened to phone calls and critiqued them.
        • Broke down what they did in their office every day.
      • We need to ask ourselves how are we going to make things better for our employees?
        • It all starts internally.
        • You can only get better in business life as much as you gain personally.
        • Billy Williams says that culture runs your office.
      • Why AI?
        • Agency intelligence is what’s going to power you for the future.
        • If you have a lot of flashy marketing and then your physical agency doesn’t reflect that, it seems like you’ve fooled them.
        • If you just do your best and create a customer experience that’s new and tangible, that’s a better experience.
        • If you do the best you can for your business, customers are going to go tell everyone about you.
          • You’ll start to get referral-based business with a higher closing ration.
        • You need to have videos and blogs, but you need to focus on agency intelligence.
        • Why are we still talking about the customer experience?
          • The industry is way behind.
        • Going forward there will be two separate podcasts:
          • Agency Intelligence
            • A regular podcast
            • Focused on the nitty gritty.
            • Doing this to lay a foundation of importance for agency intelligence and creating a great customer experience.
          • Agents Influence Conversations with Jason Cass
            • Conversations with influencers and thought leaders.
            • Will still exist but will be less frequent.
          • If you don’t create a great customer experience you won’t be making as much as those who do.
            • Videos, blogs, and Facebook are important, but you need agency intelligence for success.
          • Go to Angentsinfluence.com and check out the mastermind tab if you’re interested in being a member.

Tweetable Quotes

• Business owners run their agency like a business, agency owners run their agency like a business.
• Have a client experience that separates you.
• The business that stays is the business that pays.

Resources Mentioned

InsuranceAgencyIntelligence.com

Agentsinfluence.com

Crestmark Bank

IAOA

Elevate

Rocket Referrals

Lightspeed Voice

Jason Cass

Jason Cass is a thought leader, speaker, agency owner and champion for the independent insurance industry. He is the founder of Agency Intelligence (AI), a place where insurance agents and agency owners can connect, share knowledge and work together to improve their agencies and move the industry forward.

Jason hosts two major insurance podcast series, Agent’s Influence and Agency Intelligence where he talks with those that influence the insurance industry and connects with independent insurance agents all over the country. He is also the author of the Amazon Bestselling book, Customer Service is Just Foreplay, and is working on his second book titled, The Great Separator.