Enrich your insurance agency.
Russell H. Conwell, the founder of Temple University in Philadelphia, delivered his most famous speech more than 5,000 times from 1900-1925. He once told a reporter that for some of his lectures, he spent over a year preparing them, only to deliver them once. That was not the case with his “Acres of Diamonds” message. He had written it on a whim and with no preparation, and the message resonated across audiences for years. His speech was about challenging yourself to seek out opportunities to find true wealth right in your own backyard. He explained that “acres of diamonds are to be found in this city, and you are to find them. Many have found them. And what man has done, man can do. They are not in far-away mountains or in distant seas; they are in your own back yard if you will but dig for them.
At this moment, you are standing in the middle of your own acre of diamonds. Every single day that you walk into your office, you are standing amidst an acre of diamonds. There is nothing but opportunity surrounding you—and all you have to do is do something with it. It’s your clients, your prospects, your centers of influence, and your community.
I’ve learned that everyone knows at least 250 people. In turn, each of those 250 people knows his or her own set of 250 people. Keep going, and pretty soon, the number of people within your reach becomes too high to count. I read a story by one of my favorite mentors, Earl Nightingale, that really drives home the importance of looking right where you stand. He told readers that before you go running off into what you think are greener pastures, you better make sure that your own is not just as green, or perhaps even greener. It’s been said that if the other guy’s pasture appears to be greener than yours, it’s possible that his pasture is simply getting better care.
While you are busy looking at other pastures, other people are looking at yours. That is why you have to make sure that you keep watering your own pasture to keep it green and growing. The easiest money that you are ever going to earn is right beside the money that you are already earning. It’s right there beneath your feet in your own acre of diamonds.
If an agency principal were to come to me and say, “Where should I start growing my business after I find a good team?” I would reply that the best place to start is your own acre of diamonds—which is your own existing client base. Once a client of mine grasped this concept, he devised a plan: I am not going to send out any marketing pieces for one year. He said, “I am going to focus solely on my own book of clients, my own acre of diamonds, and I’m going to make sure I round accounts, contact them, and fully exploit everything that’s going on in their lives before I spend one more dollar on marketing.”
When I followed up with this agent to see how his plan worked, he told me, “We had so much opportunity left after the first year that we did the same thing again for another year.” For two full years, he spent no money on outbound marketing, focused all of his energy and investments into his own existing book of business, and he actually grew about 11 percent. By rounding out his accounts on a policy count versus client count basis, he increased the value of his business ten-fold or more. That means if he ever had to sell his agency, it’d be worth a lot more money because his client base is that much more entrenched in their relationships with his agency.
To learn more about how to be successful in your business, contact Mike Stromsoe’s Unstoppable Profit Producer Program. We can offer guidance, helping you perfect your professional posture. We also offer a premier wealth creation program that helps you to work less, earn more, and enjoy life.