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Automation, Burnout, and Real Talk on Insurance Agency Growth
The Insurance Dudes
August 26, 2025
Weekly Trivia 🤔 Question:
What kind of liability insurance would be a handy thing to have in the event of a catastrophic loss raining down on you, so to speak, and your other insurance has run dry?
Today In 5 Minutes Or Less (TLDR):
🔒Automation, Burnout, and Client Connections: Your Blueprint for the Modern Agency 🔒
Dear Insurance Champions,
Are you feeling overwhelmed in your agency? Struggling to keep up with service while still driving sales? You’re not alone. We've gathered some game-changing principles and boiled them down into bite-sized actions so you can reclaim your time, wow your clients, and drive profitability.
1. Embrace Automation (but Keep it Personal)
You can’t outwork a mountain of admin and still deliver first-class service. Automation is your not-so-secret weapon.
Action Steps:
Audit your repetitive tasks (renewal memos, follow-ups, data collection). Which can be automated?
Implement email templates and forms for routine client requests (like vehicle or driver updates). Make it easy for clients to respond on their own time.
Don’t make it robotic: Keep your messaging friendly, conversational, and “you.” Automation should feel human!
2. Focus on the Cash Register
Don’t get lost in shiny objects. Fancy new tools and platforms mean nothing if they distract you from the basics—bringing in business.
Action Steps:
Set a daily target for activity that leads directly to sales conversations (calls, emails, follow-ups).
Prioritize incoming revenue over tinkering with systems or comparing yourself to others.
Collect all client contact info—including co-insureds. This simple move multiplies your touchpoints for referrals and relationship-building.
3. Master the Phone (or Hire For It)
Phone skills still crush. Not everyone is built for high-volume dialing, so staff wisely.
Action Steps:
Identify team strengths: Put your best people where they shine. Some crush the phones; others are referral masters.
Consider dedicated lead generators: High school or college part-timers can book appointments and fill your funnel, freeing up your licensed team for closing and servicing.
4. Build Relationships, Not Transactions
Too many agents treat clients like names on a spreadsheet. Real growth comes from creating genuine relationships.
Action Steps:
Go past insurance talk: Find out something personal about every client—hobbies, family, business pain points.
Ask for feedback after a ‘No’: “Out of curiosity, if you were going to go with us, what would have made the difference?” Use honest input to hone your approach.
Deliver annual reviews: Use automation to trigger renewal check-ins with value-driven questionnaires. Become their risk advisor, not just their “insurance guy.”
5. Continuous Craft Refinement
Chasing leads is only half the equation. The other half? Sharpening your sales skills and learning from every interaction.
Action Steps:
Review lost deals—find the real reason you didn’t close. Was it rapport? Price? Something else?
Practice ‘listening with your ears’ not just your mouth. Ask questions, pause, and let clients talk.
Accept that not every client fits: Time spent on the wrong prospects is lost forever. Identify your ideal client and focus your energy there.
6. Leverage Analytics for Insight
You can now track what your clients engage with—use it!
Action Steps:
Monitor email clicks and opens to follow up with hot prospects.
Use data to identify who needs help or who’s due for a check-in.
Don’t overcomplicate: Focus on analytics that help you serve better, not just ones that look cool.
Bottom Line:
Modern agency success is a mix of human connection, relentless activity, and smart systems. Cut through the noise, automate the routine, and double down on value. There’s never been a better (or more exciting) time to serve your clients—and transform your book!
Craig Pretzinger and Jason Feltman
The Insurance Dudes! 🚀
It's like a roller coaster when you first started when you, when you win a client and that it feels great and you're like, oh, it's so easy. And then sometimes the cold comes a little bit, but you know, and there's a lot of learning, you know, that you're going on.
Chad Spaide
Breaking the Cycle of Bad Hires in Your Insurance Agency
That cycle of scrambling to hire because someone suddenly left, it’s brutal. I’ve felt it myself. Someone resigns, or worse, just stops showing up, and now you’re desperate. When you’re in that spot, it’s easy to rush. You grab the next “available” person, just to fill the seat. But deep down, you know you’re taking a risk. More often than not, it backfires. Maybe they don’t fit your values. Maybe they start tearing at your team culture, quietly or not so quietly, and suddenly that one quick fix becomes its own big problem. But what do you do? You keep them, because there’s no one else in line. That’s when it really starts to unravel.
The best thing I ever learned was to always be recruiting. Not just when there’s an open seat, but every single week. Set time aside to interview. Even if you don’t need someone, even if it feels redundant, keep doing it. You’d be surprised how often unpredictability strikes, someone goes to lunch and never comes back. If you wait for that moment to start looking, you’re already behind.
Here’s the reality: our teams, our agencies, they live and die by the people in them. When we hold off on recruiting until our backs are against the wall, we put ourselves in a position to make decisions we later regret. We settle for a “warm body,” and it’s not just about productivity, it’s about the tone and feel of the whole agency. The culture gets hit, morale takes a dive, and sometimes good people leave just because someone wrong was allowed to stay too long.
So, make interviewing and networking a routine, not a reaction. Build a bench of talent, even if it feels like overkill. The hires you make before you “need” them are often your best, because you chose them with intention, not desperation. You’re in control, not the chaos. Even if it takes time, forming that habit is what keeps your agency sturdy, your culture healthy, and your stress levels in check. In the long run, that steady approach wins every time.
Around The Web 🌎
The YouTube 🎥
Dan Kitajima's insurance journey took a dramatic turn when his captive carrier non-renewed $6M of his $17M book—just as he signed a $20K/month office lease. Forced to pivot, he transitioned to independence, discovering broker fees (averaging $189/policy) could solve cash flow problems that plagued his captive years. While initially nervous about losing brand recognition, Dan found closing ratios improved with access to multiple carriers, allowing him to save 75% of his non-renewed clients.
This Week On The Podcast 🎧
 | On this episode of The Insurance Dudes, we sit down with Cassidy Arbeli, a powerhouse agency owner whose journey is as inspiring as it is unconventional. Raised by entrepreneurial parents and equipped with a natural flair for business, Cassidy shares how she transformed her insurance career from humble beginnings with a newborn in tow to a multi-business owner, coach, and advocate for women in the industry. Cassidy opens up about the real challenges insurance agents face, from the gap in business education to the importance of building strong agency culture and the value of putting systems in place to gain real freedom. |
Answer To The Weekly Trivia Question:
Umbrella Insurance.
It provides extra liability protection beyond the limits of your standard policies, like a safety net for those “rainy day” disasters. 🌧️☂️
We put together a free book and checklist to grow your insurance agency 👉 Here
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