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Less Is More

Welcome everybody. This is Mike Stromsoe coming to you live from the Living Agency Laboratory and we’re here for another episode of the Unstoppable Profit Podcast. I am uber pumped, uber excited, and uber grateful to have a top performing niche agency on the line today to share with you gold nuggets that you’d never heard anywhere else.

Here’s a a small taste of the interview for those of you who do not know the Unstoppable Russ Castle…

Russ Castle:

I’m third generation agent. I’ve been doing this, April 15th was end of my 28th, so starting my 29th years, so just coming up to 30. I did do a couple of years before with farmers. So I’ve actually been in the industry just over 30 years, but an independent broker, for 28 almost going on 29. Family; Wife, two kids, two grown kids, both just getting out of college. Our agency and our home is in Redwood city, at the Silicon Valley. When I took over or when I started working with my father 37 years ago, and he had worked for his father-in-law prior to that. Grandpa started in the 40’s, dad started in the 60’s, and I started, as I said, 30 years ago. We were generalist and probably about 20 years ago started really looking at niches and doing it.

Most recently we were very honored to be Rough Notes Agent of the month for March of this year. And that was a huge feather in our cap for as a team, not only just me. And our revenue, our numbers continue to just blow us away. And it’s all attributable to being a niche player, the efficiencies, etc.

One of the things I learned in Rough Notes that I really wasn’t aware of is where I stand versus other agencies because I’m always, if I can do it, everybody can do it. And I was told in Rough Notes that my revenue per employee is about triple of the national average, which just totally blew me away. But it’s a group effort and I attribute that to my team, it’s not just me. Thanks for asking Mike.

Mike Stromsoe:

Hey, no problem whatsoever. And I will second that and agree with what Rough Notes said. I am familiar with the numbers of a lot of agents all over North America and you, my friend, are at the very top of the charts. You’re to be highly commended for that. But I also know because of our relationship and what I know about your agency, it’s because of the niches. And at the end of the day, the niches are something that when you’re willing to do the work, because as you know, the only time success comes before work is in the dictionary, right?

Russ Castle:

Yeah.

Mike Stromsoe:

Okay. And you’ve done the work.

Russ Castle:

I think these are relatable to other people that are on here. At the stage I am in my career I always want to help them get back. So to relate to other people, I only have three employees and the numbers that we do are commensurate with, in my peers of people that have, like I said, three times, four times that many employees. I’m very proud. We were up to seven at one point, plus me, so eight of us. And I’m glad that we’re only, I don’t want to manage people. My business is set up and it’s fitting what I want to do. And so I’ve got rockstars in those three ladies but we’re a small office, so don’t look at this and if you’re hearing this and thinking, well, he’s huge. He’s doing X, he’s doing Y. There’s three ladies and me and when it comes to the habitational niche, it’s one lady and me. So anyhow, just trying to put in perspective more to people that are listening.

Mike Stromsoe:

Yeah. And we’re going to get to this a little bit later on in the podcast, but you’re living life on your own terms and there is a lot of people out there that would give a body part, and we will get specific on that in the podcast today, to be able to do what you do. And I hear it from not just my earshot, but a lot of other people within the industry that, no disrespect Russ, we’re talking behind your back out of deep admiration for what you’ve built. So kudos to you.

Russ Castle:

I feel honored and blessed and just because of a lot of people that have helped me, I want to do the same in giving back.

Listen to the podcast for ALL of the gold nuggets!

My friends, thank you so much for investing time today to learn more about just the beginning phases of niches and there are riches in niches if you’ll learn what you need to learn and do the work. Success does leave clues. Speaking of success, Russ, thank you for investing time today to be on this episode of the Unstoppable Profit Podcast.

Hey, everybody, thank you for spending time with us on this episode of the Unstoppable Profit Podcast and I can’t wait to bring to you even more success on our next episode, so make sure you continually tune in.

Until then, get out there and make a difference, be unstoppable and leave no regrets!

Gratefully,

 

Mike Stromsoe
The Unstoppable Profit Producer
Call 800-770-9984
Email [email protected]

PS “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”

– Maria Robinson

 

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The Power of Mastermind – Part 2

Welcome to episode 54 of the Unstoppable Profit Podcast. This is Mike Stromsoe coming to you live from the Living Agency Laboratory and today we’re going to be talking about the Power of Mastermind – Part 2 of the aha’s from our own mastermind experience.

We are consistently investing in ourselves to improve, personally develop and find new ways and strategies to continue to grow our business so that we can have more wealth and have more freedom to live life on our own terms. So, we bring to you from the ground trenches of our own personal training and development the aha’s that I personally got in my own personal masterminding experience.

You know when you get that little buzz  in your head when something is just flipping incredible, you have goosebumps on your arm… the mastermind experience is such an experience. I am in a mastermind environment with some of the highest achieving people out there. There are people that are a lot younger than I am that are doing just incredible things in this world outside of our industry. There’s incredible knowledge, wealth, ideas, business strategies and great business minds out there. So take advantage of that opportunity.

I’m going to start where we left off at the end of part one and we were talking about.. There’s two things in this industry, right?

New business and Retention

The new business side is selling, right? Selling and retention. We were talking about making sure that our pitch, whether it be new business or retention was on point, so we need to communicate.

We need to communicate verbally and in written form well.  You should be taking phone calls, you can be recording live presentations that you do. In today’s world zoom has become this new thing which has taken place of a lot of face to face communication, you can record these.  Now you have the audio, video and you transcribe these for the written form of your presentation. And you have all of these strategies to, what we strategically call in the marketing world, re-purposing.  Ultimately at the end of the day, if you ever end up writing a book, writing white papers, etc, etc, this is your content.

Listen to this episode for all of the exclusive strategies shared in the Mastermind Aha’s Part 2.

If you like what you hear on our podcast, if you like what you see in anything else that we do, if you are willing to invest three days live working ON your business, getting ready, getting your game plan ready for the coming year, come to our upcoming BeUnstoppable 2020 Bootcamp! Join approximately up to 300 other high achieving agency leaders, and you will continue to grow in that environment. It is an absolute can’t miss. In fact, we believe in it so much that it will continue to impact people’s lives personally and professionally. It has 100% risk removal, aka a guarantee. So, you have nothing to risk.

Grab your seat today – www.BeUnstoppableBootcamp.com

I hope to see you there!

Until next time, get out there and Make a Difference, Be Unstoppable and Leave No Regrets!

Gratfeully,

Mike Stromsoe

The Unstoppable Profit Producer

Call 800-770-9984

www.UnstoppableProfitProducer.com

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Wait a minute. Today’s not a podcast. It’s a Pause Cast!

Greetings, friends. Welcome to episode 51 of The Unstoppable Profit Podcast!

This is Mike Stromsoe coming to you live from the Living Agency Laboratory, and today we’re going to be talking about … Wait a minute. Today’s not a podcast. It’s a Pause Cast!

Yes, a Pause Cast. That was affectionately born right here in the Living Agency Laboratory during a one-day coaching session with one of our Platinum Coaching members.  I was sharing with them the strategy of the pause, and it’s so powerful when used properly, and that coaching member said, “Hey, when you get ready to teach on this, and I highly recommend that you do, call it a Pause Cast.”

So here we are, Episode 51 is a Pause Cast, and I want to share with you everything that I’ve learned so far about the power of the pause. If you will strategically make little shifts in everything that you’re doing within your sales organization, within your service organization, as you’re connecting with people, as you’re implementing strategies, not tactics, strategies.

Through my own personal training and development over the last 20 years, and a lot of the great people that I’ve learned under and from, and used, and taken action on in my own business operations, I’ve learned that the power of the pause is huge. I’ve watched them do it. I’ve learned the psychology of why it’s important, and at what moment it’s important to pause, and let them digest it, and let them feel the emotion of what was just said, and then at that point you go further into the conversation.

I’ve got a number of examples for you today that I’m going to share with you, where you can immediately take away from this pause cast and implement in your own business. Because I also learned many, many years ago, in my own personal training and development, that big doors swing on little hinges.

It doesn’t take huge shifts or huge swings in what you’re already probably doing really, really well, but sometimes those little shifts in the way you can do it can elevate your conversion ratios, your closing ratios, growing your existing book of business, and it’s not that difficult. So if you were to say to me, “Mike, what’s the one thing that you have learned more about in the last five years in business as it applies to your business than anything else?” I would wholeheartedly 100% say it’s the psychology of the human relationship in business. I have learned how to understand and do things in a little bit different way to make those shifts, which really has helped us just be a lot more effective in everything that we’re doing, in the insurance agency business and beyond that.

The power of the pause really came into my own world after I had learned about it, oddly enough, I was down at the grocery store one day… And this happens everywhere, and you can do this, and it’s such a door opener for furthering a conversation with anybody. So, I was checking out of the grocery store line, and I got my goods and paid and all that kind of stuff, and the checker said, “Have a great day.” And I paused. Here’s where the power of the pause comes in. I paused, I looked at the checker right in the eye, and I said, “There’s no other option.”

It was that pause that allowed me to connect with that person, eye to eye, in a way, heart to heart and soul to soul, and I looked that person right in the eye and I said, “There’s no other option.” And I do that all the time, everywhere I go, as I get to travel all across North America, and when I get in that position and somebody says, “Have a great day,” or they open the door for me to say, “There’s no other option,” I pause because I connect with them and they think about it. They go, “You’re right. There is no other option.” And I’m thinking, “Of course there’s not.”

We know that, right? It’s the power of the positive mindset.  At the end of the day they’re feeling, it’s back to the E plus F equals C, experience plus feeling equals connectedness, relationship plus trust equals money follows trust, we’ve done another podcast on this. When you create that experience and that feeling in people, the door is wide open. Wide open, my friends, for sale. We’re always in sales all of the time, 100% of the ways, 100% of the days. You’ve got to be thinking like that as a strategy minded business entrepreneur.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, listen to the whole podcast for more strategies of how you can implement the power of the pause within your communications to dramatically change your RESULTS!

If you would like to get more tools to grow your business and take it to the next level and beyond, you’re invited to join our team and hundreds of other forward-thinking independent insurance agency owners at the next BeUnstoppable Bootcamp October 26-28, 2020 in beautiful San Diego, CA!

Here’s what another agent has to say about their experience with Mike Stromsoe and the BeUnstoppable Bootcamp:

“BeUnstoppable Bootcamp has once again had a tremendous impact on my life and the future of my agency. Mike Stromsoe truly cares about the success of all of us here and I will never be the same person, father, husband, + leader.” 11/10

Andrew Kadera, Principal – Allco Fullerton Insurance – Fullerton, CA

Don’t wait… Reserve Your Seat Today!

I hope this helps!  Until next time, go out there and be unstoppable, make a difference and leave no regrets!

Make it a great day, there’s no other options!

Gratefully,

 

Mike Stromsoe

The Unstoppable Profit Producer

Call 800-770-9984 or visit www.UnstoppableProfitProducer.com today!