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Making agreements and the business sector are often portrayed in popular culture as cutthroat environments where everyone is looking out for number one. The reality is that trust is the cornerstone of fruitful business relationships and transactions.

Consider these six suggestions to demonstrate your integrity to prospective partners and business acquaintances.

How do you convey your message to a client without seeming “needy” in the process? By understanding how clients think!

Clients give referrals for two possible reasons. First, they want to help you grow your business. Second, they want to help friends and loved ones. Of these two reasons which one do you believe is a strong reason to give you a referral? If you said to help friends and loved ones, then you are right!

LinkedIn is one of the largest social media platforms, with approximately 875 million users and over 30 million businesses worldwide. It’s a powerful tool for networking, job searching, offering business insights, and building your personal brand. 

However, to truly make the most of the platform, it’s essential to understand how the LinkedIn algorithm works, which can take a lot of time and patience. This blog explains key takeaways from the algorithm and how to maximize your visibility and impact on the platform. 

I know you have a ton of metrics to watch. Many of them don’t tell a story and don’t help you make critical decisions. They just stress you out.

This one will change your life: Custom Acquisition Cost, or “CAC”.

How will CAC make you smarter?

CAC answers 3 questions that you probably can’t answer today. And without these answers, you’re guessing about where to spend your money. The 3 questions are:

1. How much do I currently spend to get a new customer?

2. How long does it take me to break even?

3. Where should I be spending?

When something seems too good to be true, chances are it probably is. Financial advisors play a critical role in helping individuals and businesses manage their finances and investments. As a financial advisor, you are continuously looking for new ways to attract clients and grow your business. 

One method that some financial advisors use is purchasing leads. However, we like to say that purchasing leads is essentially like playing the lottery. Purchasing leads can be a risky and ineffective lead-generation strategy. In this blog, we’ll explore why financial advisors should think twice before buying a list of leads. 

We've all heard the old adage, "knowledge is power." However, while knowledge is power in some situations, in others, it only becomes powerful once it is applied. For example, if you want to get in shape, knowing how to diet and exercise is not enough—you actually have to put that knowledge into practice.

In the financial sector, mental strength is also key. Just like physical fitness, mental toughness can be developed and strengthened with training. And like physical fitness, there are different exercises that can help build mental strength.

If you are like most advisors and agents you know that there are only three ways that your production can go: rise to a new production peak, backslide to a production valley, or cruise control onto a production plateau. Two out of three of those are not good states to be in your business and most people that reach a production peak don’t remain there for very long.

So, where do you currently find yourself? Most of us need a strategy (or several) to move from where we are to where we want to be.

This might be jarring for some readers. 10% will get it, and 1% will do something about it. Those who do will still compete for sales but not revenue, profit, or market share. We’re talking massive advantage.

“Insurance Agency” is not a business model. It’s a business. And that matters WAY MORE than you think.

As part of February's I Love NAIFA Month, we are highlighting all the aspects of the association we love. We are grateful for our Business Performance Center partners, who help provide agents and advisors with the tools and resources to build your agency or firm. 

Don't miss some of the recent content highlights from our BPC partners to help you take your business to the next level.

Matt Wagner of NAIFA Business Performance Center Partner, Client Focus, shares what agents and advisors need to know about AI and what it means for the industry.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the masses came online in December. It’s called ChatGPT. You can communicate with it at openai.com. It gives impressive answers to hard questions in seconds. Many think it will put Google search out of business. Maybe put schools out of business. AI is coming like a wrecking ball for repetitive, commodity work.

What about insurance agents? I was going to share my thoughts, but then it hit me.

Why not just ask AI?

So I did.