Hey everyone, it’s Jeremy from Ochsner Insurance with another one-take edition of Jeremy’s Journal. Running an independent insurance agency is not for the faint of heart; it requires juggling many tasks and constantly adapting to new challenges. Here’s a look at what went down for the week ending June 7th.
The Reality of Balancing Sales and Service
Running an independent insurance agency means balancing sales and service, which can often feel like spinning 56 plates at once. This week, I had conversations with industry veterans who reassured me that the hard work is worth it. Their encouragement helped me stay on track and focused on building an agency that can run smoothly without me needing to handle every task personally.
Searching for the Right Help
A big focus this week was on interviewing companies to find a virtual employee. We need someone to handle service work and create sales lists to free up my time for prospecting. After talking to four companies, we’ve narrowed it down to two strong candidates. Special shoutout to Mike Cruz at Virtual Intelligence for a solid meeting where we discussed what success looks like for bringing on a virtual employee.
Exciting New Tools for Clients
We’re thrilled to announce that we’ll soon be launching an app to make our clients’ experience smoother. This app will provide one-touch access to social media channels, policy information, ID cards, and more. I’ve tested it myself, and it’s fantastic. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting development.
Small Wins and Continuous Improvement
One highlight of the week was successfully writing a policy for a startup commercial janitorial company. This reminded me why I got into this business: to provide quality experiences and build meaningful relationships. Even though we didn’t meet all our targets, we made small improvements every day, which is how we’ll achieve big goals over time.
Learning and Growing
We finished reading “The Six Types of Working Genius” by Patrick Lencioni, which provided valuable insights into our strengths. I discovered that I’m a Galvanizer with Tenacity, and my wife is a Galvanizer with Enabler traits. This knowledge will help us better define our team roles and find the right fit for our virtual employee.
We’re also reading Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why” and Dan Martell’s “Buy Back Your Time,” which are helping us set up processes and playbooks to show new employees why their roles are important.
Looking Ahead
Despite some challenges, it was a good week filled with learning and small victories. We’re excited about the future and looking forward to bringing you more updates.
Thanks for tuning in to this week’s Jeremy’s Journal. Here’s to your success!
Best regards, Jeremy Ochsner