Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

~ Benjamin Franklin

I spoke recently with a broker in Minnesota who was interested in my consulting with his agency to build a workplace voluntary benefits (WVB) practice to leverage his huge opportunity with WVB.

Faced with all the industry upheaval and downward pressure on medical commissions, he has resolved that he ought to be cross-selling WVB to his book and leading with WVB as a door-opener and differentiator with prospects. And he understands that he needs a WVB practice to maximize his opportunity.

What strikes me about this Minnesota broker is that he is performing what he resolved, i.e., he is acting on his decision to cross-sell WVB by reaching out to an expert to help create his voluntary practice and to ensure it’s done right.

Frankly, my biggest frustration and disappointment is with brokers & agency owners who decide that they want to grow their WVB sales and explode their commissions but never act on it, never commit the resources, never take the steps to achieve their stated goal.

This isn’t a sin, in fact it’s human nature to hesitate, resist change, fear the unknown…even when we know that we need to – MUST – change to grow or just survive.

The saying goes, “No change, no change.” In other words, keep doing what you’ve been doing and you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten.

As a consultant & advisor to brokers and agency owners, I have the opportunity to encourage, motivate and even push my clients to change, to “perform…what you resolve.”

But, in the end, it’s not my call … it’s yours. I can show you what to do…you have to choose to take the next step.

That step might be building a voluntary benefits practice, deploying a new agency management system, developing a fee-for-service compliance program, implementing a consultative selling system, or adopting a population health management program. Whatever you have resolved to do to diversify your product and services portfolio and increase your value to your clients…do it!

With the ACA-driven shakeout in our industry, with the ongoing thinning of the herd, there could be no better time than now to get to work to “perform…what you resolve!”

The Author

Nelson L. Griswold is recognized as a leading agency growth consultant and is the author of the industry bestseller, DO or DIE: Reinventing Your Benefits Agency for Post-Reform Success, available at www.21stCenturyAgency.com. He writes a monthly column for Employee Benefit Advisor magazine and is an in-demand speaker on agency growth, consultative selling, cross-selling, and voluntary benefits. To see how well your agency is positioned for growth, take the two-minute assessment at https://www.21stcenturyagency.com/assessment.html and we’ll give you a custom report on your strengths & weakness and key strategies to fix your weaknesses.