While pursuing your goal to act as a differentiated, consultative risk advisor, invest in learning more about serving others. If you want to carve out success, you must understand that it’s often not enough to simply be different. You must be different in a way that boldly addresses the unmet needs of your market.
You must uncover a way to solve problems that no one else is even talking about solving.
You see, everyone in the insurance industry is addressing the same problems. But what if they’re the wrong problems – or at least, not your clients’ most pressing problems?
Think about your current book of business. Aren’t you simply trying to meet the same needs as everyone else? My guess is that even if you’ve come up with a powerful new way to deliver your products and services, you’re still essentially attacking the same problems and challenges with the same “proven” approach as every agent and broker.
So, let me ask you this. Do you know the number-one unmet need in your marketplace? Do you understand the biggest problem or pain your clients struggle with? Do you know the one thing they can’t get anyone to solve? Do you know the answer they’ve searched high and low for? The question they would gladly pay to have answered?
The answer to these questions is where the true secret to success resides.
Remember, it’s not enough to simply BE different, you must be different in a way that offers extreme value and solves problems.
Your research starts by sitting down with your clients and their management team and asking some tough questions. Ask, probe, and dig for unmet needs. You have to figure out what they cannot get and how badly they want it.
The ultimate secret to the flow of success is to solve the problems that nobody else is solving, even if you don’t yet know how to do it.
Make a commitment to start today and ask your clients some version of the following three questions. Start looking for patterns, unmet needs, and opportunities to change how you approach your business and serve your clients:
- What is the biggest issue you are facing in your business?
- Why is it important that you find a solution to this issue now?
- How hard have you worked to try to solve this issue in the past?
Ultimately, you’re looking for a pattern of unmet needs that your clients want to solve but have had a difficult time addressing. This approach has powerful implications for your book of business. By using your consultative approach to risk management, you can figure these out and solve the hard problems that exist. This will differentiate you in ways others won’t even consider.
The secret to unparalleled success and happiness is to differentiate yourself by solving your clients’ unmet needs.