Best-selling author and founder of the Insurance Agent Summit, Brian Appleton wants to make it easier for insurance agents & brokers to learn how to grow their business. Now the Insurance Agent Summit has become the largest online conference for Insurance Agents & Brokers. Together, Michael and Brian discuss what they’ve observed from other successful insurance professionals, as well as the trends and challenges facing the independent insurance channel today.
What are other agents & brokers doing to thrive? What are the biggest trends affecting the retail insurance agent & broker? What are the most important strategies and tactics you need to grow faster? Find out here in the Connected Insurance Podcast, where Michael Jans discusses the biggest issues affecting the independent insurance agent and broker with the industries leading figures.
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[Transcript] Brian Appleton – Founder of the Insurance Agent Summit
Michael Jans: Hello everybody, this is Michael Jans with Agency Revolution. We make it easy to automate your systems, engage your customers, and grow your agency or brokerage. I want to welcome you to this episode of The Connected Insurance Podcastwhere we examine the trends, innovations, challenges, and solutions to the biggest problems facing retail agents and brokers. I am thrilled to introduce to you today’s guest, Brian Appleton is a friend of mine and well known in the insurance industry. He’s not only a best selling author but he’s also the creator and host of the Insurance Agent Summit, which is the world’s largest online training event for insurance agents and brokers.
I have participated in it proudly for the last two years. He runs an online mastermind group called the Agent Accelerator Alliance. Brian is a high energy, pays attention to things that matter, passionate about his work, and passionate about this channel. He reminds me of Michael Jans from many years ago. It’s my honor to introduce you to our guest, Brian Appleton. Brian, welcome to the podcast. Thanks so much for joining us. How are you?
Brian: Hey Michael, I’m doing great. I just want to thank you for inviting me today, so excited about this. You’re somebody that I’ve definitely followed for years. Honored to have you on the summits and honored to be here today.
Michael: Thank you, appreciate that. I’m going to start at the very beginning and ask you a little bit about you and what it is that you do. I know as I’d mentioned earlier, you’re the creator and host of the Insurance Agent Summit. That’s fascinating and it’s different and it’s a way from our point of view, it’s a way to add value to the industry in an almost effortless manner for your customers. Tell me and tell our audience, what is the Insurance Agent Summit?
Brian: Yes. Well, thank you, I appreciate that. I will try to keep it brief but yes, essentially what we did is I saw other people doing this and we called an online summit. I often times some times tell insurance agents or people in the insurance industry. What we did was take the conference concept we’re used to. Agents are often used to going to association events or large conferences. We, in a way just took that and put it in an online forum. What we did is we brought in people like yourself, people like Roger Sitkins, where a lot of the top thought leaders, agency owners like Chris Paradiso, and we said how can we find a more effective way to help share this valuable information that everybody has in a short time span and make it really effective.
In the world we live in today, we’ve got to expect to do more with less time. How can we do this so people don’t have to travel or leave the office or go anywhere? What we did was took it and put it on a totally online platform over a five-day period. We released these short but effective trainings. Everything from email marketing, which you cover, to online sales, general sales, marketing, agency growth, strategy, everything that agents want to know about, we took and put it on an online platform. In the first year, we did two summits, one in the spring, one in the fall. Going forward, we are only going to do one in the fall just so we have more of a build up time in a year to get towards it. So far we have 5,000 agents register in our first year.
Michael: That’s wonderful. That’s remarkable. Thank you. Congratulations for that.
Brian: Yes. Thank you. To wrap that up, we just wanted to test the concept. Do agents want this? They do. We are going to continue to do it and see where it goes from here.
Michael: In that process Brian, you have been the ear to some extent of the industry. You’ve been the ear of the agent or broker because you’ve heard so much from so many thought leaders in the industry, over a hundred. Have you identified patterns of thinking? Have you identified a common theme from the thought leaders that you have spoken to? What is it that you are hearing?
Brian: Yes, you know what’s funny? With most things, if you do it long enough and you listen long enough, a pattern starts to show up and there definitely has. I’d love to just run through and share a few things with our listeners today. A few things that stood out to me. A few will probably catch people a little by surprise, “Oh that makes sense.”The first one that stood out to me is the high achievers in this industry are continual learners. I was told awhile ago readers are leaders. I really believe in that. Surprisingly as I’ve talked to a lot of people too in the industry, not as many people are doing that as you think there would be.
People are so caught, agents and agencies are so called in the weeds. They don’t take that time to go out and look at what other successful people are doing, reading a good book. The best people are also looking outside of the industry. What are just successful people in general are doing in sales and marketing, in running their business. A lot of people follow Dan Kennedy. I know you do. I know a lot of successful people do. Looking outside the industry of who successful people are just in sales and marketing and growth, and really following that.Another thing that showed up for me is the most successful agents, agency owners are really looking for authority, even if it’s perceived authority.
That may mean strong social media presence. They have authored a book. They are doing things online that are positioning them in a way to have some type of authority, so when prospective clients or people see them, they automatically say, “Wow, this person must really know what they’re talking about.” It may not even be that they have seen a lot of them or heard them yet, but they just have a perceived authority by the things that they are doing online. I was blown away by that. Of course systems and processes are big. I did an interview with Brian Nate. He’s helping to run an agency. Took an agency, growth by 3.3 million. That’s 3.3 million in revenue in right around 12 months.
They do scripting. They script everything in the agency for when they are on the phone, calls, sales, everything. They’re taking it to a whole new level. I find with more and more agency owners that are highly successful, they’re putting systems and a process for everything. Michael, that’s what you guys do with email marketing right? Building a system and process so people don’t have to do all the work, and it’s highly effective.
Michael: So far you have identified three really compelling patterns. One of them is readers are leaders, and learners are achievers. Two, is the principle of authority. To a large extent, do you think this is true, Brian that the industry is in a state of turbulence right now? Generally speaking, if you look at Cialdini’s work for example. You will notice that in times of turbulence, people look outside for support and for help and for guidance. Are you seeing a lot of that, that principal of authority?
Brian: Great point. I’ve read his books as well, and really good stuff. The successful people are. They are seeing how other industries are dealing with turmoil. They’re seeing how Facebook and whatever it is that’s changing out there and other people are using to be successful in their business. How can I take that and just change it to insurance? The people that are struggling right now aren’t doing that. They are still stuck in this little bubble. That’s why we created the summit to get people out of that bubble. The people that are in their little bubble and aren’t looking outside of that are really struggling because they are not looking outside of their own sphere to see what are other people doing to be successful.
Michael: Were there other patterns or themes of behavior that you noticed among your thought leaders?
Brian: There were three more that I will just share real quick that stood out to me. Big on numbers, finding a way to put a number to everything. I think Michael, you probably do this in your business. Successful business owners do it. They are big on numbers. They’re always looking at how can I quantify what I am doing, and then scale from there? People, that one seems so simple Michael but gosh, I talked to so many agency owners that just don’t take the time to really qualify a good prospect and then put them in the right seat. Mike Stromsoe, who I think you know of as well-.
Michael: So far, most of the people you’ve talked have either been clients, or employees, or both of mine.
Brian: Michael, you have touched a lot of this industry. I have no doubt on that. Mike, he told a story of a lady that was with him for 14 years, and he’s like, it was such a struggle to let her go, but once he let her go the business just took off. So many agency owners are well, Joan has been with me for 25 years but man she is just really pulling us down right now, it’s a hard thing to do but you just might have to let Joan go. So many agencies are struggling with finding quality talent right now dealing with millennials, taking the time to have a hiring process seems so simple but very few agency owners are doing it right.
Again, I want to stress how that is. Then, the last one, continue to leverage technology. Every single person I talked to is leveraging technology to the maximum. Marketing automation systems like yours, agency management systems, they are diving in and looking at how can I use this to its fullest capability, apps. I can go on and on, but really really leveraging technology to a supreme. Those are all the areas that have stood out to me so far for what the best are doing.
Michael: That’s a great list. I’m going to make sure that we publish that and we’ll publish your transcripts as well so people can read this. I know that you survey your members and your listeners a great deal, what is it that you’re hearing that agents and brokers are saying to you? What’s on their mind?
Brian: Yes. Well, great question Michael, and we love to– we started to do it, we continue to do it and refine it, but we’ve actually surveyed over 500 agents so far which is a pretty good size. Close to 10% just from our 5000 registrants, so we’ve gotten a pretty good response so far. One of the biggest things we like to ask is just a simple, “What’s your biggest frustration?” What are you struggling with the most right now?”, just so we can continue to find content, and help bring resources and information to them to help in that. Again, a few of these areas are the same ones that I mentioned before that the best in the industry are really focusing on. One of the biggest one is people.
People hiring good quality people. Again, this is a struggle. How do I find good talent? How do I pay them? How do I do all these things? It’s the people component. Leads continues to be a big thing on people’s minds whether that– you and I had conversations-
Michael: We’ve talked about that once or twice, yes.
Brian: Yes, leads are sexy, it’s like sex. Focusing on my business and really making it better, and putting the other assistant for marketing and doing those things, that’s like the same old thing I’ve been doing, it’s boring. But for whatever reason, and some people do really need leads. There’s the good and the bad about that lead thing, but it’s still a focus that’s out there. Team management and motivation, it’s a struggle for people still. How do I motivate my producers? How do I motivate my team? How should I incentivize them. That whole team management component seems to be a big deal that’s out there.
The fourth area, we really down the fourth area. This one surprised me a little bit, it was time management. We got a ton on time management, just how I manage my time. I feel overwhelmed by all that’s going on in my world, and I don’t know where to put my time, how do I manage my time, how do I make the best use of it. We did a great training with Roger Sitkins at the most recent summit and he said, “Basically, time management doesn’t work for producers and here’s why.” And he went through this whole process of because you’re not looking at it the right way and you’re not scheduling your weekend the right way, so that you have time working for you. That was the fourth area. It’s really interesting to get these.
Somehow we were surprised with the fourth one, we really were but it’s just good to see what people, what agents still feel like they’re being– what they’re struggling with the most out there in the industry.
Michael: I’d love to hear that, so I’m going to go a little bit out off script here Brian, and ask you, how do you want to respond to that? Your audiences told you four things and I have a feeling that 10 or 20 years from now, we may still be here in the same four things. I’ve been hearing them for apparently I haven’t solved those four problems yet. I’ve been hearing those issues for 20 years but people always– they have to deal with that in the context of the environment that they’re living in right now and so, what do you want to do? What do you think the appropriate response is? How are you going to address those issues?
Brian: That’s a great question, and you’re right. What we’re talking about, business owners, and entrepreneurs, and sales people have dealt with for 20, 50, 100 years. It’s probably going to be some of the same days we’re going to go on forward. One of my biggest goals is do the Summit, just touching more people and finding more quality thought leaders, more good content, more as things change and become available, but also helping to– a funny thing that’s happened since the Summit, is I now have people reaching out to me that I feel have really good things to offer the industry, they’re having success but they need a way to reach more people and bring that out there.
I see that what we’re building is an avenue to say, here’s a need, here’s somebody to fill that need, how can we bring the two of you together. We continue to look at those things. I think they’ll continue to be out there, but some of it is just a mindset shift which you have to continue to read and look at content and look at information that’s out there, and after you hear it enough, hopefully, it breaks down the wall and you say, “Okay, I’m ready to finally give in and make a change.” Michael, I would ask you the same question, I’d love to hear what your thoughts are and I’m sure the audience would. You’re somebody that’s been doing this for 20 years, how do you guys continue to break through that and provide value to your clients and members?
Michael: That’s a great question and I thought, “Hey, I was the one asking questions here.” I’ll filter on my interview we had. I think we generally approach the issues that are facing the industry two ways. One, is content and information, training, coaching, content and information. It’s still an important part of our business, I think that after 20 plus years of serving the industry and being intimate with the issues that are facing the industry, we have something to say.We have some unique perspectives on that. We want to deliver solutions through our blogs, through our podcasts like this, through our video blog and in social media and so on and so forth.
And then the other way that we address the issues that are facing the industry, is we create solutions and we invest in softwarefor example that automates certain systems and solves problems, for example, as you know Brian, a core part of our philosophy, is that one of the great strengths of the agent broker channel is the relationship between the agent or the broker and their customers and their marketplace. No other channel can deliver that sense of relationship like ours does, and there’s a very strong demographic and a psychographic that wants and desires that the confidence and the peace of mind that come from that relationship, and so we built software that makes that happen.
It allows you to scale communication, so that you can communicate the way that people want you to. They don’t want you showing up at the family barbecue and in fact, 84% of them actually don’t even want you to give them a phone call. Number one, it allows agents to create an elegant journey of relationship throughout the customer journey. And then number two, it just allows you to scale it so you can deliver ongoing value to thousands of people at once instead of just one at a time. That’s how we do it, content and then of course we invest in and create software. Thanks for asking, and that was a great opportunity for me to give a pitch on something I feel strongly about. All right.
Brian: Yes, I always like to learn that’s why I’ll ask the question back. I appreciate you answering that.
Michael: So, you have interviewed and spoken with in some depth, over a hundred thought leaders in the industry. You have spoken with and listened to your own clients, and you’ve gotten responses back from over 500 agents or brokers. That’s a lot of information for you to synthesize, so I’m going to ask you the core question. Take all that stuff that you know about the industry, what do you see in the near future? What does the future look like for the insurance agent of today?
Brian: Yes, I think we faced some challenges that we really need to take in to account and look at, and will affect what agency do we think about doing in the future. Some obvious ones that everyone is talking about, self-driving car, commissions are going to be reduced. Commissions being reduced may not be a terrible thing if done with the right company in the right way. We did an interview with State Auto CEO, who talked about they will be lowering commissions but they’re doing that because they are going to take on a lot of the workload for the agency so they don’t have to do as much anymore and they’ll actually make more money in the long term.
Something very interesting is happening there. There’s a few things that people are starting to talk about, but I don’t think they realize how big of impact it’s going to have, I think Michael, you talked about it in our interview at the Insurance Agent Summit, about syntax investment, and how much money is going in there. There’s a huge, huge disruption coming and they feel a lot of opportunity and the reason why is, which is the third one that I don’t think anyone’s really talking about and I’ve been really processing this since the last Summit is, and I’ve tried to find a good way to say it but basically, what it comes down to, is you need to run your agency as if you’re competing against a company with a billion dollar marketing budget but you don’t have the billion dollar marketing budget.
Michael: And we are competing against an agency with a billion dollar marketing budget.
Brian: I know it sounds crazy, but let me use the example, Geico.
Michael: Right.
Brian: Geico has the brand technology in marketing. You think about what they do, the brand they have in the marketplace, the marketing, the prowess they have with the funny ads that they run and they do, and then the biggest thing is the technology. 24 hour customer service you can call. They’ve got an app. I don’t have to worry calling you up like you said, they don’t want to see your agent, they want it to be easy. They’ve got the app where they can get the certificate, they can do whatever they want there, they can go on to the website and change anything about their insurance at any time they want to see anything about it without ever having to directly work with the agent in any way possible.
Think about how much opportunity with how much money is going into Fintech and all the other areas of this industry. And they will figure out how to do small commercial, they’ll figure out how to do other commercial. It’s coming. It will happen. What do you need to do from a technology standpoint again, marketing automation, apps, all these other things that are out there to basically compete with a company that’s got a billion dollar marketing budget. You need to be in front of your clients in an effective way that doesn’t make them feel bothered or annoyed but you can still get your brand, they can still work with you in an easy easy fashion, all of those things.
I know it sounds kind of crazy but you have to think about it because there’s going to be another Geico. There’s going to be another– whatever company it is in other areas of the insurance industry, and you’re going to have to think about how am I going to build my agency in the right way and use these technology tools so I can be effective and compete.
Micheal: Clearly, and I also hear themes and patterns emerging which are not surprisingly as I conduct these podcast. One is clearly there’s a disruption on the way, and we’re going to see the Insurtech investments are huge and they’re very focused and they’re committed and there is too much money for them all to fail. Some are going to succeed, and use of technology by agents and brokers obviously that keeps emerging as a theme. There are challenges that we are facing and of course the last thing that we want people to do is to panic or freeze or bury their head in the sand. I’m going to ask you to move from challenge to opportunity. What advice would you give agents who want to have a tremendous year, this year, and protect and grow what they have?
Brian: Again, I know this may sound so simple, but in my life is with all the mistakes I’ve made and I’m sure you found the same thing. Sometimes breaking down the simplest things can give you the biggest success. I would say just look at the things that– I’ve already talked about that the best do, and just emulate them. Half the success have been paved. That’s part of what we do at the Summit, that’s part of what you do with a lot of your programs, Michael, showing people you don’t have to go out and re-invent the wheel. Read 10 pages a day of a good book, watch a training, listen to a broadcast, do something every day that is going to move the needle for you.
It’s not about making a huge leap every month, it’s about little steps everyday, so at the end of the year you go, “Wow. I took a big leap over the year and it takes time to make these things happen.” That would be my suggestion. Look at what the best are doing, look outside of our industry. Look at just successful people in business, successful people in sales and marketing. Go grab a Dan Kennedy book or somebody in that world, and read it and look what they are doing. That has given me the passage to success as is, I’ve heard people say get on other people’s coattails and do that. Just for me being around people like you and have conversations with you, it ups my game.
Get around other people that have success. Find a mentor, do all those things. That’s the biggest thing that I would say. And again, everything we’ve talked about today look at the technology, look at those things the best are doing it, if you’re not, it’s going to really hard in and people say five or 10 years, it might be two years that it might get really tough out there for some people. It might be coming faster than people think. That would be my biggest thing I would say as we look at the next year.
Micheal: Very good. You had mentioned books, and I sense you probably read a lot of books. If I was going to ask you to identify three books that have been inspirational to you and or your business, which books would you choose?
Brian: Oh great question, really really good. I’ve got to choose one from my early days starting out. I’m just going to do it from just thinking back to when I started. You always read that book that’s like, “Wow, it changes everything.”
Micheal: Right
Brian: Rich Dad Poor Dad for me. Mostly because it just changed my thought process on thinking about how the world really works, being an entrepreneur, why some people will always stay poor and the rich will just always continue to make more and more money. If you’ve never read it tells a great story and it’s just one of those that just takes me back. It’s one that set me on the path. That’s one I would put it there. Yes, another one that– you know what, I’ve got all my books here and I just got to look and see. One that was big for me and a lot of other people I’ve mentioned too, Chet Holmes, The Ultimate Selling Machine. Have you read that one Micheal?
Micheal: Yes
Brian: Great book. Just had me think differently about sales and marketing and having a process. There is a few people I interviewed and I asked them about their books, and there’s a few people that said every single year I take out that book and I read it again. It just have that much of an impact on me.
Micheal: Okay, all right. You’ve get one more. What’s your third?
Brian: Yes, my third book is what I’m reading right now that is just– again, it makes me think of the simple but so profound. It’s called the Slight Edge.
Micheal: Tell us about that
Brian: Yes, really it’s about, simply put it’s about, in our society today just in general so many of us. If we don’t get the impact we want right away, its funny how quick we’ll give up. But we do things that we start to see success and we just stop doing them. If we might do it for a year and its just like, oh, it just stopped and then its like, “Why did I gain ten pounds again? Oh why am I not as happy as I was? Man, I really worked out. I exercised really well for a year and then I stopped.” He talks about how successful people, they just do the almost mundane, stick with it everyday, do the same things every single day but over two years time, over four years time, over a decade.
It’s like, “Wow, they have this huge impact. Its like snowball going down the hill.” And it’s like, “Wow, after 10 years look at all the things that I did.”It’s about committing to those things and doing that every single day. If you’re going to exercise, get at least 50 exercises everyday. I have a morning routine. I get up, I like to work out, try to meditate, try to go over my goals, try to to look at my day, I’ve got five or six things that I do. If I do that just that morning routine every single day, and I’m not perfect at it yet, but I see how if I do that morning routine every single day in my life for a year, I’m going to be happier, I’m going to be healthier, I’m going to have a longer life, I’m going to have more relationships, I’m going to complete more of my goals, all these little things will happen just by taking that hour every day and doing that.
Micheal: You stole my next question which is, do you have rituals or routines that you think really support your productivity? The answer sounds like yes. Is there one part of a personal ritual that is meaningful to you that you want to share?
Brian: Awesome. I got to tell you Michael, I love these questions because these are the overlooked things to success. I feel that so many people– you coach a lot of people, how many people do you think actually write out goals for the year?
Michael: Even among my clients, less than I would like.
Brian: Yes, it’s unbelievable right? I would say maybe 25%. I’m blown away every time like, “Do you write your goals for the year? “No I don’t ever do it, I don’t look at–” It just blows me away. These are the things that people overlook, and they’re so simple to do, they’re also so simple not to do. That’s why people don’t do them. They’re simple not to do as well. They’re just as simple to do as they’re simple not to do. My morning routine, I will give you really quick, is wake up, drink some water, exercise usually 15 to 30 minutes, meditate, I go over my goals for the year and the quarters so I could see. I’m always looking at that big target, and then I journal. I have a thing called the five minute journal. It only takes five minutes everyday to journal every night and then I wait for 10 minutes.
Michael: Do you set a timer?
Brian: Yes, I set a timer. Most of my stuff I do journaling, I know I usually always get it done in less than two minutes. I’m pretty fast about it. But everything else, meditation 15 minutes, exercise I max out at 30 minutes at the most. I’m setting my timer, I’m staying to my hour, hour and a half, it’s right around there and I’m getting through it. Yes, I mean morning routine is huge and it sets you up for success for the day.
Michael: Next question, kind of related. What is it that inspires Brian Appleton? What motivates you to do the most excellent work that you can possibly do?
Brian: Man, I love these questions. A while ago, I really had to take and I have some [unintelligible 00:30:25] to the people it’s like, I started out of the early entrepreneur, really focused on money and really focused on possessions and thinking. I grew up fairly poor, so I always looked at people having things like, “Wow. That must really be what happiness and success look like.” And then I worked in an agency. Funny enough, I worked in an insurance agency and I got to see two different worlds. I got to see successful people that were really happy and had a lot of money but were also well grounded and just kind and considerate.
And then I also saw the other side where people had a lot of money but they had four divorces, they were barely getting by. We’re talking about people that made half a million dollars or more a year and barely paying the bills. It wasn’t really money that– what else was it? After I left the agency and started doing my own things in consulting stuff it’s like, “What’s your purpose for the world? What do you want to offer people in your own little world but also just in the work that you’re doing?” Mine became, I just want to help people accomplish their dreams and live a better life. And my industry is the insurance industry.
I believe– Chris Paradiso said it so perfectly. One day he said, “Insurance agents are the backbone of so many small communities and cities across America. And if insurance agents aren’t running their small businesses anymore, then what happens to the small communities? What happens to the coaches? What happens to the foundations that get this money that agents give just out of their goodwill of their heart? What happens to these groups that they’re on, that they help run and do?” It’s catastrophic to think about all these people losing their jobs and not having small communities with insurance agents there to protect them and help them and grow and do all those things.
I’m really passionate about helping entrepreneurs and business owners which are agents and helping communities across the country. That’s what makes me passionate and then bringing good things to the industry man. I’m excited about the summit just because I get calls from people all the time being like, “Brian I’m so glad you’re doing this. We needed that. We need this in the industry. We need sharing of information, we need doing that. Keep doing what you’re doing.” Because there’s days that are like, “Man this is a lot of work. Is it worth doing all this work sometimes? Is everybody getting it?”
There’s a lot of the industry too which you know Michael, and it’s business in general, just don’t get it and maybe never will and that’s sad and your business is always going to struggle and you’re never going to make it to that next level. I feel for you, and I’m trying to help but we got people out there like, “I get it and I’m willing to learn and I’m willing to educate, I’m going to invest in technology, and I want to do the next things.” Those are the people that I want to help and I want to bring good things to them, and that’s what we’re trying to do by spreading the message.
Michael: Okay, good. By the way, I can hear the passion in your voice so I know that its there.
Brian: These are the questions I get excited bout. Yes.
Michael: [laughs] Well, this may be my favorite part of the podcast interview process. Are you up for one last question? I’m going to hold you to one to two sentences answer. All right?
Brian: I will try because I have gone a little long on the others.
Michael: Okay. You’re a generation or so younger than I am, right? You’re a millennial or gen-x?
Brian: I’m born in ’83. I’ve heard ‘83 is right before millennial but I’m not sure.
Michael: I’m going to ask you to speak on behalf of the younger generation. All right? You’ve got let’s say one or two sentences or one sentence with a semicolon. Say something on behalf of your generation to the insurance industry now. What do they need to hear from people who are your age?
Brian: That’s a really good question.
Michael: [laughs]. What do they need to hear from millennials?
Brian: What’s coming to mind is technology again, fun, interesting up to date. I’m just going to leave it at that.
Michael: All right. No, that’s good.
Brian: We’re too old school. We’re way behind and we need to get with the times. I don’t want to go work for an agency because you walk in and it’s all 1970s. I want to go work for a hip new software company. I don’t want to work for insurance agencies which is sad.
Michael: I’ve been using 1990s as the metaphor. Man, you’re brutal. You’re taking it back to the ‘70s.
Brian: I walked into some that are laundering [sic] carpet and [unintelligible 00:35:10] on the walls, it’s typing machine still. It’s crazy to think they don’t
Michael: Typing machines, Brian? They have names [laughs].
Brian: Yes, typewriters.
Michael: [laughs] All right. Well Brian, this has been a tremendous amount of fun. I really appreciate you spending some time with us, I want to thank you so much. If our listeners, they need to know how they can find out more about you and how they can find out more about the summit.
Brian: Yes, sure. Well, first thank you Michael again for what you do for the industry. You’re somebody that I have looked up to for years and it’s a crazy thing when you get to talk to the mentors of the people you’ve looked up to and be on their podcast. I just want to thank you for having me here today as well. Yes, obviously Brian Appleton LinkedIn, Facebook, you can always connect with me there. You can email me with any questions, [email protected], and then you can go to insuranceagentsummit.com. Enter your email. We got all the information up from our recent summit just so you can get a feel for the speakers, the type of content we have, the quality.
If you register you’re automatically signed up for our next summit and you can attend for free. And then you could also have an opportunity to if you want to get a VIP package to our last Summit. It’s very inexpensive and you can go through all the content, Michael’s training. Some of the people I mentioned today, we’ve got close to 40 trainings available for you there. If you wanted the information that we’ve mentioned today, those are the best ways Michael.
Michael: All right, Brian I want to wish you a terrific day and again, thanks so much for sharing. It’s been a lot of fun spending time with you.
Brian: I had a blast Michael, thank you so much.
Michael: Take care.