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  • Thu, January 14, 2021 8:10 AM | Billy R. Williams, PhD. (Administrator)

    Member Only: Biweekly Group Mini-Workshops and Q and A Sessions (Getting Back to the Basics)

    When: 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month 1:00 PM, CST


    Where: Open Event to See Specific Topics


    EVENT DETAILS:

    Member Only: Biweekly Group Mini-Workshops and Q and A Sessions. The 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month


    Active Inspire a Nation Members - The registration information will be available starting the Thursday before the session.
      


    1. Click on the Blue Mini-Workshop Registration Button (Note: The button will NOT be active until the Thursday before the Mini-Workshop)


    2. The Mini-Workshop Button (When Active) will open a Go to Meeting Webinar Link that will require First Name, Last Name, Email Address and Agency Name


    3. Go to Meeting will require each attendee to individually register (One person can not register multiple people)


    January and February 2021 sessions are about establishing the foundation of operating an insurance agency!


    Thursday, Jan 7, 2021 – Establishing Agency-Wide Minimum Coverage Recommendation Standards

     

    Thursday, Jan 21, 2021 - Calendar Blocking The 14 Core Weekly Processes


    Thursday, Feb 4, 2021: Core Agency Technology and Automation Every Insurance Agency Should Have in Place


    Thursday, Feb 18, 2021: Marketing your agency - The First 8 Marketing Campaigns That Should Be Operating In an Agency


    For active Inspire a Nation Members:


    Billy and his team will be traveling to promote his new book, speaking at different insurance and small business events in and out of the country, and updating the mentoring lessons in the video library for much of 2021. Billy will only be available for a limited amount of one-on-one sessions.


    To fill the void, Billy will provide, Biweekly Group Mini-Workshops and Q and A sessions.


    Some of the mini-workshops will be recorded video and audio, some of them will be live webinars and conference calls, and some of them will be Q and A based sessions.


    The sessions will be on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month at 1:00 PM Central (2 PM Eastern, 12: PM Mountain, 11 AM Pacific).


    The live sessions will be recorded and available in the Video and Document Library for all active members that can't make the live session.


    The sessions are taught by Dr. Billy R. Williams, President - Williams Family Investment Group and Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring.


    Best regards,
    Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring


  • Wed, December 16, 2020 9:57 AM | Billy R. Williams, PhD. (Administrator)

    The Electronic Signature Declined Coverage Form 

    An insurance agency's most important sales and retention tool for current customers.
     
    By Billy R. Williams - President Williams Family Investment Group and Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring Svc.



    www.inspireanation.org 


    As an investor in numerous agencies and as a mentor to 100's more, I am often asked: "If there was only one marketing tool you could use in your agency, what would it be?"
     
     
    Without hesitation, my answer is always the same; an E-Signature based Declined Coverage Form.
     
     
    In 16+ years of working in the insurance industry as a captive agent, an independent agent, a mentor to 1000s of agencies, and an investor in over 150 agencies, I have never seen one document that served as many purposes or drove as many results as a finely crafted Declined Coverage Form.
     
     
    To be completely transparent, even a poorly crafted Declined Coverage Form will yield some surprisingly good insurance agency results.
     
     
    The evolution of the Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring Declined Coverage Form
     
     
    1. In 2004, when I opened my Allstate Insurance Agency, I started using a Permission to Contact/Optional Coverage Form (Here is a link to the P2C form that is still in use by many of the Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring member agencies - http://bit.ly/IANoptionalcoverageform)
     
     
    2. While 10 - 15% of customers would complete the form, that still left up to 90% that didn't. Of course, before everything went mobile, I was sending a DocuSign link by email that people would open on their desktop computer.
     
     
    3. In 2008, I sold my Allstate agency and partnered with a small independent agency. That agency used various declined coverage forms for products such as Flood, Jewelry Coverage, Inland Marine, Loss of Income, etc.
     
     
    4. We were mainly using it to cover our butts from an E&O complaint. (E&O is still the main reason most agencies use a Declined Coverage Form.)
     
     
    5. What I noticed right away (and started to track) was how many customers would call back and want to discuss the coverages after they received a Declined Coverage Form DocuSign from the agency. It didn't take long for me to see that the form wasn't just covering our butts, but generating revenue for the agency.
     
     
    6. In 2010, I created the Declined Coverage Form that the Williams Family Investment Group partner agencies use today. Reducing it to one page and allowing the sales team, account managers, and retention team to list multiple items on one form made it more efficient for the agency and more comfortable for the customer to understand.
     
     
    7. Active Inspire a Nation Members: Here is our current Declined Coverage Form: http://bit.ly/IANdeclinedcoverageform (Active members MUST log in to see the form)
     
     
    We see the best response when we send the form:
    • As soon as we sign up a new customer
    • When we spot a policy weakness on an endorsement request
    • When we conduct a Customer Policy Review
    • When working a reported claim follow up call
    • When conducting a Birthday Insurance Review
     
     
    In summary, the Declined Coverage Form is a multi-faceted document that should be used to not only cover the agency's butt but to drive new premium, drive cross-sells and up-sells, increase retention, and show the agency's expertise as an insurance advisor.
     
     
    Do you want to connect with Dr. Williams?

    Click on the link below to add Dr. Williams' Electronic Business Card (.vcf) to your mobile device or computer address book
    https://www.bit.ly/bw_e_bizcard
     
     
    "People with a Wealth Mentality find the simple inside of complicated things; People with a Poor Person's Mentality make simple things unnecessarily complicated."
    Billy R. Williams Ph.D.


  • Tue, August 11, 2020 6:56 AM | Billy R. Williams, PhD. (Administrator)

    Which Insurance Coaching and Mentoring Program is right for me?


    This is a question that I get asked daily.


    Insurance Agents are bombarded with emails and social media posts from insurance coaches, gurus, and other insurance agents touting their lead generation services, CRM tools, Agency Management Systems, and other things that will help an agency improve its operations.


    Those options become even more confusing when an agent attends multiple conferences and workshops and is bombarded with all of the tools, services, and programs presented by the sponsors and vendors.


    To make it easier to understand and make a decision concerning insurance coaching and mentoring, and because it is education, I am going to compare choosing the right insurance mentoring program to an average student’s education journey.


    I will also give you the names of some of the coaches and programs that I personally recommend.


    All students have to go through elementary, middle, and high school (k – 12) classes to learn the necessary foundations that will be used for college and advanced education degrees and programs.


    Kindergarten – 12 Grade = Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring - https://www.inspireanation.org/


    In my opinion, the lessons, processes, and foundations that you learn in k – 12 will have the most lasting impact on your life. They are so crucial that to enroll in some college courses, you had to take specific high school courses, or you have to take a remedial 100 level college class to prepare for the course.


    Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring is the K – 12 of the insurance industry mentoring world. Inspire a Nation teaches the 20 Core areas of running an insurance agency that is the foundation of building a $10 Million Revenue Insurance Agency (Independent) or a $10 Million Premium Agency (Captive).


    K – 12 teaches everything from vowels and sentence structure to advanced calculus, the Inspire a Nation mentoring program teaches every aspect of running a successful insurance agency including how to interview, hire, and pay staff, marketing and lead management, technology use, and core agency processes such endorsements, claims, rate increases, and retention.


    Just like a k -12 program, The Inspire a Nation Mentoring Program has something for all categories of learners and implementers. Some agents require a lot more hand-holding and one-on-one tutoring, some agents will blow off the classes and have to repeat specific topics and lessons, some agents will get through as an average student, and some agents will use the program as a stepping stone to more advanced business operations.


    Once you get past high school, college opens up an entirely new level of educational and networking opportunities. Insurance mentoring has the same opportunities just on a professional level. You can get specialized classes, unique learning opportunities, and amazing groups and networks to join.


    Specialty and Advanced Programs


    Some people will take their K – 12 education and go on to become very successful. In contrast, some people feel they need more training or more specialized instruction to reach their full potential.


    The insurance industry has programs that cater to every specialty, product, and curriculum imaginable.


    Want to know how to use LinkedIn to generate business? Check out Walt Goshert https://waltgoshert.com/


    Want to know how to write more commercial insurance? Check out David Carothers https://killingcommercial.com/or Mick Hunt https://www.linkedin.com/in/mystrategybox/


    Want training on a specific process such as policy reviews or staff tracking? Check out Kelly Donahue-Piro https://www.agencyperformancepartners.com/about/team/


    Need to affiliate with a group of Forward-Thinkers? Check out Jason Cass https://www.insuranceagencyintelligence.com/join-mastermind/or Ryan Hanley https://ryanhanley.com/


    Need amazing tools and technology to help you grow your agency? Check out the following vendors and categories:


    Agency Mobile App: Insurance Agent App: https://insuranceagentapp.com/


    Agency Management System: Hawksoft Agency Management Software: https://www.hawksoft.com/


    Electronic Payment Tool: ePayPolicy: https://epaypolicy.com/


    Lead Management/CRM Tools: AgencyZoom: https://www.agencyzoom.com/ and InsuredMine: https://www.insuredmine.com/


    Digital Form Management and Commercial Insurance Renewals: Indio Digital Forms - https://useindio.com/


    Insurance Specific Virtual Assistants: AGENCY V.A. - Virtual Assistants - https://www.agencyva.com/


    Insurance Specific Phone Systems: Lightspeed Voice: https://www.lightspeedvoice.com/


    The categories and lists could go on and on, but I think you get the point.


    So, which mentoring program is right for your agency? The one that you need based on where you are in your insurance career journey.


    Do you need to go back and retake some of the K – 12 classes to move your agency forward?


    Are you ready for specialized training and mentoring?


    Do you need to join some groups and networks to keep you motivated and exposed to new advances in the insurance industry?


    If you need to assess where you are in running your agency, complete these two items:



    Hopefully, I’ve given you enough information and options for insurance coaching and mentoring that you can now go out and choose the best program for you and your agency!


    Billy R. Williams, Ph.D., President: Inspire a Nation Business Mcentoring

    www.inspireanation.org


  • Sun, July 05, 2020 9:47 AM | Billy R. Williams, PhD. (Administrator)


    10 Things Arrogant People Refuse To Do


    Ego is what you do; Arrogance is what you refuse to do; 


    Both Ego and Arrogance are primarily built on your insecurities;


    Ego makes you work to overcome your insecurities, Arrogance makes you work to hide and deny your insecurities;


    Ego makes you attack yourself when you feel like you could do better;


    Arrogance makes you attack others that you feel are doing better than you;


    There is Good Arrogance and Bad Arrogance. This blog post will look at bad Arrogance and 10 Things the people that practice bad Arrogance refuse to do.


    My dad used to say, "Arrogant people have a teaspoon of self-discipline, a tablespoon of success, and an ocean full of emotions, assumptions, and opinions." 


    He used to also say, "An arrogant person's pockets are never empty because they are always filled with pride!" 


    Ego makes you work your butt off to get straight A's in high school, Arrogance makes you cut so many classes you almost fail high school; 


    Ego makes you read a book every week or two so you can learn new things, Arrogance makes you avoid or blow off any opportunity to learn something new; 


    Ego makes you want to learn your job or career better than all of your peers, Arrogance makes you just learn enough to keep from getting fired; 


    Ego makes you work to increase your vocabulary, and the amount of words you understand and use, Arrogance makes you only talk about the few things you do know with people that only know as much or less than you do; 


    Arrogance also makes you fill in the vocabulary gap with curse words and insults since you don't know anything else to say;


    A good healthy Ego is based on experience, successes, and common sense, which all lead to real confidence;


    A bad, unhealthy Arrogance is based on emotions, insecurities, and too much pride; 


    I could go on and on about ego and Arrogance, so let's look at 10 things Arrogant people do.


     1. Arrogant people refuse to: Admit their faults and weaknesses. It is always someone else's fault why things happened the way they did; 


    2. Arrogant people refuse to: Stop letting emotion guide their decisions. Most of their discussions or debates start with "I thought, I figured, I just guessed, and I assumed;" 


    3. Arrogant people refuse to: Put in the work to educate themselves on the things that can make a difference in their life by reading a book, asking questions, or taking a class; They skim over information, half-listen to conversations and information, but spew misinformation with a ton of fake confidence; 


    4. Arrogant people refuse to: Sacrifice for their long-term goals. Because they tend to have so few real accomplishments in life, they put a lot of value in at least getting what they want in the short-term, even if it hurts them in the long-term; 


    5. Arrogant people refuse to: Manage their time to get the most accomplished. Having fun, relaxing, and complaining take priority over everything else when it comes to their time; 


    6. Arrogant people refuse to: Stop pointing out other people's flaws and weaknesses. Downing and belittling others makes them feel like they are at least better than somebody;


    7. Arrogant people refuse to: Stop arguing with people with much more experience, knowledge, education, and wisdom on the topic they are discussing. They tend to feel the louder they get, the more convincing they are. They never become one of the best at what they do because they are so busy fighting to justify being average, that above average is never an option; 


    8. Arrogant people refuse to: Stop trying to be in charge of things and areas that they don't have the experience, knowledge, education, emotional strength, or mentality to be in charge of. Arrogance makes you believe you no more than you really do; 


    9. Arrogant people refuse to: Stop defending their bad choices and decisions. They think that if they don't admit that they made a bad choice or decision, it didn't really happen. 


    10. Arrogant people refuse to: Admit their life could be better if they were more disciplined, sacrificed more to reach their goals, managed their time better, followed the suggestions and guidance of people that have already accomplished what the arrogant person talks about doing, and let their actions be guided by what will help them the most instead of their emotions. 


    Arrogance is a habit, and like all habits (Good or bad), if you want to change it, you have to, first of all, want to change it, and secondly, consistently put in the effort to change it. 


    We all need some good arrogance in our lives, such as the refusal to mistreat other people, take hard drugs, drive drunk, or steal. 


    It's the bad Arrogance I am talking about. 


    Bad Arrogance will never completely go away, but with desire, effort, putting a support team around you for accountability, and some discipline, Arrogance doesn't have to be why your life never gets better. 


    Readers, watchers, and listeners join in the conversation by adding to the list of what arrogant people do. 


    Leave your thoughts and comments below the video, post, article, or podcast. 


    Check out more of our blog post at www.inspireanation.org.

     



  • Mon, March 23, 2020 5:12 PM | Billy R. Williams, PhD. (Administrator)

    Here is what an insurance agency needs to do during this Coronavirus slowdown:


    • 1.      Make a team training and process spot-check calendar for the agency: This is especially important if you have remote staff!


    • 2.      Walk through the customer journey from a Lead to new customer, to policy change, to claims, to renewal process, to policy review;


    • 3.      Identify which tasks can be done from home by a remote worker;


    • 4.      Identify which tech and automation can and should be used such as: ActivTrak to monitor staff computers, Slack or Teams for instant communication, Zoom for Quote and Service videos, EZTexting to make your landline text capable;


    • 5.      Identify how you plan on communicating with your prospects and customers: phone, texting, email, video, conference calls, etc.,


    • 6.      Train and role play one process per day with your team by conference call or zoom video,


    • 7.      Set up some type of instant messaging tool like slack, teams, ring central, etc., to communicate with your team;


    • 8.      Communicating and training with your team on a daily basis for a few minutes will keep them from feeling isolated, keep them engaged, provide help with understanding how to continue doing their job in an effective manner, and keep them accountable to the team;


    • 9.      Prospect, prospect, prospect! Pick up the phone and call customers and point out policy weaknesses, email former customers and old leads, contact potential business referral partners, purchase an x-date mailing list, write website articles and blogs, etc.

    "Everyone is unsure of what is going to happen and how long this pandemic will last, so sales numbers will probably drop, but now is NOT the time to stop prospecting, Things will bounce back and when they do, your consistency will pay off. Remember this Billyism “Consistency always looks like success from the outside view!”


    • 10.    (Shameless plug) Download the 27 page work-from-home handbook I am giving away as part of my Freemium membership www.inspireanation.org



  • Thu, November 14, 2019 2:10 PM | Billy R. Williams, PhD. (Administrator)

     

    8 reasons that average and below-average agents and agencies are so far behind above-average agents and agencies

     

    As an investor and mentor in many agencies, I get to see the distinct differences in above average agents/agencies and average and below average agent/agencies

     

    Here are8 reasons that average, and below average agency leaders are so far behind above average agents and agencies


    1.      They don’t make the time to spot-check or hold people accountable;

    My Thoughts: Most of their busyness comes from trying to clean up mistakes and problems that happened because they didn’t take the time to implement consistent processes, workflows, and spot-checks. The lack of a dedicated time to perform implementation, spot-checks, and retraining is a consistent weakness I see in average and below average agencies and agency leaders.

     

    2.      The agency does not have clearly defined processes and workflows;

    My Thoughts: “If you don’t make the time to create wealth all of your time will be spent fighting off poverty!” They never planned on being successful. Success is usually a clearly defined repeatable set of activities that turn into habits. A person can create failure habits just as they can create success habits. In a struggling or low performing agency everybody does things their own way, not a well thought out and established agency way.

     

    3.      The agency leadership doesn’t know how to pull the correct reports in the agency management system that will allow them to spot-check processes;

    My Thoughts: This goes back to not having established agency processes and workflows. You don’t need every bell and whistle in your agency management system, but you do need to know how to implement and track the agency processes that are important. Consistently spot-checking the team will force you to learn what reports you need and how to pull those reports.

     

    4.      Everyone in the agency uses a different tool to perform standard tasks such as email, notes, and text messaging.

    My Thoughts: You can’t spot-check a herd of cats! A herd of cats is what an agency looks and feels like when everyone is doing things the way they want to do them versus following a well-established agency process.

     

    5.       No consistent processes for labeling and categorizing tasks and notes in the agency management system.

    My Thoughts: Pulling proper reports is only part of the equation. If the tasks and notes are not uniformly categorized and/or labeled by every staff member, the reports will be pretty much useless or at least very difficult to identify, sort, and filter. Usually, the more complicated a task is to complete, the more likely an average and below average agent is to blow off the task.

     

    6.      No dedicated time to retrain staff once a problem has been identified

    My Thoughts: Average and below average agents are not making the time to initially train staff, spot-check staff, or retrain staff when it becomes necessary, so the agent and the staff members start to feel like they are running in quicksand which is the more they struggle to get the agency back on track, the more it feels like they are failing.

     

    7.      Staff has no repercussion for not following the agency processes

    My Thoughts: Average and below average agents will go to a conference or meeting and come back to the agency with a bunch of new tasks, tools, and technology they want the staff to start doing and using, but because there isn’t consistent training, spot-checking, retraining, and accountability, the agents wishes will die on-the-vine and staff

     

    8.      Weak marketing and prospecting processes

    My thoughts: Did you know the insurance industry has an average Cold Lead Attempts to Confirmed Prospect Ratio of 3%? This means for every 100 cold calls you make, letters you mail, or people that interact with your social networking ad (such as clicking a link), you will have roughly three people that are interested in your products and services.

    Of course, a direct referral closes at about 30%

    (An agency’s quote-to-close ratio is dependent on the quality of the lead, the skill of the salesperson, the carrier rates, etc., so I will save that for another post.)

    Sticking with the 3% number, most average and below average agencies don’t consistently market or prospect, and they don’t consistently ask for referrals and testimonials.

    Is there any wonder why their sales numbers are in the toilet!

     

    So, what are the solutions to the problems listed above?

     

    1.      They don’t make the time to spot-check or hold people accountable

    Solution: Select ONE process you want to implement in the agency and dedicate one hour per day to creating a workflow for the process (If you are an Inspire a Nation member, simply look up the process in the video library and use the workflow and checklist we provide to you.)

    After you have the workflow created implement one task of the workflow at a time with your team until all of the tasks, automation, and tools that are part of the workflow are in place.

    After the process has been trained twice, use the hour that you set aside to create the workflow, to not spot-check the process and the team members that are assigned the process.

     

    2.      The agency does not have clearly defined processes and workflows;

    Solution: Same as solution 1

     

    3.      The agency leadership doesn’t know how to pull the correct reports in the agency management system that will allow them to spot-check processes;

    Solution: Same as solution 1, plus contact the Agency Management System and let them know what you are trying to do in the system and ask for their assistance.

     

    4.      Everyone in the agency uses a different tool to perform standard tasks such as email, notes, and text messaging.

    Solution: Same as solution 1. As you learn and train the process you can migrate everyone to using the tools the agency leader decides is best.

     

    5.      No consistent processes for labeling and categorizing tasks and notes in the agency management system.

    Solution: Same as solution 1.

     

    6.      No dedicated time to retrain staff once a problem has been identified

    Solution: Same as solution 1.

     

    7.      Staff has no repercussion for not following the agency processes

    Solution: Choose repercussions for not following the process such as:

    Force the non-compliant team member to teach the process at one of the office meetings

    Hold back a percentage of a bonus or commission until the team member is making a valiant effort to implement the process

    Give the non-compliant team member a written counseling

     

    8.      Weak marketing and prospecting processes

    Solution: Select one easy to implement marketing campaign such as asking for a referral when a customer makes a payment or asking new customer to write a testimonial. Have each team member keep a tracking log that has the name of the customer they asked.

     

    These are some simple solutions and suggestions for what is really a simple and easy to fix time management problem.

     

    Check out the Fix My Insurance Agency 2-Day Process Implementation Workshop. We are conducting the workshop several times in 2020.https://www.inspireanation.org/Fix-My-Insurance-Agency-Info

     

     



  • Tue, October 22, 2019 9:22 AM | Billy R. Williams, PhD. (Administrator)

    Dr. Williams going over the New Insurance Customer Onboarding Process.


  • Thu, June 20, 2019 7:59 AM | Billy R. Williams, PhD. (Administrator)

    Throughout the summer Dr. Billy R. Williams, President of Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring will provide free, biweekly, insurance agency best practice webinars.


    https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/1557913817744698635 

    Or

    http://bit.ly/inspiregroupwebinars


    The live sessions are open to all insurance agents but only active members will be able to access and view a recording of the session.


    For active Inspire a Nation Members:

    Billy and his team will be traveling and speaking out of the country for much of the summer and Billy will only be available for sporadic one-on-one sessions.

    To fill the void Billy will conduct live biweekly web training and Q and A sessions.

    The sessions will be recorded and available in the Video and Document Library for all active members that can't make the live webinars.

    The web sessions will be conducted biweekly on Monday's at 2 pm Central (3 pm Eastern, 1 pm Mountain, and 12 pm Pacific)

    Select the mentoring topics and dates that are of interest to your agency!

    The sessions will be recorded and available to active Inspire a Nation members inside the Video and Document Library.

    Monday, June 10, 2019: Calendar Blocking - The 14 Core Weekly Processes

    Monday, June 24, 2019: Core Agency Technology and Automation every insurance agency should have in place

    Monday, July 8, 2019: Marketing your agency - The first 8 Marketing Campaigns

    Monday, July 22, 2019: The Declined Coverage Form - The most important sales tool for current customers

    Monday, August 5, 2019: The Endorsement Process

    Monday, August 19, 2019: The Claims Process

    Monday, September 2, 2019: The New Customer Process - It establishes the culture of your agency operations

    Monday, September 9, 2019: Marketing Campaigns to finish the year strong


  • Fri, April 13, 2018 6:41 AM | Billy R. Williams, PhD. (Administrator)

    Business leader depression it’s a real thing


    Click here to hear the audio version of this blog post!


    Before I get started, let me say I am not a psychiatrist, psychologist, or any other trained and licensed mental health professional.

    What I’m about to say is based on my experience, and my opinion so give it whatever value you decide to give it.

    In my upcoming book “
    ICECREAM For Business Leaders,” I talk about something I call NERP which stands for negative emotional response pathway.

    Often when I am working with business leaders, I see people that are going through what I coined as “business leader depression.” I use the term I coined “NERP” to describe how they got there.

    The NERP Pathway = Irritation leads to Frustration (a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness), which leads to Anger (lazy or undisciplined actions), which becomes Business Leader Depression

    Here is how it works:

    Irritation - We have something in our current environment or situation that makes us uncomfortable, or we are not happy about it, this is the irritation. The irritation can be the way that our staff or team members are performing, a lack of structure and processes in our business, or this could be a person that just irritates the hell out of us. Whatever the cause we have something in our environment that irritates us.


    Irritation over time and/or intensity leads to frustration.


    Frustration is a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. Helplessness means we feel we don’t have the power or control to change the irritation; hopelessness is when we feel that the irritation will never change and will last forever.


    Frustration over time leads to Anger

     

    Anger shows itself in two distinct ways: Lazy actions and undisciplined actions. Lazy actions are when we don’t want to do anything. This could be not getting out of bed, not going into work, not answering the phones, or refusing to read emails that could be important to our work or business.

    Undisciplined actions are when we do something other than what we’re supposed to do. Undisciplined actions could be reading emails instead of doing our expense reports, avoiding a task or process by doing something less important in its place, or avoiding a live conversation with one of our team members and replacing it with email correspondence.

    Anger over time leads to Business Leader Depression which is when you abdicate your position as the leader and avoid as many leadership situations as possible. 

    The most common excuse I hear when someone is going through business leader depression is that they don’t have the time to do the things that will make their business operate better. Even if you tell them exactly what they need to do and build an exact schedule to get things done, they will still find reasons not to do them.


    The book will be released on May 1st.

    Before May 1st, you can download a training handout at
    www.bitly.com/icecreamdownload 


    Many of you reading or listening to this post will immediately identify with having a mild case of Business Leader Depression. Trust me I know what it feels like because I have gone through it several times since I started my business 14 years ago.

    Now the real value in reading or listening to this post is that I am going to give you some steps you can do to control and hopefully eliminate how you are feeling. It all starts with getting control of your emotions.

    In the section of my book on
    Ego, Emotions, and Expectations, I explain that the best way to control emotions in business is to use items such as a checklist, a workflow, a schedule, or a defined process so that you don’t have to think about what you are doing, or should do, you just follow the process.


    The Business Leader Depression Solution

    Go back to the source of the irritation. Is there a system that is in place or that can be put in place to help you remove your emotions from the situation?

    An example of this can be holding your team accountable for following a set process checklist, counseling them when they don’t follow the checklist, and terminating them after you have counseled them three times for not following the process.

    Another example would be to automate some of the marketing tasks in your business when you are irritated by your marketing results.

    You could create a Facebook Ad that drives people to your website. Of course, on your website, you have a Facebook Tracking Pixel so you can easily remarket site visitors.

    You use Zapier integration to link your email program with your text message and appointment tools, so the site visitor automatically receives an email and a text message with a link that allows them to schedule a short phone meeting with you.

    The main thing is to eliminate the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. Even small steps and actions will make you feel a helluva lot better and not so overwhelmed.

    Summary

    1. Recognize the steps involved in the NERP that lead to Business Leader Depression;
    2. Go back to the source of the irritation;
    3. Put technology, checklist, processes, and accountability items in place to help you manage your emotions about the situation;
    4. Start taking small steps and actions to help remove the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness
    5. As you gain more control over your emotions and actions, you will have much more control over your Business Leader Depression


  • Wed, March 07, 2018 9:48 AM | Billy R. Williams, PhD. (Administrator)

    50 Ways to Generate Free and Low-Cost Small Business Leads - Handout

    Free Handout Download: http://bit.ly/50waysdownload or,

    text your email address to 682-200-1954

    (No other characters or words, just text your email address to 682-200-1954)


    Did you know:

    The most successful small businesses in the world spend 30 percent of their time working on their core products and services and 70 percent of their time marketing their products and services?

    That the marketing department of a small business is a key factor in how investors decide which company to take a gamble on?

    That Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring has identified over 170 effective ways to market a small business?

    That most small businesses use lack of marketing money as the main excuse for not marketing their business?


    As a way of introducing our knowledge and expertise to you, we are going to give you a free download “50 Ways to Generate Free and Low-Cost Small Business Leads!”

    Free Handout Download: http://bit.ly/50waysdownload or,

    text your email address to 682-200-1954

    (No other characters or words, just text your email address to 682-200-1954)


    These lead generation techniques will work for any small business in any industry.


    These marketing methods were first tried and tested by our partners within the insurance agent world and then shared with small businesses of various types and industries all across the United States.


    Here are 5 of the 50 techniques discussed in the handout:

    • 1.     Request Google Search Page testimonials and reviews from your top 100 customers;

    • 2.     Have a pop-up box on your website that asks site visitors to join your email list. The pop-up box should appear as they switch to another page, and as they click away from your site. www.sumome.com has a free email pop-up box;

    • 3.     Create an introduction video about you, your product or service, hyperlink it, and send it to contacts that you meet (A Google Chrome Extension App called LOOM is free and easy to use) Here is an example introduction video – www.bitly.com/IANPA;

    • 4.     Use www.eventbrite.com to locate local, upcoming networking events; Attend the events, give out and collect business cards w/birthday info; Create your own networking event;

    • 5.     Create a podcast (Audio Recording) and interview a few of your satisfied customers;


    If you like any of the 5 methods listed above, you will love the other 45 techniques.


    What’s the catch? No Catch. This is our way of introducing our knowledge and expertise to you.

    F

    ree Handout Download: http://bit.ly/50waysdownload or,

    text your email address to 682-200-1954

    (No other characters or words, just text your email address to 682-200-1954)




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