I already have a mentor.

It’s likely you’ve been paired up with a mentor within your agency. Perhaps it’s the agency owner or an experienced producer who is eager to share with you the secrets to their success.

While those intentions are good, it’s also likely that mentorship support is unstructured and comes sporadically, because an agency owner has an exceptionally full plate – and a producer also has their own book of business to manage. It’s understandable that those responsibilities – and not your continued learning – take precedence.

A coach functions similarly to a mentor but can make their time with you a priority. In meeting with your coach regularly and developing a cadence, your coach can provide the consistency and focus on your success that may not currently be available to you within the agency.

But I’ve already had so much training.

One of the hardest things to find once you lose it? Momentum – and it happens so often when you leave a formal, classroom-style training environment. With pages of notes, a mind stuffed full of inspiration, and so many lightbulb moments, you’re back in your car, home or office to a ringing phone, pinging text alerts and emails waiting to be responded to. 

And you realize those new habits you had high hopes of implementing are now just a memory.

Often picking up where a formalized training program ends, coaching can help you to keep the momentum once you’re ready to implement what you’ve learned. Meeting at regular intervals fundamentally creates momentum – and provides a space to put into place the action steps you need in order to meet your goals, too.

I’m stuck in a rut.

Spoiler alert! Even those who seem to have it all figured out feel stuck at one time or another.  So what do you do when you don’t know what to do? 

The easy answer is something. And it’s okay if you don’t know what that something should be. Working with a coach who has experience navigating the insurance marketplace – both from a technical and strategic standpoint – will also have experience working with a variety of other producers, who they’ve helped to find success, too. The right coach can introduce you to ideas and resources that are being successfully utilized in the broader marketplace – and completely new to you.

I’ve tried everything and nothing is working.

Just like the concrete activities of networking, cold-calling, and following up, feelings like frustration and exasperation are part of the sales process, too.  In truth, you haven’t tried everything – and some things are working. But often we’re so close to our work that we can’t see the progress we’ve made and the steps we’ve taken to make that progress. 

In the safe space a coach provides, your coach will see you – and your unique behaviors – through their lens, and can help you identify what’s working – and what isn’t.

If I’m being honest, I know what I should be doing but I’m not doing it.

The highs can be so high – and the lows so low – in insurance sales. We celebrate when a prospect says yes and we question everything when another says no. In between those decisions you’ll likely feel a myriad of complex emotions, too. 

Fortunately, many coaching arrangements will include an element of accountability. A short-term goal will be set in one session and your coach will ask you to report back on your progress towards meeting it in the next. If you keep these promises you make, without even realizing it, you’re taking those next steps forward towards success.

It’s important to note that coaching is not the same as counseling or therapy – but it will make you feel some things. You will likely be challenged by your coach to think about your own habits – and also your definition of success, which might not match the one set by your boss. Expect to talk about how you process rejection – and be ready to check in with your confidence at regular intervals. Partnering with a coach can be transformational in both your personal and professional relationships – assuming you do the work!

Before we go, remember that your employer may contribute to all or part of the cost of coaching, and additional funds may be available from your carrier partners, too.