MRL #133- How To Set-Up BORs Like a Pro

Had quite the meeting last week.

I walk into a double-wide being used as an office out in BFE Texas. There’s the usual pot of coffee that’s been burning since 6 AM and a calendar from 2019 still on the wall.

Bill walks over and shakes my hand. Bill’s quite the talker. And a close talker too. You know? The kind that get way too close so you can always tell where their last meal came from…

Behind him sits Ricky with his arms folded. He’s an early 60’s stick-in-the-mud. He’s old-school, thinks he knows everything, and doesn’t trust anyone who walks in his door.

For the first 20 minutes, I’m just listening, letting them talk, asking questions, getting the history. Nothing fancy.

After Bill finally runs out of steam I turn to Ricky.

“Alright,” I say. “Let me ask you guys this… you’ve clearly got an agent you like. So, why am I here?”

They tell me the usual:

“We like our guy. No complaints. We just want to make sure we’re not getting screwed.”

So far, normal.

Then I ask:

“Who was the other agent you guys had look at this last month? The one who walked away?”

Ricky locked eyes with me and said:

“I’m not sharing that, bud. That’s personal. That wouldn’t be ethical.”

In my head, my ego reared up on it’s hind legs:

“Oh, okay. You don’t know jack squat about buying insurance and you’re telling me what’s ethical? Why am I even here?”

Fortunately, I didn’t say it out loud. Instead, I bit my tongue, swallowed my pride:

“Hey, I respect that. No worries.” And kept going.

Fast forward 20 more minutes:

Ricky, that same guy who refused to give me the name of a past quoting agent, was nodding along telling me:

“We’d be dumb not to do this.”

What changed?

Well, that’s a secret.

Just kidding.

Here’s the framework I used to take him from “We love our agent” to “We’d be dumb not to do this”.

(And if reading ain’t your thing, you can listen here or watch here)

Just Let Em’ Talk

These guys wanted to talk about all things them.

And I’ve learned over the years it’s best just to let them.

Twenty minutes of that might sound like a waste of time, but most of the time it’s not. It helps them get comfortable with you, and the more they unload in the beginning the less they have in the tank when it’s your turn to talk.

Ask Why You’re There

There’s a moment in every meeting where it’s time to cut the foreplay and get down to business:

“Guys, what made you take this meeting? Why am I here?”

You’d be surprised how many producers never ask.

They just assume.

But when you ask, you learn.

Funny how that works.

Now, you have a huge piece of the puzzle.

Qualify Their Last Time Quoting

My next move is almost always some version of:

“When’s the last time you went to market? And how did that go?”

This does 2 things:

1. It tells you if they’ve been burned by quoting before.

2. It shows you how much they understand about how the game really works.

If they say:

“Oh, we just had three agents go shop it and picked the cheapest one,”

You know you’re dealing with someone who has no idea how the game works.

If they say:

“Yeah, our guy got blocked by markets and another agent walked away,”

You’ve got a crack in the door.

In this meeting, that’s what I heard.

“We had another guy in here a month ago, but he walked away.”

That sounds like a throwaway detail.

It’s not.

Explain How The Game Works

Don’t go full TED Talk.

If it takes you 15 minutes to explain how commercial markets work, you’re doing it wrong.

30–60 seconds is all it should take:

• There are thousands of carriers.

• For your type of risk, you might have 3–5 real options.

• Each carrier will only release one quote to one agent per year.

• Whoever gets there first, wins.

• Everyone else gets blocked.

“That’s why this feels so messy,” I tell them. “It’s not you. It’s the structure of the game.”

The point isn’t to make yourself sound smart.

It’s to make their frustration finally make sense.

Present an Alternative Their Peers Use

Now I pivot.

Not to what “I think they should do”.

To what “a lot of other owners like you” are doing.

Here’s the spill:

“Because of how this game works, a lot of folks are moving away from the ‘multiple agents, multiple quotes’ thing. It wastes your time, blocks markets, and makes enemies out of people trying to help you.

What they’re doing instead looks a lot more like hiring a listing agent when you sell your house…

One agent with one plan to leverage the entire market on your behalf.”

I’m not saying, “Here’s my idea.”

I’m saying, “Here’s the model your smarter peers are already using.”

People resist advice, but they follow patterns.

Validate Their Fear

By this point, they’re thinking what every loyal buyer thinks:

“So you just want me to fire my guy and trust you?”

If you don’t address that elephant out loud, you’re a sitting duck.

“And look, I get what you might be thinking right now: ‘So, we just fire our guy and bet on you?’ That’s a totally valid concern. I wouldn’t do that either if I were you.”

You’ll feel the room relax.

When you validate their fear, you’re telling them:

“I see your world the way you see it.”

Make Your Zero-Risk Due Diligence Offer

This is really the secret sauce of my whole system.

A simple, zero-risk next step:

“So here’s what I’ve found works best.

Instead of rushing to quotes, let me do due diligence first. I’ll take your current policies, premiums, and loss info. I’ll compare what you have to what I’m seeing in the market. I’ll talk to underwriters.

When I come back, I’ll tell you three things:

• Are you overpaying?

• Are you overexposed?

• And what would a better marketing plan look like if we wanted to fix it?

Costs you nothing. Doesn’t tip off your current agent. Doesn’t blow up your markets.

It’s just smart due diligence.”

Most business owners don’t get that kind of clarity anywhere in their life.

And you’re offering it for free.

That’s when you hear things like:

“Yeah… we’d be dumb not to do this.”

Finally, Present What You Find

When I come back, I’m not trying to be clever or sell somethings that not there.

I show up with a one-pager and say:

“Here’s what I found. Here’s what it means. Here’s what I recommend. How do you want to move forward?”

No arm-twisting, or hard selling BS.

I just shoot em straight.

Sometimes I get a BOR, sometimes I get permission to strategically quote markets, sometimes it confirms they’re in good shape and we don’t move forward.

All 3 outcomes build my reputation.

This Is How You Turn Guarded Prospects Into Believers

It’s not magic.

It’s process, honesty, and patience.

If you want more frameworks like this, the real ones that actually work in the field, you can:

Grab the Producer Playbook here.

That’s it for today.

Kick ass take names,

Micah

P.S. Producer Games Launch Delayed

Producer Games is our new app for Producers that gamifies prospecting with a national leaderboard. Track your calls, emails, or drop-in numbers while seeing how you stack up against producers across the country. Competition, accountability, gamification all in one.

It was supposed to launch Nov 1st, but we ran into some technical difficulties.

We’re looking at Dec or Jan. Updates to come.