We producers tend to argue about the dumbest stuff.

Cold calling versus networking. Niche versus generalist. Quoting versus BOR. Everyone's got an opinion, and everyone thinks their way is best.

There’s an old saying from Miyamoto Musashi:

There are many ways up the mountain, but the view from the top is the same.

He wasn't talking about selling insurance. But he might as well have been. Because I've seen producers build substantial books in completely different ways.

I’ve come to believe that the method doesn’t matter as much as one key metric underneath.

I'll get to that metric later.

But first, the three prospecting playbooks I've seen work best in the real world.

This is my system.

I harp on it because I believe in it.

Here’s the just of it:

The reason I love cold calling so much is, it’s simple. It is the lowest barrier to entry.

You don’t have to be a social butterfly, or kiss butt at conferences. And you don’t have to walk into a stranger’s place of business and ask for the boss.

You’re behind the phone in the comfort of your own home or office, and all you have to do is get reasonably good at a talk track.

Anybody can do it.

Federated Insurance basically trademarked this model.

And for good reason, because it works like gangbusters.

Here’s the cliff notes:

You need a few hundred prospects in your territory to make the math work.

I know a producer running this model right now in Minnesota and writing $500K a year.

Just routes, drops, and consistency.

Does it take cojones to walk into a stranger’s business cold? Absolutely. More than cold calling, in my opinion.

But for the right person, there’s nothing more effective.

We just had Alex Rodriguez on the podcast and he broke it down.

The concept is to prospect through centers of influence.

Then leverage your growing network into new business meetings. Either at companies they own or inside their networks.

This model requires a certain personality. You’ve got to be comfortable mixing it up, working a room, keeping the energy going. That’s not everybody.

But for the right producer, this is the most enjoyable prospecting system there is.

Here’s where it all connects.

It doesn’t matter which playbook you run. What matters is this one metric:

Two highly-qualified new business meetings per week.

And don’t cheat. That doesn’t include COI check-ins, sandbagged follow-ups, or “catch up” coffees.

It must be two legitimate, mid-market, new-new business meetings with a decision maker who has the authority to make a change.

If you can consistently hit that number, you will write a ton of business.

I don’t care how you got there. Heck, you can even cold email, send direct mail, or run webinars.

It really doesn’t matter.

Just get those two meetings a week.

Pick one method. Just one.

The producers I’ve watched who struggle weren’t bad at prospecting, they were inconsistent.

They cold called for two weeks, switched to drop-ins, tried networking for a month, then went back to cold calling. You can’t build momentum that way.

Pick the one that fits who you are, commit to it, and crank up the volume until you hit two new business meetings a week.

That’s all she wrote.

There are many ways up the mountain. The only path that doesn’t work is the one you keep abandoning halfway up.

If you want to learn more about my path, start here.

See you Friday.

-MS