Let's be honest. Most of what you read here is crap.

But that crap takes a lot of time and passion to write. And every once in a while I get it right.

Thank you to those of you that clicked, read, and shared my views this year. Next year will be new and exciting for all of us in the insurance industry.

And I promise you plenty of more crap in 2016.

Here are the Top 3 posts of 2015:

Is your Sales Presentation better than PayChex, ADP or Zenefits?

Sep 3, 2015 929 views 18 Likes 6 Comments

Best Comment:

"Very good article. I would add to the legal pad point of: Understand what their challenges are - why wait until the actual appointment. Do some pre call planning - look at their website, LinkedIn, etc and show up proving to them that you are the SME in their industry. You instantly start off one step ahead of the rest of your competition." - Rob Tiernan

Cold Calling IS Dead, If You're an Idiot

Jul 17, 2015 794 views 46 Likes 12 Comments

Best Comment:

"I have spent a lifetime in sales at various levels and one of my main differentiators has been, from my days as a 18 year old sales rep to my current role of Director of business development, whilst the farmers maintained the status quo, I went and caught myself lots of new fish mainly by targeted cold calling. No great science behind it just find a need, make connection and get some momentum. A sales team without a pipeline is a sales team without a future." - Stephen Dobson

The 3 BEST & WORST Ways to Ask for a Referral

Nov 12, 2015 241 views 18 Likes 1 Comment

Best Comment:

"Great stuff Rob Erfurt! I love your offer to pray for the misguided souls. ; ) You are spot on with the standard it takes to earn the privilege of asking for a referral. However, even after having met that standard, if the ask includes, "do you know anyone . . ." your efforts will most likely fall short. You have just given your client a job to do, your job. Instead of putting a "blank page" in front of the client and asking them to fill it in with names, the producer should have done his/her homework, identified relationships the clients has to whom they want SPECIFIC introductions, and already have the names filled in on the referral page. Now, all the client has to do is make the introduction. The producer has to make it easy for their client to help them. Lack of client referrals is the single biggest lost opportunity being suffered by producers/agencies." - Kevin Trokey

Thanks for reading and if you see me at MSG tonight say hello.

-R