What Kind of “Offense” Does Your Agency Run?
I have been recently reading a book by Phil Jackson. Jackson is a former NBA player and coach who won 2 championships as a player with the New York Knicks and 11 championships as a coach! He won 6 with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and 5 with Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers. This is an unprecedented record in NBA history!
In every case, the teams (Knicks, Bull, & Lakers) had been struggling teams for a number of years. What becomes evident when you read the story is that all of the teams had great players, but could not find success as a team. Jackson is best known for establishing the “triangle offense” which requires all five players to be in motion and work as a cohesive unit. Players going “solo” was not allowed as one player out of sync rendered the offense ineffective. This is so interesting because we are talking about some of the greatest players in NBS history being part of this “team oriented” offense. We are talking about Walt Frazier from the Knicks; Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen from the Bulls; and Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal from the Lakers! And that is just to name a few.
Our agencies are no different. Insurance is a team game for sure. Every position in the agency provides a key piece in the overall success. The producer creates the opportunity; the marketing department helps turn the opportunity into a new piece of business; and the account managers establish a maintain a positive service relationship with the clients. When all the players are operating from the same playbook, success is found and maintained.
There really is no place for “superstars” in the agency business. An agency built around supposed superstars is built on shaky ground that will not hold up over the long haul. If you truly want your agency to grow and develop over the long haul, it must have an “offense” that requires all of the players to be involved if it is to be “championship caliber”.
What kind of “offense” are you running at your agency? Does it look like Phil Jackson’s well-connected offense are do you just have a bunch of players going “one on one”? It is something to think about.
- Tim Hyland