Episode 254: Elevating The Client Experience with Richard Weylman

Welcome to the Unstoppable Profit Podcast. This podcast will give independent insurance agents all of the tools to grow your business and live life on your terms. Wherever you are today, if you're starting with nothing or well on your way to the success you desire, with the right people, processes and promotions in place, you will be unstoppable. And now I'd like to introduce your host, Mike Stromsol.

Greetings everybody. Welcome to the next episode of the Unstoppable Prophet podcast. In getting to know Richard Wyoming over the last couple of minutes before we started, ladies and gentlemen, you are in for a treat. And I'm going to let Richard share a little bit about himself. But here's the short of what I know. He's a professional hall of Fame speaker, a customer experience hall of Famer, a two time international best selling author with, with a new book coming out, I'll go ahead and mention that 100 proven ways to acquire and keep clients for life. And that's what I want to dig in today and pull out of Richard's well experienced mind and heart. Richard Wildman, welcome to the podcast.

Mike. Thank you. It's a real joy to be with you today and thanks for the privilege.

Now, my honor, thank you. We are grateful and thankful you're here. So let's get into it. Tell a little bit of people that may not have heard of you. There might be one or two out there, I don't know there's more than that, but in case there are, who is Richard Wileman?

Well, just very briefly, my entire focus is to help sales professionals, business owners, CEOs, entrepreneurs, to really connect with the individuals with whom they do business. And that's been what my life has worked, been part of it. Because of my background. I was, my mother died When I was 5, my dad died and I was 6. I lived in 19 foster homes. I went to 11 different schools. And through all of that process, you learn pretty quickly that you have to learn how to adapt, adopt and connect. And so that really became the sort of the basis. And then I was involved in sales for many years. Cookware, encyclopedia, cemetery plots, family bibles. I was involved in industrial laundry supplies. I built one of the most, how should we say? Well, the third largest Rolls Royce dealership network in the world. Then I was head of sales and marketing for the startup of the Rob Report magazine, which as everyone knows, is the lifestyle magazine that now enjoys tremendous distribution. And then people began to call me to speak and consult. And I'm very fortunate to have a large consulting Division. We consult with companies all over the world. And of course, we do a lot of coaching, too, because we're not about just what to do. My whole focus and my team's focus is not just what to do, but how do you do it? And that's why this last book. Thank you.

Yeah, fantastic. And. And we were talking about before we started that you also work with a pretty large PNC organization. So that's fantastic. And this is exactly why I didn't know this was going to happen. But it is a good idea to connect with you. So let's talk about the super simple business plan that anybody out there can implement.

Right, exactly.

And we didn't talk about this, but I'll just drop it on you. Get clients, keep clients.

Right.

And so your new book, 100 Proven Ways to Acquire and Keep Clients, is right up that alley. So do share just a little bit about what inspired you to write the book and some of the contents of the book. And if there are current entrepreneurs out there or somebody's looking to increase their entrepreneurial abilities and their leadership of their teams, which is something that we work a lot on with people in our programs. What are your best tips based on the book and everything you've done so far?

Okay, well, let's unpack that a little bit, I think. First things first, why did I write the book? Okay.

Yeah.

Well, I've had the privilege of speaking and consulting for many, many years. Over 4,000 keynote presentations. I've traveled all over the world. And one of the things I do and are speaking in our consulting coaching is we really want to talk to the. To the individuals that are in the field, in the street, talking to the consumer. We spend a lot of time talking to buyers of products and services to find out how a company can position better, brand better, salesperson can interface better, etc. And what began to dawn on me in about 2000, I'd say 19, it was really about maybe 18, but 20, 19. I began to realize that people didn't recognize the lifetime value of a client or a customer. It's that lifetime value. Then I began to ask myself, why are people switching companies, are switching agents, why are they jumping from one insurance company to another or another? And everybody said, oh, it's because of pricing. And everybody got, for the most part, they made the decision that everybody's in a race to the bottom on pricing. Well, that didn't tee up with a lot of my clients. I mean, we have the privilege of working with some of the major life insurance companies in the United States, we worked with many property and casualty carriers, and that didn't square with me. I thought, that's not what we're hearing when we're interviewing people to rebrand a firm or a team. What dawned on me is people going through a great reevaluation.

You know, we went through the great pandemic, and then we went through the great resignation where people were leaving their jobs. But during that whole time, people are going through this great reevaluation. Am I with the right advisor? Am I with the right agent? If I got the right company, do I have the right doctor, the right dry cleaner, the right hairdresser? And that is continuing now at a pace that we've never seen before. So that's what prompted me. I thought, okay, what are people really looking for? Because. And people ask me all the time, richard, what do you think? Who cares what I think, what I want to do? And our whole business is built on, I want to talk to the people in the stucco house and find out what they're thinking. And then I take that. Turn it into a prescriptive tactic that we can use in our businesses and as leaders, that helps us to drive the business as well as agents. It helps us to sit on the side of the table of the consumer. All right, so what did I uncover? Well, today, if we're going to really grow the business, we need to focus on the great re engagement. There are companies that lost as many as 13,000 customers last year in the financial services business. I won't name names, but it's well known now, those people went somewhere else. They went where they felt they had a greater level of engagement and a better level of experience. So I'll just summarize by saying, what are people looking for today? And why did I write this book? Because it dawned on me that what people are looking for is personalization and humanization. Personalized. They want to be humanized. They want a relationship with their agent. And people say, well, what does that mean? I got lots of CEOs. So, Richard, what do you mean by personalized and humanized? I said, well, let me go interview your customers, your clients, and let them tell us, well, no, no, no, we don't need to do that. No, we're going to go talk to them. And wow, we found out four things.

People want an agent. They want a provider that is thoughtful. They want someone that's kind.

They want someone that cares enough to find out what they really need and want. Versus how can I help you? What can I Do for you. And fourth, they're looking for somebody that's very empathetic about their situation. So when we talk about personalization and humanization, these people are running around stand on platforms. You need to personalize and humanize. Well, okay, we all know that. The question is how? So we know. We know. That's why I wrote the book. I wrote you a hundred different ways you can connect. And where did I get them? I talked to the people in the stucco house.

Marketplace research.

Oh, yeah.

You know, if you don't ask, you don't get. Right?

Yeah.

So fantastic. And I, I happen to know, because of our previous conversations and learning more about you, some of those companies that were not engaged.

Right.

With their customers. And I couldn't agree with you more. And you know, I remember my, my years sitting in the chair in the independent insurance agency business, and people would call and they were upset about something. And after a period of time, and I'd love to hear your feedback on this or your comments. Sure. After a period of time, I realized they're not upset with me. Even though they might be raising their voice with me. They're not upset at me. They're upset at the situation.

And then I began training my teams. Look, they're not mad at you. They're mad at the situation. But we get paid to be empathetic. And I could not agree with you more on what you just said. So why are people missing the boat on this, based on your research?

Well, okay, let's, let's, let's step back and say, okay, what, what's going on? And some people say, well, are we being critical? No, it's reality. As an agent, no matter what business you're in, if you're in the air conditioning business, I mean, you know, agree.

Yeah.

The truth of the matter is you are very much, shall we say, an advocate for your product, your process, your procedures, your plan, your performance. And down the road we go. I call it the P words. As an insurance agent, we love our plan, our process, our procedures, our process and our plan and our policies. And it's really fantastic. We got great stuff. And that's wonderful because it keeps us going to work every day because we're excited about that, which it is, we do on behalf of others. Here's the problem, because the industries are so commoditized, including insurance.

That what we have failed to realize as an industry is that people are not in love with your policy, products and platform. They're in love with the experience they have and the outcome. You Deliver, and that's it.

So if I call you and say, I'd like to talk about my account, that's only because you told me that I'm an account. I don't want to be an account.

Right.

I call and say, listen, I'm trying to figure out what my power. Let me check your coverage, not your account. Let me check your coverage. Let's see if you're in good shape. You're buying a new home in Arrowhead. Let's look at your coverage and make sure that you're clearly covered on this. Your daughter's going off to school. Let's make sure you're going to be taking a trip to Europe this summer. I'm really delighted for you. Do you have travel emergency insurance to get you home if something happens and you have a medical emergency? Let me check your coverage. I'd be happy to do that on your behalf. When you say on your behalf, people think, oh, my God, finally I got somebody on my side of the table that's kind, thoughtful, caring, and empathetic. And a lot of it is the words that we use, Mike.

And sometimes it's just that little shift.

Yeah.

Big door swinging, little hinges.

Yeah. It's. I mean, it's when you really stop and put the brakes on and you really talk to people. I mean, I can tell you from our interviews and all of my work, you know, I've worked so many years in financial services and helping. I mean, we've coached thousands of people. And I can just tell you that little changes in the words you use, little things you say make a difference. As an example, don't call. I'm not going to call you up and say, I'm just following up with you. What does that mean? I'm calling to follow up. I got nothing else to offer, but I'm hoping you made a decision, Mike.

Right.

Well, Mike had made a decision. He'd already called Richard. So I'm just following up. Or I call the probation call. I'm calling a check in like a probation officer. Okay. Called the touch base. Really? I'm at home plate and you're out. So why don't you call people, say, hi, Mike, Richard Wyoming here. You know, we were talking about that policy, an additional coverage. I've identified a couple of next steps we can take to make that affordable for you. Adults love steps, and if you give them steps, they go. So we were doing some branding for an insurance company, and they were like, why is our closing ratio slipping so much? Well, what do we do? We Went out, I put a team in the field and sat and listened to the agent. You know what the agency. That makes sense. So here's the whole thing. We got the package. That makes sense. So how do you feel about it? Is this is going to work for you? Are we gonna. Is this good? Are we good to go here and that? And people wouldn't buy. Some did, some didn't. But the closing ratio was below 50%. And so I got that team together, 50. And I said, listen, instead of saying, does that make sense? Are you with me? Are we gonna. How's it. Why don't you stop and say, okay, now, have I explained everything to you properly? What questions do you have? No, I think we're all set. Great. Here's our next steps to get this policy enforced on your behalf. 73% closing ratio, get you protected, change the game. People want. You can't lose weight, you can't get married. You can't drive a car. You can't buy a house until you at least go look, hopefully. So there's a step that needs to take. And what we as financial professionals need to do is give people steps. And if you're a leader, teach your people steps. Don't say, go do this, go do that. Everybody knows what to do. The question everybody's struggling with, how do I do it? And I built my whole business out of those foster homes knowing one thing. People have a pretty good sense. They got to be better. I spent my whole life figuring out, how can we get better? What are the prescriptive tactics? I had a CEO tell me this morning. He said, richard, I've spoken for them a hundred, over a hundred times during the financial services business. Huge firm all over the world. He said, every time you get on a stage, you give us great strategies, but you give us prescriptive tactics. And everybody runs out there and said, I can do this.

That'S disappointed.

What are two or three of those strategies that people can start right now, starting today, right here. And you've already given us a number of them. You know, re engage with your customers. Personalization and humanization. Just be human. Just care about people. You know, you want them to fall in love with the experience.

You know, Simon Sinek. You've heard of Simon Sinek?

Oh, yeah, we're friends.

More than likely. He said, you know, customers won't fall in love with a company until the employees or the team members fall in love with it first.

That's exactly right. So I'm going to speak to that, and I'm going to give you some prescriptions. Would that be okay? Right. So I get lots of people say, well, Richard, how are we going to get the company turned? How are we going to do. What do we need to train people? It says timeout stops, put the sl stop.

What you need to do is a leader. Set up a vision for the experience that your customers and clients are going to have. Because they're going to have an experience. You get to decide what that's going to be. And they're like, okay, so we'll sit down and get a team. No, we're going to write and I'll give you a good example. Freddy State Burger and Custard. Little, little fast food chain out of the Midwest. Okay. They read my previous book, the Power of why Breaking out in the Competitive Marketplace. Anyway, I went out and met with them and they said, we want to come up with a way to elevate the experience in all our stores. So we came up with the Freddy's Way. But the vision was to serve great steak burgers with genuine graciousness and hospitality.

Okay, well, they've sold over 150 more franchises, but more importantly, they just won the National Restaurant Award for the best fast casual restaurant. That beat Culver's Smashburger. They beat everybody on revenue and customer delight. So why is that? Because they had a consistent elevated experience in every single store. We tore out half the booths and put in movable chairs and tables. Why? Because the baseball team comes in on a Tuesday night, the kids, the girl Scouts, and they could slide over to the corner and have their little communities in the store versus sitting in booths. You go to McDonald's, it's all bolted to the floor. It's not a great experience. So these are just little, you know, we do a lot of audits of prices. All these little things we did made a huge impact on the perception that I'm in the right space. They have great steak burgers, don't get me wrong. And a great customer. But, but that is such a critical point now. So. But how did it start? It started with the vision of what the experience is going to be. Jeff Bezos, everybody looks at that picture of him in his office in Seattle, you know, on the fold away desk there in the old time computer say, well, he worked hard and he did hard. Yeah, well, what they don't realize is what's on the left wall. There's. And I've seen it, you know, what he wrote on a big yellow pad. I'm going to build the most customer centric company in the world. And that was his vision. And I'd say he's done a reasonably good job of that. So with that in mind, we have to ask ourselves, what's your vision for your practice? If you're running a practice and you got a team of two or three people, I'll tell you this. If you don't have a clear vision for what the experience is going to be, this is critical. If you don't have a clear vision for what the experience is going to be working in your firm, your company, then your. Your employees, even your agents, are going to create their own, and they're going to be all about themselves as opposed to being all about the customer experience. May I give you one quick example very quickly?

Like, can I give you one quick example?

Please do. Thank you. I'm waiting with baited breath.

Thank you. I was speaking to a large group, 1200 people, financial services, Nashville, Tennessee, Opryland, a year and a half ago. All right. In November. All right, I'm on stage, and I'm talking about elevating the client experience to elevate their sense of relationship with you and to build a rock solid relationship. All right, 20 minutes in or so. I said, by the way, I saw on LinkedIn this morning that this woman posted about her cat. She had a standing order with Chewy. Everybody heard of Chewy? Yes. I said, great. Okay. Well, she had a standing order with Chewy for cat food, and it comes every single month. Well, this month it just came, and she called the Chewy rep, and she wrote on LinkedIn. She called the rep at Chewy and said, my cat has died. I want to return the cat food. And the rep said, absolutely not. You cannot return that cat food. Of course you can see the audience. And I said, they said, instead, we want you to donate it to the shelter. We're going to give you 100 credit on the bill. And the whole audience goes, ooh. I said, but that's only half the story. I said, this woman continued to write that. Three days later, she got a condolence card and a bouquet of flowers from the rep at Chewy. And as soon as I finished, I said, the repertory. This woman stood up in the middle of 1200 people, raised up her phone, and screamed, that was my cat. I posted that this morning on LinkedIn.

Wow. I'm gonna tell you, the whole room would. And so after everybody calmed down, I said, ladies and gentlemen, what does this tell you about Chewy? And you know what? The room, the whole room starts chanting. We're switching to chewy. We're switching to chewy.

Wow.

There's your answer. So when people say it doesn't matter, it matters at a finite and a deep level. Now the question is, how can you bring this into your practice? Number one, stop sending your emails. Stop saying, you know, feel free to call. We all have cell phones. We pay the bill. It's free. Say, feel, always feel welcome to call. Far more gracious. When you sign your emails, don't sign them. Best. It's the number one most disliked salutation at the end of an email or a letter. Best. I can't even repeat some of the words that people said to my interns that were calling people when we did. We do live polling. We don't do survey monkey. I mean, people like best. Best what? Best for them, best for me. What's the matter? They can't. I mean, you're like, okay, yes, we got that man. Thank you. Yes, sir, we got it. What do they love? Warm regards. Kind regards. That's what they like. They don't want Sincerely Yours. It's too institutional. But every insurance company sincerely yours, which means they're not okay. They want you to know their name. So take your CRM. I don't know what you're using. Might be using Salesforce, turn it into a cxm. It's not a client relationship manager, it's a client experience manager. I wrote a lot about this in the book. Now what to capture. But you can set up individual fields. If they don't drink alcohol, make sure you put it in the database and don't invite them to a beer tasting or a beer brawl in October or don't invite them to event or we're going to have a wine tasting because you could have end up losing a client because they really feel like you don't know them and you don't know anything about them. So find out their proper name. I mean, Mike is your first name actually formerly Michael, only to two people.

My mom and my wife.

Right, But I guarantee you you probably get emailed through Michael. But if we know it's Mike, I'm going to put that in a database. If my name is Dave, I might be David or Dave, I might be Samuel or Sam. I have a good friend of mine, her name's Elizabeth, she left her insurance agent, she's on her own now. She's elderly woman, very, very wealthy. And the reason is because her nickname is Lolly and she doesn't answer to Elizabeth, Beth or Betty. And he kept calling her Elizabeth. He said. She said, my name is Lolly. He said, oh, that's a funny, foolish name. So she left.

Yeah.

Now how'd she get the name? Because her grandfather, when she was a little girl gave her lollipop. She loved me. He called her Lolly. How's my Lolly? How's. And her name stuck all through college. She got a doctorate degree on the wall, her name in quotation marks, Lolly. Okay. And this person didn't think it was important to capture that. So these little things met. I mean, T. Boon Pickens never went by T. My first initial is C. Richard. I don't go. I get lots of emails. Dear C. I don't read them.

And that. That word drives me personally crazy. Dear. Dear Michael.

Yeah, how about hi Michael.

Yeah.

Or how about just Michael? Let's just go with Michael.

Or hi, Mike. Yeah, exactly.

Something. Yeah. Or hey, Mike is even better than Dear Mike.

I have a selfish question, if I may.

Sure.

Back to the closings for just a minute. My word is grateful or gratefully with gratitude.

Yeah, that's great. Perfect.

Okay.

Well. Okay, so what's the messaging? I'm kind, I'm thoughtful, I'm gracious, and I'm empathetic. I'm kind and thoughtful, caring and empathetic. And you're demonstrating. Not talk. A. Trading people all the time. And I see it. And you know, we need to be authentic. 90% of people don't know what that means.

We need to be relational and we need to be human.

So, you know, I, I speak at Oxford, and they gave me a beautiful, wonderful Oxford dictionary written in 1827, an original. And I was doing. I had it. And a fellow in the audience said, how do you feel about the word authentic? Do you think we need to really. We need to be more authentic. Right, Richard? I said, well, let's see what the Oxford Dictionary said. So I look it up right on stage. I said, oh, it says authentic. C. Genuine.

Got the genuine two word definition. Not counterfeit.

That's the definition right there, ladies and gentlemen. Relationships drive revenue. Everything else is conversation. People say, well, people are. Want the price in the absence of value, price is always the driver. But if I have a relationship with you, you're doing a great job. You're covering my family, you're covering my. My homes. If you're. Listen, if you are. How shall we say this? If you are protecting what I value most, I'm in.

I'm in. I'm not chasing the price because you're protecting what I value most. Me, my family, my family, my life, etc. That's what people want today.

I want to make sure everybody caught what you just said, because I was making sure that I wrote it down and make. Correct me if I'm wrong. In the absence of value.

Price is the driver.

That's it. And this one property casualty we worked with, the CEO called me. He said, richard, we're all caught in this race to the bottom on pricing. And he said, why do you think that is? I said, well, what is your brand promise? What do you tell people you do for them? Well, we have great products and great platform and great. I said, well, there's a problem because everybody's going to say the same thing. We have a commoditized industry. What you've got to do is deliver an experience that separates you from everybody else and a brand promise that people reach for. Well, they're no longer in a race to the bottom, right?

Fantastic.

They raise their price and the revenue's up. And guess what? They're writing less quotes, but they're closing more business. There are other PNC shops that are writing tremendous number of clothes and less.

Business because they're focused on price, commodity, they're commoditized.

Correct quantity, the wonderful thing providing its quality. And so the reality, what it goes back to the people in a stucco house. Mike, what do they want? I'll tell you what. People. People in this country are desperate. Desperate for somebody to care enough to find out what they need. One somebody kind enough to ask the good questions and be there with them, thoughtful enough to walk them out to their car, go to the elevator, ride them down to the lobby and walk them out. Somebody thoughtful enough that it's raining outside. Mrs. Wilson, grab one of our umbrellas and let's walk you. No out. No, I'm going to walk you out to the car. Yeah, I'll take one for myself. And I want you to take this umbrella with you so you have it. Somebody is thoughtful enough that. That when I come into your office, you're not going to say, would you like a coffee? And you hand it to me in a Styrofoam cup if it's Styrofoam. If it looks like Styrofoam, it's probably Styrofoam. I've got a guy in Montana, he's in the PNC business, and we were coaching him, and I said, get rid of those Styrofoam cups. He said. I said, put in China cups and saucers. Is China cup. Are you I said, we have very clear accountability program. Either do what I suggest you do, or I keep your check and never take your call again. So it's a real simple accountability program. So he said, I sent her out. Her. I love that he sent me. I sent her out to get china cups of saucers. Cost me 100 bucks at the outlet mall. This better work.

Six days later, six or seven days, I got an email. Oh, my God, I just have my best clients in here. He said, we served coffee in china cups and saucers. Now, I was sort of right because our thumbs were too big to go through those little tiny handles. But he turned his wife said, honey, we got the most sophisticated insurance agent in the entire state of Montana.

He said, boy, that was worth thousands.

And how many other people is that person going to tell exactly the point and in case. In point to inspire everybody? And I, I know you follow the same thought process. You know Joe Gerard? You've heard of Joe Gerard, the most famous. Yeah, of course. He said, there's, you know, everybody knows 250 people either come to their wedding or come to their funeral. I just keep it simple. Let's go with a hundred. Simple Math, easy. Yet 800 clients, they all know 100 people. That's 80,000 opportunities. What more is it that you want?

Well said. That's well said. Well, you know, we did a great deal of polling for the book, too. And one thing we discovered. What 87% of people after the pandemic now say that they feel. They feel they should share their experiences with people in their network.

So 7%.

So what does that really tell us? It tells us the new centers of influence in a community are the very clients or customers you currently have. And they feel compelled to tell others about. And think about yourself. If somebody goes to a great restaurant and they say, hey, Mike, we got. If you and your wife want to go to a great restaurant, I'll tell you how to go here. It's fantastic. You'll go. What every agent needs to realize is, as I said, everybody's going to have an experience with you and your. Your team. If you're a leader out here and you're a regional manager, head of a firm, they're going to have an experience with your firm. And what people need to know is that satisfied clients, everybody say, well, my clients are satisfied. Well, I can tell you from.

Are they?

Well, here's the point. They may fill out a satisfaction survey, but that's a look backwards. Aha. I want to look forward because I can tell you just from experience and coaching. We tracked this for years. 20 to 30% of satisfied clients of a company leave. And why do they leave? Because they're satisfied, but they're not delighted. Your objective is to have a clear vision, educate yourself, get your team all going forward. Consistent, elevated experience, thoughtful, kind, caring. That's why I wrote the book. And there's a hundred ways to be thought. And you know what? Almost none of them cost any money. I'll give you another example in a moment. Thoughtful, kind, caring, and empathetic. Now, what's the net result? Then they become delighted advocates. They become brand ambassadors for you in the community. And they start telling people about what a phenomenal advisor or agent they have. I'll give you one example right now, if I may. Mike?

Yeah, Please.

All right. So this one individual.

Well, I. I do some coaching at Keller Williams, which is Barbara Corcoran, Shark Tank. Okay. She had a team that in. Anyway, they were 97. They finished fifth in a year. They got. Right, they got it. They got it. But they used to send a cake out to people when they listed her house, and it said, congrat. Round cake. Said congratulations. I'm like, well, why are you sending that out? Well, what do you mean? Why am I saying it's congratulations? I said, that's congratulations for what? For their house. Don't say that. I said, let's do the next one. We'll make it a round cake, but let's put the outline of a house on it and put on their congratulations on your new dream home and the house number.

Four. Four new clients because people posted it on Facebook. Another example is a financial advisor I had. I'll just give you some backstory. Here's something. Another thought. Are you. What are you doing to recognize people when they have their anniversary? Are you sending them a bill? Are you sending them a note? I'll give you an illustration point on how to use this. In Sarasota, Florida, where I have a home, there's a donut shop called five O Donuts. It's right next to the police station. Their tagline is arrestingly good Donuts. This was a little, tiny donut shop. They now have seven locations in Florida. It is a runaway train. And you know why? Well, I can tell you why. August 4, 2018. I bought my first donut there. I don't buy donuts, but I bought donuts August 4, 2018. Now, how do I know that? Because every August 4, I get a text from them. Congratulations. As another member of the squad. Congratulations. $5 off to your next donut. But if I buy an insurance policy for most people, I'm never even going to hear from them again, except when it's time to renew it. And I'm not going to hear from the agent. Now, we can put that in our database and send it. So I told a group of advisors about this. So this young gal in North Carolina, she sent a cake. She sends cakes now to her clients. She doesn't send it to the house. She said, I'll send it to the house. I said, absolutely not. You send it to their office because it's going to end up in the break room. And people can say, oh, what's the cake for?

So she did. And this fellow's gets there first thing in the morning, and he's got this giant, giant chocolate cake. And so he's having a piece of cake, and people come in him, hey, wait. My advisor said it. This woman comes in and said, oh, what's the cake for? Is it your birthday? He said, no. My financial advisor, she said, you know, my husband died as, you know, six months ago. We're just really freaked out. I don't know what to do. I'm just really panicked about the money. You've got an advisor that cares that. He said, hold on, hold on, hold on. He dialed the advisor and handed her the phone and said, this is one of my colleagues. Talk to her. Her husband died six. They talked. $1.2 million. Wow.

That's what happens when you're thoughtful.

And you're kind. I have another situation right now that just came up with. This guy has been a client of this individual for 22 years. She subscribed, you know, can go to my website and sign up for the performance tip. I send them out about every 10 days. Richard Wyleman. W-E-Y-L-M-A-N.com W-E-Y-L dash M-N.com and you just. You can sign up. It's free. We don't sell you anything. I just want to dump into you, help you as much as I can with our research. Long story short, she saw a post that I did ride people down the elevator. She did with Mr. Tough and Crusty. Been a client for 22 years. She'd never been in the elevator with him. He grunted the whole way down. She got down the lobby, stuck out her hand and said, you know, I want to thank you for coming. I'd love having you as a client. He started to cry. He said, I'm so intimidated. In Your office. You people are so smart. I have an 8th grade education, but I'm the incoming chair of this charity this year, and I want you and your husband to sit on the DS with me, because I'm going to stand on the platform and I'm going to announce I'm going to give $10 million to the charity. And I'm going to turn and say the only reason I could do it is because of you, Alicia. And I think everybody in this room should be doing business with you.

Thoughtful, kind, Caring. Empathetic.

Thoughtful, kind, Caring.

Empathetic.

Empathetic.

Thoughtful, kind.

Empathetic.

Yeah, Simple Terror said it best. He said people remember your kindness long after they forget your title. Stephen Covey. Basically. I'll paraphrase here, but he basically said, when you demonstrate deep empathy, the defensiveness goes down, the positive energy returns, and they're open to creative solutions.

Maya Angelou. They'll forget what you said, they'll forget what you did, but they'll never forget how you made them feel.

Right. And we're all the same way.

Yes, we are.

We really think about it. And that's why this great reevaluation is going on. People are fed up, and they're absolutely fed up with being treated like an account. They don't want to be a number, they don't want to be a client, they want to be an individual.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but I'm never afraid of being out on that limb, and I'm not afraid of being out of that limb alone. All right, There's a large movement within the PNC industry, the agency industry, where maybe some of the smaller people are getting swallowed by some bigger people. Right, but that is even more opportunity for you.

So what are you doing to create the vision of your organization? To create your purpose, to create who you are, your core values. Create that, and that's what you have to offer. And now Richard has just dumped into us all we need to know. It's not that difficult. Give me again the four Richard kind.

Okay, you ready? Kind, thoughtful, caring, empathetic.

Kind, caring, thoughtful and empathetic.

If you are that people assume you're somewhat competent, you've got a card that says insurance agent on it. How's that? Okay, so they're, they're, they're at least figuring you're. You're in the game. All right, so what are they looking for now? Well, everybody says they're looking for Price. No, they're looking for somebody that, what takes a personal interest in them. And how do you do that? Be somewhat kind. Be th. Don't sit down. So. Well, how can I help you folks? They have no idea. They don't know how you can help them. When you start the conversation, you could say simply this. You know, Mike, I want to thank you for coming, you and your wife coming in today as. As I. As you know, I'm with ABC Property and Casualty here, and I love what I do because I help people ensure what they value most. But before we get to all of that, how long. How long ago did you start your business?

What?

Or how long ago did you and your family move here to Fallbrook? Or I'm curious, what are some of the things you still want to accomplish? You said you're getting ready to retire. Listen, the whole thing today is get people to tell you their story. I know you want to tell yours. Forget your story, get them to tell you theirs, and it'll move the needle. When I was in the Rolls Royce business, I. My first question was. First was, why do you want to buy a Rolls Royce? And they go, what? Why do you want to? Well, because I've deserved. And I've worked really hard, and I've always enjoyed it, and I've always wanted one. It's my dream. And a little kid. I said, great. They go on and on, tell their whole story. And they said, well, who do you want to buy it for? Well, frankly, I want to buy it for myself, but, you know, I want the wife and I to really enjoy the car. It's going to be great, and I'll tell you why. Well, then the only thing left is what color do you want? And they still do that today at Rolls Royce and Bentley, and Lexus is now adopted that. Why do you want to buy a Lexus? And who do you want to buy it for? Get. Get the consumer to tell you a little of their story.

And they'll say, I'm so glad you're on my side of the table.

100%. 100%. Richard, your book is coming out, if I'm not mistaken, this month.

Right. March 12th is a release day. It's already in its second printing. It hadn't been released yet. Okay. I've been very blessed there. It's a lead book also for the London and Frankfurt book fairs. So that's. I'm very blessed there.

So it's already got some global traction, and I know you speak and present around the world. We were talking about that before we get started today. So by the time this podcast airs if you're listening or watching this podcast, the book is available. So, Richard, can they find the book on. You talked about Bezos earlier.

Okay. You can buy it, of course, on Amazon. You can buy it also any major bookstore. They all carry the book and some of the not so majors. You can also go to my website. It's important for you to note, even if you buy it for me, I don't care where you buy it. Buy it where it's comfortable for you. But go to my website and it's in the book. You'll see this. There's lots of tools, and you're like, well, how am I going to reproduce that? Oh, my God, that chart. I mean, this is a communication chart on how to elevate the experience for an entire year with my clients. God, how am I going to copy this thing? You don't have to. It says right there, go to my website, Richard, W E Y l m a n.com richard wyoming.com and you go right there to the books and it says, here's your tools. Click on it. Put in your email. You can download all the tools. They're free.

Great. And remember, one little gold nugget, big doors swing on little hinges. It just takes that one or two ideas and he's just giving you a. A gold mine of gold nuggets that you can start, starting right now, starting here, starting today. Richard, that is awesome. And so I. I assume that fairly soon you'd be passing over Honolulu on the way to one of your new destinations.

Absolutely. And as I pass over Honolulu, I'm going to be thinking back about what a great time I've had with you, Mike. What a blessing this has been. And the thing I want to leave with everybody is relationships drive revenue. And if you build relationships, your business will thrive and you will have permanent business success. People are desperate for somebody to sit on their side of the table, to be thoughtful and to be kind and be caring and empathetic. And if you run into people that aren't, shall we say, engaged at that level, you don't want them as clients anyway. So think about it from that perspective. But I can tell you, people are desperate for it. So, Mike, I want to thank you. It's a privilege to have been with you. God bless you and each and every one of you that are listening. And you're making a difference in people's lives. By My father didn't have any insurance. I lived in 19 foster homes. You all are making a difference. Give yourself credit. Thank you.

Well, Richard, thank You. We are blessed, fortunately, and grateful to have you. We have already been blessed. That's why I know that's your passion, or shall we say obsession. Stronger, a little bit stronger word in life to pour into other people, right? Everything that you've learned, everything you've experienced and I admire. So people that want to be out there just giving back to other people, it's, it's why I get out of bed without question. But I want to reiterate something that Richard just said. Another gold nugget he dropped. Relationships drive revenue.

One after the other. So I can't wait to go back and watch this with my notepad so I can stop and go and stop and go and begin inking. Not just thinking all of the wisdom and experience that you're sharing. And just a reminder for everybody, go out and pick up Richard's brand new book, 100 Proven Ways to Acquire and Keep Clients for Life. It's about, it's available on his website. Repeat that for us again, please.

Richard Wylman. W E Y L M A N dot com. You can go there. There's videos. I put up about 30 videos for you. They're like two minute little vignettes. You can go and watch there. It's all free. You can just enjoyed. You want me to speak at your conference? There's the topics are there, consulting, coaching, whatever. But the most important thing is we're just here for you. And you can go to the website, you can order the book through there and I've got all the links for all the major retailers and Amazon, so you can pick the one that you want to support. Thank you.

Fantastic, wonderful stuff.

Thank you.

And I can't wait to read it myself. I will definitely be picking it up and diving in so I can implement, execute and take action. And as you know, that's all you need to do. Implement, execute and take action. And if this is your first time on the podcast, welcome. My name is Mike Stromso. I'm. I'm recognized as a leading author, speaker and coach for the independent insurance agency industry. I am grateful that you are here. Thank you. And I hope you got lots of great value out of the podcast because that's what we want to bring. If you want to learn more about what we do and everything that we believe and how we help people and help you grow your business, visit us Unstoppable Profit producer.com and if you're interested in attending one of our live virtual events, join us please. Uppfaststart.com we teach everything that Richard just described and how you can implement it in your independent insurance agency industry, everything that we do is designed to help you grow your business, create wealth so you too can have more freedom to live life on your own terms. Richard, we also believe in the three P's. I know you mentioned that earlier, the people, the processes and promotion is the simple, proven three step blueprint. So we are grateful you are here. In addition to that, if you want to continue to receive great value, please go to the website for this podcast which isunstoppable Profit podcast.com Go to the website, go up to the top and click subscribe so you don't miss one valuable episode. We are privileged and blessed to have great people, great high achievers from the globe here on the podcast, such as Richard Wileman. And you will learn so much that you can use in your business starting right now. And of course the podcast is out there on all the channels. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, our YouTube channel, Amazon and more. So widely available to help you every week. We want to bring it and just pour into you and give back to you again to help you grow your business, create wealth so YouTube can have more freedom to live life on your own terms. And again, Richard, thank you sir. Very blessed and grateful to spend time with you.

It's my pleasure. And it's been a blessing to be with you, Mike and all of your listeners and God bless each and every one of you. Thank you.

Thank you. He already has, but let's go share that with the rest of the world. And remember this. You got this. We believe in you. We'll see you on the next episode.

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