MRL #059- How To Play The Long Game

We’re now 3 weeks into the new year…

Which means your 2024 sales goal is top of mind.

But before you run off chasing anything you can get your hands on…

Let’s chat for a second about the “long game.”

Because…

The Best Way To Book Revenue Now, Isn’t Always The Best Way To Book Revenue Long Term

You see…

When you optimize for “now” with no regard for the “long game” you can inadvertently shoot yourself in the foot.

• You over pursue

• You sell out of fear

• You take on crappy clients

Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to write a bunch of new business this year.

Au contraire.

I’m just saying be mindful about how you do it.

Because in trying to win the battle, you can weaken your chances of winning the war.

So, in this week’s newsletter let’s take a step back and talk about…

5 Ideas To Remember When Playing The Long Game

#1. Insurance Is a Long Sales Cycle

The buying window for insurance is once a year (every 12 months).

That’s a long ass sales cycle by itself.

But, that doesn’t even include the buyer’s preference for entertaining other agents.

At best, they’ll entertain other agents every year.

At worst, they’ll only entertain other agents every decade.

Be patient… Not everybody’s in their buying window.

#2. Prospects Can Live With The “Status Quo” Far Longer Than You Think

For lots of biz owners, the fear of changing brokers is scarier than the fear of facing their problems.

Just because a deal seems like a no-brainer to you, doesn’t mean it is to them.

If they’re not ready, they’re not ready.

Don’t force it.

You’ll just end up burning your chances for the future.

Be patient… Keep nurturing the relationship.

#3. Time Is The ULTIMATE Pipeline Builder

As a mentor of mine used to tell me:

“You’ll need deals a year from now, 2 years from now, 3 years from now, 4 years from now…”

And that dude did like $500k a year in the Private Equity space, so I’d say he knew what he was talking about.

I’m also watching it happen in real time right now with Micah (the other half of Max Revenue).

Dude is literally setting the world on fire as we speak.

He’s already written 6 deals, worth $150k in revenue this year. All of which are follow ups from previous years.

Dude’s literally been calling the same 1,000 contractors in a 300 mile radius for almost 10 years.

The compound effect has set in, and he’s setting meetings, and closing deals at an insane rate.

Remember…

“No” doesn’t actually mean “no”. It just means “not yet”.

Be patient… Keep building that pipeline.

#4. Low Hanging Fruit Often Spoils The Fastest

I made a post a few months ago about a friend of mine in the trucking space.

He came out guns blazing in his fist 2 years, only to lose 75% of his book in year 3.

He was chasing high risk (new venture) trucking prospects. And although they’re low hanging fruit and easy to write, they also go belly up faster than you can sneeze.

I’ve seen the same happen to Producers with “program business”.

All it takes is one bad year of losses and your silver bullet can go kaput.

If all your eggs are in that one basket… then what?

Be patient… Play long term games with long term risks.

#5. If Your Pipeline Is Full You’ll Never Be Desperate

You know what I think is the #1 reason why Producers get caught short-sighted and don’t play the long game?

Because their pipeline sucks.

They don’t prioritize prospecting. They have no leverage. They sell out of desperation.

When you only give yourself 6 at-bats a year, you’d better damn well convert on all of them!

Don’t be that guy.

That’s not a good place to be.

As I said at the top, when you do that you just end up…

• Over pursuing

• Selling out of fear

• Taking on crappy clients

The solution?

Be patient… Keep prospecting no matter what.

Stop Playing Checkers, Start Playing Chess

I get it.

Playing the long game can suck sometimes. It can be frustrating when you don’t see immediate results.

But like playing chess, it’s not about winning your next move…

It’s about winning the game in the end.

Be strategic, be patient, and for God’s sake, don’t stop prospecting.

Speaking of prospecting if you’re looking for a tried and true process that’s so simple even a dumb ogre like me can do it…

Go check out the Producer Playbook.

To be clear… the Producer Playbook isn’t actually a book.

It's a 5 module video course with over 3 hours of content.

Inside we've also included a number of resources, guides, and presentations that we actually use.

As the name implies, we literally give you the entire playbook. We've held nothing back.

And don't worry, it's not boring.

We intentionally kept each lesson short and to the point, so it's easy to consume and keeps you dialed in.

Ok, that’s enough out of me.

It’s past fat boy’s bedtime.

Just remember…

In a world addicted to instant gratification…

Playing the “long game” is the ultimate advantage.

Hope you have a great week.

Kick ass take names,

Maximus F. Revenue IV

P.S. We’re building something we think you’ll like.

Hoping to launch end of Q2.

Be on the lookout for more deets.