MRL #094- Producers: Avoid This Common But Deadly Mistake

I spoke with a Producer this week who’s had a helluva year.

But, not in a good way.

We’ll call him Chuck.

Chuck, a newer Producer, has lost almost half of his book this year.

Roughly $200k.

Why?

Because he made one simple mistake.

A mistake lots of Producers make.

And a mistake I’ve made too.

Which is why I’m writing about it in this weeks newsletter…

So you can learn from our mistakes and avoid doing the same.

The Mistake

Mid 2022 Chuck’s agency landed an exclusive product in the Transportation space.

(I won’t say exactly what it is to protect his identity)

Like any good agent he jumped at the oppotunity.

He gathered names of a few hundred transportation prospects and begin pounding the phones.

By mid 2023 he had written well over $250k in the niche.

Great.

The problem is…

The MGA with then pen priced the risks way too aggressively.

By the end of 2023 the program was in serious trouble.

And by early 2024 the program shut down.

“No big deal,” Chuck thought. “I’ll just move them to another carrier.”

Chuck wasn’t so lucky.

Because, at about the same time, a national firm was launching their own new program in the space.

Since, almost all of Chuck’s 2023 biz has jumped ship to the new program.

$200k gone in a single year.

Yikes.

The Solution

Chuck wasn’t wrong for chasing the business with the exclusive product.

Chuck’s big mistake was putting all his eggs in one basket.

He’d have been dumb not to chase that business—exclusive products don’t come around often (if ever)…

But he should have diversified some of the new business he was chasing in an adjacent or entirely different niche.

Yes, you should niche down as much as you can.

But never write all of your business in one spot.

It’s Risk Management 101:

Over-reliance on one source dramatically increases vulnerability.

Diversification spreads risk and builds resilience.

The same goes for building your book.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Diversify! Diversify! Diversify!

Pick a vertical or two...

Write different types of businesses in those verticals…

Write different sizes of businesses in those verticals…

And for goodness sake…

Write with multiple carriers.

Don’t be Chuck.

Don’t be me.

Never put all your eggs in one basket!

Ok, that’s enough for this week.

I think you get the point.

If you want to learn how to write more business you might want to check out The Producer Playbook.

It’s our step by step guide to building a book of business from scratch.

Of course, if your being gifted your book by Daddy then it’s probably not worth your time.

Price is tripling soon.

Grab it at this price while you can.

See you next Sunday.

Kick ass take names,

Maximus F. Revenue IV