Are we?

When we realize that the challenge before us is more daunting or complex than we thought, the tendency is to want to throw more resources at it – more money – enlarge the team – extend the deadline…

But maybe all that’s needed is a fresh approach. Maybe there are some other details or data that can tilt the game in our favor.

Sometimes we’re just looking at it from the wrong angle and seeing it from a different point of view will enlighten us.

And sometimes it just may not be worth wrestling with at all. Without giving in to discouragement, we can agree that there are other and better ways to spend our time and more promising channels to get where we want to go.

Perhaps the objective is to increase commercial lines revenue. So we ponder the best way to go about that. One option is to hire a new producer. But that can be a daunting process — finding the right person, negotiating her employment, training, managing, and hoping for the that productive outcome.

On the other hand, we could find ways to make small tweaks to our current process that will also move the needle in the right direction.

If we already have a producer or two, we could ask them each to spend just one additional hour a day prospecting. That adds up to 5 hours weekly and 25 hours more each month – ample time to connect with decision makers, build a pipeline of x-dates, and secure appointments to provide competitive reviews of their risk and insurance.

Another tweak is to focus more carefully on the target accounts. Does the company size criteria and SIC codes mesh with our revenue objectives and ability to offer likely pricing and coverage advantages? Do we know the industry well enough to identify glitches we can improve upon? Will the people in charge of insurance buying be accessible or impossible to reach?

It’s always good, before launching into a major new effort, or investing significant human capital and financial resources, to first take a good look at current processes and see if they’re optimally tuned.

There’s often a creative solution and a simpler, more efficient way to get the job done. In the end, Chief Brody and Matt Hooper didn’t need a bigger boat to conquer their prey. They accomplished their goal with guts, tenacity, ingenuity ….and a little luck.