Solutions First, Then Business

By Tim Kolacz

“I need you to provide me a solution to the problem you have brought me, not just the problem!”

In the past year, how many times as a business owner, CFO, or parent, have you said that to the person in front of you? They bring you a problem from the shop floor, tell you that things are all screwed up and they want you, The Bossman, to fix it. You look at them and explain that since they see this issue every day, that they should be able to determine what needs to be changed to eliminate that problem. My daughter tells me she’s out of shape after a short bike; I tell her to ride the bike more. My son tells me he’s not strong enough; I tell him to go to the gym that I pay $30 a month for.

One of my colleagues in the office, Mike, had the opportunity to go out and see a new prospect a couple weeks ago. They had an introductory meeting, learned about the business, understood what they needed in the short and long term and actually got to try the product. The prospect said that three other brokers were also coming in to talk with them about what they needed.

After about a week, Mike went back out there with another one of our team members and showed the client what they saw in the company, and a path over the next three years to properly cover the company from a multitude of angles. He talked about direction to go as a start up, how certain programs could grow with the company as employee count grew and how to properly manage for the influx of sales that is anticipated once a couple of contracts get approved. He discussed what would happen at 4 months, 8 months, 12 months and 18 months down the road.

Mike and our team provided a solution to the prospect that he understood and wanted, but hadn’t fully expressed during the initial meeting.

Mike and the HUB team thought about his business as their own and thought about what they would want. This way, the prospect could worry less about this side of the business and focus more so on the task at hand of increasing capacity and landing the big contract.

Mike was the third broker the client met with out of four. Mike was the only broker to bring a solution. The rest brought insurance. Mike got the business.

So what are you doing to bring your clients and prospects solutions? Are you actively thinking about a better way to create your product that reduces cost, waste, time? What can you do today to do that? Will one more meeting with the supervisors do it? Will putting up a suggestion box do it? (No, it won’t, trust me)

But will going to your staff and asking them to be part of the company that provides a better solution to your clients? Asking them for help? Because you can’t do it all?

That, will solve a lot.

Tim Kolacz is an Account Executive with HUB international Insurance Services and can be reached at (951) 779-8730 or [email protected].