During the first six months of my first controllership, I was still trying to prove myself. I was a 29-year old Corporate Controller who was punching way above his weight class. It was the annual renewal time of our company insurances. And, like every reasonable businessman, I wanted the best price for my insurance policies so I contacted two other insurance agents to come to my office to present their wares.
My boss liked our current agent. They were friends at his country club. The business wasn’t going anywhere, but I wanted to make sure that our guy’s pencil was sharp. One of the two agencies I contact was the Preston agency. I was cold called earlier in the year by Bob Preston and I told him at the time that we weren’t ready to discuss our insurance policies. Now, we were ready and I invited by to come to my office.
When Bob arrived, I had to choke back a little snicker. Bob had a big permanent with tight reddish curls and a thick bushy beard to match. My first thought was that adult film star John Holmes came to my office. The only thing missing was the groovy music. I’m not going to recommend to my PG audience to look him up. Just take my word for it.
Bob sat down, opened his portfolio and listened to me talk about the policies we had and our claims history. He then started poking me with questions about our business model, tolerance for risk, the level of service we received from our current agent, our exposures and how our agent marketed our policies. Standard stuff.
After 15 minutes of discussion, Bob folded up his portfolio and prepared to leave. I asked him when I could expect pricing. He told me that he wasn’t going give me pricing. What he said next, constant listeners changed my perspective about business relationships entirely. Bob said, “You are not prepared to fire your agent. When you’re prepared to fire them, call me.” And, he left.
Welcome to Swimming in the Flood; a podcast where we develop the resilient leader’s mindset by navigating difficult currents in business. My name is Trent Theroux.
I didn’t know what hit me. Are salespeople supposed to try to win your business? Aren’t they supposed to compete and try to beat the other guy? Yet, here was a man who just packed up his toys and left. It’s true. My company wasn’t ready to fire our broker, but to not even compete? It went against my religion as an athletic competitor.
Eighteen months later, my insurance agent made a mistake. A big one. My president was livid as something that should have been covered by insurance was excluded because of the agent’s mistake. The president wanted the agent gone.
The next morning I called…well, you guessed right again, Bob Preston. We started doing business immediately and have for nearly 25 years.
Let’s go back to his famous line, “You are not prepared to fire your agent.” It took years, but I finally understood what he meant. Quick show of hands. Assume that you need some gasoline and you come to an intersection with two gas stations. One is selling at ten cents per gallon less than the other. Which one do you go to? Raise your hand if you elect the cheaper gas. Now, raise your hand if you select the station based on its location and your ease of getting in and out. I think we have most of the audience covered. Last one, how many of you select the station based on your preference for the brand. One brand makes your car run significantly better than another. Hmmm….not too many hands raised for that. It’s because you view gas as a commodity rather than a valued product.
When I first called Bob Preston, I viewed his services as a commodity. I was wrong. I learned that my insurance relationship was a partnership. Bob became a valued team member for me. He helped the company understand the risks and exposures. He helped steer us away from certain business decisions and towards others based on the risk analysis. He might as well have been a stockholder given his interest and passion for our company.
I now use his line on most salespeople that call me. “Trent, our accounting firm can save you 40% on your next audit.” “Trent, our banking fees are the lowest in the state.” “Trent, our software will save you thousands off what you currently spend.” To each of these callers I calmly say, “I’m not prepared to fire my partner.” That’s when the stuttering begins.
“I’m not trying to get you to fire your accountant. I just want to save you money.” I’ll say back, “If I bring you on board and have you review our finances in order to save a couple thousand dollars, what will happen to my current accountants? Will they continue to do the audit?” “No.” “Well, then you are asking me to fire the partner I have, that I have trusted for years, that understands my business and how we operate, that has satisfied my owners for just a couple thousand dollars. I’m not prepared to do that.”
And it’s true, folks like Bob Preston and my accountants and my software consultants are partners that I’ve developed over the years and created meaningful business relationships that are not easily replaced for a couple of thousand dollars.
Let me ask you a very simple question. Wouldn’t you hope that your customers think the exact same about you?
My relationship with Bob thrived for a decade. In time, his business grew to great levels and he and his brother eventually sold to a larger insurance firm. Bob was in his early 50s. He was going to work for the new firm for five years transitioning clients and continuing to do the work he loved. Bob also loved power boating. Now, with some serious money in the bank he upgraded his boat to a gorgeous pleasure cruiser.
Bob achieved the pinnacle of success…and then received the diagnosis. Parkinson’s Disease.
I am now going to give you my unscientific, non-peer reviewed, resilient leader theory on a disappointing diagnosis. Are you ready? Got your pencils out? Here’s it is. Optimism Can Take You Anywhere. You heard it. Optimism Can Take You Anywhere.
Folks, thank you for listening to Swimming in the Flood. Resilient leaders face challenging currents and it is tough navigating, but with one tack or another, we can get there together.