Small Changes Can Add Up to Big Results!

Walt Disney had a now famous philosophy for his organization—“Everything Speaks.” In a nutshell, what he believed was that everything an organization does “speaks” about their product and influences the customers’ experience in either a positive or negative way. The words you choose, the clothes you wear, your handshake, your personal habits, and even that stack of unopened mail in your inbox, all “speak” about your product, your professionalism, and your organization. At Disney, anything that is seen, heard, or experienced by the customer needs to be pitch perfect. Everyone is trained and then trained again to see their world through their customers’ eyes and correct anything that isn’t consistent with the image of the organization down to the smallest detail. At a time when everyone is jaded about the business “philosophy of the month,” Disney’s corporate wisdom has stood the test of time and is one that we all need to remind ourselves of with some regularity. Bad habits have a way of creeping into every aspect of our business lives and, periodically, we need to reset and approach things with a fresh eye—our customer’s eye.

Top producers focus on ALL of the details—how quickly they return calls, how prepared they are for meetings, how thoroughly they follow-up, how comprehensively they understand their market, how well they maintain their existing relationship—and, how methodical they are in cultivating new ones!

Two years ago, we undertook an initiative to raise our members’ awareness of the best practices of top surety producers in our industry by introducing a Sales Workshop and offering sales-oriented Virtual Seminars on an ongoing basis. One of the key concepts of this curriculum that has resounded with experienced and new producers alike is the idea of the “Top Ten Habits of Successful Surety Producers”. The reason this is so universally beneficial goes back to the idea that we all need to periodically reset and focus on the small things that “speak” about us to our customers. If you missed the most recent Virtual Seminar on Sales Strategy—A Producer’s Guide to Building Your Practice—Identifying, Evaluating, Maintaining, and Working Your “Top 120,” I would encourage you to purchase a recording of the broadcast. In addition, if you haven’t previously attended, plan to join us for the next Sales Workshop, which will be held in late September in Seattle, Washington.

Here is something for today’s “to do” list: find one small habit you have that you don’t think says the right thing about you – and change it. Once that new good habit is established, find another and repeat the process. You’ll be surprised over time how all those little things add up to big results!

The author of this article is Ann Latham, Managing Director of Professional Development & Education for NASBP. She can be reached at alatham@nasbp.org or 202-686-3700.