The Sales Skills That Set Top Surety Professionals Apart

In surety, one truth remains constant: ours is a relationship business. Whether you’re a surety bond producer cultivating trusted client partnerships or an underwriter collaborating with agency partners, your ability to build, communicate, and influence relationships directly impacts long-term success.

The good news? Great sales professionals are not simply born—they are developed.

As sales and leadership expert Ryan Estis shared on an episode of the Let’s Get Surety® podcast, sales is a skill that anyone can cultivate:

“It’s a skill set that can be studied, practiced, and, ultimately, if you master it, you can have career success for life.”

For surety professionals, mastering those skills means more than growing a book of business. It means asking better questions, understanding client motivations, strengthening agency-company partnerships, and becoming a more trusted advisor in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Elevate Your Business Development Strategy

To help professionals build these critical capabilities, NASBP offers the Sales Workshop, a highly interactive program designed specifically for surety bond producers and underwriters.

Participants gain practical insights from some of the industry’s most successful professionals, learning proven approaches to prospecting, relationship management, client engagement, and sustainable business growth. Faculty members bring extensive experience from both the contract and commercial surety sectors and represent perspectives from the agency and company sides of the business, creating a uniquely valuable learning environment.

As part of the workshop, participants complete the Purpose and Passion Profile Assessment, a powerful tool that identifies their unique pattern of motivated behavior. Through guided discussions and practical applications, participants learn how to leverage their results to communicate more effectively, strengthen relationships, and improve business outcomes.

Building Your Personal Marketing Strategy

The workshop to includes an additional module focused on helping participants translate their strengths into a practical, personalized marketing plan.

This session explores how surety professionals can strategically use:

• Social media platforms
• Email marketing
• Newsletters
• Websites and blogs
• Live presentations and speaking opportunities

Participants will learn how different channels serve different audiences, what types of content create engagement and credibility, and how to build an effective marketing calendar. The module also introduces tools and techniques that simplify the process of maintaining a consistent professional presence while supporting long-term relationship development.

The next NASBP Sales Workshop will take place September 8–9 at the Omni Barton Creek Resort, Austin, TX. Space is limited, and participants are encouraged to register early. Attendees can also remain in Austin for the 2026 NASBP West Meeting, which begins the afternoon of September 9, creating even more opportunities for networking and relationship building. Register now!

Continue Building Your Sales and Marketing Toolkit

NASBP offers a number of additional resources to help surety professionals sharpen their business development skills and expand their influence:

NASBP Podcasts

• Let’s Get Surety® Episode #105: Brilliant Game of Confidence and Relationships: Talking Sales with Ryan Estis
• Let’s Get Surety® Episode #134 Turning Uncertainty Into Success With Meridith Elliott Powell 
• Let’s Get Surety® Episode #151 Unleashing AI for Optimal Personal Branding and B2B Marketing

NASBP Surety Bond Quarterly Articles

• Alliant’s Larry McMahon on Building a Book of Business: Strategies for Surety Success—Part 1 
• Gallagher’s Corban Enns on the Importance of Process: Strategies for Surety Success—Part 2 
• Sales Fundamentals for Bond Producers: Strategies for Surety Success—Part 3 
• Building Your Personal Brand Can Give You Powerful Results

NASBP Virtual Seminars

• The Power of Presence: Personal Branding with Impact with Barb LeClair
• Personal Branding: Becoming a Surety Influencer with Mike Bond and Courtney Decroes
• Systems Thinking (or Systems of Attention): How Surety Bond Producers Can Build and Nurture Client Relationships During Challenging Times with Neen James
• Riding the Wave of Change: The Hi-Tech Human Connection with Carol Doscher and Kurt Robbins 
• Growing a Credible, Powerful Personal Brand Online with Krista Neher
• Engaging the Marketplace: The Most Critical Component of Your Sales Force with Jonathan Paul

In a business built on trust, relationships, and reputation, investing in your sales and marketing skills is an investment in your future success. The stronger your ability to connect with clients, partners, and colleagues, the stronger your impact on the surety industry will be. Register now!