Don’t Get Too Comfortable

In sports and business we talk about getting outside of your comfort zone in order to really improve.  There is merit to this and realistically it means that pushing ourselves to get better and not be content will yield a more desirable outcome.  This is true in many aspects of our lives, in fact I’m quite confident had I more thoroughly understood this mindset as a teenager I could have been more successful in securing different dates with a few more girls!  I’m not sure why but I was thinking about this concept while driving and returning from a rather long week on the road working this spring.   Comfort breeds complacency began going through my head and I thought about some of the negative aspects this could bring.  In the same thoughts I began to think about how so many people worry about what they can’t control, and guess what; it controls them.

In a sales role it’s easy to go through the motions and not ask the hard questions, especially with people we’ve known for extended periods of time.  At this point in my life there are times when I’m out dealing with people who have become good friends in addition to customers, many of these relationships are going on their second decade.  It can be awful tempting to shoot the breeze and not really take the time to make sure insurances are where they should be as far as coverage, limits, and schedules.  Maybe more so than any other industry it is really easy (and tempting) for a customer to buy insurance and never want to deal with it again.  Some agents have this same mindset also – if the customer pays their bill everything is good.  I consider this akin to a “hope and pray” type of strategy on both sides, it simply isn’t good practice or putting either party in a position to succeed long term.  A big problem with this mentality as a customer is that insurance is adjudicated at a time of loss not at time of policy inception.  If significant time goes by and you haven’t taken the time to do a phone, written, or in person review of things insurance isn’t going to automatically keep updated with your personal or business life.   This could mean you own things that aren’t scheduled, you’ve sold things yet are still paying premium on them, or the values of items you do have insured aren’t anywhere near where they should be.

For those of us who work in insurance we need to keep encouraging people to take the time to pay attention to this stuff.  I get it, there really isn’t a more hated topic to sit down and really think about for many people.  Insurance is something that nobody wants until you need it, and even then, you just want to get back to where you were before.  That said, even taking 20-30 minutes once a year to do a review and updating can really make a difference.  As agents we don’t want to have a piece of logging equipment that is insured for $700,000 and now that it is 3 years old only worth $550,000 nor do we want to find out there isn’t a piece of equipment or vehicle listed that there should be, after it is damaged.  It’s a team effort to keep things updated.  By keeping things updated we can all make sure you have the coverage you want and are getting the best value you can as a customer.

This same mindset and thought process applies to other areas of life also.  If we don’t ask for it then it probably won’t happen.  It’s not always comfortable to ask the questions but it can provide benefits.  Can we ship more?  Can we get paid more?  Are you able to do this for any less? Instead of just being comfortable with staying the same, taking the time to talk to buyers, suppliers, dealers, and others we work with can’t hurt.  Maybe the answer is they can’t improve things, but maybe the answer is they can and you would have never known without asking.