In this month’s episode, Ryan Eaton welcomes Drew Shockley. Drew is the Senior Vice President of Training & Development at EverQuote. He shares his involvement in the insurance industry that dates back to his teenage years. The success Shockley had from his early endeavors has enabled him to share insights into leadership, acquisitions, and salesmanship.
Acquisition Integration
Business integration can be among the most challenging and complex tasks a business owner will ever face. Signing the dotted line on a transaction is often the easiest part. The trajectory and purpose of the transcation are what will determine how meaningful it was.
The goal of integration should be to add as much value as possible to a transaction, rather than treating it as a complicated challenge. The main concern of Shockley was maintaining momentum for his team and the new team he was bringing in.
Like 'maintaining momentum' at the beginning of the integration process, communication flows throughout it. In Drew's experience, it was essential for their team to communicate their expectations during this process.
For those of you going through these conversations. I challenge you to think about what you want post-acquisition. If you want to keep building and growing, it’s essential to share your vision and what you want to accomplish during that time.
Leadership is Influence
The importance of effective leadership cannot be overstated when it comes to building great organizational culture. Leadership shapes culture by reinforcing values, regardless of title, position or name. Throughout your life and career, you'll discover how leadership benefits all aspects of your life.
Shockley attributes some of his favorite leadership principles to John Maxwell in his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Maxwell’s book is part of Drew’s training of new sales team members. His favorite John Maxwell’s quote is “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.”
We all have the ability to influence. You can influence people below, you can influence people beside you, and you can influence up.
Building a Sales Team
The process of building a sales team isn't as simple as putting people in a room and getting them to sell your products. The foundation will need to be built. Your sales team will not just accelerate your company's growth, but they will enrich its culture as well.Building your team, you got to put people in place that love people, have a servant’s heart, and put people first. And if you do that, your company will have great success.
In Conclusion
A successful insurance agency requires a lot of time, effort, and investment. Passion and desire are important when it comes to sales, service, and growth strategies.
What’s Next?
Be sure to tune into next month's episode as we continue our discussions with the best leaders in the industry.
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What's Next
Make sure to catch our next month's episode as we explore further in conversation with Chad Hogan from Quotit. We'll be exploring the fascinating impact of artificial intelligence on the business landscape.
Thanks for listening to the Insurance Leadership Podcast. Be sure to visit us at
Stay updated on all ILP episodes by following us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram for news and upcoming episodes.
Leave a Review
If this podcast has made you a better leader, you can help share it by leaving a quick Apple Podcast review. You can visit Apple Podcasts Insurance Leadership Podcast on your iOS device and then go to the “Reviews” section. There, you can leave a star rating or click on “Write a review” to share what you learned from this podcast.
Thank you for sharing!