Seems like a very simple question doesn’t it? Obviously we all know that 24 hours makes up a day on the calendar. But I would challenge that concept. We all need to sleep, personally 8 hours is perfect for me. That now only leaves 16 hours. Out of the 16 we need to subtract personal time for bathing, toileting, eating and such which for my illustration is 4 hours. I will also subtract another 2 hours for family, relaxing and time waste. So, when all is said and done, we have about 10 hours per day to be productive. None of us are given more, none of us are given less, and we all get about the same amount of time to be productive. So why is it that some people are able to multiply their hours so well? You know, these are the people who seem to be involved in everything, successful in their profession, strong volunteers, and yet, when asked will rise to the occasion to help. I tend to go with the old adage “if you need someone to get a job done, ask someone who is too busy”. The reason I believe these people are able to achieve is twofold. First, they are organized either on their own, or they have someone who keeps them organized. Secondly, they are able to delegate lesser duties to others and keep themselves accountable for the results. So, what has this to do with an insurance agent? Everything! As I have watched our industry over the last twenty five years, it is very apparent to me that success in insurance comes to those who find more than their allotted hours in the day. How is it possible? Let me provide you the little secret. These individuals clone themselves and I am not talking of gene splicing. They are willing to find young talent and develop it, coach it, and insure the young talent of success. See, if you only get your 10 hours but you are able to recruit someone with their 10 hours, you now have 20 hours of opportunity. Add another talented person and now you get 30 hours and so on and so on. Why would these talented individuals want to provide you with their 10 hours? Because, just like you, they need a starting point where they can learn much like the apprentice of years gone by. So why don’t more experienced agents bring these talented people on? Many times it is because they don’t want to take the time needed to train and nurture these individuals. But even more often, it is because they don’t see the value. Even when they do try, many times I hear that they train the person and then that person leaves because they want more of the commissions. Might I suggest that it is only natural for the person, once trained, will want to earn additional money? Again, let’s go back to my example of an apprentice. Once the apprentice had completed their training, the “master” allowed them to be a journeyman. This allowed for higher wages. After an appropriate time, the “master” would probably become a Grandmaster and if the journeyman showed talent, appoint him as a “master”. In much the same way, I think our industry should look at young people and bring them into the business. Maybe you find an apprentice (new graduate or new to the business) and bring them in with an agreement to split commissions on a 50/50 basis. You provide the office and extras as part of the apprenticeship. Once the apprentice has mastered a part of the business, you promote them to journeyman where maybe the split is now 75/25 and you continue to provide the office and extras and after a period of time, when you know they have mastered the business, you allow them the ability to earn all but a minimal amount. Let’s say at that time, you split 95/5 in favor of the recruit and they pay for their expenses. You now have multiplied your time by 5% by having this person in your agency. The other thing you accomplish in this manner is a built in succession plan. Think of all the problems you would solve by this simple idea. Go out and make it happen.