I recently got a call from a new broker working in the UpperMidwest.

He was just getting started in the world of insurance brokerage,and he asked me for some advice on how he could gain tractionquickly and begin to grow his book of business.

The challenge for new brokers is developing a consistentapproach to build their reputation and book of business.They need a way to quickly make up for a lack of experience ininsurance. This is done by using business skills to translatevalue.

Here’s what I told him he had to do to achieve that:

When talking to a prospect, start by focusing on thebusiness conversation. Most CFOs expect you to talk tothem about their insurance policies, but in reality that doesn’tgrab their attention and is not front-of-mind. What matters to themare the issues that they are dealing with at that time, such asprofit margins, productivity and owner valuation.

By making the conversation about them, you build therapport and gain a deeper understanding of what resources you canbring to improve their business. That will be the hidden sense ofurgency that will drive your prospect to do business with you. Onceyou have repositioned that prospect's initial expectation, theconversation will become easier and much more natural.

Establish yourself as a business professional.Before you ask for any information from any prospect, execute amutual nondisclosure agreement. This will create the perceptionthat you are a business partner and not a vendor. Your prospectsigns this document with most other professional-servicesproviders. This will put you on the same level as their lawyer,accountant, and technology consultant, and will elevate you tohigher level than your competition.

Focus on your prospect's business issues. Enterevery conversation curious about your prospect’s business. Seek tounderstand what their pressing issues are. Do not make it about youand your offering. The prospect will expect you to, but do not fallinto that trap. Get used to feeling uncomfortable about where theconversation will go, but stay engaged and let it flow. You are thegatekeeper of resources that can help them. As new producer yourinstinct is to gravitate toward what makes you comfortable and thatis usually talking about yourself. Do not do it. Make itall about your prospect.

Understand your firm’sresources. These are your points of differentiation thatwill help you demonstrate your financial impact. These are theattachment points that that once quantified will give you a clearunderstanding of your value proposition and will move your prospectto become a client.

Measure your success using a long-term prospectingmethodology. Some prospects can take months or years todevelop. Identify a scorecard that will help you measure tangiblegrowth of the prospect and to identify the actions required to movethem through the prospect life cycle. Avoid looking at sales calls to quote, in order to close ratios.Rather, by using the long-tail prospecting method you will seeprogress in small steps that will help you sleep at night when youmight otherwise feel like nothing is moving.

The insurance world is ever-changing, and there is more roomthan ever for new brokers to be successful. The roadmap to gettingstarted can still be a difficult one. However, if you focus on yourprospect, engage in a business relationship, and keep a big pictureperspective of your middle-market prospects, you will gain tractionmuch faster.

Related: Attracting bright, young minds to an insurancecareer

Greg Dunn is managing director and a certified analyticbroker at Scottsdale, Ariz.-based TCORCalc,an insurance agency software developer. He can be reachedat [email protected].