MASTERMIND MEMBERS

What is strategy? And why should agents care?

Compared to the snap, crackle and pop of tactics (”Oooh, look at that cool, shiny new thing twinkle!”), strategy just seems so damn boring.

I can predict with certainty that the next agent who reaches out to this so-called granddaddy of insurance marketing is going to want my magic pill.

They want the email campaign that knocks down the marketplace like ten pins. Or the web copy with the secret sauce. The landing page. The lead magnet. The postcard. The [fill-in-the-blanks-thing] that does what they haven’t been able to do.

You want the magic pill? The secret sauce?

Here’s the big surprise. It’s out there. You really can hit an inflection point, have your best year ever, solve your growth problems and have the agency of your dreams easier, faster, and cheaper.

But here’s the real surprise: Do strategy first. Tactics second.

Richard Rumelt—featured in these pages—enshrines one of my favorite quotes on strategy: "Good strategy works by focusing energy and resources on one, or a very few, pivotal objectives **whose accomplishment will lead to a cascade of favorable outcomes."**

That’s what strategy can do for you. Turbo-charge the tactics. Multiply the results from the same effort. And - throw this in while we’re at it - prevent wasted time, money and the frustration of not getting the results you want.

But what IS strategy?

Picture this, my friends, a tale of adventure and wisdom.

Meet my good friend, Bill Hartnett, former Director of Insurance at Microsoft - a sailor in his spare time. Now, picture a ship with eleven brave souls, and Bill takes the quiet, thoughtful seat as the navigator.

His role is to read the wind and water, to chart the course that leads to victory.

Sure, his crew of ten able-bodied sailors might be stronger and faster than the competitors.

But here's the thing—even with their tactical prowess and unmatched abilities, they won't win the race if Bill steers them into dangerous waters; storms, currents, or rocky shoals.

To seize victory, you must be in the right place, moving in the right direction. All determined by the ever-changing conditions of the sea and the weather.

That, my friends, is the essence of strategy.

It’s putting the ”big outside forces”—the wind and the currents of the real world—to work for you.

Let positive forces raise you up. Steer around the negative ones.