Why Culture Beats Cash

Scott Howell (0:01)

What do you feel like insurance agents need to do in terms of branding themselves, their agencies, the carriers they represent?

SPEAKER_2 (0:09)

When you are marketing something you're not in control of, you're not in control.

Scott Howell (0:13)

The very last thing I do, I get agreement from them, and then I end the call with making damn sure whatever I say I'm going to do gets done.

Bradley Flowers (0:25)

How many hours did your team spend last week on policy reviews? Quote comparisons, loss run extractions, now multiply that by what your producers cost per hour. That's the number that out market eliminates. The reason that I love Ascend is they're the only vendor focused on helping agents automate all of their manual finances and accounting practices, which is really the boring stuff, but that's really where the rubber meets the road in terms of profitability to your agency.

Scott Howell (0:51)

We're going to write business with the carriers that make it easy for us to write business with.

Bradley Flowers (0:57)

If the conditions have to be right for you to succeed, your success is conditional. It's not real success.

Scott Howell (1:03)

Play like champions, man.

Bradley Flowers (1:04)

Here we go.

Scott Howell (1:07)

Insurance agents from around the world, welcome to The Insurance Guys Podcast. My name is Scott Howell, your fearless host and leader, insurance agency owner and insurance evangelist and I protect insurance and financial services based out of Huntsville, Alabama. And before we get started on today's episode, please help me welcome, he is a six foot three sophomore from Mobile, Alabama. Parade first team all American, rivals five star recruit. He is a fantastic insurance agent and a great American. Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together and welcome the incomparable Mr. Bradley Flowers. How are you Bradley?

Bradley Flowers (1:49)

I'm Gucci, man. What about you?

Scott Howell (1:50)

Well, got a new favorite thing I'll enjoy doing when I go to the Hampton Inn.

Bradley Flowers (1:55)

What's that?

Scott Howell (1:56)

I like to get up in the morning, go downstairs, get a cup of coffee.

Bradley Flowers (2:01)

Listen to the morning gunshots.

Scott Howell (2:02)

Sit down in the lobby where everybody's sitting for their free breakfast buffet and watch people make waffles.

I cannot freaking understand why these stupid sons of bitches are making waffles. But I love watching people come downstairs in their jammies. You walk over, I'm going to explain it in detail. This might take an hour and it might take the whole podcast. They go over there. Nobody's making the waffle for you. Now remember, I can't get a son of a bitch that calls for an auto quote to stay on the phone long enough to get an auto quote. But you will sit there for 10 freaking minutes making your damn waffle at Hampton Inn.

Bradley Flowers (2:53)

Well, you know, I'll give you another version of that. The people that get on an airplane and order a ginger ale. Like, what is it about being on an airplane that you feel like you have to order a ginger ale?

Scott Howell (3:04)

I know the answer to that.

Bradley Flowers (3:05)

What's your stomach? Yeah, it settles your stomach. Like, you're not that upset.

Scott Howell (3:10)

What do you order on an airplane?

Bradley Flowers (3:11)

A diet coke. The same thing I do when I'm not on an airplane. Yeah, that's true. There's no different about this. Like, you know, I'm telling you that's why they do it. What is it about being a hotel and the fact that there's a waffle iron there? You're like, I'm going to make waffles.

Scott Howell (3:24)

Oh, and you got to make it from start to finish.

Like, you got to take the little cup and then you put it under the thing like you're getting a damn ice cream cone and the waffle has to come out.

Then you got to walk over to the...

Bradley Flowers (3:37)

Just to proof it out. That's basically what's happening.

Scott Howell (3:38)

Then you got to walk over there and now you're dealing with hot temperatures. So you're basically a line cook at this point in your damn Scooby Doo pajamas and you pour it into the damn wrought iron thing and you got to turn it over and that sumbitch gets up to about 800 freaking degrees. So, and then once that's done and the thing beeps, now you got to put all your fixings on it. And I'm watching this process go over and over and over this morning with all these people. And I'm thinking, I couldn't get that son of a bitch to give me his driver's license for a damn auto quote, but he will stand here for 10 freaking minutes and make his own little waffle.