Age of Indiependence: Are You a Sales Organization or a Service Organization?

In this episode of the Agency Intelligence podcast miniseries, Age of Indiependence, host Katlyn Eggar interviews Tolga Demirel, the Co-Founder of Agency Zoom. Tolga talks about the power that a highly trained and highly motivated team can have in an agency, and the significance of technology to an agency. Episode Highlights: Katlyn introduces Tolga Demirel. (1:21) Tolga shares that he started his insurance career in late October 2011. (3:35) Where did Tolga get the idea for Agency Zoom? (5:12) Tolga shares that they are where they are today, because of their cultural adaptation. (8:36) What are some of the differences that Tolga has seen in the struggles that agency owners are facing? (11:05) Tolga mentions that the biggest change that he has seen is an increased appetite for technology. (12:54) Katlyn shares that in the insurance world, the agency owner is viewed by the carrier as a distribution point or distribution channel. (17:14) For the agency owner, what are some key elements that they need to be able to get visibility on before they can hold their team accountable for big changes? (18:52) Katlyn thinks that accountability is a challenge within organizations in every department and a huge challenge for the leaders. (22:49) How would Tolga reinvest the time, talent, energy, and resources into transforming the agency into a sales organization? (27:37) Tolga shares that you should be creative in how to keep your people motivated, fairly compensate them, and let them grow together with your agency. (29:49) Katlyn thinks that team culture and being all about people still exists in an agency that has a sales organization mindset. (32:21) Tolga believes that when you make your customers happy, you become happy. (36:46) Tolga shares that you should view automation in a way that it can help your agency on both sides, and sales enablement is an area where there's a tremendous need in the independent space. (38:18) Tolga mentions that proactive engagement is going to win the future. (38:59) Resources Mentioned: Agency Intelligence We Got Your Podcast Reach out to Jason Cass LinkedIn- Katlyn Eggar LinkedIn- Tolga Demirel Agency Zoom Advertisers: Imperial Premium Finance Specialists ePayPolicy