From The *Field*

Joe's got a question that keeps him up at night: if your agency just decides life insurance or financial services isn't a priority, are you still actually serving your clients? He and Josh go deep on why agents avoid certain products — spoiler: it's almost always fear or lack of knowledge, not the client's wallet. They dig into the moral obligation of being conversant in what your company offers, how leaders should set minimum standards, and why joint work is the cheapest education in the ind...

Your service team says they're drowning — but do they actually need another body, or do you just have leaky workflows? Josh and Joe dig into the real question agency owners wrestle with: when does adding staff make sense, and when is it just an expensive band-aid? They break down how to measure what your team is actually doing (low-tech time logs work), why building SOPs during downtime is a game-changer, how peer review from your study group can expose blind spots you didn't know you had, a...

Josh and Joe are back, and this time they're answering YOUR questions. Real talk from real agency owners — no fluff, no corporate jargon, just straight answers from the trenches. In this episode: Joe D. from Las Vegas wants to know: can you scale up without losing the personal touch that got you here in the first place? Josh breaks down why the only constant is change, and why staying nimble beats resting on your laurels every time.Samantha from Madison, Wisconsin asks about burnout — and it ...

You started with 40 clients and gave everyone your cell phone. Now you've got 400 and the phone won't stop ringing. Joe and Josh dig into the real question every growing agency owner faces: can you scale from 100 households to 2,000 and still feel personal? Josh says yes — but only if you put the client at the center, set clear rules of engagement from day one, and build an onboarding process that tells people exactly who to contact for what. They break down Josh's six-to-seven touchpoint sys...

Josh gets a frantic call from an agency owner who's got every problem in the book — bad rates, weak underwriting, poor leadership. But when Josh asks him to share his screen and show his calendar, the real problem becomes obvious: his calendar doesn't match his goals. That kicks off a conversation about self-awareness, accountability, and why your calendar is both a mirror and a predictor. Joe walks through five questions every agency owner should ask themselves when auditing last week's cale...

Most agency owners suck at asking for referrals. They either don't ask at all, or they go so generic it's basically worthless — "Hey, if you know anyone who needs insurance..." In this episode, Joe and Josh break down why being specific is the unlock. Joe's framework: listen for pain points during the appointment, then leverage those at the end to make the referral ask feel natural and earned. Josh counters with the reality that most agents don't feel like they've earned it — and explains why...

"The customer is always right" — but are they, though? In this episode, Josh and Joe tackle the spicy question every agency owner wrestles with: is there a time when the customer is so wrong that you need to fire them? Josh drops a truth bomb right out of the gate — the original quote is "the customer is always right in matters of taste." The second half got cut off somewhere along the way, and that matters. They dig into the real reasons to let a client go — abusive language, threatening beh...

You asked, we delivered. In this episode, Josh and Joe tackle one of the most-requested topics from the FTF community: should you bring on an intern — paid or unpaid — for your insurance agency? It sounds like free help, but without the right systems in place, it can go sideways fast. Josh shares the story of an intern who literally ended up mowing his lawn because he had nothing for him to do (they're still friends 20 years later, so it worked out). Joe recounts door-knocking all summer with a

Being an agency owner isn't for the faint of heart. In this episode, Josh and Joe get real about the red flags and blind spots that can quietly tank your career — or just keep you stuck in neutral. From the "I'm not a salesperson" crutch to letting the day run you, they break down the habits they see over and over (and have lived through themselves). No sugarcoating, just straight talk from two guys who've been in the trenches. ⏱️ Chapters 0:00 — Intro & Welcome Josh and Joe kick thin...