The principal focus of this podcast episode is the essentiality of maintaining a positive attitude and the impact it has on both personal and professional success. We delve into the experiences of our guest, Mike Babcock, a local entrepreneur, who articulates the significance of resilience and positivity amid adversity, drawing from his own journey in the insurance industry. Throughout our discussion, we explore various themes, such as the challenges of cold calling and the invaluable lessons learned from failures and setbacks. The episode serves as an enlightening narrative on the importance of mentorship and the cultivation of a supportive environment for aspiring entrepreneurs. Ultimately, we aim to inspire our listeners to embrace their struggles as opportunities for growth and to foster authentic connections in their professional endeavors. The principal focus of this podcast episode is the essentiality of maintaining a positive attitude and the impact it has on both personal and professional success. We delve into the experiences of our guest, Mike Babcock, a local entrepreneur, who articulates the significance of resilience and positivity amid adversity, drawing from his own journey in the insurance industry. Throughout our discussion, we explore various themes, such as the challenges of cold calling and the invaluable lessons learned from failures and setbacks. The episode serves as an enlightening narrative on the importance of mentorship and the cultivation of a supportive environment for aspiring entrepreneurs. Ultimately, we aim to inspire our listeners to embrace their struggles as opportunities for growth and to foster authentic connections in their professional endeavors. The salient point of this podcast episode is the exploration of personal growth and the profound impact of human experiences in shaping successful individuals. We delve into the intricate journeys of remarkable people who have not only built successful businesses but have also cultivated resilience and integrity within themselves. The conversation features insights from Dan Moore, who shares his transformational path from selling cars to leading innovative companies in the automotive industry. We discuss the importance of self-awareness, the lessons learned from failures, and the vital balance between professional aspirations and family commitments. Ultimately, our discourse emphasizes the significance of continuous improvement, urging listeners to strive for growth and to help others along their journeys.

The conversation unfolds with a profound exploration of the entrepreneurial spirit, as our guest, Mike Babcock, recounts the trials and tribulations faced in the insurance industry. Through his narrative, I glean insights into the necessity of cultivating a positive mindset amidst adversity. Mike reflects on the importance of resilience, drawing from personal experiences that shaped his outlook. He emphasizes the significance of mentorship, which he believes is paramount for the younger generation embarking on their entrepreneurial journey. We delve into the intricacies of cold calling, a skill Mike has mastered over the years, and he shares effective strategies for overcoming the inherent challenges of initiating contact with potential clients. His anecdotes illuminate the importance of persistence and the art of building genuine connections, underscoring that success in business often stems from fostering relationships rather than merely closing deals. Moreover, we explore the dichotomy of entrepreneurship—the glamorous facade versus the gritty reality, emphasizing that true success is often born out of struggle and perseverance. The dialogue further evolves as we address the impact of familial legacy on entrepreneurial endeavors. Mike shares how his family's history in business instilled a strong work ethic and a sense of responsibility in him. This notion of lineage resonates deeply with me, as I reflect on my own experiences and the wisdom imparted by previous generations. We discuss the trials faced by small business owners, particularly during economic downturns, and the vital role that adaptability plays in sustaining a venture. Mike’s candidness about his journey serves as a reminder of the importance of humility and the willingness to learn from failures. The episode culminates in a discussion about the future of entrepreneurship, where we contemplate the evolving landscape of business and the skills necessary to thrive in a competitive environment. Our overarching message is clear: while the path of entrepreneurship is fraught with challenges, it is the resilience, determination, and support from others that ultimately pave the way for success.

Takeaways:

• Entrepreneurship is often romanticized, yet it frequently entails significant challenges and struggles.
• The key to success lies in fostering a positive attitude and surrounding oneself with optimistic individuals.
• Building relationships through genuine curiosity and asking questions is essential for effective cold calling.
• Mentorship and guidance are crucial for the younger generation to navigate the complexities of business.
• Learning from failures and setbacks provides invaluable lessons that contribute to personal and professional growth.
• A strong work ethic is often inherent and cannot be easily taught, but it can be nurtured.

Links referenced in this episode:

• michaelabcock.ifs.com
• lago-marcinos.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Lago Marcinos
• State Farm
• Farmers

This is Adam Marburger.

And this is humans that build real conversations with real people.

Not just about what they built in the world, but what had to be built inside them first.

No hype, no shortcuts.

Just humans doing the work.

Humans that build.

Real people.

Real work.

Welcome to another episode of Humans that Build.

I'm your host, Adam Marburger.

This show is designed to share incredible stories from incredible people, those making an impact locally, globally, and at the end of the day, you know, entrepreneurship, it's a word that a lot of us like to throw around.

It's a sexy word, but sometimes it's not all unicorns and rainbows.

And we're going to definitely talk about that today.

We've got a special guest.

Local entrepreneur, local businessman.

We've got Mike Babcock here with us today.

Mike, how the heck are you, my friend?

We're doing good, man.

You know, it's been a fun last couple weeks and the insurance scene for me.

Some carriers have been doing some shifty things on me, but honestly, we're keeping a positive attitude about it.

I got that from you.

Adam told you about that story beforehand.

About.

We were talking on the phone before doing the podcast, making sure it was a good fit for both of us.

And Adam, I can speak some awesome words about you.

He went out of his way in the middle of a phone call.

He said, hey, son, I know you're headed off to school.

I know you got a big test today.

You've been studying for it all last night.

Keep a positive attitude about it.

You're gonna kill it.

And, like, that seriously left an impression on me.

I was just right after that phone call, I was like, man, I need to, like, take that to heart and make sure I'm doing that stuff for my kids, too.

So that was.

That was a great conversation.

I'm excited to have a long conversation with you right now, too.

Yeah.

I mean, here you can choose.

And I was actually talking to my buddy's son, you know, when I was.

When I had to step out.

So sorry for that.

But at the end of the day, we get a decision in the morning.

I say this all the time.

We have a decision every single day.

We have every.

Every day when we wake up, God willing, that we have another opportunity to live.

Today day, we get a decision and it's, do I want to be in a good mood and be a positive influence, or do I choose to be in a bad mood and do I want to be a negative Nelly?

And I choose positive.

Now the world happens I have three daughters that are pretty difficult at times.

The world throws turd sandwiches sometimes, but at the end of the day it's a hell of a lot easier to be positive than it is negative.

And I don't know if you know this scientifically.

It takes more energy to be negative than it does.

I choose positive every day.

Well, and it's funny because it became like a prevailing theme over like the course of a week or two.

I was sitting in a seminar and it was insurance related of all things, and the guy started talking about positive attitude and negative attitude.

And he said when you're looking for hiring employees, you look for those people that have a positive attitude.

And he gave us a list of reasons why.

But one of the big ones that stuck out to me was that 80% and this shouldn't be surprising when I say this statistic, but it was over 80% of people that enjoy their jobs are optimistic.

People that are pessimistic.

Only 20% of percent of them actually enjoy their jobs.

It's all about attitude, you know what I mean?

So I mean that stands out right then and there.

Yeah.

And then before I got a rant here, before we get in because I really want to dig in and, and get to know you a little better in your business, but I challenged and I my some of my main motivation for this show, I repeat myself, I'm a little redundant.

It's.

I like to reach the younger generation and I like to share my past mistakes and my guests past mistakes and wins with the younger generation so they can win at a higher frequency with less mistakes.

Right.

Because along the way you're going to fall and I think you learn more from following than you always do winning.

But as us, as business owners, if we can share some of our lessons with the future entrepreneurs of the world, that's our, that's what, that's our due diligence in my opinion, 100%.

So you're a third generation business owner.

And I've seen it time and time again where, you know, a lot of times the first generation builds it, the second generation kind of screws it up and, and then sometimes that business goes away.

I've seen it lots of times.

I don't think that's the case with your company.

So let's talk a little bit about your agency.

Let's talk about the history of the agency and then let's just get into all things business.

Let's be selfish for a minute about you, Michael.

Let's talk about you.

Yeah, man.

So I Appreciate that.

There's two pieces of it, too, where the business side came from.

For me, I've seen it lived out on both sides of my family.

My mom's side of the family, they own a chocolate confectionery and soda parlor, ice cream parlor up in the Quad Cities.

They've owned it for over 100 years.

We'd go up there all the time, and they would just pass down this lineage of history from when they immigrated from Italy to here to the United States.

And you just see them grow this thing, and you see all the different avenues that they've kind of used to grow that business.

Really awesome.

It's called Lago Mercinos.

If you need chocolates, like, we send our chocolates out to some of our top clients every single Christmas through Lago Marcinos, and they do a great job.

And everybody just rants and raves about it.

So I. I could talk about that for.

Forever.

It's just like a history book of stuff.

I gotta remember that for Christmas.

You gotta remind me for Christmas.

I'll just send you.

I'll send you a box.

I'm gonna write that down now.

I'll send you a box.

But then the other piece of it is that there is a.

There is a gene on my dad's side of the family that just makes it can.

It can just breed good business people.

And it was passed down by my grandpa.

He actually just passed away two weeks ago.

No, it's okay.

But I was thinking about it.

He lived a really long, great life, quite honestly.

He had a.

He had a lot of family that.

He ended up being the patriarch of over 40 people.

We all loved him greatly.

And, you know, his funeral was more of like, hey, this is a great way to remember him, than.

It was like a, you know, really sad time.

But I was thinking about a lot of the lessons that he kind of passed on to us.

And he was.

He is that, like, you think grinder.

That guy was a grinder.

He started from nothing.

He ended up being.

Having to be essentially the father figure of his own brothers and sisters because his dad was just absent.

And honestly, just.

He was involved in bad things and he wasn't being a good father.

And so he took on that father figure role.

And then he gets married.

He goes in the military.

He gets married at age 18, I believe.

Ends up having five kids.

One of them, my dad.

And, you know, takes on that father role immediately.

Has to provide for the family, works.

He works at a GMC plant in the manufacturing plant.

And, you Know, blue collar, hard worker, working double shifts all the time and then he also branches out into doing home building.

So he's doing all these flips, he's building homes.

He is just, he's, you know, running rental properties and everything.

He is kind of like the epitome of everything that I want to be as a business owner.

Takes care of people, you know, did the right thing, but would be hard nosed when he had to.

He passed that on my dad, that work ethic, he passed that on to my dad and then my dad passed it on to us.

And you know, with each generation, like you were saying, it kind of shows up in different ways.

Like my dad decided to go into the insurance space.

He's been in insurance for over 35 years now.

He started with State Farm and Farmers and then he, and then he spun into our independent agency that he opened up about 20 years ago.

So he was kind of the base of it.

And you know, he kind of took that blue collar mentality.

He was doing house flips as well and rental, and doing rental properties as well.

But he kind of focused more energy into the sales side.

And then all my brothers and I, we all have business background, we all studied business.

Coming into high school, I took a business class and I was like, this is, this is what I want to do.

I don't know exactly what it's going to look like an application, but this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

And got an undergrad in business finance and did an MBA at SLU in business finance as well.

Did commercial banking for five years and then did, and then moved into our insurance agency and just started selling and just doing commercial business insurance and started selling, making cold calls.

And that work ethic was just like there, like it's just inherent.

And I honestly think work ethic is not something necessarily.

I don't think you can teach it.

I think it's inherent to a certain degree and I think any.

But I think anybody can have it as long as they're willing to make the mental determination that they are going to push to building something and they're going to put in the hours and they're not going to, they're not going to take the hurdles as problems, but they're going to view them as something that can help them excel into something better.

And that's, that's kind of just where that's how we started it.

And I have ownership now.

It's, it's been great.

I want to, I want to intentionally interrupt you Because I want to break down something you just said.

You know, I tend to agree that work ethic, it's tough to teach people work ethic.

Right.

And I always talk about, I always talk about the formula.

How do you win at any industry is number one, have a product and service that you're wildly, madly and just fanatic about.

That solves a problem.

Yep.

Position yourself with the right team and the right positive influence around you and take massive crazy action.

Now that's where work ethic comes in.

So how do we teach the younger generation to take massive action?

I think, and I would love to hear from you, I think it's a mentorship's got to be there.

I think everybody needs a mentor.

I don't care who you are, you could be a 60 year old business owner, you still need a mentor.

You could be a 20 year old business owner, you need a mentor.

But we got to give them the framework like you got to give them what is.

I break down with young folks that I mentors.

What does your morning look like?

What do you do first 15 minutes of the day?

What's your first hour look like?

Are you in gratitude first thing in place the first morning you write?

Not what you're grateful for.

Are you getting a sweat in?

Are you working out first thing in the morning?

What research and studying are you doing in your field of expertise first thing in the morning?

So like, for me it's like I try to give those that are kind of like, don't really have a morning routine, give them some structure.

What's your opinion on that?

No, I think that's awesome.

So I listened to the podcast and you're going to have to remind me of the guy's name, but I listened to the podcast of the guy that started off in dealerships and he ended up becoming a dealership coach.

And he talked about that, that gratefulness mindset.

And I think that's huge.

I think.

As a business owner, Glenn Lundy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I thought that podcast was great.

I listened to that to make sure that, you know, we, we were going to move forward on this.

And I'm like, oh, I listened to the first 10 minutes, I'm like, I'm in, let's do this thing.

And but that gratefulness mindset, I think as a business owner, and I'll answer your question, but I want to, I want to touch on the gratefulness piece of it.

As a, as a business, business owner, we should be welcoming problems because if, if we are not encountering problems, we're not pushing hard enough, that means that we're being too complacent and that we're just comfortable.

And when you're, when you're comfortable, like if you're not growing, you're shrinking, that's, that's the mindset as a business owner that you should have.

And so when each problem that you're encountering should be an opportunity to be something that you're going to build up further is the way, is the way I look at it.

I heard somebody put it this way.

Whenever you first started your business, you would have been begging to have all the problems that you have now as a, as a long term business owner, when you had no sales and no money in your pocket, you had no problems aside from just getting more sales.

And now you have all these problems because you created something that is a problem solver.

So to back up, teaching the younger generation is big.

We're looking to build out our sales force further.

And I actively made the determination that we want young people in here partially because I think they're trainable and malleable and I think they're open to viewing an opportunity as something that they can make their own.

Right?

And so like you said, if you give them the proper framework and you show, hey, if you do these steps, you'll be successful at it.

But you have to be willing to do each individual step.

If you're not willing to do that, guess what, you're probably going to sink.

You're probably not going to make it.

You're just going to be treading water or you're going to drown and that, you know, you don't want anybody to get into that position.

But if they do, you have to be willing to pull them out of it and say, hey, potentially this is not the best spot for you.

Right?

Like, we're going to give you every opportunity to achieve.

But if it's not working, we need to point that out and we need to coach out of that role, right?

And there might be, and there might be better options for them.

But I think the positive thing is if you can show them a successful framework and so forth, like with you, Adam, like, you have all these different businesses and you can show them, hey, you do these different steps, this could be what your life looks like one day.

And they say, yeah, I want that.

And then you say, okay, follow me.

Right?

So, like, I think it's a matter of being a servant leader in the sense that you are providing this ability for them to potentially come, come into the same space that you are and maybe even excel where you are at some point.

And they're.

And they become that mentor, mentee, relationship flips and they, and they start teaching you stuff and that's really where you want to be.

If you can start putting people in place that are better than you, right?

That like, are actually teaching you things, man, you've, you've won.

And like, hopefully you've bought that loyalty with them by providing them that opportunity from the get go to, to build into.

That's brilliant, right?

That's a brilliant, Mr. Babcock, that I.

What you just said describes what I'm feeling at my martial arts academy Alt Mali.

Like, I have students that are now beating me.

Like, I'm not like.

And I'm getting a little older.

I was, you know, I, I am.

I hate to use the word struggle.

My coach, Danelle Delgado, wants to punch me in the face every time I use the word struggle.

I replace it with Alan.

Struggle can be good though, you know,.

But, but, but no, but I'm seeing it with my students.

My students are passing me and that's like, there's, you know what?

That's a awesome thing to see.

And my company, this one right here, my baby Ascent, one of my babies.

Sometimes I say it's my fourth and sometimes favorite child.

My company did not blow up until I got the hell out of my own way.

The day I realized that I am one human being capable of so much that the day I realized that I needed to bring a few people in that were more experienced than me and just frankly, better at me at a lot of things, and I moved out of the way to focus on the things that I'm great at.

And I've got these other individuals doing the things that they're great at.

And on top of it, we all love what we do.

Nobody on our team is in a position where we're not fanatical about what we do.

We are growing at a 30% rate year over year because I got the hell out of my own way.

So what you just said, Mr. Babcock, is brilliant.

It's so truthful.

So truthful.

100%.

And I think it's.

As a business owner, I think it's scary.

I think it's extremely difficult to actually do it because it's a hit on your ego.

You are admitting that you're not the best at something.

And I think part of it is to get to the point where you were.

You had to have that mentality where, hey, I am the best at Everything, right?

So like, if you're competitive like me, I assume you are.

You do martial arts and you, and you have businesses.

And I think part of being successful in business is being competitive.

So if you're competitive, part of, part of the, One of the.

I think most difficult things to achieve is a pot is a positive self esteem, positive framework.

Especially if you're in sales and you're getting rejected a lot like knowing that like you got tough skin and it's not going to get to you and you're just on to the next one.

But I think, like, I think to become successful is you had to coach yourself and tell yourself like, hey, it's not, it's not, it's not me, it's them to a certain degree, right?

Like I have something great that I'm offering and you know, like just having confidence in yourself over and over and over again and then you build it to a point where you're like, all right, like there's some attention that needs to be had over here that I'm not, that I'm not currently doing or I'm not skilled at enough to actually provide and, or I just don't have enough time in my day.

And like, I think all of those things is like a self admission that is super, super tough.

Because you, like, because you were gripping it so hard and white knuckling it for, you know, x amount of time, it's hard to, it's hard to actually release it because your muscles are like stiff at that point, right?

So I think the first, I think that first step of like just releasing a little bit, I think that helps you build into actually being able to continue to release more down the road.

And I think it will.

And it also, Michael, it also leads deliberation.

So like, you know, give you an example.

I work really, I work really hard.

A lot of people say, Adam, you're so busy.

No, I'm not busy.

Not busy at all.

I'm very productive.

I'm productive.

What I am.

But the ability I get to, I mean, I'm wearing a T shirt to work today and I'm having awesome conversations with guys like you because I have, I stepped on my, I stepped on the ego and allowed other individuals to just run and delegate.

It's.

It's liberating to know I'm going on a vacation with my family next week.

I don't have to look over my shoulder.

I don't have to look at an email, I don't have to return a text message.

If certain high Level clients were to text me or call me.

I'm taking their calls because that's just what I do.

But with that being said, it feels so good to be able to trust the people on your team, delegate tasks.

Because at the end of the day, entrepreneurship, when you talk about white knuckling and grinding, yeah, there's a level, there's a season of grinding.

You can't fake that.

Correct.

You gotta, you, you.

There's no faking, there's no shortcut in that, that, that startup phase of the white knuckle grind.

Sleepless nights, empty bank accounts, tears in the eyes that people don't know about.

All the negativity that comes with starting something.

But once it's built, the whole idea of entrepreneurship is to have your business work for you and not the other way around, around, you know.

So I want to hear a little bit about your, your insurance agency.

So tell me a little bit about, you know, your guys value proposition.

I do want to talk to you a little bit about cold calling because I do have some experience with that.

That's the most difficult thing in the world.

So for those listening or watching, for those in a business like me and Michaels, where we're in insurance and you got clients that already have a provider and you got to go knock down their door without an appointment, we're going to get to that.

But let's talk about your company.

What is your value proposition?

Who do you serve?

Who is your ideal client?

Sure.

So like I said, my dad started this agency 20 years ago.

He made a specific decision to focus on commercial insurance.

That's we.

So that's business insurance.

That's where our bread and butter is.

But we do a whole realm of services within the insurance space.

So like, I don't want to scare anybody away from like contacting us if they have insurance needs.

We're an independent broker.

We represent over 20 different insurance carriers and we're able to find good fits for most people that are interested in working with us.

We do have a large book of contractors that's kind of been a great space for us just because our carriers like those so much.

And we work primarily in the St. Louis area, but we work with businesses that are all over the nation that expand out.

But I'd say a large base of our clients are within the St. Louis area.

So I want to back up to the roots of how we got started and really why cold calling has become kind of like a not necessity, but it is part of the sales process inside of our agency.

But it's also like a core moment in my life and how I developed like a desire to do business.

So my dad was a farmer's district manager.

They started raising rates pretty heavily and then the agents couldn't, they couldn't sell the products.

And so if you can't sell, you're not making money.

Next thing you know, my dad's losing agents left and right.

That he had built up a, you know, a solid team.

And he's like, this is not sustainable.

He had his own book of business built up as well.

And Farmers is kind of unique, a unique captive.

I don't know if they still do this, but they did at the time.

They would let you sell your insurance, book a business back to Farmers corporate and they would give you a buyout.

So he took that buyout.

I don't think it was that much money.

And he bet on himself.

And I remember my parents sitting us down and going, hey, hey, money's gonna be tight for a little bit.

We're not gonna get to do, you know, vacations potentially.

We're not good, you know, we're not gonna go out to eat.

If we do go out to eat water and kids meal kind of thing.

And mind you, like I'm in high school ish.

Around high school, maybe middle school at that point.

And I'm like, okay, like it's not normal for your parents to have a sit down.

So there was like, there's this kind of like anxiety kind of building around the family that you don't like, you're trying to like pinpoint but as a kid you don't fully understand it.

But all I remember is my dad going into the office and he's making cold calls.

He's having us get on the phones and in some, at some points and like, all right, you guys get a lead, you get five bucks or something like that.

Like, all right, whatever that, whatever that means.

So that's how he built the business.

He literally from scratch, literally just calling people up, saying, hey, are you interested?

He'd go into people's houses for personal lines after work because that's when people are available for personal lines for businesses.

He's setting up meeting after meeting, getting in with them.

I'm sure there was a non compete clause.

So it's not like you could just pull over.

His previous clients at Farmers and the dude just grinded now Let me ask you this.

Did you, did you ever sense, was he scared at all?

Did you sense, did you sense any, any of that?

Did you feel as a young, young man, was there nervousness?

I think yes.

So I think that sit down kind of caused that.

And again, like, I can't remember the exact timing of it, but mind you, the 08 economic crisis is right around that same time.

Insurance is one of those unique spaces that if you're in business, you have to have insurance.

Like if you're, if you own a home and autos, you have to have it.

So it's a little bit recession proof, but still there's financial belt tightening going on for everybody at that time.

Right.

So people are cost conscious.

He had to be cost conscious.

I don't remember which came first, chicken or egg, if you.

He had left farmers before the economic crisis or after.

But that sit down is like, I literally remember sitting at the kitchen table with our parents and like, them being extremely serious and it just something felt like heavy about it.

And like, you know, as a parent, like, you're a parent now, you want to shield your kids from, I guess, that nervousness.

You don't want to let them in fully on what's going on.

I think a lot of people probably can relate to this, maybe with conversations that their parents had during that exact same time frame, but you also kind of want to leave them a little bit oblivious to it as well, because you want them to have their own childhood still.

And I think there was a little bit of a grow up right there period.

That just happened immediately, which with, I don't know what's serious about this, but I can sense it and it's a little bit scary and I don't know why kind of thing.

And so it's funny because when I joined the agency, he sat me down and he goes, all right, we made $35,000 in the first year I did this.

That's not that much.

Right?

That's revenue.

Now he had a buyout right there.

So he had some money to pull off of, but it's like, okay, that makes sense why we were so tight financially.

And then he's like, I doubled it the next year.

And then the next year I doubled it again.

And then I hired an assistant and we went back a little bit on money that we took home, but we kept going up.

And so it's interesting because I think him building that business is originally, I didn't want to be in it.

Like, I, whenever I came out of school was not Interested in it because I saw the hard work and sweat and tears that went into it and I'm like, I have I business.

I have a business degree.

I can find something cushy and you know, do something that allows me to work my brain but isn't going to have to force me to grind.

And I spent five years in commercial banking in the underwriting side.

And I'm like, no, this, I'm a grinder.

I can't just sit on my hands.

I can't just sit around and wait for the next thing to come to me.

Like I like to go get it and so switch from underwriting to sales.

Five years in, came over here to our agency.

It's funny because I kind of left out this piece.

We.

I talked about the 08 economic crisis and then you have the COVID economic crisis, right.

So I switched banks from Central bank of St. Louis to Pacific Western bank and Pacific Western Bank.

We were working in a specific industry security lending group.

So it was like Brinks, adt, Vivint companies like that.

I get on for like three to five months and next thing I know there's shakiness from the bank board and they go, we don't like your guys's portfolio anymore.

We're gonna sell it all.

And we don't know how that's gonna affect your jobs.

But the sales team, they're pretty much acts next week.

I was on the portfolio management side.

They're like, we'll figure it out day by day kind of thing.

I'm like, okay.

Literally a week or two later, Covid happens.

We're working from home and there's just so much in flux.

They end up keeping us on for a year.

Within the first couple months of that remote work job, I go, all right, this is not going to be a long term option for me, clearly.

And so I ended up having my.

And I don't know if I'll get in trouble for saying this, probably not anymore, but I had my laptop for the bank right here on my desk and I had my insurance agency.

That's the start of my career computer right here.

And I'm checking my emails there.

Still, you know, able to thankfully bring a salary on through that.

And I'm making cold calls over here.

Got to do, man.

That's.

That's hustle.

Correct.

And it.

You know what?

I am so thankful that that happened.

It was a really weird time because it was really hard to meet with business owners.

But thankfully for the most part, business owners were still interested in what we had to offer.

And so it was scary at first to do cold calls, but once we started hitting the groove, I just got super comfortable with it.

And just making a connection like that was huge.

Yeah, I. Covid.

Covid.

Covid taught us a lot as business owners.

I mean, the word I hear a lot during that era was pivot.

We had to pivot to different ways of doing business.

Like, you know, with what I do in insurance, I meet with my clients in person in boardrooms like that.

Like, I have a very unique client, very high net worth individuals that do not change providers very often.

And I found that it's relationships are everything.

Getting to really to know your client, what.

What can.

What is important to them, not necessarily to us.

But I found when we switched over to doing Zoom, it was difficult.

It was.

It was very challenging to pitch and present utilizing Zoom.

And so I'm glad that.

Well, a. I'm glad that we utilize Zoom because there were a lot of my competitors that just kind of put their head in the sand.

Well, I had all these leads from doing all these Zoom, you know, conversations.

So when the COVID kind of started, you know, the world started getting back together.

Now I have all these in person meetings just lined up because they wanted to meet you.

They're like, I know the guy behind the screen.

I want to meet the guy in person.

Yeah, yeah.

So let me ask you this, because cold calling, a lot of individuals and a lot of industries have to cold call.

Quite frankly, a lot of people just don't like Coca Cola.

So the fact that you and enjoy it, it's kind of weird.

And I kind of like it.

I kind of like.

It's weird.

So let's talk about cold calling.

If you don't.

You don't have to share your secret sauce if you don't want to, but if you do, I would like to hear.

Yeah.

What.

What does a cold call look like?

So.

So there.

I do not think there's any secret sauce to it.

I think partially it's a numbers game.

So partially it's just continuing to smile and dial over and over again and being okay with.

If they say no.

At some point, you've built up enough of a book of business where it becomes kind of like, all right, that.

That doesn't really bother me the no anymore.

Like, I'll just be on to the next one.

And it doesn't affect my bottom line because I'm.

I'm thankfully making enough money now.

I will say, like, thankfully, I've gotten to the point in My career as well, where my portfolio is spinning off enough referrals, where I haven't had to do it in a bit.

But by the, like, I did it for the first three years and by the end of that three years, I was 100% comfortable.

And on top of that, I felt confident once I vetted somebody over a cold call that I had like at least a 50 to 75% chance of closing that client if it, if they met these X criteria.

So I think the big thing for me was I think you have to have a warm hook.

I think you have to have a warm voice.

You go into this call, it's somebody that doesn't want to talk to you from the get go.

You know what I mean?

They get plenty of those calls, and so they want to tune you out immediately.

If you hit a gatekeeper, obviously that's hard because their job is to not let you through.

And so if you can get to the business owner and you just get them talking, you've won almost 90% of the battle.

How do you get to that?

So you said gatekeeper.

So it's important.

Gatekeepers are really good at their job.

They, you know, they're, they're good at protecting their bosses, their leaders.

So how do you get past the gatekeeper?

Let's talk through that a little bit.

I'd really like to, like, let's hear this.

Yeah.

So two ways.

You can just be really annoying and just like, you know, run, run through the brick wall.

So you can just keep calling and calling and calling and eventually you wear down that gatekeeper where they're like, I'm just sending you through to the owner and if they pick up, I'm gonna like, so be it.

Like, I'll take the consequences of that later.

You can make them work for you if you get them to like you.

Next thing you know, you know, they, they might want to send them through because they might think you'd be a good fit for the business owner.

So in some ways it's like partially either being really perseverant about it and some of.

And sometimes it's just part of getting them to like you or you can circumvent them somehow.

There's ways to do that.

You can try to figure out like a way to get the business owner's direct line or his cell phone or whatever.

And you know, if you can get, if you can get to them directly, you have a better shot at least of hooking them.

But I honestly think the big thing is once you get to the business owner.

You can't have like a sense of desperation in your voice.

You need to be cool, calm, collected.

You need to be warm.

And then really your big thing is just like, hey, this is what I do.

Here's my services.

This is the value I provide in that, like first 10 seconds and then if you get them talking at all, you just start asking them questions.

Amen.

Right?

Amen.

Questions or answers?

Questions.

Correct.

You know, it's funny too.

It's really good input, good advice too, because that's exactly in my industry.

It's kind of how it works.

Like when you can get to the decision maker, give them a very quick elevator pitch.

Don't overdo it, don't over elaborate.

And if you could just.

Questions are answers.

You ask the right questions and let them talk.

Now, the one thing too, this is for my fellow cold callers out in the world.

This is a little advice I'm just going to give you for free.

Here.

Here's what I found, Mike, too, that worked really well for me, is I genuinely believe that people want to help people.

I believe that my heart.

Are there bad actors?

Are there negative Nellies in the world?

Are there bad people?

Sure.

But the majority of the human population, I believe in their heart, they truly desire to help.

Now, the key is what I would find if I get a gatekeeper, whether it's a person or on the phone, and be like, hey, listen, I really need some help.

If you could help me, that would be so appreciated.

If I'm trying to get a hold of Johnson, if you could get me to him, that would be such a bluffing, like, something.

I really need some help.

If you could help me, that'd be fantastic.

It automatically signals something.

Psychologically.

It's like, well, this guy needs help.

This guy help.

So that's for my fellow cold callers out there in sales land listening to this.

Remember, people truly want to help people, so just don't be afraid to ask.

So anyway, sorry, Mike, I had to go on that for a minute because cold calling, that's so good though the first couple years, Mike, similar to you, our book of business has grown to where we're off referrals.

I have a cold call years, however, the first three years, I had to beat doors down.

I had to go.

I got my teeth kicked in.

I had a guy in Philadelphia grab me and my top sales rep, Cindy, grabbed us by the back of our arms and basically threw us out the door in downtown Philadelphia.

I'm like, what world?

The old me.

If you Put your hand on me, I'm putting you to sleep.

The new me.

There's liability there.

I'm not knocking this guy out on his showroom floor, but literally.

Mike, it's the hardest thing in the world.

Cold calling it really, it can be easy for some of us, but it is really hard starting out.

Very hard.

Well, and so I think part of it too is sometimes it's just catching them at the right time.

Like, here's the thing, most people, when you call them, they don't remember who you are.

Like you could have called them a few times, left a voicemail until you got through to them.

Unless you left a really bad impression with them, even if you talked to them a year ago or so.

Sometimes they don't even know who you, they don't remember who you are.

But you might have subconsciously got in their head, like, hey, like, oh yeah, like that name sounds familiar.

I have no idea why.

Right.

Well, they're reason why is because I've called you 10 times in the last year or so.

And you never know when the service that you're providing is actually something that they need because sometimes it's just like, oh, I needed this, this is a godsend.

I have no idea how you knew that I needed this.

And I'm like, I didn't.

But I just kept being perseverant about it and next thing you know, at least I have a foot in the door.

And then obviously like the big thing after that is set the meeting and build the relationship.

Because like your work, you, your cold call only goes as far as your word does.

So if you're not going to follow through on what you said you're going to do in that cold call, then what was the point of you doing it?

Right?

Like you just wasted your time doing all that, that time and energy on that cold call, all those cold calls you did.

And then you didn't follow through on what the base level of what you said you going to do.

So be proactive and being very timely and getting them over what you said you're going to and then working with them and making sure that you're actually providing what you said you were going to provide.

I'll give you a quick story.

So one of my first commercial clients, I don't remember how I got a cell phone.

I got a cell phone.

So I give him a ring and you know, he picks up, he's like, hey, I don't know how you knew that I needed insurance and I needed to do review, but I Do.

And I go, great.

Like, I'm the guy for you.

Didn't tell him how long I'd been in the industry.

Didn't tell him that.

Literally, I probably have no idea what I'm looking at.

Just said, I'll get it done for you.

Right?

And I knew the base level of information that I needed to gather because my dad had been doing it long enough.

He gave me the list, he said, go get this information.

I go, okay, sounds good.

So get it all together.

Finally get to the day.

We're gonna save them about 15 to 20 grand per year.

Insurance.

Kind of a no brainer, slam dunk, Close that account.

Year later, we take him out golfing.

And I go, we're about, I don't know, five holes in at that point.

I go, did you know you were my first commercial client?

And he goes, no, really?

Yeah.

And I go, would you have, would you have went with me if you knew that?

He goes, absolutely not.

And I was like, oh, well, good thing I brought my dad along with the gray hairs.

And I acted confident enough to close the deal.

Because you know what?

Like, who knew like that Sometimes it's just being in the right place at the right time.

But all that work that you put in up front is what built up to that point.

And sometimes you just need to get your first big break.

And once you get that first big break, it builds confidence from there on and you feel like you can do it.

You have.

There's proof in the pudding that you can actually do it.

And that was a game changer for me once I got that first commercial account.

Yeah, that's a great story too, because there are business.

And I used to.

I used to deal with that a little bit.

Where dealers would be apprehensive because my company was so new.

How many clients do you have?

Nobody wants to be, you know, the only client.

It's that first major domino and then they.

They start to fall.

The key to the magic comes in the value that you bring, you know, because there's a lot of people that do what you do, Michael.

There's a lot of people that do what I do.

But the difference is, you know, we care and we bring value.

It's massive value.

That's how you keep your customer.

You know, insurance is insurance at some level.

It's commodity.

It's a piece of paper.

It's a piece of paper with reserves and risk that are transferred, you know, that turn into underwriting, profit, typically.

I mean, that's what happens in insurance.

And so at the end of the day, it's the value.

Are you answering the phone?

Are you.

You there when the claim needs to be made?

Are you there to help assist in that?

Yep.

Nothing drives me nuts in insurance, and I've got some pretty good agents.

But in the past, like, I'll text my insurance agent, I need this, this, and this.

And I don't get a message for 48 hours.

That does.

That's unacceptable.

Yeah, you know, I understand.

Not a message.

I understand.

Like, if I were to.

If we're doing business, Michael, and I text you right now, I expect you to be productive.

I expect you to be a mean.

But I do expect by the end of business, just a simple text, and if you don't have the answer, just text me back, Adam, message received.

I will get on this and get back to you sometime tomorrow.

That's all you got to do.

100, You know, 100.

And we.

And we.

I. I do try to.

I try to teach that to our employees.

I also, I've always prided myself on that.

Like, just send back a receive.

You have no idea how long, how far away it goes with your clients for them to know that you actively saw their message and you are actively looking for an answer.

But in the meantime, you know that I got what you sent.

Because if you just leave them hanging, they're just going to assume, okay, well, maybe he didn't see it, or maybe he doesn't care, or you just.

They're just wondering.

And like.

So here's the one big thing that I try to remember, too, is when you have a business owner and they poured their heart and soul into that business, it's their biggest asset in life.

It is one of the things they're going to care about most in this entire world.

And if you don't give it the level of respect that they have earned and that they give their own business, then you, like, you're not.

You're doing yourself a disservice.

You're doing them a disservice.

So, like, my.

So.

And again, this.

This kind of segues into the cold calling.

I think one of, like, I guess, secrets.

I don't really call it a secret.

I think it's just part of being personable and wanting to build relationships.

If you can get a business owner talking about their business and, like, the ins and outs of it and how they started it and, you know, the things that are causing them problems, and they don't even realize that, like, that's what you were intending to do.

You just Kind of stumbled upon that conversation.

But if you get them in a cold call and you just get them talking about, hey, this is what I do, this is what I enjoy, this is how I got my start.

Oh, man, that's going to go so far in closing that deal potentially, because a business owner could talk about their business for days, for days non stop like that.

You could give them 24 to 48 hours to just talk about what they're doing and they could go straight, as long as you keep feeding in good energy and good questions and just genuine curiosity.

So I think being curious, I think is like something that I would highly encourage people to be whenever you're making these calls.

And sometimes they lead, sometimes they lead nowhere, and that's okay.

Like, just be okay with that, but be okay with making that connection and like, giving them the opportunity to, like, share.

That's why I think podcasts are great for that.

I think we talked about that a little bit, Adam.

I think this is a great avenue for people to just naturally allow themselves to flow into a conversation of, hey, this is what I do.

This is why I enjoy doing it.

These are the things that make me tick.

And like, I can tell you're a curious guy, Adam.

Like this, the reason that this is successful, successful is because it gets people flowing naturally about the things that they love to do.

And like, if you can get people to talk about that and just kind of ask them questions as you're, as you're picking the brain, like, man, that's, it's so powerful.

And people, you never know what people are going to pull away from that conversation until they reach out to you and they're like, hey, that was a powerful segment.

And this is why in my life,.

Oh, yeah, I've had multiple people, oh my God, this individual said this and I needed to hear it at this time.

Oh, my God.

I made this decision based on that.

Yeah, I mean, the whole idea of this show is just to share stories of people like you and, you know, share the good, the bad, the ugly.

I mean, entrepreneurship is not all.

It's sexy.

It's a sexy word.

A lot of people like to talk about it, but it's, it's not always sexy.

Right?

There's, there's, there's seasons of sexy, but there's also seasons of scarcity, seasons of darkness.

Can we back up, can we back up to a conversation?

A line that you said earlier, you talked about being, when you're starting your business, you got $0 in your bank account and you have to grind.

Right.

So I've had two instances of that in my life.

One coming right out of college and then one as we were going.

My wife and I were going to look to, to essentially buy our first house and then bunch of expenses kind of all hit at the same time so I could break into that a little bit more.

But I wanted to give you a chance to talk about that yourself if you haven't on this podcast.

Like, that was some of the most character building time in my life and I don't know what your faith is, but I'm a Christian and like that was also some of the, some of the instances in my life that, where I saw God working in a way that like I have zero control over this situation.

I'm just asking that you help provide.

And he does.

And I'm like, I can look back at that instance in my life and be like, he, I don't know how he sorted all that stuff out, but I know he did and it worked out and that it, and it like made a huge difference in my, my life and my faith as well because I had no control over it.

I thought, I thought I was the one that was like steering the ship, but in reality, no, like God brought people into my life that like supported me and allowed me to get through that difficult time.

So yeah, do you have an instance?

Yeah, I do actually.

And as a fellow Christian, I can, I can, I smell, I could see exactly that path and how that played out.

And I will tell you, you know, I know what it's like very clear.

Now take in mind like I was a self made millionaire in my early 30s and I lost it all.

Praise God, I got it back.

Much different this time though.

The last time that much better decision making.

But with that being said, I know what it's like to not know.

I pulled into Quick Trip one morning and I just didn't know if I had money in my account.

There was a very, there was a dark season.

A lot of prayer in that season, a lot of soul searching in that season, a lot of eliminating bad influence in that season.

But you're right, God does find a way to provide.

That is fact.

However, God isn't going to just hand it to you either.

So I went through a season of challenges, but it built this machine.

Sorry about that, man.

My grandfather passing away the next month, and then the next month filing for divorce after 12 years of marriage.

Then the next month living with my mom in her spare bedroom.

She's grieving.

I'm grieving.

We're lost.

That season built this right here.

And without the grace of God and forgiveness, I would be here today.

But I'm going to tell you right now, you learn more.

And I'll shout this out for anybody out there that is in a dark space, whether it's financially, spiritually, whatever you're dealing with.

It's part of the process.

Take it.

You know, a lot of people don't celebrate setbacks and plateaus.

There is more to learn about yourself through the season.

This is the only place to learn.

It, by the way.

It's when you're.

When you're on your rear end and everybody's turned their back on you, and you feel like there's nowhere else to turn.

A, trust God, but B, trust yourself, because you have what it takes to get out of the hole.

It's just going to take some work, and it's going to take some time.

But once you get out of that hole, the character building that comes with that and the lessons that you've taken from that, not only will it help you grow into the future, but you then get to lend a hand to somebody else that's struggling or challenged.

Sorry, Danelle.

If you're listening to this, you get to then lend a hand to somebody else and pick them up.

That's the beautiful piece to this.

I'm glad you asked that because, you know, a lot of us don't talk about being on bottom.

A lot of us, it's easier to talk about, you know, be on top.

So with that here, you know, I could sit here.

Promise me you'll come back on the show.

I didn't raise.

These shows are 40 minutes.

We're already almost at an hour.

I want to know.

Here's what I want you to share, though.

How can people do business with you?

How can people find you?

How can people connect with you?

Michael?

Sure thing.

No, and I.

And I love that, and I appreciate you saying.

Sharing that as well.

I didn't know that story about you, but like you said, I think that's some of the most powerful stuff.

And.

And I look back on that time period in my life, and I'm like, man, that.

That was a game changer.

And.

And it.

And a lot of it's not to the same extreme as what you went through, but it doesn't matter.

Whenever you're, like, if you get into a point where you're in your head negatively and you think that you don't have a way out, and then, like, God lifts you out of it, like, man, that's.

That's.

It just changes your life.

It changes your whole mindset.

So thank you for sharing that.

Yeah.

So on the, on just sharing how you can get ahold of me, you can reach out to me on LinkedIn.

You.

I don't.

You can, you can share my email as well.

That's at michaelabcock.

I as an insurance.

F as in financial.

S as in services.

So Babcockifs.com we are actively looking for salespeople.

So if you.

If any of this hit home with you and is interesting to you and you are interested in potentially working with our agency, I would be happy to have a coffee with you or a lunch, just discuss what it looks like, how it can be successful for you.

That'd be a great, a great way for you at least to get an intro to what we do and we can discuss that further.

I appreciate you bringing me on here, Adam.

And, yeah, I would love to come back at some point, maybe, maybe hit some of those stories that have built me whenever I was in a valley.

And we could, you know, we could probably talk about those for an hour too easily.

But I appreciate, I appreciate you bringing me on the show.

Thank you.

Well, my hair.

Thanks for taking the time.

You're local.

We do need to connect here offline.

Yeah.

Let's grab coffee.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Michael, thanks for coming in.

And for those that listen and watch, for those faithful viewers of humans and build, thanks for tuning into another episode.

This, this, this show is designed to share impactful stories from impactful humans making a difference in the world.

The whole thing is to become a better version today than we were yesterday for a more promising tomorrow.

So have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you all next week.

Thank you.

Humans that build.

Real people, real work.

See you next time.