As an insurance broker, you know how much valuable time and money you invested in your future. You are a specialist in your state's laws, and the ins and outs of the many plans you offer. You also know the value of the relationships you have built with your clients. The challenge—and the goal—is to capitalize on all that investment.  These top 5 business books every broker should read. They were written by true experts in the world of sales and marketing, and are specifically directed towards growing a business.

“Live Free or DIY: How to Get More Customers, Increase Profits, and Achieve Work-life Balance ” by Justin E. Crawford

Everyone runs into challenges in the business world and often times, finding a solution isn't straightforward. This book answers all those common business owner questions:  

• How do I build a team on a tight budget?
• How do I improve my time management?
• How can I achieve work-life balance?

Whether it's wrestling with customer acquisition, budgeting, time-management skills, work-life balance, the headaches of red tape, or how to build a team, this book is the survival guide you have been searching for, Available on Amazon, free for kindle users. 

“The Breakthrough Insurance Agency: How to Multiply Your Income, Time and Fun" by Bart Baker

Using his acclaimed agency-building process, top insurance agent Bart Baker walks you through the ten key steps of creating an agency that give you the results you’ve been dreaming of. You will learn:

• How to set a powerful vision for your business and fund continuous growth.
• Maximize your success with the 3M Breakthrough System™ and the Gap Elimination Process™.
• Set up departments that work.
• Structure a compensation plan that serves you and your employees.

This book is great for both new insurance brokers and those who have much experience in the industry. As long as you have the mindset to create bigger and better things for your future. Available for purchase on Amazon. 

“The MacKay MBA of Selling in the Real World” by Harvey MacKay

This is the A - Z of selling and salesmanship. A new broker will find this book gives them all of the basics they need to establish their insurance brokerage selling process. Any broker who is new to, or wants a full refresher in, managing a sales area so they succeed with their clients, will find this book a perfect starting point.

To paraphrase the author, this book will give you Clarity, Competence, show you how to handle Constraints, help you to Concentrate, generate Creativity, build your Courage and encourage your Continued Learning. All of these are essential elements of succeeding in the competitive—and complex—world of dental insurance. Available to purchase on Amazon, and is free as an audiobook. 

“No B.S. Trust Based Marketing: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Trust in an Understandably Un-trusting World" by Dan Kennedy

You grow your business by encouraging your prospective clients to seek you out and then to stay with you long-term. This book is about trust, and teaches you the secrets to gaining it, keeping it, and using it to build competitive differentiation, create price elasticity, attract more affluent clients, and inspire referrals. You'll get the essential strategies required to build trust in an understandably un-trusting world, and in turn, attract both business and profits..

It is a step-by-step manual on trust-based marketing, you will learn:

•  8 ways to demonstrate trustworthiness to prospective clients.
•  The #1 secret desire of today’s untrusting prospects—how to understand it, respond to it, and use it to transform marketing, prospecting, and presentations.
• Why “Where can I find clients?” is the wrong question. The right question is: How can I construct a business persona and life so that clients seek me out, with trust in place in advance?
• How to keep products, services and prospects away from the avalanche of competitive and confusing information online.

This book is available to purchase on Amazon. We recommend taking a look at Dan Kennedy's marketing book written collection. 

“Dotcom Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Growing Your Company Online with Sales Funnels” by Russell Brunson

In this updated edition, Russell Brunson, CEO and co-founder of the multimillion-dollar software company ClickFunnels, reveals his greatest secrets to generating leads and selling products and services after running tens of thousands of his own split tests. He focuses on the steps and advantages of inbound marketing. Explaining how to funnel your prospective clients from noticing your business, to being attracted to it, to wanting to learn more, and then to making decisions so they can learn more. As they do this, they learn to like, trust and value the ideas and information you give them. Available to purchase on Amazon. 

Each of these five books has a special focus, and they each will help you to take your brokerage onward and upwards!