A (3:18)

Yeah, I brought him out to be a guest speaker for marketing for the agents. And he said, hey, I met these guys, and they're in your area, and they had a really busy table. That's how he described you.

C (3:33)

And so he invited us to a steak dinner. Where did we go that night? Do you remember? Was it. Yeah, I mean, just endless amounts of meats, people.

D (3:42)

Yeah, but that's a lot.

C (3:44)

Yeah, it was. Yeah, we were there for a while. So we end up connecting at, you know, that steak dinner and just talking. And obviously, Don, you're an amazing person. And from that relationship, we were able to come together and build a partnership with Ritter. And, you know, Ritter. Can you guys share who Ritter is and kind of just give people an idea of who you guys are in the insurance space?

D (4:09)

Well, I can kick that off. You know, Ritter's kind of the insurtech pioneer. Before all this talk about tools to help agents succeed, it all started with Craig Ritter and his dad, Cal, back in the early 2000s, late 90s, where we were the inventors of Medicareful. Scott Kowalski, the brains behind the original quote engine and enrollment tool. It was born of a spreadsheet, you know, and look how far we've come with integrity. Not only the partnership, but the level of tech that is available to our agents.

C (4:45)

It really is unbelievable. And AI is going to take it even to the next level. I mean, it's just going to be ridiculous. How many agents do you guys have, you know, partnership with through Ritter? Like, how many agents?

D (4:58)

Well, let me just back up to the people connection, because with all the talk of AI and tech, what really has made Ritter successful and I believe Integrity as well, is that we meet agents where they are, right, Don. We go to their offices, we have coffee. We do road shows during the year. And we build those relationships to not only improve our standing with the agents, but ultimately keeping in mind the people that we serve. Integrity serves millions of seniors all over America with their life, health and wealth needs. And it's a holistic approach to managing their health and their well being. In terms of agents, with Ritter, we have thousands and thousands of agents under ritter in all 50 states.

C (5:44)

It's pretty insane. I remember when we drove out to Harrisburg to kind of talk to you guys, and I think it was Mike Baker at the time and others. And, you know, when we landed the partnership with Ritter, we were so excited and kind of to bring the story full circle. Right of the point of never underestimate relationships. Like, we just go to a steak dinner. So for most people, if they go, oh, Don didn't get me anything, I'm out. I don't do anything. That's how people treat their marketing. They literally go up. I sent Don a magazine one time and she didn't give me anything, so I'm going to cancel the magazine. Or, you know, I. It's like, well, that's not how it works. So we end up building the relationship. For years, we're working with you guys, serving agents, we're doing these road shows. Like, you're talking about Jason getting to know each other out there on the road. And then Ritter gets acquired by Integrity.

A (6:29)

And.

C (6:29)

And Integrity is like the behemoth in this space. And so then now the connection has led to Ritter. Yeah, there you go. She switches hats. She goes from the Ritter hat to Integrity.

A (6:42)

I have that plan in our space.

C (6:44)

Like the little peon marketing company we are for the audience listening, like, they're the whale. Landing in Integrity is like the whale. It's like, okay, how do we land in Integrity? Well, it's all relationships, guys, because Integrity is just built up of people. Yes, granted, thousands and thousands of people now, but just built up a people. So we work now it's like with Ritter, and you guys start vouching for us to Integrity. And then you guys have obviously, over the years introduced us to other people that were acquired by Integrity that start vouching for us. And we just signed a partnership with Integrity, where we're going to be on you guys lead platform it's going to be incredible, which is amazing for us. Andrew Sachs, who's our senior VP of financial services, basically goes, I've done it. I've hit my. What is it, the white whale? Moby Dick, I've done it. But the point being is, for everybody listening to this, that started from taking a chance on going to Vegas with Brad. Yeah, it had to be 2018, something.

B (7:41)

Like that, seven years ago.

C (7:42)

And then Brad inviting us to a steak dinner and meeting you, Don, and going, oh, just. Life is about relationships. How can we help, Don? Don became a client of ours, and you've been an amazing advocate for us, which. Thank you. Thank you.

A (7:54)

Oh, big time. Big time. I love, I love the magazine. Absolutely. And I remember sitting with you at that steak dinner. You happen to be sitting right next to me and you kind of leaned in and you went, so you guys, what do you do? You sell Medicare? And I'm like, no, no, no, we educate. We educate. That's what we do.

C (8:15)

And Medicare space, we had not really gotten into it. We were dabbling in it because people were coming to us. But we were more on the financial side. Yeah, right.

D (8:27)

But getting back, getting back to the.

A (8:29)

Whale analogy, Sorry, Jason. But it has all goes together.

D (8:35)

Luke and Josh, it's a humble whale, though, because, you know, Ritter has always been a service oriented company and Integrity is too. And when Integrity takes on a business partner, we really have to share the same core values. And that, that, that's really what makes those matches happen down the road. And so we're, we're proud of what we do. There's. There's a big PR problem today with agents where we're not able to really tell our stories. And dawn, there are so many stories that come out of your agency where you've helped a senior save money on their prescriptions or you've taken them to the doctor. You know, these are the things you don't hear about out in the general public. There's so much bad publicity right now around insurance companies and agents, and a lot of the good agents have been lumped in with the bad actors lately. So we're trying to kind of unravel that ball of yarn. It's been difficult. It's been tough.

C (9:28)

That's such a good point. And that kind of, you know, as a transition into what I, I wanted to ask you guys, because you've seen so many agents come into the business. You've seen those that have succeeded and those have failed, you know, and both of you have been in the space For a long time in this market right now. What are you guys seeing makes a successful agent? Like what are the things that agents out there that are succeeding? What are they doing that you could challenge other agents that are listening this to start focusing on.

A (9:59)

I can take that. That's my thing. I'm real interested. I think staying available to your folks is so important. I am, I'm available to my clients, I'm available to my agents. I have a deep understanding from a agent management perspective that issues that occur are not going to occur 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. It's just not going to happen. It's going to happen on a Saturday when the member walks into CVS or Walgreens or their local pharmacy and they go to pick up and there's a question as to whether or not this is the correct amount they should be paying. Same thing with agents. Agents sit down, down, hopefully at the kitchen table or at their office individually, one by one. Yep. We, we do things individually, one by one because it's a personal relationship. We're not mass writing people. That's just not what we, it's not what we do. We're not, we're not one hit wonders. We're not looking to, you know, to scale this by whatever we're looking to do to build relationships that last long term. And what happens from that is we end up not just writing that member at their kitchen table on a Saturday or a Sunday morning, but their, their cousins, their aunts, their uncles, their neighbors, the person across the street from them, their, you know, their co worker and that is the expansion that sticks. That's the sticky expansion that we're looking for.

C (11:29)

It's super well said. Even to tie it in, we have a lot of real estate agents that listen to this show as well as insurance agents and stuff. And I watched there's a really top producing agent that's super popular on Social. She crushes it. Shannon Gillette, she put out a reel the other day that basically said we as a team take on so many what's called expired listings where an agent switches from using their real estate agent to choose to use somebody else because their listing didn't sell. And she said the number one reason she was hearing these people choose her was not even what they did marketing wise and stuff like that with the house. It was lack of communication during the actual process, lack of response. And so it really is, it ties I think of reminder media. Where do our biggest complaints come from? Yeah, communication, communication, lack of response. Like most people when you don't like to tie to your point, Don. It's like you've got to make yourself available. And it doesn't mean I would be curious, Jason, your perspective on this, because there's this problem in the industry. It's like, well, do I just work 24 7? Like, how do I actually set up? I think you got to set up boundaries, which are good expectations. But it's like, how do you balance? How do you showcase to your clients that I'm available, and how do you set up good expectations?

D (12:50)

Well, I think it's also making the client feel special. And again, to your point, making sure they know that you are available during their times of need. Whether it's a drug prescription that went off of a formulary or there's a transportation emergency, it really is a lifestyle. And, you know, I was a broker for several years before joining Ritter, so I came to Ritter with a personal understanding of what brokers go through. And I was fortunate enough to be trained by Bankers Life, one of the most amazing national training programs in the industry. And they really take you through what it means to be a good agent. It's, you know, 20 appointments a week, two field days, a couple of call days. And when I was there, one of my mentors gave me this little booklet. I don't know if you can see this. It's called the Common Denominator of Success. And it was written for life insurance agents. It's by Albert E N Gray, G R A Y. You can look it up online. And he talks about prospecting habits, calling habits, selling habits, and working habits. And that the most successful agent becomes successful by forming habits, doing things they don't want to do. So that's making the calls. That's prospecting on a Sunday. You know, all the things that, Don, you grew up with as an agent, and you know that sometimes you just want to go take a nap. But unfortunately, you have beneficiaries out there that are really depending on you for guidance.

C (14:22)

I love how you tied it to the beneficiaries that are depending on you because I think, like a reminder media, like, our vision is to empower entrepreneurs to live a life of freedom. And I'm constantly challenging, especially my sales team, which is like, hey, these people need you. These people are waking up every single day not knowing where their next deal is going to come from. And they are in desperate need of you to go in there and help them with their marketing to help them get the next deal. And for you guys, it's like, hey, these clients need you, they need you, they need your help to help them in their, you know, financial health, their, their physical health and the whole well being. They need you and tying it to a greater purpose. Because to overcome the, what I call is like the lack of motivation, laziness, for lack of a better way of saying it, to overcome the laziness and the fear of making the phone calls and stuff like that, you have to have a bigger reason that is outside of just making of the money. And this is why oftentimes the like, if you can find something like a cause, a charity, something that is bigger than you, it can help motivate you to actually show up. Because the money only gets you so far. Because once you have your bills paid and once you have your, your food, you know, taken care of and you know, all your basic needs, that nap, it's very, very tempting.

D (15:40)

You know, we meet a lot of our agents at community events. That's really the core of our prospecting pipeline. It's ethnic events, it's church, synagogue events, it's 5K runs bridal shows. Right, Don, you guys do so much in the community and that's where a lot of come from.

A (16:01)

And I think my most successful agents are agents that work their direct community. They're in their grocery. I grocery shop with my clients. I'm in there with them. I see them all. I walk my Neighborhood and hi, Mrs. Smith. Hi, Mrs. Jones. It's that, that community and just, you know, being in it. Being in it, yeah.

D (16:26)

And let me, let me just speak briefly because I know you guys have like more of a real estate model, you said. So years ago, I worked for a branding company that did personal marketing for real estate agents, and it translated really well over to the insurance space. And, you know, the point is that the successful agent is ingrained in the community and they care about people within like a mile radius of where they live. So if we can translate that to our agents, that's, that's really what, what equals that successful.

C (16:54)

I just spoke to the Insurance Syndicate last Monday, which is a group, it's about 9,000 insurance agents on Facebook. And they do everything. Medicare, health and Life Property. It's just a mixture of agents in there. It's run by Joe Camper and Tony Merwin. They're amazing. If you guys don't know them, I should introduce you to them. They're just amazing people. But I was sharing with them is like, hey, one of the most important things you can do as a business is develop your six degrees of separation from a Business standpoint for partners in the community. So like sit down and go, who are the other businesses that I as an agent, maybe they're synergistic to me, meaning they serve the same audience but, but they have a different value prop that's non competitive and how do I support them and how do I give back to them? And it's like if you want more referrals in your life, ask yourself, are you a referrer? Like that is the key, right? I'm not a huge believer in karma, but you know, it's the karma, it's like if you put it out there, it's going to come back to you. And it's oftentimes what happens is we're just like, hey, nobody's referring me. Well, when was the last time you referred somebody, when was the last time you supported a local business in your community? And you know, obviously with our magazine Shameless Plug for us. But you know, we're always encouraging people feature your local partner on the magazine. But the idea is, hey, you're six degrees of separation. Who are the businesses that help you serve your clients? So for a Medicare agent, man, do you, are you partner with the providers? Are you partnered with the pharmacy, the elder care attorney, the assistant living communities, the 55 plus communities like financial Advisor.

D (18:31)

Right. And so you know that it gets back to that, that holistic life, health and wealth approach. And you know, Ritter always had a more than Medicare team where we talk about final expense and hospital indemnity and short term care and a lot of those kind of ancillary product lines. But what we've really learned from Integrity is how to use that holistic approach to grow someone's business in, in three dimensions. And so you mentioned too you have a lot of financial advisors. I always tell financial advisors that are looking to get into the health space that financial planning begins with Medicare because if your client has an unforeseen illness, all of that asset protection could go right out the window without the coverage that they need on the health side.

C (19:16)

That actually leads to a good point of like, you know, obviously Integrity is the behemoth in the space, at least how we see them. Right. And you guys have agents just with Ritter, you have agents in every state. So one of the things that Integrity is bringing to you is incredible tech, incredible training. Can you talk a little bit about, because you guys have told me a little bit about this, this idea of like how you leverage the network of Ritter because you're in every state and you're getting referrals and how you're leveraging that from a strategy perspective.

A (19:49)

Yeah, we keep it in house. We want to. We want to service our. We want to feed our agents. So if we have someone from Philadelphia that's mo or has a child moving to. You know, Jason and I work together a lot. So when we have that crossover between east and west, we are working together to find the right agent in the right community to service and write that member. We do it with our agency partners. Jason just had an experience where we had an agency come out from, I think New York or New Jersey to expand in la, right?

D (20:25)

Yeah, we all got together in la and we were specifically looking at the Asian market out here in Southern California. It's very robust and we have many carriers that are on board with targeted marketing to certain populations.

C (20:40)

Are you doing that? Are you just trying to train your agents to think outside of like, hey, you're serving your local zone. But don't underestimate the idea of you can get referrals, you can get, you know, basically leverage your network and serve this client that's moving to California, you can serve this client that's moving to Florida. Because again, this is so similar. I don't know in the financial services space as much I would assume it would be. But in the real estate space, this is so similar of when my brother Stephen got into real estate, he got a referral fee and helped, you know, connect me with a real estate agent up here in Philly. And we ended up working with that person in the same network. Steven was with Keller Williams. This guy was with Keller Williams. Steven introduced our aunt out, and I think it was South Dakota to a real estate agent. So it's like, build your referral network. How do you guys make sure that Ritter agents are actually taking advantage of that, are training that to think outside the box?

D (21:39)

Well, we. We're really in the business of building agencies too. So to Don's point, if we have, say, a top producer in New Jersey that's interested in writing business in Nevada or California or Arizona, we'll first look at their book of business to see if there are clients in those states. And then we'll look to see if we have ridder agents in those states that can either help them serve that client or we can help them recruit a downline agent in those states. So it's sort of an east meets west strategy where we're pulling in a lot of the business across the country from both sides of the coast. And it not only benefits the client, but obviously it benefits Our business model because we have much higher persistency over time.

A (22:24)

Right. And people move too. So, you know, you might have a client in Philadelphia that decides to retire in South Carolina. We have a solution for that. We have a database. We have a Dawn and Jason there. And so we absolutely have a solution for that and, and trust that that member is going to get the same service that they got in Philadelphia with the agent that we put them with in. In South Carolina or Texas or Florida. Wherever. Wherever it is, there is a Don and Jason in every.

C (23:00)

Do they have this. The last name Myers, though? Do they have the last name Myers? Okay. I just want to make sure Ritter wasn't just hiring people with the last names Myers. That might be an HR violation.

A (23:13)

Yeah, no, nobody's got. The coolest last name is Jason and I.

D (23:17)

That's true. And you know, we, we meet up in these cities with agents too. So it's. It's not just Don and Jason separately. Like, you know, we'll hang out in LA or San Diego, Orange County. I'll go to.

C (23:28)

And that's your best recruiting tactic, is doing these local events?

D (23:32)

Yeah, I mean, I just started an experimental lunch and learn where we'll pair up a seasoned agent with a new recruit and a broker sales manager from a carrier and then our regional team. So we did this in Phoenix. In Arizona, we'll have seven people at the table. It's a pretty small meeting, but it's large outcomes because the new recruit gets to learn from the seasoned agent. The broker manager is there to talk about benefit plans and strategies for the selling season. The Ritter staff is there. I'm there to consult on the strategy. And then the new agent leaves feeling empowered. The seasoned agent leaves with great incentives from the carrier and from Ritter and new ideas to go out and sell. And. And it's a less is more approach. It's. And it's really working out quite well. I think it's something we might want to.

C (24:21)

That's a great nugget for everybody.

A (24:23)

He's so good, isn't he?

C (24:25)

That's a great golden nugget. I've seen that a little bit on like in the financial services and in the real estate arena, but it's like getting these like, masterminds. I called it. So it's like if you're trying to recruit people right now, steal Jason's strategy and go, okay, how do I form a little mastermind where I can invite 10 agents to. And that will build the relationship and connection. And then again, remember, don't underestimate a steak dinner. Don't underestimate a little mastermind that might turn into something. All right, so I have some rapid fire questions for you guys I want to get your answers to. Now, Jason, you might already have given away your answer on this, so I'll start with Don, but best book that has made the most impact on your business or even life.

A (25:10)

Oh, you didn't tell me.

C (25:11)

Exactly. I couldn't warn you of this.

A (25:14)

Oh, man. Best.

C (25:16)

It's okay to say I don't read. It's okay to say that. We won't judge you. Most of America doesn't read.

A (25:22)

Yeah, I like a good magazine. I like your magazine. Yes, great answer. Can't you ask me? Favorite restaurant, best, Favorite chow?

C (25:35)

I already know. I already know. What about you, Jason? Favorite book? I know you had that one already. That's why I said maybe it's that one, but that book or.

D (25:43)

No, there was another one. I actually have it here in my desk. It's called Stop Blocking and Start Connecting. It's by Lee Broke.

C (25:50)

I've never heard of that.

D (25:51)

And I got this at a. A NABEP conference. Really great book about understanding, responding, empathizing, having difficult conversations, working through issues that's not just with your kids or your family or your co workers. It could be with your agents. They could be experiencing a tough time, and you have to really be poised to have those conversations.

C (26:14)

Next question. You can only choose one. Prospecting. You know, way to prospect. I'll say prospecting activity. What are you choosing right now to try to go build your business if you only have one prospecting activity you can do?

A (26:34)

Ooh, can I do this one? I would connect with a local pharmacist.

C (26:39)

Local pharmacies love that.

A (26:42)

Yeah.

C (26:43)

Jason, what about you?

D (26:46)

If you're an agent, it would make sense to join nabip, which is a national lobbying firm that goes to Washington, Sacramento, Phoenix, all the state capitals and the nation's capital to advocate on behalf of of agents. If you go to their events or join their organization, you'll be with other like minded agents and you can share best practices for recruiting. There really is no best way. Sometimes it's just a random. You know, you're waiting.

C (27:16)

It's not a magic formula. Dang it, Jason, right?

D (27:21)

I wish I had.

C (27:22)

I wish I could. You know, we're only 700 episodes in, and we are trying to find the magic, but we can't see. Yeah, we will find it.

D (27:29)

We're.

C (27:29)

We're committed.

D (27:30)

Well, it's showing up. Who said who? Said 80% of success is showing up. It's just. It's. It's activity. It's getting in the mix and letting people know that you're out there.

C (27:39)

Well said, man. That is truly what it is. Okay, last question for you, but you both got to answer. Jason, we'll go to you first. Knowing what you know now, what would you go back and tell younger Jason? What advice would you give? Let's say college age, high school age. What advice would you give that kid?

D (27:57)

Be fabulous.

C (27:59)

Be fabulous.

B (28:00)

Dawn, what would you tell Jason?

A (28:03)

So, yeah, I mean, I would say start earlier. This is a fantastic job. Lifetime renewals. Come on, start earlier. I started at 30. If I would have started at 20. Come on. That would be amazing. I do have to say, though, isn't it funny how Jason and I are a little different? Like, he's got the dinner with the seven people, all professional. I'm like, hey, come to Philly. We're gonna eat cheesesteaks and run the rocky steps. And that is a true story. It takes both. It takes.

D (28:39)

Yeah.

C (28:39)

It's so true. There's multiple ways up the mountain. But what kills most people is they get halfway up and they doubt their way, and they go down. They try the other one for halfway, and then they go down again and then. And they never make it to the top because they keep trying to go up the right way, and it's like, no, no, no. You just keep going.

D (28:54)

Yeah. You know, and Luke, that's not to say that we don't have events where we have 200 people show up. We have. We're doing our summits this month. They're hugely successful and they're very, very widely populated. But it's. It's trial and error. Sometimes it's. It's the one to one meeting. Other times it's a. It's a. A mass event.

C (29:13)

So as you said that dawn switched her hat back to Ritter, so. Yeah, I love it. Yeah. No, it's so good.

B (29:19)

Yeah. Don, Jason, thank you so much for joining us today. Before we close out, do you want to let people know how they can connect with you or learn more about R?

A (29:27)

I am Ritter. I am.

B (29:31)

Thank you guys both so much for joining us, and thank you all for listening. You can dive deeper to this episode. Get all of the show notes and video over@staypaid podcast.com if you enjoy this episode, head over to YouTube.com reminder media. Make sure to give this video a like and subscribe to The Reminder Media YouTube channel if you want to get hold of me or Luke. You can email us@podcastreminderme.com and follow us on Instagram. We are at Stay Paid podcast for this episode of Stay Paid. I'm Josh Steik.

C (29:56)

Guys, I'm Luke Acre. Don Jason. Appreciate you guys so much. Appreciate the partnership with Ritter. Our relationship, everything with integrity has been amazing, and I cannot wait to see where we go with integrity from here on out. I have two action items for everybody listening to this. You get two. Okay. But because it's pointless to listen to such great people for half an hour and not do anything like, what are you doing? Come on, you got to get in the game. Here's my action items for you. One is that I challenge all of you to sit down and actually think about, like, who are my referral partners that I could invite and do a mastermind with and invite a couple other agents to that maybe you're looking to recruit, or maybe you just leverage it for a referral partner where it's like you're inviting. Think about it. You're the Medicare agent, and you invite the local real estate agent, the local elder care attorney, the local financial advisor, and then you invite some other insurance agents that you might want to recruit into your downline. And that applies to any industry. So that's one action item you could do. The second one though, is reach. This is so simple. You got to do it. Post on your social, reach out to your database and let them know that if they move or if they have friends in other states that you can help them, that you have a network of professionals that you can tap into and help introduce them to. And this applies again across industry that you should build your referral network. Ritter has it built in. So if you're not a part of Ritter, check that out. But built in, where you can get connected to other Ritter agents. But you should be thinking, how do I make sure my audience knows that? No, it's not just, you know, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, I can help you in. I have a network across the nation of top producing agents that I can connect you to. So if you have family members, if you're looking to move, if you need help in that area, make sure that you educate them and let them know. If you don't ask, you'll never receive. Remember the difference between top producers and mediocre producers. In every single industry, everybody is top producers. Take action. Take action on that today. SA.