How I Built A $37 Million Insurance Agency In Less Than 7 Years Paperback – January 7, 2011

I really enjoyed this book and due to its concise size, I was able to read it over a weekend. Practically the whole thing is now highlighted there was so much good, concrete actionable items that I can use to build my business. I've been in the insurance industry for nearly 26 years, and found great information that I can use, but a brand new agent will score by having this information from the beginning. I have already recommended this book to several people and look forward to future books by this author.

What an amazing book. As I am part owner of an insurance company, I found this book to be extremely helpful in such. I have learned new tools in order to help my business grow further than I ever imagined. I also have fixed my business in a way that all of my customers have noticed and my client retention is at an all time low.

This book was a long anticipated answer to the original and totally worth the wait. All of Darren's books are great and each have their own place in my personal and team development but this one is very special to me.

I've been a recruiter and trainer for a large voluntary benefits insurance company for a long time and it's damn hard helping new sales associates be successful in a cold-calling, commission-driven sales environment. There's a few that come with what it takes (they are hard to find). There's some you shouldn't have hired, but as a recruiter you have quotas. It's the middle group of sales people that is the most frustrating to train because you believe they take the position believing they have what it takes and you believe they have what it takes and you really want them to succeed. I searched and searched for methods to help this group survive and thrive. Mr. Sugiyama's book is the absolute best start-to-finish manual for how to help the average person (as well as the high performer) become successful in sales. I strongly recommend it to any sales manager who is responsible for recruiting and training commissioned sales people.

A lot of this is common sense for a salesperson but sometimes we need to hear it again, especially from someone successful who worked hard to get where he is. He mentions his employees making 1000 cold calls a week! There is a lot of bravado on his part, but I learned a few things from this book, and if you pick up just one tip, it is worth it. I like that he never thanks his prospects for the meeting, which I have been guilty of doing. He says, "I'm so glad we finally have the chance to meet!" I have been using it, and lo and behold, just like he said, the prospect thanks me and it changes the dynamic of the meeting and puts me in the position of advisor; the prospect feels lucky to have time with me. It is subtle things like this that make the book worth reading. It is a quick and easy read.

No BS! The real deal

Don't waste your money on this book. The book is vague at best and offers no real insight on how he grew his business. If you are looking for ideas on how to grow your business you won't find any answers in this book. The author supposedly went from nothing to being able to rent grade A office space while making less then $400 in a year.

I'm kind of joking about that headline but after the first five or six times he mentions that he runs a $37m insurance agency it gets old. Most of this book is about him telling you how awesome he is. I get it, he is successful but the question comes down to is there worthwhile information in this book? Yes, there are a few nuggets that are worth the $9 price. These nuggets lie toward the end where he discusses how to approach a sale, a client. That a good script that is stuck to is vital, rather than freelancing it. That a good leader leads by example. So, are these things that can be learned elsewhere? Yes so in that regard there's nothing new. But, he does hammer home that these things help build a strong high performing team and that is where the value of this book comes. To go from $537 in year 1 to $37m in year 7 is impressive in of itself What would be better is if we got less of the boasting and more of nuts and bolts.