What’s the good news, ladies? Even more women changing the industry.
October 10, 2016, 2:00 pm
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What's the Good News, Ladies?,
Women in Insurance | Tags:
Cheryl Canzanella,
Combs & Company,
Evelyn Gellar,
Guardian,
Innovative Broker Lab,
Inspiring Women,
MassMutual,
PennMutual,
Samantha Clark,
Successful Women

For our third installment highlighting women who are changing our industry, I’m going to introduce three more three amazing ladies. These three are rock star recruiters from Guardian, MassMutual and Penn Mutual.
(Be sure to read our first and second installment of the series.)
I met each of these women by being part of organizations like WIFS, NAIFA and GAMA. I’ve found that when you connect with women who are involved with industry organizations, they mean business and are always looking to develop themselves and the people around them.
Click Here to see what Samantha, Cheryl and Evelyn are up to this year!
More women who are changing the insurance industry.
September 2, 2016, 9:34 am
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Combs & Company,
Combs & Company Blog,
Innovative Broker Lab,
Insurance Women,
Marketing,
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Susan L Combs,
What's the Good News, Ladies?,
WIFS,
Women in Insurance | Tags:
Broker Motivation,
Combs & Company,
Innovative Broker Lab,
Susan L Combs,
WIFS

I’ve enjoyed all the positive feedback on this new series, “What’s the good news, ladies? Women who are changing the industry.” It really has been fun! For our second installment, I wanted you to hear from four women who come to the industry from entirely different backgrounds.
Juli McNeely, who took over her father’s practice and helped bring it to the next level; Kristin Alfheim, an award-winning financial advisor who runs a successful practice in Green Bay; Meghan Wilke, who took her production experience to the home office level for Mutual of Omaha; and Julie Yunker, who is thriving under a big transition that happened earlier this year with MetLife.
Now sit back, relax and get ready to be inspired by some astounding and accomplished women as they share some of their high points from this year.
Click Here to read all about these amazing women!
What’s the good news, ladies? Women who are changing the industry.
August 5, 2016, 10:42 am
Filed under:
BenefitsPro,
Combs & Company,
Combs & Company Blog,
Innovative Broker Lab,
Insurance Women,
Successful Women,
Susan L Combs,
What's the Good News, Ladies?,
WIFS,
Women in Insurance | Tags:
Combs & Company,
Innovative Broker Lab,
Inspiring Women,
Insurance Women,
Successful Women,
Susan L Combs,
What's the Good News, Ladies?,
WIFS
With so much negativity in the world these days, I often find myself actively searching for the “good stuff” and celebrating those who share this information with me. I recently caught up with my friend and colleague, Emily Viner, VP of Agency Growth & Development for Guardian, and we were discussing Guardian’s study on closing the gender gap in sales and how they are working hard to change the landscape for women in the industry.
According to Viner, “Our industry struggles to recruit women into sales roles, but the issue is much broader than us. The study provides a clearer picture of how to position a career in sales as a satisfying and successful venture for those who are interested in a new opportunity. We now have a roadmap showing how to best highlight career benefits to women and address concerns they may have. We need to start sharing that message with young women and girls as well as experienced women looking for their next career move.”
I get excited any time I hear of a company working on a new strategy to get more women into the industry. I often hear that women in our industry account for about 14 percent of the production positions, and the percentage is even smaller in management roles. But I feel like we’re on the brink of something big here. Over the next several months, you are going to be wowed over and over again with a new series called “What’s the good news, ladies?” I know I have some amazing rock star women in my life who are getting it done, so I reached out to some of them to share with you some of their high points from this year. Buckle up and Click Here to read all about them!
The Best Way to Prospect
June 28, 2016, 3:12 pm
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Get Creative,
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Susan L Combs | Tags:
Combs & Company,
Innovative Broker Lab,
Marketing,
Succession Initiative,
Susan L Combs

So I have the pleasure of writing for the Succession Initiative for LifeHealthPro and they come to me with questions from their readers and I get to respond to them! Here is the latest one:
Meeting The Challenge…
Hi Terry,
First off, I basically equate that to a mother not teaching her son how to cook and do laundry because she knows he’ll find a wife to do it for him! Learning how to prospect is a life skill in sales. You have to get it down pat in order to be successful in this career. Being handed leads are the reward after you have proven yourself, you know?
OK … now to get off of my soapbox and offer a solution.
Network.
Network with everyone and anyone if you are starting out. Book lunches, coffees and drinks with other salespeople and business professionals in different fields. Get your elevator pitch down and be specific about who you want to be introduced to that are good lead sources for you (CPAs, attorneys, etc.) Be specific about your ideal client, too; if you say “business owners,” they are going to hear Charlie Brown’s parents talking and you’ll go nowhere. Click here to read more!
Advice to a new millennial broker: dream big, do moreBy Susan L. Combs
April 7, 2016, 11:00 am
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Combs & Company,
Combs & Company Blog,
Giving Back,
Innovative Broker Lab,
Marketing Yourself,
Millennials,
Susan L Combs | Tags:
Broker Motivation,
Combs & Company,
Innovative Broker Lab,
Marketing,
Susan L Combs

Dear New Millennial Broker,
So you know I love to give advice by now, right? I recently spoke at Baruch College, a business school in NYC where I serve as a mentor. I didn’t go to school there — I mentor there because the students inspire me.
The theme for the night was: Dream Big, Do More.
How powerful!
I find we so often start thinking about how to improve ourselves or start off the New Year right, but oftentimes we forget to go back to the basics of what got us to where we are today. Dream big, do more. To learn more click here.
Farewell to the Co-Ops By Susan L. Combs
December 14, 2015, 1:47 pm
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Co-Ops,
Combs & Company,
Combs & Company Blog,
Health Insurance,
Innovative Broker Lab,
Susan L Combs | Tags:
Combs & Company,
Farewll to the Co-Ops,
Innovative Broker Lab,
Susan L Combs

Talk about a cluster! If you are in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee or (insert state that has probably been added in the past hour) I am feeling your pain over the co-op shutdown.
In New York, we were under the impression we had until 1/1 to secure coverage for our clients, only to get an email around 4pm on Friday, October 30th that Health Republic of New York was being shut down as of 11/30 by the state of New York. As if it wasn’t busy enough during open enrollment! To add insult to injury, guess who hasn’t been paid by the co-ops since September? How we all love to work for free! Click here to continue reading.
Quit complaining about PPACA and get creative
October 21, 2015, 1:09 pm
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Affordable Care Act,
Combs & Company,
Get Creative,
Innovative Broker Lab | Tags:
ACA,
Benefit Selling,
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Get Creative,
Innovative Broker Lab,
Marketing

I have been traveling and speaking at many conferences this past year and often attend seminars on PPACA. The thing that perplexes me is how my colleagues who are spending thousands of dollars to attend these conferences are still bitching about it. Get over it people… If you are still going to church and lighting a candle that it is going to be repealed, in my opinion, you are wasting time that could be better spent educating yourself and helping your clients.
When I’m faced with a challenge the first thing I ask myself is: “What would it look like if…?” Click here to take a step back and do that.
Decoding the millennials
September 24, 2015, 10:15 am
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Get Creative,
Innovative Broker Lab,
Marketing,
Millennials | Tags:
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Get Creative,
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Millennials

So I recently spoke at the Mutual of Omaha National Sales Symposium in Omaha, Nebraska and one of their keynotes was Jason Dorsey. If you’ve never heard him speak, he’s high energy and a lot of fun. He’s basically the “magic decoder ring” when it comes to figuring out millennials.
I’ve always thought that I just missed this generation, but I was informed that Jason is almost exactly a year older than me … and I was annoyed to learn that at age 36, I’m part of this group. He also enlightened me with the knowledge that most Gen Yers feel like they are special and don’t belong in this group. Ho hum…
Click here for some of the key takeaways from his talk that really gave me some “aha” moments.