combsandco


Who is a Dependent?

Check out our quick video on who a dependent is!

More videos where this came from… Check out the Combs & Co YouTube channel for more!



What’s the good news, ladies? Mentorship!

GoodNewsMarch2017

Very excited to share this month’s installment of “What’s the Good News, Ladies?”  This month you get to meet three women who are very near and dear to my heart. These are three women that I have had the pleasure of mentoring in my career, and I would have never met them if it wasn’t through the opportunities I received in volunteer leadership in serving on the National Board of Directors for Women in Insurance & Financial Services (WIFS).

I have always felt passionately about mentorship — no one in this industry got to where they are today without the assistance of someone looking behind and helping to pull them up. I continue to have amazing mentors and advocates in my career, and I have chosen to pay it forward by mentoring others.

Click here to let me introduce you to Mary, Krystyl and Ashleigh, three bright stars that I am happy to call mentees, colleagues and most of all friends!



What’s the good news, ladies? What we’re thankful for.

november

I know many of us are working hard to close out the year with a bang!  I continue to get some amazing emails from women who are sharing their good news with me; you are all truly inspiring to me!

So let’s get to it, shall we?  This month, you’re going to hear about a couple of colleagues I have known for a number of years and a couple of ladies who were recommended to me after their friends read about other women in this series and wanted to help them toot their own horns!

Click Here to read about Sally, Angela, Sally and Colleen!



What is a Booklet or Certificate?

Check out our quick video on What is a Booklet or Certificate!

More videos where this came from… Check out the Combs & Co YouTube channel for more!



More women who are changing the insurance industry.

Series 2

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.

Series1-WTGNLWith 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

Prospecting Pic

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:

The Challenge…

How can I make appointments effectively?

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

mentor

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.



The Story Exchange

Story Exchange

The Story Exchange is a nonprofit media organization dedicated to telling the personal and professional stories of women business owners. They showcase the often-overlooked entrepreneurial women around the world who are contributing to their communities and collectively making an impact on the global economy. As an independent 501(c)(3) digital initiative, they aim to provide role models to other women who are pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams.  To learn more about The Story Exchange click here!  If you would like to visit Susan Combs’s Story Exchange page please click here!



Start. Stop. Continue. By Susan L. Combs

Stop Lights

I was supposed to be heading back from Atlanta today, but Snowmageddon had a different idea of me and I was unable to leave NYC after about 30 inches of snow fell in my neighborhood. So I did the next best thing as a Millennial/Gen X-cusper and Skyped in for a two-day board meeting for WIFS, the national organization where I currently serve as the Immediate Past President. My biggest takeaway was the concept of Start Stop Continue, which was introduced to me by leadership coach, Whitney Siavelis.

Such a simple thing really, but I think will be tremendous in both my practice and my board work and I wanted to share it with you! It’s a way to be more intentional with what you are doing and realize what is working and what isn’t. Click here to continue reading.