Masterminds Elite Agency Management

ELITE AGENCY MANAGEMENT

Transform Your Team Members, Increase Your Personal Time, And Drive Up Revenue While Maximizing Agency Profits.

Masterminds Elite is a done-for-you Agency Management program for ambitious Agency Owners who want an all-inclusive package to solve every Agency pain point. If you're ready for an army of top producers and business professionals to run your Agency - start by getting your Agency Scorecard today!

Get Your Agency Scorecard in 2 Minutes.

ELITE AGENCY MANAGEMENT

Transform Your Team Members, Increase Your Personal Time, And Drive Up Revenue While Maximizing Agency Profits.

Masterminds Elite is a done-for-you Agency Management program for ambitious Agency Owners who want an all-inclusive package to solve every Agency pain point. If you're ready for an army of top producers and business professionals to run your Agency - start by getting your Agency Scorecard today!

Get Your Agency Scorecard in 2 Minutes.

Trusted by 1,000+ Insurance Agency Professionals

“If you are looking to OWN and GROW your profits… utilizing the Masterminds Elite program is the best decision you can make. They have helped me tremendously in the short time we’ve been working together by analyzing my expenses and helping to talk through making my dollars go further and achieving my financial goals.”

- Kira Schnell-Harrison

"I have been with my company for 35 years in many capacities and have been through every "fad" and training that passed through for Team Members, agents and leadership. I have gained more in the past 6 months being part of IAO and utilizing their trainings for my Team than all of the previous years put together. Everything Scott shares is simple, easily implemented and a positive paradigm shift in thinking and presenting things to your customers."

- Jeanine O'Donnell

I'm entering the third year of my Agency and we've had success with building P&C and Life Customers, but it seemed like I had very little to show for it from a profit perspective. During the past few months, I've been working with IAO's Profit First coach who has helped me make adjustments so I can see how to properly manage my business moving forward.

- Brad Maier

I Have A Confession To Make

We’ve been missing the mark.

We recently came to a realization that we always knew, but didn’t act on…

The key to success is TEAM.

For years, we’ve been developing trainings, playbooks and workshops for Agency Owners to Optimize their business.

We believed if we made it simple, people would get it…

We believed if we made our products truly world-class, no one would fail…

But people do fail. Most don’t even try.

And it’s not their fault. (It’s not yours, either.)

Here’s why…

You’re being fed terrible misinformation by “coaches” and leaders in our industry.

They insist that if you TAKE ACTION you will succeed. If you grind it out, it will work.

And sometimes it does. But most times it doesn’t.

The problem is that this advice does not cover the entire picture.

Or even the most important part of the picture – YOUR TEAM.

We Fixed the System

Looking back, it all seems rather obvious – if the Team is broken, so is the Agency.

We quickly pivoted our services to develop new programs designed specifically for Team Members.

It started with our Team Member Training Camp and working directly with your Team Members for 6 weeks of hands-on training and coaching.

It grew to include First 4 Weeks – New Team Member Training so we could help get brand new Team Members up to speed in their first 20 days.

And then we added the cherry on the cake, Weekly Live Practice Sessions for Team Members to hear how top producers handle various conversations they have daily.

Feeling pretty pleased with ourselves, we launched the Masterminds Pro membership. And it really is great.

But We Could Do Better

And we knew it.

Our resources, experience and capabilities have proven through the years that we can provide Agencies with everything they need.

It took us too long to realize we were missing the mark, but we’ve gotten it figured out.

Agency Owners need more than optimization trainings and daily videos…

…More than Team Member coaching…

…More than a personal coach…

They need an expert in their corner.

And not just ONE.

Agencies need an entire support staff for recruiting and bookkeeping, PLUS coaches to help you build your Agency culture and processes, PLUS coaches to personally train your Team Members, PLUS a dedicated person to you and your Team Members accountable.

You need an army.

And it needs to be affordable.

And that’s what you get with Masterminds Elite – your own army of 14 professionals dedicated to helping run your Agency and getting massive results.

We’ve Created An Army For Your Agency

Our Masterminds Elite program will help you…

RECRUIT, ASSESS & HIRE NEW TEAM MEMBERS – 24/7/365. One point of contact, your 'Agency Concierge,' will be dedicated to properly building your pipeline by working CareerPlug pages, conducting pre-screening interviews, and scheduling interviews. Only the BEST candidates will be presented to the Agency Owner and your pipeline will remain full. All candidates will take the CTS behavioral and aptitude assessments through your Agency's account. PLUS! Based on their results, scientifically crafted behavioral-based questions will be written and provided to the Agency Owner to read verbatim during the interview. (Please note: we are not a 'head-hunter,' but consider ourselves your Recruiting Assistants!)
PROVIDE TRAINING FOR BRAND NEW TEAM MEMBERS – Once hired, your Agency Concierge will use the First 4 Weeks New Team Member Training to help you get your new hire up to speed at your Agency.
TRAIN ESTABLISHED TEAM MEMBERS – Your team receives unlimited enrollment into our industry’s premier 6-week Team Member Training Camp throughout the year.
PROVIDE WEEKLY ROLE-PLAY TRAINING – Tune in to hear how the best in our industry are getting it done. What are their word tracks, systems, processes around prospecting, multi-line sales process, onboarding, referrals, handling objects and life and health? You’ll hear a fresh new perspective weekly.
HOLD TEAM MEMBERS ACCOUNTABLE TO WINNING THEIR DAY – Success is an EVERY DAY thing. Our Masterminds Elite members understand this, so they track results daily with our simple survey tool that collects their data and shares it with your entire team each day.
AN AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER – Using your Agency's FrontRunner data, your 'Agency Concierge' collects each Team Members numbers daily to ensure everyone is meeting expectations. Newsletters highlighting Team Member success, upcoming trainings, and important information are sent out each morning. We help hold your team accountable and create friendly competitions within our Elite group to see who is consistently getting things done! This is the best way to see what Team Members are striving for success and who needs some extra coaching. Plus! Agency Owners receive important industry reminders so you'll never forget to run a report.
PAY YOURSELF FIRST – The ONLY thing we own are our profits, so it’s crucial you pay yourself FIRST. We provide you with a Profit First coach who creates a plan, holds you accountable to your monthly budget and provides your monthly bookkeeping and reconciliations. This program is an optional add-on pending application.
NEVER MISS A DAILY TEAM MEETING – One of our 6 Elite coaches help to get you in a proper mindset and prepared to Win the Day with a daily message for your Agency Owner and Team Members. We also provide weekly blogs with tactical advice on how to take your Agency to the next level.

All Elite members benefit from the traditional ‘coaching’ perk of reaching out to any (or all!) of our coaches with questions, advice or just to bounce around ideas. Our Elite Agency Owners have been through it all and are in your corner whenever you need an assist. Our Elite Team Members are consistent Rock Star Producers with over 1,000 policies annually. We’ve got you covered!

Every Agency at the top of their game has a support team… why don’t you?

An Army For Your Agency.

The investment to enroll is just $797 per month.

Get Your Agency Scorecard in 2 Minutes.

Incorporate Experts to Support Your Agency

Working with talented professionals is your first step towards explosive growth and predictable revenue for your Agency.

Masterminds Elite is facilitated by professionals who are at the top of their game. They work specifically with Insurance Agencies, so the combination of these professionals creates a team that truly understands the unique challenges that come from running an Insurance Agency and scaling a business.

Meet the Coaches

Scott Grates

Founder & CEO

Scott is the founder of Insurance Agency Optimization and has been recognized as a Top 5% producer nationally in 3 different industries over the past 25+ years.

Scott opened new market on December 1, 2009 in a tiny, rural Central NY town. His agency quickly realized explosive auto and fire growth and has increased auto and fire PIF for over 12 straight years. His agency has traveled every single year, most at level 3, as well as consistently achieving Chairman’s Circle and SVP recognition. Scott accomplishes this annually with a small team, smaller marketing budget and all while balancing responsibilities as a husband, father of three, youth sports coach and community leader.

Michele Herringshaw

Profitability Coach

Michele is a number cruncher and she loves it. Her goal in this program is to help people learn to have a budget and stick to it, while putting PROFIT first. Michele has been a personal and business tax preparer for over 20 years and has spent part of those years doing corporate insurance accounting. Michele has a degree in accounting and certification in Profit First.

Brent Hershey

Elite Agency Owner Coach

Brent started as a hybrid agent in September of 2014 with a small book of business. He has qualified for Honor Club every year as an agent and made travel every year but 1. He has traveled at each level 1, 2 and 3 as well as qualified for SVP Club, Chairman’s Circle and MDRT. Brent is passionate on the phrase “Just Ask.”

He is married to his wife Erin and has 2 daughters Avery-10 and Kadyn-6 that are his biggest Why’s. He is an avid outdoorsman who loves anything outdoors including Hunting, Fishing, Hiking, Golfing etc.

Corey Chapman

Elite Agency Owner Coach

Corey joined the insurance world with an extensive sales background, primarily in high-end automatives. A true professional, Corey has been trained in high-level processes and philosophies. This sales guru has the ability to take complex situations and simplify them for any Agency.

Kira Schnell-Harrison

Elite Agency Owner Coach

Kira Schnell-Harrison is a State Farm Agent in Oak Forest, IL- opening in November 2019. She brings a fresh set of eyes to agency life as she comes from outside the industry and challenges those around her to think “outside the box” on ways to achieve goals and drive results. She is also a self-titled ‘crisis’ specialist as in her first year of agency she navigated TICA year, having a baby, a pandemic, and the roof of her building coming off in a tornado, to name a few highlights. So, when you feel like things are getting out of control: call her and she will help talk you through it.

Kira and her husband Carl are happy to call IL home with their son Riley and 2 dogs Teddy and Byron. When not in the office, Kira can be found on her “bike that goes nowhere” (Peloton) or training for a marathon.

Nicole Demma

Elite Team Member Coach

Nicole Demma has over 20 years of insurance experience. She began her career in a corporate training role before transitioning to the independent broker world and finally joining a captive agency. Nicole’s passion to help others is clear every single day as she works tirelessly to properly protect her customers and earn numerous referrals.

Her results over the past 6 years at the captive agency are incredible; over 1,000 policies personally produced annually along with over 400 referrals to go with that production. Nicole is also a Fit Body Boot camp instructor. Her energy, excitement and desire to improve others is contagious and she’s thrilled to bring everything she has to help you succeed.

IAO has a killer support staff to keep your systems up and running, with 4 additional staff members focused on YOU.

Questions? We Have Answers.

The investment to enroll is just $797 per month.

Get Your Agency Scorecard in 2 Minutes.

Here's How It Works

Every Agency is different.

There’s no cookie-cutter order for every Agency.

Some may need to focus hard on recruiting right out of the gate, while another may need to figure out finances and yet another may have all their systems in place but need to get their Team Members performing at a higher level.

Because of that, we can’t outline this in a step-by-step process, but rather an order of services that you will eventually fall into as you build your Agency.

BUILD YOUR TEAM

We find prospective new hires, pre-screen them, assess them, and you interview and choose them.

ONBOARD YOUR TEAM

Our trainings guide you in onboarding new hires for their first 20 days. From there, we take them to the next level in our 6-week training session.

HOLD YOUR TEAM ACCOUNTABLE

We hold your Team Members accountable daily, practice with them weekly and answer any questions or work through any obstacles along the way.

AGENCY PROFITABILITY

We make you as profitable as possible while also helping you coach UP your solid Team Members and coach OUT your weak Team Members.

We are a team of 14 professionals dedicated to helping you optimize your production, revenue, profits and personal time ALL DAY, EVERY DAY.

And we do it ALL for $4.98/hr. 🤯

This Is NOT For Everyone.

Here’s Who We CAN Help:

To be a fit for the Masterminds Elite program and the opportunity to work with our professionals, you do need to meet some strict (but reasonable) criteria.

Here it is...

1. You must be willing to fail.

If you’re going to be in this group, you need to leave your ego at the door.

2. You must be responsive.

Your involvement in this program is entirely up to you. Whether you want us to simply do everything for you (this will take 30 mins a week) or you want to be part of the Team Member trainings (4-5 hours per week), all we ask is that you're responsive to the few things we DO need from you along the way.

3. You must be committed to this program for 12-months.

The program works because of all the moving pieces. Our team is consistently working to ensure your long-term success, and we can’t do that for folks who jump in and out every other month. We want to work with Agency Owners who are 100% dedicated to making their Agency a success.

Here’s What I Want You To Do Next

If you meet the criteria above and would like to talk to one of our program specialists about getting you incredible results, then I’ll happily set aside some time for you.

Here’s how the process works:

First, you’ll need to fill out our Agency Audit. Don’t worry, it’s simple and unobtrusive. We just need to get an idea of what you want to accomplish.

Once you’ve completed your questionnaire, we’ll reach out to you so we can review your goals, answer any questions you have, and make sure Masterminds Elite is the right fit for you.

If it is, our program specialist will explain the pricing and all the options we have to join the program.

If it isn’t, no biggie.

So you literally can’t lose.

Get Your Agency Scorecard in 2 Minutes.

If you feel like this is right for you, click the button to start your audit.

Masterminds Elite Is Unlike Any Other Program You’ve Experienced Before

Let’s talk about what Masterminds Elite is NOT:

Elite is NOT another course. Yes, there is content and training, but at its heart, this is an Agency Growth Management program where we will force you and your Team Members to reach YOUR finish line.
Elite is NOT one size fits all. We’ll start by building a custom plan for your Agency priorities and then help you work through your road blocks to accomplish YOUR stated goals.
Elite is NOT another hack or tactic. Yes, we will give you access to dozens of playbooks and tactics, but the goal of this program is to create a well-oiled machine, not make you figure it out on your own.

Masterminds Elite Is An Investment In Growth

Typically, programs with this level of access and 1-on-1 support come with a steep price tag attached…

Just for comparison, how many different bills are you paying each month to get half of the services we’re providing?

Most Agencies are paying $1000/mth for recruiting services (we include that), have a Profit First coach for $600/mth (add that on for half the price), have a bookkeeper for $1,000/mth (yup, included with your Profit First membership), are paying staff to track Team Member’s numbers for $2500/mth (we cover that), and have their own Masterminds Pro membership ($397/mth).

We combine all your bills into one payment of $797 per month.

We give you 14 professionals working on your Agency for $4.98 per hour.

There is literally nothing comparable to this program.

And again, this is NOT just another workshop or training course. This is a hands-on program to manage your Agency.

This is unlike anything you have ever tried in the past, which is why it will work better than anything you have ever tried in the past.

Get Started Today

The investment to enroll is just $797 per month.

Get Your Agency Scorecard in 2 Minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are a few answers to our most common questions

Who should apply?

Any Agency Owner looking to efficiently grow their book, increase revenue, enjoy more personal time and maximize their profits.

What is the investment?

$797/mth for 12 months. To hire the army we're providing individually, you would spend more than $797/mth. We provide you with ALL of that PLUS weekly live role-plays, daily trainings, access to premier Team Member trainings AND access to 6 Agency Coaches plus more... all for this one low monthly investment. We PROMISE that if you take advantage of everything the Elite membership offers, you'll quickly discover this is the BEST investment you can make in your Agency.

What is the time commitment?

It's up to you. This can be a completely "done for you" structure where you spend as little as 30 minutes a week, or if you want to be a part of the trainings you could spend 4-5 hours a week on the material.

Ultimately, we just require you to be responsive to the few things we ask you for along the way. The goal is to create more time for you, not take it from you.

Is this a fully remote program?

Yes. All of our trainings are completely virtual. We combine self-paced video trainings, live Zoom calls, group e-mails, private Facebook groups and individual calls to get you and your team everything you need with no travel costs.

How long will I have access to the community?

As long as you'd like! Our mission is to deliver 10x the value to our members and we want to do that FOREVER. Our Mastermind Members aren't just "customers," they are "PASSIONATE FANS!" Why? Because everything we offer WORKS and it works at a high level if you take action on it all. So, do that! Take action and stay as long as you'd like.

Did we miss your question? Send us an email and we will get back to you asap.

Stop Waiting. Take Action. No Risk.

The investment to enroll is just $797 per month.

Get Your Agency Scorecard in 2 Minutes.

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