The human strategy that grows

your book and expands your influence

Real growth is rooted in the people who believe in you, trust you, and are willing to say your name in the rooms you haven’t entered yet. These are the people who make up your personal board of directors.

By Carolyn Smith, APR, CRA, TRA

There’s a moment in every producer’s career when the grind stops working. You can chase every lead, run flawless meetings, deliver airtight proposals, and still feel like you’re pushing uphill. It isn’t because you lack talent or drive. It’s because you’re operating as a team of one in a world built on connection.

Growth doesn’t come from working harder. It comes from building deeper relationships—the kind that aren’t transactional, performative, or polite enough to pass for networking. Real growth is rooted in the people who believe in you, trust you, and are willing to say your name in the rooms you haven’t entered yet. These are the people who make up your personal board of directors.

And once you assemble that board? Your entire business shifts.

Why every producer needs a personal board

A personal board of directors isn’t official. There are no meetings, minutes, or titles. It’s simply a circle of trusted people who challenge your thinking, expand your reach, sharpen your judgment, and quietly open doors you never knew existed.

Clients don’t choose an insurance advisor in isolation—they choose the ecosystem around that advisor. Your board becomes part of that ecosystem. When a banker, attorney, CPA, consultant, or lender says, “You need to talk to her,” your credibility multiplies instantly. That’s how big accounts move. Not through volume, but through trust.

High-value prospects ignore dozens of cold calls … and answer immediately when their CPA tells them to.

When you build the board, the board builds your book.

A trusted introduction changes everything. The prospect arrives with their guard down and their mind open. They assume competence. They give you the benefit of the doubt. They want the relationship to work because someone they rely on already believes in you. You haven’t even shaken hands yet, and the foundation is already set.

Producers don’t just win because they’re good. They win because someone credible signals that they’re good.

Dan Dias from The Magnolia Agency explains, “Getting in the door is very hard—it’s not like it used to be. People aren’t picking up their phones. So, it’s really getting in with your prospects’ centers of influence. Do you know who they’re working with? They may have had the account for quite a while. And there’s already a warm relationship there.”

Make it work: Engage the humans who influence decisions

Most producers know the usual suspects—CPAs, attorneys, bankers, real estate advisors, HR consultants, cybersecurity firms, fractional CFOs, wealth managers, and industry experts. But your real centers of influence (COIs) are the people your clients already trust before they make decisions.

You don’t need 50 names. You need five. Think about the advisors your clients consistently consult. Those are the people who belong on your board.

Every client already has their own board: their CPA, banker, IT provider, payroll company, lender, attorney, and financial advisor. These individuals shape a business owner’s thinking long before you arrive.

Yet most producers never ask to meet them.

A client introduction gives you credibility, a warm handoff, a common language, and access to an entire network of similar businesses. Once a client trusts you enough to bring you into their circle, you stop being “their insurance agent” and become part of their advisory ecosystem. And ecosystems grow.

Here’s the simplest way to meet the people your clients trust most:

Ask, “When you’re making financial or business decisions, who do you rely on most?”

Then follow with: “Would you feel comfortable introducing us? I’d love to understand how we can work together to support you.”

This isn’t a sales script. It’s a human one. People appreciate advisors who collaborate, communicate, and align around their best interests.

What your board actually does

A personal board isn’t conceptual. It’s practical. It creates momentum in ways cold-calling never will. Your board:

• Connects you to high-value prospects
• Expands your perspective
• Strengthens your credibility
• Opens new networks
• Raises your professional standards
• Grounds you in human connection

They make you better—and they make your clients better served.

One of the simplest ways to expand your board is hosting a client and their key advisors for a quarterly lunch. Everyone meets, shares insights, and coordinates how to better support the client.

A COI lunch accomplishes three things:

1. Strengthens your relationship with the client.
2. Positions you as a trusted advisor among their trusted advisors.
3. Creates an immediate network of professionals aligned around the client’s success.

Your invitation can be simple: “I’d like to bring together the professionals who support your business so we can collaborate on your behalf.”

It’s generous. It’s strategic. And it works.

You don’t begin by talking about yourself. You begin by honoring them.

Ask:

• “What challenges are your clients facing right now?”
• “What do you wish business owners understood before coming to you?”
• “What kinds of clients do you enjoy serving most?”
• “How can I support your clients better?”
• “What would make me a valuable referral partner for you?”

Make them feel like the expert—because they are. People open up when they feel seen and valued, and trust grows in that space.

How to become someone COIs love referring

People refer when you show up as someone who is responsive, thoughtful, curious, prepared, strategic, and genuinely appreciative.

During a Beyond Insurance mastermind call, William Duncan of McClure, Bomar & Harris, LLC, put it bluntly: “If you want someone to remember you, think about the last time you received a handwritten note saying, ‘I appreciate you.’ People don’t do it anymore. Try sending a handwritten letter to five COIs in your area inviting them to lunch and include your business card. Just see how it works.”