463. What Really Motivates Your Team (It's Not Money)

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What’s in this episode:
Most insurance agency owners assume their team is motivated by money. In this solo episode, Michael Weaver challenges that assumption head-on and shares the leadership framework that transformed how he manages and motivates producers. Drawing from his own early mistakes as a business owner and lessons learned across seven-plus businesses, Michael Weaver breaks down why the WIIFM principle – What’s in It for Me – is the key to unlocking individual performance on any insurance sales team.

Michael reveals how insurance agency leaders can stop guessing and start having the right conversations with their team. From paid family vacations to extra PTO to back-to-school shopping for a producer’s kid, the right bonus is personal – and the best managers figure that out. If you’re struggling to motivate your insurance team and money alone isn’t moving the needle, this episode gives you a simple, repeatable process to change that.

[00:00] Intro: when money stops working as motivation
[01:00] Solo episode on team motivation fundamentals
[02:00] Why Michael thought money motivated everyone
[03:00] WIIFM: what your team is always thinking
[04:00] Figure out what is actually important to them
[05:00] Bonuses tied to personal goals: trips and time off
[06:00] Time off is the top motivator in most offices
[07:00] Tie production to what motivates each person
[08:00] Create a runway for producers to hit their goals
[09:00] Have each team member name three to five goals
[10:00] Win-win: they hit it, you hit it, everyone wins
[11:00] Make this part of every new hire onboarding

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I'm not saying that motivating and managing people can always be easy, but the process I'm going to give you today is going to help you substantially if you're not already doing it. This is the insurance buzz, and we are your host, Michael and Courtney Weaver. We coach insurance professionals, business owners, and people just like you every day on how to live a life and have a business you are excited about.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Here on the insurance buzz, we share the wins, the losses, and everything in between that comes with being married business partners, training in the insurance space, and growing our business side by side. We also connect with other business owners and leaders making their mark in the world and hopefully inspire you to make yours.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Hey, welcome to the insurance buzz. I am your host, Michael Weaver, and I'm flying solo today without Courtney. And I'm going to be talking about and sharing about how to motivate your team. This is really important. This is a question that was asked of me. I was actually on the phone with an agent the other day. Like, Michael, I'm just having a hard time motivating my team. I've done everything I can think of, and I cannot figure it out. It's like they, it's like nothing works. I can't do it. I can't figure it out. I've tried to toss every single dollar amount you can think to them. They don't care. I've thrown some ideas out there. They're just like, whatever, sure. It's like nothing ever works. I was like, well, what's it what's important to them? Like what motive what motivates them? He goes, I don't know, Michael, that's what I'm talking to you today. I'm like, okay. So this is what this is what this episode is about. And this is super, super easy, super simple. Now, I'm not saying that motivating and managing people can always be easy, but the process I'm going to give you today is going to help you substantially if you're not already doing this. So this is something that was difficult for me early on as a business owner. And what I mean by that is, is I thought everyone was motivated the same way I was. I thought everybody wanted to make a lot of money. I thought that money solved all problems. I thought anybody would do anything for money. And I was wrong. I was so wrong. Actually, not many people that I've come across are motivated by money. Even the ones that say they're motivated by money, they typically have an underlying, underlying, not lying, underlying motivation somewhere else. Something that is even more motivational to them, something that is even more important to them, something that they would prioritize over money. So if you've ever heard the analogy, W I I F M, what's in it for me? What's in it for me? We are all selfish creatures. We are all selfish human beings. Even of those of you out there, you're the most lovable, kind, caring, giving individuals in the world. You know who I'm talking. You know, you know if I'm talking about you right now. And if you're one of those people, thank you so much. You're still selfish. You're still selfish, admit it. You know it. What's in it for me? What is in it for me? Guess what your team's always thinking? What's in it for me? I show up here every single day, I work my freaking tail off. What is in it for me? What's in it for me? If I go above and beyond, if I exceed these expectations, what's in it? Oh, a hundred dollar bonus? Okay. I don't really care about that. Or maybe they do, but there's only one way to find out. And that is to have a conversation. One of the most effective leadership and management uh processes or changes that we made and how we led and managed people was figuring out what was important to them. How did they want to be bonused? How did they want to be motivated? Anything was on the table. A trip with the family. New J's for the kid. Maybe some outfits for back to school. Maybe time off. Extra PTO days. I can tell you right now, extra time off was the number one motivator in our office. And this is just not in our office, this has been across all of our businesses. We're on either business seven or eight number right now. Time off is the number one priority or motivation for most people. Most people we work with, our team, they will take time off to spend with themselves or with their family over bonuses, typically, in my experience. So if you are anything like I was as a young entrepreneur and business owner and manager and leader, and you've tried what you think is everything, you've tried out outlandish money bonuses, and your team's like, yeah, great, I'll do it. And they don't even come close. Nothing changes. No habits, nothing. By the way, this is my tea I'm drinking. Shout out to Full Leaf Tea Company. I drink their tea every single day. No, I don't get paid for doing this or shouting them out, but their tea is legit. Check them out, Full Leaf Tea Company. Um so let's get into this. What's in it for them? What's in it for me? Figure out your team's why. Figure out what motivates them individually, what motivates them, and then tie their production and bonuses to whatever motivates them. Not what you think motivates them, not what would motivate you, what motivates them. If they want time off, then freaking give them the ability to earn time off through production. If they do want more money, give them the ability to do that. If they want a paid vacation with their family, put out the freaking production expectation. Hey, if you hit this, you're going exactly where you want to go. I'll send you and your family on that trip. All expenses paid. Somebody wants to buy their kid a new pair of $250 J's. Great. Let's look it up. Let's look up the exact pair you'd buy your kid. Awesome. Go ahead and put those in your cart. At the end of this month, if you hit that, boom, we're buying that. You're putting out my credit card. I got you. See, when you tie in their goal, maybe they want to, maybe they want to save money for a down payment on a house. I don't know what their goal is. I don't know what's important to them, but I promise you there is something important to them. You have to figure out what it is as a leader and manager, and you have to create the runway for them to be able to hit that and achieve that by working with you and your office. And if you do this, if you are successful in doing this, if you decide to move forward and have conversations with each person on your team, figure out what is important to them, what do they want to accomplish? What do they want to accomplish over the next three months, six months, twelve months, two years, whatever it is? How would they like to be bonus? Throw options out there. Hey, you want me to send your family on a trip? You need some money for your kids. Uh I know sports are expensive. Your kids need some new outfit. Whatever it is. You want some time off? Just you all alone. Maybe you want to go have a spa day. All expenses, all day, spa day on me. That'd be of interest to you. Whatever it is. Have them tell you and give you like three to five things. And then you tie production bonuses around that. And when you do this, you are going to see a shift in your team because now they are working towards something that is important to them. And here's the best part: it's also important to you. It's a win-win situation here. They hit the production requirement, they win, and you win. Everybody is happy, and everybody is operating off of what's in it for me. You know that if they hit this, you hit the bonus, you hit the commission, you keep the company happy. The agency can pay its bills. They know that if they hit this production requirement, they're going to Bali with their family. They may not be going to Bali, that may not be it, but you get what I'm saying. Now they can go out and buy their kid the $250 pair of J's. It's been tough for them to do, but they know it's a big deal for their kid. They're going to be freaking pumped, they're going to be happy, they're going to be excited. Tie production bonuses to what's important to your team, each individual, and you will no longer struggle with motivating your team because now everybody is on the same page. It's a win-win for everybody, and they are working towards something that positively affects them and their goals and what they want to accomplish. And they do that by showing up and producing. Whatever requirements those are, they show up, they do it, they know that they achieve it, bam. They get something that they've wanted, that they need. Things change when you do this. I hope this was beneficial. I hope you go, and I hope you have those conversations today, right now, moving forward. And with any new hire you hire moving forward, I hope this is part of your onboarding process. Figuring out what's important to them. If you surprise them with gifts, what would they want? Hey, if you bonus them, what would they want? What's important to them over the next three, six, nine, twelve, eighteen, twenty-four months? What are they working towards? This gives you the information necessary to create production bonuses based off of what motivates them, what is important to them. And when you do this, you no longer will struggle with motivating your team. As always, go out and take action. If you enjoyed today's episode and you've never left us a five-star rating, make sure you do that right now. Click right now below, leave us a five-star rating, subscribe to us, leave us a rating on YouTube. Other than that, guys, I appreciate you as always time and attention as by far your most important asset. I appreciate you hanging out with me today. Go out and make it great. Thanks for listening to this episode of the insurance buzz. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media, and leave a rating and review. If you want to take your insurance agency to the next level and join our community, simply check out Weaver Sales Academy at www.weaversa.com. Again, that's www.weaversa.com, or visit the show notes on our new and current programs we have available exclusively for you. As always, time is the most valuable and important asset that we all have, and I appreciate you spending it with me. See you on the next episode.