Your sales meetings are backward-looking theater, and your close rate proves it. CRISP is the 4-part weekly framework one agency used to go from a 25% close rate to 81% and nearly double their new business per producer.

Randy Schwantz breaks down every phase and shows you exactly what's different about a meeting designed to win. If your Monday morning meeting teaches producers nothing, this episode is the fix.

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Your clients will give you a referral reluctantly. They'll give you an introduction enthusiastically — but only if you give them the right story to tell.

Most producers are sitting on their single greatest pipeline asset and never touching it: their existing book of business.

In this episode, Randy Schwantz breaks down SODAR — a five-letter system that transforms your best client from "sure, I'll mention your name" into a champion who pre-sells you before you walk in the door. Introductions built this way close at seven times the rate of a cold call. If your pipeline still depends on strangers saying yes, this episode changes that.

Want us to tackle a real challenge you're dealing with? Submit your question using the link below. We read every question. We don’t respond to all of them—but the best ones get turned into episodes.

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If you've spent four episodes learning how to wedge out other agents' accounts... congratulations. Someone in your market is now running those exact plays on you. This episode is Randy's defensive playbook: the ABC account management system, the written service timeline that turns your service commitments into signed contracts, and the cross-sell strategy that makes your best accounts nearly impossible to crack. One producer went from losing 6 accounts in 18 months to growing his book 28% in 24 months using exactly this system.

IN THIS EPISODE

• The ABC system: why your A accounts (top 20%, 80% of revenue) are probably getting the least service — and exactly how to fix that with visit frequency and proactive touchpoints

• Why frequency alone isn't enough: the one document that locks a client in and shuts down a competitor's wedge before it starts

• A real written service timeline example: April 15 claims review, July midyear check, September renewal strategy, November delivery — all signed at the start of the policy year

• Cross-selling as a defensive weapon: why holding more lines per account is the highest-return retention activity a producer can do

• The producer comeback story: from 6 lost accounts to 28% book growth in 24 months, with zero cold calls

Ready to move your agency from Selling 2.0 to Selling 3.0? Learn more about Bignition at bignition.com.

Want us to tackle a real challenge you're dealing with? Submit your question using the link below. We read every question. We don’t respond to all of them—but the best ones get turned into episodes.

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You ran a strong first meeting. You found pain. You built the vision. You got commitment.

And then… you lose the deal anyway.

It happens every day in commercial insurance. Not because your proposal was weak, but because the incumbent got a second chance.

In this episode, Randy breaks down the 6-step Keystone process—the exact system top producers use to lock in deals before the second meeting ever slips away.

You’ll learn:

• Why deals are actually won before the proposal is presented
• The 3 positions you’re always in walking into a second meeting
• How to prevent the “let me talk to my current agent” stall
• The one step that took a producer’s close rate above 80%
• How to present service in a way the incumbent can’t match

If you’ve ever walked out of a meeting thinking, “that was a layup”… and still lost, this is the fix.

Want us to tackle a real challenge you're dealing with? Submit your question using the link below. We read every question. We don’t respond to all of them—but the best ones get turned into episodes.

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Most producers lose before they even realize it.

They think they got beat on price…
but in reality, they were just used to give the incumbent leverage.

In this episode, The Wedge creator Randy Schwantz breaks down the exact 5-step system that flips that dynamic completely.

This is a field-tested process that’s been used for 30+ years to:

• Eliminate price competition
• Create real differentiation (not “better service” fluff)
• Get prospects to ask YOU for the proposal
• And close deals without chasing or convincing

You’ll learn:

• The “Picture Perfect” question that exposes gaps instantly
• Why most producers accidentally help the incumbent win
• The Vision Box technique that makes prospects sell themselves
• How to shift control so the buyer pulls you in
• The final move that prevents your proposal from dying in a drawer

If you’re tired of losing deals you should have won…
this is the system that changes that.

Get the full process with the book here: https://shop.thewedge.net/collections/books

Want us to tackle a real challenge you're dealing with? Submit your question using the link below. We read every question. We don’t respond to all of them—but the best ones get turned into episodes.

If this episode was helpful, share it with a producer or agency leader who needs it.

Get more insights like this every week:
👉 Subscribe to the podcast & blog: https://thewedge.net

Most producers don’t lose deals because of price. They lose because they walk into meetings unprepared.

In this episode, Randy breaks down the exact 7-question pre-call framework top commercial insurance producers use to dramatically increase their close rate—often in just 20 minutes of preparation.

You’ll learn:

• Why every sales meeting actually has a “third person” in the room—and how to beat them
• The simple prep strategy that turns average producers into top performers
• How to uncover hidden weaknesses in the incumbent before you ever walk in
• The real reason prospects say “your price is too high” (and how to avoid it)
• How one producer went from losing deals to winning by BOR in the first meeting

If you want to win more accounts, shorten your sales cycle, and stop competing on price, this episode gives you a practical system you can use before your very next meeting.

Interested in learning more? Visit thewedge.net

Want us to tackle a real challenge you're dealing with? Submit your question using the link below. We read every question. We don’t respond to all of them—but the best ones get turned into episodes.

If this episode was helpful, share it with a producer or agency leader who needs it.

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👉 Subscribe to the podcast & blog: https://thewedge.net

In commercial insurance sales, there is no such thing as a “win-win.” If you want to grow your book of business, someone else has to lose.

In this episode of the Agency Growth Machine Podcast, Randy Schwantz breaks down the hard truth most insurance producers avoid: every prospect already has an incumbent agent. If you want the account, you must create a reason for the buyer to fire their current broker.

Instead of competing on price or hoping relationships win deals, Randy explains the real strategy top commercial insurance producers use to take accounts from competitors.

Inside this episode you’ll learn:

• The 3 brutal realities that control every commercial insurance sales conversation
• Why pain is the only true motivator that gets buyers to switch brokers
• How prospects lower their expectations and why that creates opportunity
• The sales questions that expose weaknesses in the incumbent agent’s service
• Why the best producers differentiate with process instead of price
• How to shift a conversation from a quote meeting to a competitive takedown

You’ll also hear the story of how one producer used this approach to take a $40,000 revenue account from an incumbent who held it for 11 years.

If you sell commercial insurance, this episode will change how you approach every prospect meeting.

Because the real competition isn’t the other broker.

It’s the comfort your prospect has with staying exactly where they are.

Want us to tackle a real challenge you're dealing with? Submit your question using the link below. We read every question. We don’t respond to all of them—but the best ones get turned into episodes.

If this episode was helpful, share it with a producer or agency leader who needs it.

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After several years away from the mic, Agency Growth Machine is back.

But the silence didn’t mean the work stopped.

During that time, Randy Schwantz was deep inside agencies, working with owners and producers trying to grow in a market that has shifted dramatically. Private equity consolidation, new technology, changing expectations from buyers — and yet many producers are still struggling to win deals they should be winning.

So Randy went looking for answers.

In this episode, he explains what he discovered in the trenches and lays out the core philosophy behind the Wedge — the framework that has helped thousands of producers and hundreds of agencies change the way they compete and grow.

You’ll hear:

• Why the podcast went quiet after 2021
• What Randy learned working directly with agencies during that time
• The surprising data pattern behind producer performance
• Why so many producers end up stuck in what Randy calls “small account prison”
• The core beliefs that drive the Wedge philosophy
• The overlooked third player present in every sales conversation

You’ll also hear what to expect going forward.

From here on out, the podcast will deliver one idea each week — one insight, one framework, or one play you can apply immediately in your agency or book of business.

If you're an agency owner trying to unlock growth…
or a producer doing the work but still losing deals you thought you had won…

This episode lays the foundation for everything that follows.

Learn more about The Wedge:
https://thewedge.net

Get the book The Wedge:
https://shop.thewedge.net/collections/books

Questions or feedback:
info@thewedge.net

Want us to tackle a real challenge you're dealing with? Submit your question using the link below. We read every question. We don’t respond to all of them—but the best ones get turned into episodes.

If this episode was helpful, share it with a producer or agency leader who needs it.

Get more insights like this every week:
👉 Subscribe to the podcast & blog: https://thewedge.net