Matt Weaver, PowerGroup

Kansas City

1. Preparation is everything. I walk into every meeting with a game plan and a detailed strategy. I always know exactly what I want to accomplish and what I want the next step to be.
2. My preparation is built around fact finding. Use questions to help your clients/prospects open up about their needs and concerns. Get them to tell you what they want from their consultant.
3. Stop talking and listen. It's. Not. About. You.
4. Convert clients/prospects from price buyers to solution buyers. Refuse to be seen as just another vendor but rather a strategic partner. This can only be accomplished by having your clients/prospects tell you where they see themselves in the future and then helping them get there.
5. Look at health care reform as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Brokers who will succeed in the future are using their knowledge about health care reform and how it may affect their clients/prospects as a way to differentiate themselves from the pack.
6. Never stop educating yourself. Attend seminars and lunch-and-learns. Make it a priority to absorb as much information as you can about this industry. You never know when a new idea or strategy will be just what you need to win a new client.
7. Embrace technology. Our team just launched an open enrollment/admin system that's already won us business. We didn't reinvent the wheel—we partnered with the tech people that did.
8. Always know your return on investment.
9. Do what is in your clients' best interest at all times. This might sound obvious, but I've known lots of brokers who steered a group one way chasing a short-term profit, only to lose an unhappy client soon after.
10. Hustle. There will never be a substitute for hard work.