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Agency Acceleration Lab is the podcast for insurance agents and agency owners who want to scale smarter, not harder.
Hosted by Alex Branning, each episode breaks down real growth strategies, marketing systems, and client retention frameworks that help you attract better clients, increase lifetime value, and build a more predictable agency.
If you're serious about building a high-performance insurance business, you're in the right place.
Episode Transcript
Agency Acceleration Lab – Episode 5
How to Attract Clients Instead of Chasing Them with Dr. Terri Alford
Alex Branning:
Hey, what's up, guys? I'm here with Dr. Terri Alford. Dr. Terri, you are an expert at attracting people to you. Talk about that.
Dr. Terri Alford:
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me here, Alex. Yes, I am known as a magnet. I am, yes, yes. And as a matter of fact, I actually have an affirmation that I speak over my life on a weekly basis that says, “I am a magnet for wealth and prosperity.” I love that, and I continue to speak that. I am the founder of the Attract Abundance Framework, and I believe that you should attract abundance so that you can build a multimillion-dollar legacy and retire wealthy. And that's what I love to do. I love to help others do it, and I'm doing it for myself because, of course, I want to retire wealthy as well. Thank you again for having me here, and I'm excited to speak about what I do and how I do it and why.
Alex Branning:
Yes. Well, let's talk about the what. So an insurance agency owner right now is listening to this, and this person is having a hard time attracting the right people into their space. What are the practical steps that they can take to start attracting the right people into their world, both clients and team members?
Dr. Terri Alford:
Great question. So the core values for my company are influence, impact, and income.
Alex Branning:
Nice.
Dr. Terri Alford:
Let's start there. I want to make it simple. I know we are on limited time, so we're going to first start with influence, right? Who do you already have influence with?
Before I became a full-time entrepreneur, I was an educator. I was a private school principal, and so quite a few of my clients were also in education because we spoke the same language. We understood each other. And so when I left my job in 2019, it was a few months before the pandemic hit. And I will never forget March 13, 2020. The entire country shut down.
Well, in Dallas, Texas, that was the day before spring break. A few weeks prior, I found myself in different teachers’ lounges speaking about benefits, accelerated living benefits, and retirement planning outside of what the district offered. So when the country shut down, I had all of those names and numbers of people I could call and bring them on my Zoom.
And guess what? Because I had a master’s in education, I was a science teacher, I ran a STEM school, they also had other questions. So I naturally had influence with educators, and it was easy for me to be able to quote-unquote sell to educators because that's where I had influence.
And as I continued to build my name, my brand, and my clientele, then they referred me to other people who needed to know about what I had to offer. So I would say start with where you already have influence.
I have a guy that I mentored a few years ago, and he's an insurance agent. He is a Caucasian male with a white tie and a suit on social media on one platform, but on another platform he went viral because of a motorcycle review. And I'm like, “You got like a million views.” And he's like—and I'm like, “How are you having problems selling insurance and you got a million views?” He was like, “I was talking about my motorcycle.”
I was like, “Look, brother, you are now the motorcycle money man.” That same audience that sees you as a person of influence needs to know how to manage their money. Stop making it hard. You don't have to be that man over there in that suit. You don't need to be him. You need to be that motorcycle money man talking about insurance and retirement planning with your black leather coat on. That's what you need to do. And so that's the first part of attracting abundance. Start where you already have influence.
The second thing is impact, right? Where can you make a significant impact?
I have gotten a lot of my clients in the beginning of my career through serving. Serving at events, volunteering at churches, being a part of nonprofit organizations. And because I was able to not only be around prospects, but I was around people who also had influence.
And so I may have come by and gave a great person a glass of water with a smile and said, “My pleasure.” And they say, “Wait, what do you do? What do you do for real? Because I know you are volunteering here, but what do you do for real, for real?” Oh, I’d love to share with you what I do.
So impact—look for ways that you can make an impact. And again, people are going to refer you because of the impact that you make. This is how you're attracting abundance. You don't have to chase clients. You don't have to run after clients.
And then income—that's another big part of it. You don’t want to try to hit a moving target. You're going to miss most times because it’s always moving. You need to know exactly where you're going.
So if you are struggling in this season and you're getting overwhelmed as an insurance agent and you do not know where to focus, focus on one area. Make your name known for that thing. So for me, I focused on the babies. I focused on the children. Because guess what? I'm an educator. I had influence because I was a Sunday school teacher, so I did not make it hard. I said, “I'm going to focus on how to make sure that parents can have another way to send their children to school without student loans,” and I used life insurance policies to do that.
So then I said, how many babies do I need to help in order to make enough money for me to live comfortably? How many families? How many children? How many of those policies do I need to write?
Okay, well, if my average family is doing $200 a month into their child's policy—now you're like, what? Why would they do that? Then we need to talk. But if their average parent is doing $200 per child on their child's policy, then I automatically can do my numbers and say, “I need my income to be here. I may need five children a month. That's it. I just need five babies. That's it.”
So I'm not out here speaking to everybody. I'm not being all over the place. I'm trying to do what everybody else is doing. I am focusing on attracting abundance and looking for the people that are looking for me.
Alex Branning:
Wow, I love it. You just gave—that is like a playbook right there of exactly how to plan out how to make enough money to replace your full-time income. Brilliant.
For just a quick idea drop, because you're so inspirational, how would somebody else come up with their own idea to bring their network together like you have, and then attract more potential clients for everybody else in the room? What was your initial idea, and how can somebody else do something like that?
Dr. Terri Alford:
Good question. Don’t start off with a conference. I did not start with a conference. I started with lunches. I still do. I still do private, small, intimate, 10 to 14 people, even invitation only.
And so I have my invitation-only luncheons for people who really need to talk about their money, and they may have more money than the average person, so they don't want to be with everybody.
But then I also hosted events, and I decided to niche down and choose businesswomen in 2023. So in 2023, I had these ladies Lunch and Learns. That’s what I called them: ladies Lunch and Learn, ladies edition.
And so I had women come, and we would speak about insurance and retirement planning. And then the next time I did it, I decided to give them a little bit of advice on marketing, because people watched me and they’re like, “How are you doing all of this?” So I would give them a little bit of advice about marketing, and then they started asking me for more insight.
So then I increased the time to four hours. And after doing a four-hour luncheon a few times, I was like, okay, y’all still want more. And I decided to go ahead and make it a three-day conference. And that was one of the best things that I ever could have done. And again, do not start with a conference.
You can start with a small event at a library, at a restaurant. My favorite events are done at restaurants, because all I have to do is go in, plug in my laptop, show up, say what I got to say, unplug it, and go back home. That's it.
There was a Seasons 52 here in Dallas. It’s closed now, but there was a Seasons 52 in Dallas that was my favorite. It was in the NorthPark Mall. I would go there, I would pay for all the meals.
Now, I will say that I would pay for all the meals, but it was invitation only. The people I invited may have been people I met at another event, or they may have been people on my hit list, right? These people I've been watching online.
Let me give y’all another shameless plug and a tip. LinkedIn is the bomb dot com because people will tell you, “I lost my job. I’m looking for a job.” They will tell you that. Well, that means that they’re in transition. They need to speak about their insurance. They need to speak about retirement planning.
So I would say, come have lunch with me. Come have lunch with me. I would pay for their lunch. After I paid for their lunch, we connected. Nine times out of 10, somebody in that room was going to have a big enough case that paid for the whole lunch, and I was able to get referrals, and I was able to do it again.
So if you are thinking about your concept like, “How do I put together a conference?” don’t start with the conference. Start with who it is that you want to serve. Give them what they need.
People want networking. They want to learn about how to grow their businesses. They want to know how to make more money. Because if I show you an infinite banking plan and all you can save is $100 a month and you’re 50 years old, you’re not going to be able to do what everybody else says you do on social media. You need to make some money.
So how about you come over here to this conference, I show you how to make some money, you make more money, and then you become my client.
And now, after you made more money, after you've replaced your income on your job, you're able to come to me and say, “Okay, Terri, I got $81,000 in this account. What can you do?” Oh, okay, I got a few annuities I can show you. I know that was a loaded answer.
Alex Branning:
No, that’s good. That’s good. I’ve never bought a lead. I’ve never bought a lead the whole time I’ve been in this industry. I love it. I love it.
You are so intentional about creating these spaces. My business coach, Coach Burt, says you have to have an invitation to monetization, and you’re really intentional about that.
Can you talk a little bit more about, number one, how many Lunch and Learns you would do in an average month? And then, number two, how are you deciding who to invite to these Lunch and Learns? I think it’s a brilliant concept.
Dr. Terri Alford:
Good question. So I actually don’t do them every month. Last year, I did them every quarter, and I actually did those in Memphis, Tennessee. Why? Because even though I live in Dallas, that’s where I’m from, and so a lot of my clients who are already annuity clients are in Memphis, Tennessee. My Sunday school teachers are in Memphis, Tennessee, my old college professors there. So I would go there, and I would let them know, “Hey, I’m coming in town. Come have lunch with me.” So I would only do it once a quarter.
The people that I would invite would be people that I know are most likely to say yes to what I have to offer. And I’m not doing the inviting by myself. My current clients are inviting people, so they’re seeing the same presentation every time they’re coming in, they’re getting their free lunch, and they’re supporting me.
And it gives me an opportunity to say, “I thank you so much for being a client.” And I’d say, “Oh my goodness, I need you to speak to my cousin,” or “Look, so-and-so just got laid off.”
And so I’m not doing them every month. I’m not doing them as frequently as you may think, because if you do it right and you do it strategically, all you need to do is a few, and you will have enough business to last you from one to the next.
Alex Branning:
I love that. I love that.
My last question, because I see you do this so much. You are so active on social media, especially doing lives and stuff like that. Can you give a 60-second, in-a-nutshell answer on how Dr. Terri has made social media your microphone?
Dr. Terri Alford:
Ooh. Well, I realized that before other people have me on their stage, I needed to make my own stage, and social media became my free marketing platform. And I said, well, if people are going to see me and hear me enough to book me, they need to see me. They need to hear me.
And so I decided to go live. I was a part of a coaching program a few years ago, and they gave us a challenge to do a 21-day live challenge. Believe it or not, that was all I needed, because once I did the 21-day live challenge, I started doing it every single quarter.
So every quarter I have new followers. I have new friends. People are starting to hear and see my videos, and they’re like, “Oh, I want to listen to what she has to say.” And that is another way I get referrals.
Alex Branning:
I love it. I love it. Dr. Terri, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and wisdom and experience with us. I really appreciate your time.
For those of you that are watching and going like, “Man, I just got so much value,” go to the website. The link is below. Download the playbook, and we’ll walk you through what she shared. So Dr. Terri, thank you so much again. It was great having you.
Dr. Terri Alford:
You are welcome. Thank you so much. I hope to be invited back.
Alex Branning:
Thank you for watching. Please take notes. Please take action and subscribe. You will not get any value from the lesson you just got unless you implement it in your business. Please share this episode if you got value from it, and I’ll see you online.