Tim Connon on Strategies for Staying Ahead
Tim Connon is Founder & CEO of ParamountQuote and took some time out to speak with Rob Barratt from The Industry Leaders about how they stay ahead of the game in their industry.
Can you introduce yourself and share a little about your background?
I am the founder and CEO of a life insurance agency that specializes in creating its own leads for our agents. I have over 10 years of experience with life insurance products and around 5 years of experience in marketing for lead generation. This in addition to my extensive expertise in training salesman and underwriting life insurance means I always have to stay ahead of the changing landscape in this industry.
As a forward-thinking professional, how do you identify ways to stay ahead in your industry?
The best ways to identify how to stay ahead is by identifying trends. Right now the trend is selling life insurance digitally and keeping up with AI systems that are being implemented everywhere.
How often do you reassess your competitive landscape and, as I know you're very busy, I'd love for you to share any tips you have on carving out the time to do this?
You should reassess your competitive landscape at least once a month. The best way to carve out time doing this is by identifying when you have at least an hour of time to dedicate during the day to reading. This can usually be done on a lunch break which is how I do it. Look for an open time block during the day and use it wisely.
What have been the most significant challenges you've faced when striving to stay ahead in a rapidly changing world, and how have you overcome them?
The most difficult challenges is keeping up with optimizing my website for SEO. Every other month the landscape seems to change due to updates to search engines or just extra optimizations I could be adding to blog posts. The best way to overcome this is by setting a specific schedule of when you plan to optimize your blogs which is how I overcome this issue.
Can you pinpoint a defining moment or experience where your innovative strategies led to success or a competitive advantage in your business or career?
A defining moment would be when we discovered that we could help seniors get life insurance with no waiting period if they have heart conditions. Once we learned this underwriting niche we were able to help so many of our clients get approved for immediate coverage. Our customers were happy and we were happy knowing we had the right life insurance company available for them.
In your opinion, what are the key ingredients of an effective strategy for staying ahead in 2023?
The key ingredients would be being social circles with professionals in your industry. Network with them and stay in the loop, watch for what they are saying and see if they name trends or things they learned that can identify trends. Search Google on these topics to see if other professionals are writing and discussing them. Another ingredient is getting with a mentor in your industry that you trust and they will tell you the trends they are discovering. Keep up with your reading and identifying trends using these key tips.
In your opinion, what role does continuous learning and personal development play in staying ahead, and how do you incorporate these practices into your own professional journey?
Continuous learning and personal development play a significant role in staying ahead. I incorporate these practices into my professional journey by subscribing to newsletters, having a mentor to help me develop, networking, searching Google for new trends and news in my industry.
Looking ahead, what emerging trends or technologies do you believe will have the most significant impact on businesses or ambitious professionals, and how are you preparing to leverage them for future success?
AI is obviously the newest emerging technology and trend every industry is adopting. We are already leveraging AI to help us create ads for our marketing for lead generation. We also use it to design emails for clients and handle text messaging. AI handles our video scripting and all our marketing ad copy for Facebook ads.
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