Survivors, Inventors - Insurance Broker Edition: Decoding the Unseen Psychology Behind High-Stakes B2B Deals
Prospecting isn’t a numbers game. It’s the game of Survivors and Inventors.
Most insurance brokers still believe that more calls, more emails, and more noise will win the market. But in corporate boardrooms, deals don’t collapse into place with a single clever phase. They unfold – slow, layered, and exquisitely fragile. If you want to win high-ticket clients, you must stop chasing the myth of the silver bullet and start mastering the Psychology of Change.
Survivors, Inventors – Insurance Broker Edition is not another recycled “sales hack” book. It’s a strategy manual for insurance broker prospecting, built on 20+ years in B2B sales, including 14 inside the brokerage world where every deal must survive systems, politics, and resistance.
Inside, you’ll learn:
- The two archetypes in every deal. Survivors scale what already works; Inventors push into the unknown. One preserves, the other disrupts – yet both shape your success.
- The hidden stages of change. From the Inner Minimum (“good enough”), through the Inner Breakdown(when cracks can no longer be ignored), to the Inner Maximum (the new reality they must embrace).
- How to run a Simulation. A discipline that replaces guesswork with precision – mapping, guiding, and timing the process so you stop reacting and start directing.
This book is for:
✔️ Insurance brokers ready to master prospecting instead of chasing leads.
✔️ Healthcare brokers competing for 100+ life groups who need proven frameworks.
✔️ B2B sellers tired of vague advice who want tools designed for real boardrooms
✔️ Professionals in high-ticket sales who understand that psychology, timing, and positioning – not scripts – decide the outcome.
Why it matters now:
Healthcare brokers aren’t just competing with other brokers anymore. They’re competing with silence.
Most CFOs would rather do nothing than risk a change they don’t fully understand. That’s why prospecting today isn’t about pitching products; it’s about breaking inertia.
If you can’t help executives move beyond the comfort of “good enough,” they’ll stay with the Incumbent forever, and you’ll stay invisible. The brokers who can command the shift – who refuse to walk away, who know precisely where their prospect stands and what must break next – will own the market.
This is what “Survivors, Inventors” is about: giving you the lens to see prospects as they truly are, the timing to know when change is inevitable, and the strategy to stay in the deal until it’s yours.
INTRODUCTION
THE SPREADSHEET BROKER IS GONE. LONG LIVE THE STRATEGIST. —- 12
MARKETING vs. PROSPECTING —– 14
WHY GREAT OFFERS STILL GET REJECTED —– 18
B2B IN THE AGE OF GUT FEELING —- 24
SURVIVORS, INVENTORS: THE TWO POWERS
BORN TO SURVIVE. BUILT TO INVENT. —- 40
EVOLUTION CALLED THEY LET IT GO TO VOICEMAIL. —- 48
THE FIRST MEETING (AND THE LAST ONE) —- 54
TRAPPED TYPES: WHEN INVENTOR WEARS SURVIVOR BADGES (AND VICE VERSA) —- 60
CFOs – SURVIVORS, INVENTORS, AND THE MAST OF CAUTION —- 64
CFOs at Enron (2001 Collapse) —- 66
WeWork’s CFOs during the Adam Neumann Era (2019 Implosion) —- 66
Zenefits – When HR Scaled Chaos in the Name of Innovation —- 73
Better.com – When HR Couldn’t Rein in a Visionary CEO —- 73
CEOs – HIRED AS INVENTORS, FIRED FOR ACTING LIKE ONE —- 74
Sun Microsystems – Scott McNealy’s Reluctance to Pivot 76
JC Penney – Ron Johnson’s Reverse Mistake: Inventor in a Survivor Culture —- 77
THE COO WILL SEE YOU NOW (BUT ONLY IF YOU DON’T BREAK ANYTHING) —- 78
Starbucks – Kevin Johnson’s Over-Optimized Reinvention —- 79
Quibi – Tom Conrad’s Failure to Anchor in Operational Reality —- 79
WHY WE CHOSE CLARK KENT OVER SUPERMAN —- 81
SELLING CHANGE
THE INNER MINIMUM: IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT. —- 94
WALLS OR BRIDGES. RESPONSE TO FEAR. —- 99
KEEP YOUR NO’s UP. —- 111
LASER. NOT LUCK: TOP 30 PROSPECTS —- 121
DESTINY, DRAMA, AND DEAL FLOW —- 131
1. The Ordinary World —- 135
2. The Call to Adventure —- 136
3. Refusal of the Call —- 137
4. Meeting with the Mentor —- 138
5. Crossing the First Threshold —- 139
6. Tests and Enemies —- 141
7. Approach to the Innermost Cave —- 142
8. The Ordeal —- 143
9. The Reward —- 144
10. The Road Back —- 145
11. The Resurrection —- 146
12. Return with the Elixir —- 147
THE VILLAIN | A QUIET DOMINATION —- 149
THE INNER BREAKDOWN —- 155
THE POINT OF NO RETURN —- 161
STUDYING THEIR LAST “YES” —- 167
THE INCUMBENT —- 169
THE DEAL —- 172
STATUS QUO ADVOCATE —- 176
FIND THE INVENTOR —- 179
THE INNER MAXIMUM —- 182
ONE THING TO RULE THEM ALL —- 186
THE NEGATIVE OFFER —- 190
ADDITIONAL FEATURES —- 197
RUN A SIMULATION
TARGET NUMBER —- 204
THE TOP 30 EQUATION —- 205
INCOME PROJECTION —- 207
COST OF INACTION —- 209
OUTREACH STRUCTURE —- 211
DEALCRAFT —- 214
THE CLOSING BELL
REFERENCES —- 219
QUOTES —- 220
IT’S TIME TO JOIN FORCES —- 228
ABOUT THE AUTHOR —- 230