Halftime

By Deryck Richardson

One of my biggest secrets is to listen and then respond.  Once you learn to control your reactions and outburst, using this technique, you end up getting pretty good at listening in general.  When someone, who is good at what they do, says something impactful, listen and ponder. 
 
Before I started my own business, I had a sales manager named Al.  Al, had this concept to write a book called, “It’s Always Halftime.”  The premise of the book is to talk about analyzing every segment of every decision or situation, as if it were halftime.  At halftime, every good coach, analyzes what happened in the first half, makes adjustments, and comes out with a plan to win the game.  If the game, we are talking about, is life, then living as if it’s always halftime, is brilliant.  Think about it:  

If this year has been a bad year, then treat right now as halftime.  Look back at the goods and the bads.  Where could you have changed things up?  Where are the flaws in your plan? Now what will you do to make sure this year is better than last?  What areas do you need to improve on?  What are the steps you must take to make sure your plan works? 
 
If this month has been a bad month, then treat right now as halftime.  Look back at the goods and the bads.  Where could you have changed things up?  Where are the flaws in your plan? Now what will you do to make sure this month is better than last?  What areas do you need to improve on?  What are the steps you must take to make sure your plan works?

If this week has been a bad week, then treat right now as halftime.  Look back at the goods and the bads.  Where could you have changed things up?  Where are the flaws in your plan? Now what will you do to make sure this week is better than last?  What areas do you need to improve on?  What are the steps you must take to make sure your plan works?

If this day has been a bad day, then treat right now as halftime.  Look back at the goods and the bads.  Where could you have changed things up?  Where are the flaws in your plan? Now what will you do to make sure this day is better than last?  What areas do you need to improve on?  What are the steps you must take to make sure your plan works?

If this phone call..., if this relationship..., if this last 10 seconds..., if this business..., if this meal..., if this etc, etc, etc!

You must always make sure you are treating each moment as if it’s halftime.  Live as if it’s always halftime.  I loved the lesson when Al broke this down, in fact I loved it so much, I’m going to write about it.  Each decision is so much more than a split reaction.  Every decision that we make is important, because the pattern in our decision making shapes who we are.  Just as our decision, on what to eat, shapes our physic, the decisions on who we surround ourselves with, shapes us as well.  I’m a firm believer that some people are better at making decisions than others, but just like with anything, you get better the more you do something.  So if you struggle to make decisions, practice.  Play games that will help you improve that skill set.  Go play chess!  However you sharpen this skill, make sure you are acting as if it’s always halftime.  

Take this advice and utilize it appropriately.  We don’t want to be slow to act because we are going back and forth on contemplating if the decision is good or not.  The point is to analyze your next decision based on the experience of your prior “half.”  We must be sharp and crisp.  We can improve our decision making skills, by actively and cognitively thinking about how to get better at making decisions in general.

I always take my business for example.  We opened our office doors in August of 2016 as an insurance agency.  We had some start up funds and we decided to invest in a cool office space that would attract employees.  We knocked down walls, painted the office bright and vibrant colors, placed flat screen TV’s throughout the office, ping pong table, foosball table, an area with weights and workout equipment, and more.  We even bought desks that went up and down with the push of a button, so the insurance agents could sit or stand while they work.  

We hired several agents, but we couldn’t quite get going in terms of making steady income.  We were bleeding through our start up funds, and it hadn’t even been 6 months yet.  We had to pretend it was half time.  Figure out what we did right and what we did wrong.  We needed major adjustments and we needed to of made those adjustments months ago.  It seemed to be a little late and we were looking at throwing in the towel and saying, “Welp!  We are out of business, but it was fun!”

I knew I had experienced sales reps, who weren’t licensed to sell insurance, but could sell a product if we could create one.  Utilizing my deep network of those who have worked for me, or with me, in the past, I was able to hire some amazing sales professionals.  We sold the leads that we had purchased for our insurance agency, and marketed them as “Aged” or “Vintage” leads.  We knew we could use the sponge, squeeze some water out, sell the sponge again, and the next insurance agent could potentially still squeeze some water out.  It was a win win for our agency.  
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The leads that we needed desperately to keep our agents writing policies, would be the same leads that we would re-sell for profit.  A big itemized expense for our agency, was also the product cost for a new business, that I didn’t have to have licensed agents working for.  Not that I don’t love licensed agents, but there is a time hurdle of studying and obtaining the license.  We didn’t have that much time to wait.

Richardson Marketing Group, now buys leads from vendors, specifically to re-sell to insurance agents and we work in multiple verticals.  We've gone from paying employees via Paypal, to offering W2, benefits (including life insurance, 401k and more.  We are a back to back "Best Places to Work" top 3 finisher including the #1 spot in 2019.  Richardson Marketing Group is now the 6th fastest growing company in the Columbus, Ohio area and we do several million dollars per year in revenue.  We’ve serviced over 5000 insurance agents.  That slight adjustment, the willingness to put a plan together and hold ourselves accountable to working that plan, saved the business for us. 

Our insurance agency is now striving as well.  When you have multiple revenue generating businesses, it always helps.  One business that literally was formed overnight, because we needed to make a halftime adjustment, really has become the more profitable of the two businesses that operate out of our office space.  There is an answer, you just have to find it!  You have to think of how you can solve the issue, not harp on the fact that there is an issue.

(The above is an excerpt from Deryck's book. Go Play: The Ultimate Road Map to Winning the Game of Life which can be found here).