Shock the Topline: A Practical Guide for Growing Your Insurance Practice

Too often, books intended to help advance insurance professionals’ careers are thinly disguised general sales theory, containing programs and advice drawn from the latest pop psychology. Such books are rarely written by industry insiders, and while they loudly tell you what you need to do, they never tell you how.

It’s time to change this unhelpful dynamic. Written by award-winning retail insurance sales producer and senior industry leader David E. Estrada, Shock the Topline offers a practical, no-nonsense guide for insurance professionals who want to achieve success and generate opportunities for career advancement.

Estrada focuses on three core elements vital for success: gaining perspective within the industry, increasing topline revenues, and developing leadership skills. This book is not only for producers: Estrada’s penetrating insight and experience will help sales leaders, agency owners, and brokerage leaders better understand the challenges faced by their production teams.

A career in insurance can be both fulfilling and rewarding. Your efforts serve the needs of others and protect the social fabric—a noble goal if ever there were one. Let Estrada help you take your career to the next level and shock your topline.

David E. Estrada began his insurance career in 1984 with a position at the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. Since then, he has amassed over two decades of success as a retail employee benefits producer, working with both mid-market and large-market businesses.

Estrada consistently achieved top sales awards, including the Exceptional Producer Council Award, which placed him in the top 3 percent of producers within Willis's North American Retail Division.

Estrada's experience includes practice group and sales leadership roles for both regional and global brokers. He is the former President and CEO of USI Holdings in Northern California. He is the Founder and Managing Director of Rainmaker Advisory LLC, a Portland, Oregon-based consulting firm dedicated to improving sales and operational excellence in retail insurance broking.