August 5, 2025 - A lot has changed with insurance marketing since Georgia-based agent Peyton Pettus entered the agency world 30 years ago — but one thing has stayed consistent: the need to adapt.
Peyton has seen it all, from the days of cold calls and direct mail to today’s competitive digital landscape.
Now, he’s one of the nation’s Top-10 agents and leveraging tools like Melon Max live transfer calls and prioritizing smart hiring to keep his agency ahead of the curve. We caught up with Peyton to hear more about how he’s opened three insurance agencies with 35 team members, what’s changed with his approach to digital marketing, and how other agents can learn his proven agency growth strategies through his upcoming Melon University workshop!
Melon Local: What was your initial approach to growing your agency?
Peyton Pettus: My marketing back in the day was very organic, starting out. There was no such thing as internet leads. A lot of direct mail and a lot of organic type of marketing, and shaking as many hands as possible. Then, I started hiring really good people, so in a way, I realized the power in marketing through my team members. Now, it’s a mixture of internet leads and live transfers and networking through some of our peer networking profiles like mortgage companies, lenders, bankers and having the right team in place.
Melon Local: How has your partnership with Melon Local been?
Peyton Pettus: The thing about Georgia is it’s an extremely volatile insurance climate. It’s crazy competitive, it’s like a roller coaster. I just got to a point where I needed to leverage a couple of different mediums and jump back in, and then I heard a couple of agents have success with Melon Max. So, I talked to Melon Local and thought that might be a good fit — and it has been. In fact, we’ve had really good success right out of the gate.
Melon Local: How would you describe the customer experience with Melon Local?
Peyton Pettus: You know, there are a lot of Melon Local users in the Georgia area who are my peers. I’ve never had somebody say Melon Local is terrible. They treat you right. They’ve been really good and responsive, and that’s all you want to hear, especially right out of the gate with a new partnership.
Melon Local: How do you keep yourself competitive?
Peyton Pettus: I don’t get hung up on price a lot. Instead, we have value-based conversations at my agency. When it comes to investing in my team, I don’t want really high-end sales producers spending 80 percent of their time prospecting for new business and following up, trying to find new business. I’m at a point in my career where I can invest in them so that they’re spending 20 percent of their time prospecting and 80 percent of the time on the phone actively quoting and selling our value, which our value is educating people on the products. You can think of my team as investment advisors who can assist you with world-class financial planning and retirement planning.
Melon Local: Do you have any advice on how agents—new and experienced—can better market themselves?
Peyton Pettus: If I could take a step back, I would have taken a mortgage out on my house had I known the power of hiring people out of the gate, compensating them correctly and marketing at a much higher level, instead of just kind of throwing darts at the wall. If I could start over, I’d say invest heavily in marketing. I would have also tracked my marketing better, whether it was digital or not. I also recommend establishing a recognition culture in your office in which your team is motivated with incentives, which can be a game-changer.
Melon Local: What can agents who want to see similar levels of growth expect to learn from your upcoming Melon University Workshop?
Peyton Pettus: You’ll hear directly from an entrepreneur who’s failed more times than he’s succeeded — and that’s exactly why I have something valuable to share. I’ll walk you through the mindset that’s helped me build a recognition-driven culture that’s not only sustainable but also measurable and worth investing in. We’ll dig into the systems and strategies I’ve developed to overcome real obstacles in real time. The goal is simple: give you repeatable methods you can implement in your agency right away to drive growth, build team motivation and turn marketing into momentum.
Ready to take your agency growth to the next level? Whether you’re a seasoned agency owner or an aspiring agent, you won’t want to miss this one! RSVP for Peyton’s workshop today!