Fixing Follow-up Failure

The biggest reason agents don’t write more business is because they don’t follow up. If agencies fixed this one thing, they would automatically increase the number of new clients.

Here is how most agencies operate: they spend the time, effort, and money to create a process that identifies potential prospects and educates them on how the agency can effectively handle their insurance. Once the prospect becomes interested, a producer (or, for smaller accounts, an inside salesperson) becomes involved and begins to work with that prospect.

What happens to all the other prospects who aren’t interested right now? They fall through the cracks.

Very few agencies have an organized process for staying in touch with prospects who are not interested in buying right now. That’s a shame, because those prospects will purchase an insurance product at some point in the future. They will become interested in what you have to offer, and may buy it from you, but only if they remember you when they are ready to buy.

I have been talking about this problem since 1991 when I started to build a book of new business from scratch in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Part of my success was due to the fact that I created a follow-up process that worked. I created a system that printed a letter, which I signed and sent to every prospect I wanted to do business with. It was amazing to see how many appointments I obtained simply by following up.

Of course, technology has changed a lot since the early 90s. Systems now exist that can help you automate the process of staying in touch. Creating a system is critical because your producers can’t do this by themselves. The few agencies that are creating these kinds of systems are experiencing revenue growth—confirming that the system works, even during difficult economic times.

Your agency management system should be the platform that you use to manage this process. I have yet to find a vendor who really understands how critical a follow-up system is to agency success. Vendors, if you want to help your agency clients continue to be successful, give them the tools they need to bring in more clients.

If we are going to take back personal lines, following up will be critical. Similarly, if agencies want to increase their small commercial book, creating a follow-up process will be critical. If you want to grow, fixing follow-up failure is perhaps the most important improvement you can make.

What do you think?