Tag Archives: best practices

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Going Beyond Best Practices

For over 20 years the independent insurance agents of America (IIABA) and Reagan Consulting have been conducting a best practices study that benchmarks what makes some of the nation’s top independent agents and brokers successful. The Best Practices Study helps agency owners and managers understand how their business operations perform and measure up to the top performing firms included in the study.

best practices

Every three years, insurance companies, state association affiliates, and other industry organizations are asked to nominate organizations for each of the revenue categories they believe to be among the best, most professional agencies in the industry. These nominated agencies are then invited to participate.

By studying the leading insurance agencies and brokers in the country, the IIABA hopes to provide member agents with meaningful performance benchmarks. They also look at business strategies that could be adopted or adapted for use in improving agency performance, thus enhancing overall agency value. The best practices study has been a valuable tool and resource for agencies as they look to improve the overall value of their agencies.

Even as valuable as the best practices study has been, there are some problems with how today’s organization use the information.

As stated above, only agencies nominated by an insurance company or state association are included in the study. That may mean that some organizations that are testing and experimenting new ideas and ways of selling, servicing, and managing their agencies might get overlooked. In 2010, more than 1,200 independent agencies were recommended to take part in the study. However, only 224 agencies qualified to be included. To be chosen, the agency had to be among the top performing agencies in one of the six revenue categories.

Another problem with the best practices study is that it looks at historical information. In the past this has been fine, as the only way to determine success was to look at past practices and performance. However, changes are happening faster today than ever. Perhaps a better measure of success and help to other agencies is what is being done today to impact the organization’s future tomorrow.

Going beyond best practices helps agencies to not only look at the past, but also look toward the future and learn from other agencies as they test, experiment, fail, learn more, and get better at operating their agencies.

Consumers today are changing fast. Their expectations of an excellent customer experience are changing even more quickly. Successful agencies that are looking toward the future will be adapting and changing as fast or faster than the consumers they serve. So what does it mean to “go beyond best practices?”

Look to the past when appropriate

Past performance can be an indicator of success in the future. I am not suggesting that we throw out all historical information. I am suggesting we look at it differently.

Encourage innovation

Going beyond best practices is creating a culture in your agency that encourages experimentation and innovation. It is a culture that embraces fast failure, so you can learn what to do better next time.

Become a technology company

You might assume I would add this into any thoughts I might have. An agency CEO, who brought me into their organization to review their efficiency and effectiveness, said he felt his insurance organization needed to be a technology company that happens to sell insurance not an insurance agency that happens to use technology.

There is a world of difference in those two thoughts. Online access, content marketing, campaign management, marketing automation, mobility, mobile apps, and any other cool tool, gadget or gizmo that you can name are all part of what is expected by consumers today. Is your agency truly adding value to the insurance transaction? Or, are you simply one more agency that does a “me too” type of process?

Not being satisfied with the top 25%

Going beyond best practices means you are not satisfied with being included in the top 25% of agencies in the country. It means you strive to be in the top 1% and are an insurance organization other agencies look toward to the find out what’s working and what’s not.

This is truly an exciting time within the industry. Opportunities abound. So many agencies are complacent that an agency that goes beyond best practices can quickly pick off clients.

Are you willing to remain a traditional agency and read the best practices study to see where you fit?

I hope you are part of an agency that wants to go beyond best practices and create the standard that other organizations follow. I am here to help you innovate so you can serve the public as well tomorrow as you have in the past.

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Make 2014 Your Best Year Yet

The New Year often brings mixed emotions.

For some, you may be thinking “Thank God 2013 is over.” It may have been a tough year. It may not have gone as well as you wanted. You may feel like you were not able to meet the goals you established at the beginning of last year, assuming you even remember what those goals were.

For others, there is a feeling of anticipation for what 2014 will bring. New and exciting opportunities are on the horizon. But the question remains – can you tap into and take advantage of the opportunities that you see?

I hope you have had time over the last week to pause, rest, spend some time with family, and reflect about your accomplishments in 2013. And, as you well know, it’s also a great time to think about and plan for 2014. Here are a few of my thoughts and suggestions on how to approach 2014.

Goal Setting

Setting goals is deceptively difficult. But, there is help available. My friend Michael Hyatt is perhaps one of the best I know at setting, following, and tracking his personal goals. He has created three videos on goal setting that would be well worth your time viewing. And if you like what you see, consider subscribing to his five-day course.

Like many of you, I struggle with actually following through on goals I set. But, I continue to realize how important it is to not only establish goals, but to actually have a process in place to follow through on achieving those goals.

Beyond Best Practices

There is a lot of talk about best practices in the insurance industry. But, I’m beginning to realize that best practices look at historical success. Best practices are a measure of what has worked in the past, not necessarily a measure of what will work in the future. Thinking about going beyond best practices will help you and your agency consider and explore what you need to do today to be successful in 2014 and beyond. I will have more to say about this in the coming weeks.

Master Your Internet Presence

What is your plan in 2014 for increasing your online visibility? Certainly social platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and others should be a part of your strategy. Marketing and sales have changed more in the last five years than the last 30. How is your agency adapting to this new reality? How are you changing your approach to “good service” as a result of what you are learning about the connected consumer?

 

My hope is that 2014 will be your best year yet. I will continue to read, explore, and research the best tools, techniques, websites, services, and ideas that will help your insurance organization effectively adapt to this wonderful and ever changing world. Happy New Year!

What do you hope to achieve in 2014?

Reprinted from Steve Anderson’s TechTips.

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2008 Best Practices Study Released

Once every three years, the Big I asks its insurance company partners, state association affiliates, and other industry organizations to nominate those agencies they believe to be among the most efficient and high performing agencies in the industry for each of the study’s revenue categories. These agencies are asked to submit operational information in many areas. This information is carefully evaluated and ranked, culminating in the choice of the top 30 agencies in each revenue category. These agencies earn the status of “Best Practices Agency.”

Overall, this year’s study shows that agencies are doing much more with fewer people, and organic growth rate is much stronger than expected. When asked the reason for their success, the new crop of Best Practices Agencies said, overwhelmingly, regardless of agency size, “the quality of our people.” This quality can be defined as a strong work ethic, expert knowledge in agency products and services, as well as high ethical standards and dedication. These factors, coupled with advanced proficiency in agency technology, allowed the 2008 Best Practices Agencies to push productivity levels higher than ever.

Although positive revenue growth was difficult to achieve, Best Practices Agencies continued to invest in new production talent. The majority of agencies with revenues over $2.5 million hired at least 1.5 new producers during the last fiscal year, with the largest agencies hiring an average of 9.4 new producers.

The average starting salary across all revenue categories ranged from $52,000 to $95,000. The largest agencies, those with revenues over $25 million, tended to hire more experienced producers, while those in the lower revenue categories tended to hire producers with less sales and/or insurance experience.

The study and a listing of the 2008 Best Practices Agencies can be accessed at www.independentagent.com, www.reaganconsulting.com, or at bp.reaganconsulting.com.

Through this site, you can also view an HTML version of current and past executive updates, download a Best Practices comparison spreadsheet to compare your agency’s year-end results with the study’s results, and access other Best Practices studies, tools, and products and download order forms.