The 10 Dysfunctions of an Insurance Agency

10 The Dysfunctions OFAN InsuranceAgency The 10 Dysfunctions of an Insurance Agency sheds light on why most local insurance agencies fail to achieve long-term success. Over the course of three years, the Astonish training team worked with 229 local insurance agencies to assess and improve their businesses. This infographic illustrates the resulting negative trends of those onsite assessments and how agencies can combat those dysfunctions. 5 1 Resisting Change Problem: Too many local insurance agencies resist making the changes needed to thrive. They haven't chosen to adopt new tools, technologies or processes simply because Solution: Adapt to survive. The world has changed dramatically over the last 25 years. So has your customer. Change the way you do business in order to brand, market it's different than what they're used to. and communicate more effectively to Resist changing and run the risk of never growing. existing customers and prospects in this new competitive landscape. 2 Wrong People on the Bus Problem: Most agencies have Solution: Having the right retained the wrong people for too long due to loyalty, tenure or empathy. The wrong people don't produce the right results. They can hinder production, pollute people on the bus eliminates a tremendous amount of drama that distracts you from your business. To retain and grow the right employees, combine training and effective recruiting. the culture, and stunt the overal growth of the agency. 1 Companies reporting to have bad hires, have also cited these other negative affects. Negative impact on client relations Decreased Sales Negative affect on team morale 18% 10% 37% 3 Negative Attitudes Solution: If you believe you and Problem: Many local agencies across the country feel the stress and pressure of a down economy, increased competition and a shrinking book of business. This could easily breed a negative work environment filled with anger, frustration and desperation. your agency can meet your goals, you're right. If you believe you and your agency can't achieve your goals, you're right. Both belief and positive attitudes are a choice. 4 A Lack of Training Problem: Local agencies often don't spend enough time or money training agents to say and do everything possible to generate more income for the agency. Most CSRS Solution: Develop a continual improvement program for your CSRS that introduces sales talk tracks, objection killers, and stream-lined processes and work flows. When every team member is "selling" insurance, you'll start growing. have never been properly trained to cross-sell, handle objections, or even find a sales opportunity. 5 Poor Communication Problem: Agencies leave money on the table simply because they lack the necessary communication skills to find opportunities with existing customers or prospects. You don't often get a second chance to make a first impression... especially with the modern consumer. Solution: The ability to build rapport and solid relationships increases opportunities, closing ratios and overall retention. Effective communication is crucial when getting buy-in on the goals and direction of the agency. 6 Ineffective Leadership Problem: Many agency principles Solution: Get involved and create fruitful working relationships with your team. Be a manager and a mentor that clearly abdicate most responsibilities to others within their agency. Is it clear SOMEWHERE? who is ultimately responsible for the defines each team member's role and sales, marketing and overall growth of the agency? responsibilities. Create and adhere to a mission statement to breed a positive culture. Lost Earnings 2 According to the Saratoga Institute, a leading authority on turnover and retention, between 9-32% 9% and 32% of lost earnings are directly attributable to poor management practices. 7 Unclear Responsibilities Problem: A lack of defined roles and responsibilities reduces accountability and increases confusion within the agency. Lines become blurred, and employees quickly Solution: Every employee should know exactly what they are responsible for, who they are accountable to, and what the expectations are. These details ensure productive execution of agency goals. dictate what they are there to do instead. 8 A Reactionary "Service" Culture Problem: The local insurance industry has been too "service-centric" for too long, only reacting to opportunities as they come into the office. Solution: You can transition from a reactive "service" culture to a proactive sales culture by helping everyone in your agency understand that sales IS service. Their job is to sell more insurance to everyone that your agency comes in contact with to service their unmet needs. 9 Managing By Chance Problem: Most agencies don't have a process in place to help watch and measure incremental growth or concretely know how many new apps, round outs, renewals, or rewrites were written last month. Solution: Numbers don't lie. They tell you exactly how well you're doing, who's doing the best, how far you are from your goals, and what's needed to reach them. Identify your agency's key performance metrics, and dedicate someone to watch and measure them. 10 No CRM-Driven Sales Pipeline Problem: If you aren't using a marketing driven CRM tool daily to manage, market, and communicate to your prospects and customers, then you're in danger of leaking opportunities and existing business from your sales pipeline. Solution: Your CRM tool is the marketing department and sales pipeline. Agencies that use a marketing driven CRM tool daily, like Astonish's VPC, experience better results. You need a tool that manages opportunities, brands your agency well, and can automate marketing and retention messages. 3 By 2020, customers will manage 85% of their relationships without talking to a human. Non-Verbal Relationships Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured Nurtured Large Purchase Increase 47% leads. 85% Is your agency making the right moves to grow? Avoid the dysfunctions and increase your book of business with Astonish's industry-focused digital marketing system. Schedule a Virtual Presentation online today at astonish.com or call us at 800-595-2373. Sources: 1 National Business Research Institute (NBRI) 2 Nextera Research Study, "Employee Turnover Depresses Earnings in Four High Turnover Industries." 3 Gartner Research 4 The Annuitas Group, http://annuitas.com/resource/lead-nurturing/ S Astonish.com, "Onsite Survey of Local Insurance Agency Business Processes", 2013 @stonish Copyright 2013 Astonish If you liked this piece, feel free to share it!