In my previous article, I discussed three fears that insurance agencies must overcome in order to avoid going out of business. Here are two more that will be key to our industry's success going forward.

Be honest, do you experience any of these fears? If so how are you responding?

PRODUCER FEAR

We see agencies that are actually afraid of their producers; or at least that’s how it appears. Why else would they not establish meaningful production goals, make the producers accountable for hitting those goals, and get rid of those producers who are unable or unwilling to do the job they were hired to do? Why else would they not tie their compensation to the new business results they hire people to produce, rather than rewarding them to sit on a book of business?

High cost of this fear – When agency owners don’t hold producers as accountable to their job (always producing new business) as they do others on the team, the cost is devastating. The agency has no predictable growth, there is a loss of team confidence, the agency’s reputation suffers, and profit margins disappear (cost to service continues to go up even if revenue isn’t growing).

Overcome the fear – Reward the behaviors that drive the results you need. For a producer, this means paying them generously for new business (even more than what the industry typically pays), reasonably for renewal business (way less than what the industry typically pays), and over-the-top for over-the-top levels of new production. In the end, this is a model that is way more rewarding for your top producers.

FEAR OF DELIVERING RESULTS

We see agencies that are so afraid of their ability to deliver results that instead of charging clients for new services/resources, they continue to pile on new services “for free.” If the agency knew they could use that new service/resource to bring more value to their clients, they wouldn’t be afraid of asking to be paid more for doing so.

High cost of this fear – Obviously, giving stuff away for free results in a reduced profit margin. However, worse than that is the opportunity cost of not strengthening the relationship by bringing, through effective solution implementation, increasingly more value and results to the relationship. Your clients will find improved results somewhere; if it isn’t with you, it will be with your competition.

Overcome the fear – Every new solution/resource is meant to address a specific need.

Start by clearly identifying what that need looks like when it is present in the business of a prospect or client.
Establish the questions you will ask to help the prospect/client see that they are struggling as a result of that need.
Establish a plan of implementation for your new solution/resource to ensure the need is addressed successfully and improved results are delivered.

I get the fears

I totally get how truly terrifying these fears are. I understand how difficult it is to bring this kind of change to your agency. But, you have no choice. If you don’t face the fears, if you don’t bring the change, you are on a dead-end path.

Change is beyond difficult and we typically don’t change until our current reality becomes scarier and more difficult than the change itself. If you haven’t been honest with yourself yet, I will tell you that you have likely reached that tipping point.

Now is the time to face your fears and bring healthy change to your agency.

Instant Insights /

2 more fears that insurance agencies must overcome ... or else

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