In these times, agency principals and owners are working lean. It's difficult to find good help, and agency numbers force companies to work with the bare minimum of staff. It becomes a challenge to keep up with all areas within the agency, and more often than not it's easy for agency principals and owners to lose control of what's happening within the agency.
This is where meetings play an important part in keeping agency control under control. Meet with the Commercial and Personal lines managers. Meet with the accounting manager. Meet with the sales manager. Keep communication open, and let employees know where the agency stands on issues. A wealth of information will open up to agency principals and owners. The anxiety of possibly losing control will disappear, and a sense of peacefulness will fill the air. Sounds corny, but this is truly the way some agency principals and owners feel. The agency can be in control again.
MEETINGS WITH COMMERCIAL AND PERSONAL LINE MANAGERS
When meeting with Commercial lines and Personal lines managers, at minimum make sure to check the following areas:
Yearly Account Review: Discuss whether yearly account reviews are really taking place in both Commercial and Personal lines. Most agencies have a tendency only to complete the larger Commercial account yearly reviews and disregard the smaller Commercial and Personal lines accounts. Have department managers track renewals with a checklist designating the date the producer went out for the renewal review on the larger accounts or the date renewal letters went out for small Commercial and Personal accounts. Also, make sure to track the responses to renewal letters. You may need to change the renewal letter if there's little response.
Marketing Plan: Again, this is an area in which most agencies fall short. Establish a marketing plan for Commercial and Personal lines, and review and track the progress and success of the plan.
Expiration Lists: Review and track expirations for each month. Make sure the monthly renewals are processed, and have the Commercial and Personal lines managers report the status at each meeting.
Claims: Review claim status, making sure letters are mailed initially to the insured after claim information is taken and that a follow-up phone call is made within a week. The initial letter and follow-up phone call give the insured peace of mind, knowing that the agency is taking care of them. This contact is very important to the agency. After all, this is the main reason that the insured is doing business with the agency. Also, review the status of claims, company loss histories, and ratios.
Suspense: The suspense system is probably one of the most important procedural areas within the agency. Account reviews, accounts receivable, agent of record letters, applications, audits, binders, cancellations, claims, and endorsements all need to be suspensed on a daily basis. An agency's entire workflow stems from the suspense system. When you don't follow-up, the potential for errors and omissions claims increases. Check out the number of suspenses within each department. Make sure critical suspenses are being worked daily and the rest are done weekly.
Employees: One of the most important areas of the agency is its employees. Require department managers to discuss workload with each employee. Determine whether serious backlogs exist, and establish a plan. Be prepared for the unexpected. Some agencies have found had they had departmental meetings with the staff, they could've retained some of the employees they lost. The agency would've realized in advance that there was a problem and could've addressed it.
MEETING WITH THE ACCOUNTING MANAGER
Most agency principals meet with the accounting manager daily to learn what's going on with financials: How's the month coming along compared to last year? Will the agency make its goal for the month? How are the receivables? What are some of the major expenses?
Again, this area can be easily overlooked; however, without accounting, the agency would have no idea where it's going!
MEETING WITH THE SALES MANAGER
Sales and maintenance are the driving force of an agency. How are producer sales coming along? Are producers reaching agency goals? Is the agency maintaining what it already has? Is contact being made, even on existing customers? If you don't have them already, establish marketing plan goals and require the sales staff to keep written records. Agency principals can be kept up-to-date on what's happening with a producer through these reports.
When that anxiety of losing control appears, keep control of the agency under control! Meet with department managers of both Commercial and Personal lines. Discuss account reviews and employee status. Meet with the accounting manager. Keep up-to-date on what's happening with monthly agency financial goals. Finally, meet with the sales manager. Keep producers on their toes with written reports of sales calls, results, new business, and maintenance. Keep control of the agency under control!