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... x No Thanks Loading.. Developing A Marketing Plan In A Distressed Agency 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Ken Buehler 1 Verified Reviews - 5 of 5.0 1 2 3 4 5 It is an uphill battle for a distressed agency to get back on track and sustain any level of growth if it fails to examine what caused the distress in the first place. With perspective on the problem and with planning, however, the agency can become a viable force in its marketing area once again. The problem(s ) that caused the agency to get in trouble in the first place normally fall in one or more of the following areas: Receivables Debt service Lack of planning Poor retention of business Poor use of automation Loss of markets Lack of new business development Poor agency acquisition Once the problems are identified, you can start the problem-resolution process and then begin to develop an agency plan. To develop a marketing plan, examine two broad areas in the agency: A. Identify Strengths Resources a. Markets b. Competitive pricing c. Demographics d. Staffing e. Expertise f. Use of automation g. Internal processing B. Identify Weaknesses Resources a. Markets b. Competitive pricing c. Demographics d. Staffing e. Expertise f. Use of automation g. Internal processing On the positive side, is there any combination of resources that can be identified and used at little or no expense? A distressed agency generally does not have the financial resources to devote to marketing and would not want to borrow the money to do it. But all agencies have some market strength ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Developing A Personnel Plan 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Carol Hammes This content has not been rated yet. DEVELOPING A PERSONNEL PLAN by Carol Hammes Many insurance agency managers will be in a position to hire at least one new employee during the next year. For firms located in certain marketing areas, there's a large pool of people with insurance experience from which to draw because company layoffs and agency belt-tightening have put a lot of people on the street during the last several years. In other parts of the country, however, an ad in the newspaper might bring in only one or two candidates. Either situation presents a challenge to the person in the agency responsible for developing a staff of dedicated team players. Even if there is an ample group of available prospects from which to choose it is still remarkably easy to hire the wrong person. Making a poor hiring decision can be a very expensive mistake. Depending upon the starting salary level and the length of time that it takes to rectify the situation, the cost to the agency in direct expenses and lost opportunities can run from $5 ,000 to $100,000 in direct compensation, and even more if there was also a hefty fee paid to a recruiter. And there's no way of accurately measuring the financial or public relations impact that this person might have had on the levels of productivity of the other employees or on the image of the agency with its customers and companies. Although the owners of smaller firms will feel the pinch the most since the money has to come ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Develop a Telephone Prospecting System for Amazing Results 2/20/2018 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Kris Woods This content has not been rated yet. After an automated sales center is up and running, it's up to producers to act on the qualified leads that the sales center coordinator, assistant, and support staff have worked on. Prospecting is an old term; replace it with "business development." Business development requires a positive attitude, confidence, and discipline. The business development mind-set can be picked up by anyone who has a desire to step to the front line and just do what must be done. Commit to a business development plan of action, then organize and follow through. For example, track the logical order of the following scenario: A producer, who has been removed from the insurance business for 3.5 years, is hired. This person is not given a block of business to service and is placed on draw against commission. The producer should realize that he/she must call about 100 small-to medium-sized prospects a week for the first two years. The plan is simple: See five to eight new prospects a week to turn enough x-dates to quote enough business to write enough accounts to pay the draw and earn bonuses. The number of weekly prospects is determined by the ratio of x-dates to quotes-to-closes. In this scenario, assume the new product is located in a metropolitan area where the secretary screen is a key factor and prospects receive five to seven calls from insurance brokers a week. The producer must make 100 qualified dials to ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. The Business Development Plan - Part 1 Of 4 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor This content has not been rated yet. This four-part article offers a step-by-step, comprehensive plan for growing your agency's business. INTRODUCTION The mission statement gives your agency its overall focus and direction. The business development plan determines what goals you need to meet in the coming year to attain the mission. Do not overcomplicate the process- keep it as simple as possible. The plan should address the following: Growth in terms of acquiring new and retaining old customers Profit from every product or service Productivity and cost effectiveness Personnel planning and development Don't look at any of these goals in isolation; keep their interrelationship in mind. For example, let's say that the producers plan to increase new business 20% . This might indeed gain them more commission, but the support team might not be ready to process the increase. If service begins to lag as a result of increased work, processing errors might increase, and both old and new customers might become so irritated that they leave your agency. Growth comes from two areas: An increase in new accounts and a decrease in lost accounts. Growth goals are usually stated in terms of commission income — which is fine — but the volatility of insurance pricing also is an important influence. Thus, growth should be stated in terms of accounts and commission income. If an agency develops growth goals at all, they usually correlate to a marketing plan that focuses on what producers are expected to attain in terms of new business. The ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Developing A Business Continuation Plan 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Douglas Henderson This content has not been rated yet. DEVELOPING A BUSINESS CONTINUATION PLAN by Douglas Henderson Offer your expertise to help keep your clients in business when disaster strikes. More and more companies are thinking about creating a business continuation plan — and can benefit from the advice of their insurance agent. Here are some guidelines on developing business continuation plans for your clients (and, of course, for your agency): THE BENEFITS The goals of a business continuation plan including increase the probability of a firm's survival after a disaster, mitigating damages, and restoring business operations more rapidly. Some auditors and insurance companies encourage firms to develop a continuation plan. Some businesses are required by law to have plans; others prepare plans in order to reduce their legal exposure. Larger businesses might require their critical suppliers to develop plans. Once they have implemented their plan, every business should try to negotiate insurance premium discounts. THE LEVEL OF EXPERTISE Professional advice will almost always result in a superior final product. The larger and more complex the business, the greater its need for professional services. Companies with a large data center, complex manufacturing equipment, or hazardous materials should definitely bring in a professional consultant. Although a small business in a service industry might not need a professional to create an effective plan, it should hire one to review it. These reviews are inexpensive and can easily correct serious flaws before disaster strikes. THE PLAN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS The process involves these steps: Assemble all information ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. The Business Development Plan - Part 2 Of 4 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , David Stambaugh This content has not been rated yet. This four-part article offers a step-by-step, comprehensive plan for growing your agency's business. Performance Ratios Business development planning goes beyond production to include every measure of performance important to a successful agency. Develop this information should be developed and plan to improve performance in every area. Profitability Ratios Your capital ratios, profitability ratios, and margins for creditors should be tracked by accounting and reported to management quarterly. These ratios reflect the performance of the agency in terms of efficient, cost-effective operations. Refer to the agency financial analysis in Part 4 of this series to determine how to measure each performance ratio. Determine where you are currently and use these measures to track overall performance. If any area falls below your expectations, define acceptable performance. From this point on, everything you do should relate, directly or indirectly, to improving performance in these areas. If it does not, get rid of it, because it isn't necessary. This type of thinking will keep you from buying a computer system because it's the "thing to do." If the system does not improve profitability, don't buy it. Period. Liquidity Ratios Receivables ratios and collection ratios are the responsibility of producers, CSRs, and accounting. When the policy is sold, the producer or CSR must make it clear to the insured that coverage does not exist if consideration (payment) is not rendered. When and how payment is to be made ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Developing Successful Producers 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Carol Hammes This content has not been rated yet. DEVELOPING SUCCESSFUL PRODUCERS by Carol Hammes The most serious challenge facing the Independent Agency System today is not the soft Commercial market or the introduction of more alternative distribution methods. Much worse for the long-term prognosis is the fact that we're facing a serious shortage of bright new faces in the industry. Without a steady stream of younger people to staff service positions and produce business, there can be no perpetuation plan. The average age of insurance agency principals around the country is 49.7 years old. And in many agencies, the average age of the employee group is close to 40. The industry needs new blood-and needs it soon. Agency principals might be willing to invest once in an expensive new producer. But experience has shown that it might take as many as four or five attempts before you actually get a producer who is successful and possibly a candidate for agency ownership. It can be very expensive to guarantee a $80,000 annual salary plus benefits to a series of people who end up with a book of only $300,000 in commissions after five years. Even if the owners are willing to put up with such lackluster performance, they can't count on these people to maintain any kind of a viable perpetuation plan effectively. The key to developing successful producers is to make the recruitment, training, and performance-monitoring functions of the sales-management process a top priority for the entire organization. Agency principals need to understand that what worked ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Develop A Strategy For New Business 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Jack Fries This content has not been rated yet. Developing new business is an integral part of every insurance agent's regimen. There are endless ways to go about looking for new business. Jack Fries explains why successful agents must know how to focus their efforts to engage in the most efficient methods possible. Most businesses derive 80% of their revenues from the top 20% of the customers (The Pareto Principle) . The key is to expand on the relationships already formed with customers and tap into the relationships that have been made with their insurance companies to generate new business. Successful producers know that having already established working relationships with these people and given both parties the same target market, they're in a position to tap their brains for new ideas: Do they have a need for any additional coverages or services? Are they aware of any other businesses that need similar products and services? Would they be able to refer any individuals or businesses that would help penetrate new target markets? What sort of additional products and services would be of interest to them and their business? One-person agencies and megabrokerages alike must approach developing new business as a team effort. Anyone that can help them engage in new business becomes part the team: Customers, insurance companies, partners, friends, and everyone else that can introduce new ways to market the agency. Successful agents reward individuals and other businesses that help them to penetrate new target markets and bring in additional customers. They create arrangements that ...

... advances in productivity (revenue per employee) combined with department and/or agency profitability. If the individual manages a larger book of business (i.e., service employees) or manages their function for a larger client base (i.e. administrative employees) while their department and/or the agency maintains appropriate profit levels, raises are automatic and can actually be tracked by the employees, themselves. If an individual is more productive and if the department and/or the agency is profitable, that individual shares in this success through salary adjustments corresponding to the productivity increase. The "Merit Raise" system in which we have been raised is often less concerned with merit than with management's perception of an employee, combined with the frank realities of budgetary limitations. A variety of rating systems have been developed to establish some form of objective criteria under which the merit system can operate. Unfortunately, those very numerical rating systems must be based on a manager's estimates of employee performance. Because agency growth (overall productivity) and profit predetermine the amount available for raises, the ICP is firmly based in budgets. A specified percentage of revenue is predetermined to be the total staff compensation level. Employees earn raises by virtue of their productivity gains within the budgetary limits. The ICP also avoids the subjectivity of traditional merit raise programs. Evaluations become tools for employee development, rather than the rationale for the level of raise being given. Managers can't forsake their duty to evaluate employee performance. The manager's job is to identify an employee's weaknesses and correct them through a development plan and to help employees further develop ...