Passion, plus innovative thinking
It is important to resist the siren call of “assistants” and “
outsourcing” currently tempting you to give up on your best
secret weapon for success—great people of your very own … .
By Cheryl Koch, CPCU, ARM, AAI, ACSR, AFIS, and Mary Belka, CPCU, ARM, ARe, RPLU, CIC
We have recently witnessed several reminders of the power of imagination and hard work when it comes to identifying why some agencies consistently win, regardless of external circumstances. We are heartened by spending time helping real account managers who make all the difference for their clients, producers, and agencies. We also celebrate those agency owners we work with who understand how important it is to continue to recruit and develop talent to strengthen our industry and find creative ways to grow.
We will share below two examples of talented individuals in different agency roles, finding ways to improve and win, as food for thought for those of us who may need a bit of inspiration. It is important to resist the siren call of “assistants” and “outsourcing” currently tempting you to give up on your best secret weapon for success—great people of your very own, with the right support, training, and tools, who can build your agency and help you compete and handle clients’ evolving needs!
Servant’s heart—from ground zero to risk management in two years
We have often recommended recruiting potential account managers from existing service-related positions, especially when you’ve seen them in action providing great service to clients, including you. This essential account manager characteristic cannot be overstated.
Our first example is just such an individual, who earned a two-year culinary arts degree and was working in a country club a little over two years ago, where an agency owner was a member. Her personality, demeanor, and attention to the needs of the members set her apart. She possessed a true “servant’s heart”—the critical ingredient among many to becoming an accomplished account manager.
The agency owner recognized her potential as he was revamping the agency operations and staff, and she was hired as a personal lines (PL) account manager trainee. He committed to the process and significant investment of “growing his own” to reach his agency goals.
The new account manager was mentored from scratch, becoming licensed, attending an account manager school, and earning a five-part national designation within six months of hire. During that time, she combined her formal insurance education with practical on-the-job training including our CaughtUP™ workflow system; the agency’s management system and ancillary software; comparative rating and requisite carrier rating systems; formal, written procedures; and auditing for compliance. Over the past six months, she has completed three out of four parts of one PL designation and three out of six parts of another. She is on target to complete both by the end of first quarter 2025.
She is responsible for handling a $450,000 revenue book of business. All expirations are reviewed, beginning 120 days out, during a one-hour weekly meeting with the dedicated PL producer and operations manager. Few accounts are remarketed, even though the agency is located in what some might consider a “difficult” state to place business. Effective client communication about any renewal challenges is handled via PL risk management reviews with clients far in advance of receiving policies. All policies and endorsements are retrieved by the receptionist; then they are checked and attached in the management system client file by the account manager. There is no backlog on her desk, and the retention goal of 94% has recently been exceeded—a critical goal over the past two years, as the book was restructured and rounded for profitability.
This account manager became an effective “processor” as she was learning the ropes and has evolved toward becoming a risk manager by embracing the rigorous training goals and metrics the agency has set. She seemed to start at ground zero, but it turns out that finding a candidate with a true servant’s heart provides a head start versus simply making a hire to fill a seat.
Fortunately, this is a characteristic that personality testing will identify. She said recently that she was always the one making sure things were safe in her past workplace—a busy kitchen. Risk management was always part of her genetic makeup; she just didn’t know it!
Bonus: The PL producer with whom she works is on track to write in excess of $100,000 new business commission this year and came very close last year. He is able to do this because he has no involvement in the day-to-day servicing of accounts. The producer pre-qualifies all new business prospects to be certain they fit agency parameters and doesn’t write accounts generating less than $1,000 in commission. He handles the entire new business process through binding, then introduces and successfully hands off new clients to the account manager.
Clients have no problem with this transference, as it has been carefully choreographed to create confidence for the client in the account manager. The producer and account manager stay in their respective lanes and make a great team!
Reimagining the agency as a business
Our second example is an agency owner we’ve known and worked with over several years who has recently made the conscious decision to run his agency like a business. It may sound obvious, but it is not often done. Many agencies lack structure and/or strategy and find it hard to win or even keep score.
A real strategy and accompanying goals are changing the agency landscape. This agency owner has woven an agency fabric composed of a staff of seasoned employees, coupled with new recruits from outside our industry being trained from scratch, including both account managers and producers.
For many, this would seem too great of a lift, but where many see challenges, he sees only opportunity. While average agency owners are giving up because they “can’t find” account managers and are outsourcing their most important work to others, he has made the decision to double down on investing in talent for now and into the future, in order to become even more competitive—and profitable.
His research and experience show that clients want and deserve more, and he is determined to provide it. As average agencies provide fewer professional services, outsourcing critical functions they deem “processing,” he is finding ways to provide more of the service components clients want, thereby enhancing client relationships and resulting in higher retention and profitable growth.
The agency has revamped its structure, increased its goals, and developed an impressive strategy with many creative elements designed for growth in previously untapped markets. It seeks imaginative collaborations to create new market spaces.
This agency owner focuses on recruiting ambitious, young individuals who might not otherwise have an opportunity to join our industry. He continually seeks input and ideas from many resources to learn and to continually improve his organization.
His management team focuses on intense mentoring and development of staff, and they are all accountable to one another for achieving their goals. They are studying their techstack components more deeply to maximize and leverage its power to improve operations.
The results are impressive. They are growing, writing more revenues per account, and retaining their accounts without excessive remarketing. They are focusing on results and finding new avenues for collaboration and writing new business. Like the businesses they’ve studied in order to run their own, they are making things happen, rather than watching things happen, and finding innovative ways to win.
Winners take all
We’re always looking for winners to determine why they win and to attempt to emulate components of their success to improve our own performance. There is always a thread of passion connecting all winners in sports—or industries. Sports are often a metaphor for life, and a current team theme we’re hearing frequently is the need for “complimentary” play in order for teams to win—the offense, defense, as well as special teams participants all need to show up. All these things matter more today, not less.
There needs to be a gameplan and players need to learn appropriate skills and practice. Everyone needs to execute the plan and to be accountable. We need to keep score. Everyone must prepare yet remain flexible in case the unexpected occurs.
It’s essentially the same for an insurance agency. In order to win, structure, strategy, and coaching matter. Having the right people in every position is pretty much everything. Understanding what clients really want and delivering it to them with passion and care is the mystery we’re always trying to solve.
One thing that hasn’t changed: As with sports, insurance takes a lot of passion to become truly successful and is not for the faint of heart!
The authors
Cheryl Koch is the owner of Agency Management Resource Group, a California firm providing training, education and consulting to producers, account managers and owners of independent agencies. She has a BA in Economics from UCLA and an MBA from Sacramento State University. She has also earned several insurance professional designations: CPCU, CIC, ARM, AAI, AAI-M, API, AIS, AAM, AIM, ARP, AINS, ACSR, AFIS, and MLIS.
Mary M. Belka is owner and CEO of Eisenhart Consulting Group, Inc., providing management and operations consulting to the insurance industry. She also is an endorsed agency E&O auditor for Swiss Re/Westport. A graduate of the University of Nebraska, Mary holds the CPCU, ARM, ARe, RPLU, CIC, and CPIW designations.
