What if your agency finally worked
the way you always hoped it would?
Three years from now, your agency will either be living with the consequences
of today’s problems or benefiting from the solutions you chose to implement.
By Roger Sitkins
Take a moment and imagine your agency three years from now. Not three years from now if you continue doing exactly what you’re doing today. Not three years from now if you simply work harder, add more technology, hire another person, or attend another conference looking for answers. Instead, imagine what your agency could look like if you solved the problems that are frustrating you right now.
What if your producers spent most of their time selling instead of servicing? What if your service team had the capacity to deliver exceptional experiences without feeling overwhelmed every day? What if your leadership team spent more time discussing opportunities and less time solving recurring problems? What if growth became predictable instead of stressful?
For many agency leaders, that vision sounds appealing. It may even sound unrealistic. Yet after working with thousands of agencies over several decades, I can tell you that the difference between agencies that achieve those outcomes and those that continue to struggle is rarely talent, market conditions, or luck. More often than not, the difference is clarity.
Most agencies are not suffering from a lack of effort. They are suffering from a lack of focus.
The truth about being busy
Many agency leaders find themselves trapped in a cycle of constant activity. Everyone is busy. Calendars are full, meetings are frequent, and emails never stop. Yet despite all that effort, meaningful progress feels slower than it should.
The natural response is to add more. More technology, more processes, more reports, more initiatives, more meetings. Unfortunately, complexity rarely solves complexity. In many cases, it simply creates additional distractions that prevent people from focusing on the activities that matter most.
Three years from now, do you want your agency to be stronger or simply busier?
That question may be more important than any strategic decision you’ll make this year. Agencies that thrive over the next decade will not necessarily be the agencies doing the most things. They will be the agencies doing the right things consistently and exceptionally well. That begins by creating what we call the Best Version Possible™️, or BVP, of your agency.
Building the Best Version Possible
The goal of BVP is not simply to grow revenue. Revenue growth is a byproduct of doing the right things well. The objective is to create an organization where ideal clients are attracted to your expertise, producers focus on high-value activities, team members understand their roles, leadership operates with clarity, and profitability improves because resources are being invested where they generate the greatest return.
When agencies begin this journey, one of the first discoveries is often surprising. The problem is not usually outside the agency. The problem is frequently hidden inside the agency. Many agencies have accumulated clients, processes, responsibilities, and habits that no longer support their desired future. Over time, those issues become accepted as normal. The challenge is that normal often becomes the biggest obstacle to exceptional performance. If you want a different future, you must first redefine what is normal.
The client problem most agencies refuse to solve
One of the most common issues we encounter is a client base that lacks intentionality. Agency leaders understand that some clients create more value than others. Yet many continue allocating time, attention, and resources as though every account deserves identical treatment and the results are predictable. High-value clients often receive the same experience as low-value clients receive while service teams become overwhelmed attempting to meet everyone’s demands.
Three years from now, imagine serving a client base filled with organizations that appreciate your expertise, purchase multiple solutions, remain loyal, and actively introduce you to other ideal prospects. That outcome does not happen accidentally.
Within The Ultimate Growth Strategy, known as TUGS, agencies focus on rounding out, retaining, and replicating their top clients. Rather than chasing volume for the sake of volume, they intentionally pursue relationships that resemble their most profitable and rewarding clients.
When that happens, everything improves. Marketing becomes more effective, producers become more focused, service becomes more efficient, and profitability increases. Growth becomes easier because the agency is no longer trying to be everything to everyone.
The producer productivity trap
Another challenge facing many agencies is not a lack of producer talent. It is how producers spend their time. When we evaluate agency performance, we often discover that producers spend a surprising percentage of their week handling service issues, administrative tasks, internal communication, and activities that contribute little to growth. While some of those responsibilities are necessary, they should not consume the majority of a producer’s time.
The highest-performing agencies protect what we call the Green Zone. The Green Zone consists of activities directly related to sales, relationship management, opportunity development, and meaningful client conversations. These are the activities that generate growth, improve retention, and create long-term value.
Imagine your agency three years from now with producers spending 80% of their time operating within the Green Zone. Pipelines become healthier, relationships become stronger, and revenue becomes more predictable. Sales conversations become more frequent because producers finally have time to conduct them. The question is not whether your producers are working hard. The question is whether they are spending their time where it creates the greatest value.
Leadership determines the ceiling
Every agency eventually reaches a point where growth is no longer limited by effort. It becomes limited by leadership. Leaders often spend their days reacting to issues that should have been solved months or years ago. Team members wait for decisions, priorities are unclear, accountability is inconsistent. Everyone feels busy, yet progress remains frustratingly slow.
Three years from now, imagine leading an agency where expectations are clear, accountability is normal, and every team member understands how success is measured. That type of culture does not emerge by chance.
It requires leadership teams willing to have difficult conversations, establish standards, eliminate distractions, and align the organization around a common vision. The agencies experiencing the most sustainable growth today are not necessarily the smartest agencies. They are the agencies with the greatest clarity. Clarity simplifies decision-making, improves accountability, accelerates execution, and most important, clarity creates confidence.
The future is closer than you think
The next three years will pass whether you make changes or not. The question is what your agency will look like when those three years are over. Will your producers still be trapped in service work? Will your leadership team still be putting out fires? Will your agency still be chasing opportunities that don’t fit? Will growth continue to feel harder than it should?
Or will you have built the Best Version Possible of your agency? Will you have a client base filled with ideal relationships? Will your producers operate primarily in the Green Zone? Will TUGS guide your growth strategy? Will your team have the capacity, confidence, and focus necessary to create extraordinary results?
The future is not determined by what happens to your agency. It is determined by the decisions you make today. Three years from now, your agency will either be living with the consequences of today’s problems or benefiting from the solutions you chose to implement.
The choice is yours.
If this column caused you to recognize your agency in any of these challenges, take the next step. Visit www.sitkins.com/getmyscore and complete our Agency Performance Diagnostic. In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity about where your agency stands today and identify the opportunities that could dramatically improve your future. The agencies that become the Best Version Possible️ do not wait for change to happen. They decide to create it.
The author
Roger Sitkins is the CEO of Sitkins Group, Inc. After over 40 years he has truly become an icon in the insurance industry having trained and mentored thousands of insurance professionals.
Roger was inducted into the Michigan Insurance Hall of Fame in 2017 and in that same year also received the Dr. Henry C. Martin Award from Rough Notes magazine. Roger is among only six people to have the honor of receiving this prestigious award.
Recognized as the nation’s top insurance agency results coach and renowned leader for improvement, he believes that if you improve the life of one person, you improve the world. To learn more, visit www.sitkins.com.
