December 20, 2017
18 Resolutions that every Insurance Agent Should Make.
The beginning of the year or any time of the year is the right time to take a step back, take stock of where you are and make a decision to resolve to do better, to be better. In business and in life, we should all strive to get closer everyday to where we want to be.
The following are 18 resolutions that every insurance agent should consider making. These resolutions will improve your professional and personal success. They will help you to be happier and grow your agency and book of business.
1. Don’t criticize. This resolution is about being positive. In our everyday lives it is easy to be negative and criticize our family, friends, employees, coworkers, competitor and more. This is especially true when you are talking about a competitor, when trying to close a sale. If you are asked a question about your competition, you should just talk about how you are a good company to work with and avoid being negative towards them. Being positive will help you to be happier, improve your relationships and be more successful as an insurance agent..
2. Lose “weight”. This isn’t about trimming your waistline. It is about looking at the tasks and activities that you do everyday and discontinue those things that are not adding value or making you money. If you are doing activities that are not directly helping you to retain policyholders or write new policies, you should look at stopping. If you are doing things that are weighing you down, you should stop. This will give you more time to do things that will help you to grow your book and agency.
3. Do more of what works. Do you know what marketing and retentions programs work for your agency and book of business? Do you know what your cost of acquisition or retention programs cost you on a per client or per policy basis? Has your retention improved? As you run your agency it is important to measure your activities so that you are able to make data driven decisions about what works and what doesn’t.
4. Embrace social media. It is not necessary to be active in all social media outlets, you should the social media you’re comfortable with and provide helpful insurance information to your connections. Engaging your clients, prospects, friends, family and community at large in via social media will help you to increase your visibility and position you as an insurance expert.
5. Ask for help. Whether you are a new agent or one that has been running an agency for 20 years, it is okay to ask for help if you are stuck or unsure of what to do next. Asking for advice or help is not a sign of weakness, it is a recognition that sometimes you don’t know everything. Asking for help allow you to gain new perspectives and solutions to problems or situations you are looking to solve or improve.
6. Don’t be afraid to fail. Some insurance agents will attempt to minimize all risks or will not embrace a new marketing, sales or retention strategy without a ‘guarantee’ that it will work for their agency. This perspective will hinder or prevent agents from identifying new opportunities to achieve new levels of performance. One strategy may work for one agency and not another due to a variety of factors. Agents and agency owners should not be afraid to try new things as even not being successful with a strategy will help an agency get better.
7. Take a walk. Many agents and agency owners are so busy during their day that they neglect to take a break during their day. They will sit at their desk the entire day working on quotes, customer service and so much more. Taking a walk during the day will help clear your head and allow you to refocus your efforts. Taking a walk will give you an opportunity to burn a few calories and reflect on your day.
8. Recycle. Recycling cans and bottles is great for the environment but, in your agency you also have things you can recycle and make useful again. You should make it a regular practice to go after former clients to see if you can help them with their insurance. You should re-work the insurance leads that may not have purchased a policy during your initial contact. You can repost information you shared in social media.
9. Say thank you. When you show appreciation and have an attitude of gratitude, more people will want to work with you. This is true of your employees, business partners, co-workers, clients and even potential clients or prospects. You can say thank you in a number of ways, both formal and informal. Thank you notes (yes that you handwrite) or thank you emails are great but even just a sincere, “thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide you with insurance,” will be welcome by those you do business with. This will also be appreciated by your family, friends, co-workers, employees and everyone you come into contact with on a regular basis.
10. Remind yourself why you do what you do. For most people, they work (and run their agency) to support themselves and their family. In many cases, it is also to provide jobs and opportunities for their employees. Reminding yourself why you do what you do will keep you motivated to push harder and stay focused on growing your agency and book.
11. Expand your knowledge. Podcasts, audiobooks, webinars, magazines, blogs, online classes and more are great ways to expand your knowledge and keep your mind sharp. The prospects or leads that you work with all have different interests and your ability to connect with them will help you to deepen your relationship and write more business. Expanding your knowledge will also keep you up to date on what is changing in your environment so that you adjust your business practices to keep pace.
12. Quote more. The more quotes you provide to leads or prospects, the more business you will write. The easiest way to quote more is to purchase leads and calls. You are then able to better forecast or predict the number of sales you will make. Leaving to luck the number of quotes you give out everyday is not a successful strategy to achieve your daily, weekly or monthly goals.
13. Worry less. Worrying or stressing about the state of your agency is not a strategy that will help you to turn around its performance. If you are not happy with your agency performance or are not making money, you need to create an active plan with specific tactics. For example, if you are not writing enough new business, you may need to put together a plan to buy insurance leads that you can quote and write the business. Worrying about what is wrong with your agency is not a way to turn things round. You need to develop concrete plans and implement them.
14. Create a monthly plan. If you don’t have a monthly sales and retention plan, now is the perfect time to create one. Once you have a monthly plan you should break it down to a daily plan or goal. Having a plan will give you something to shoot for and achieve. The plan will also give you a reason to implement a ‘course’ correction if you find yourself not achieving your goals or plans. For example, if you find that you are not writing enough business from referrals, you can contact your lead company to buy additional leads, to supplement what you already have in place, so that you can still achieve your overall target.
15. Hold yourself and staff accountable. Once you have a plan, it is important to hold yourself and your staff accountable for achieving those plans or goals. If you have a producer that isn’t achieving their agreed upon target, you need to meet with them to put together a course correction plan and then make sure it is being implemented. You should also recognize or reward yourself and your team when they over achieve on their goals or plan.
16. Have fun. Smile and have fun during your work day. Laugh and make others laugh when you can. When you are smiling and fun to be around, others will want to work harder and do business with you. Remind yourself on a regular basis that you can be a serious insurance professional and have fun at the same time.
17. Organize your day for sales. Many insurance agents manage their day by taking care of customer issues, phones calls and appointments. They don’t plan their day around time to work leads and make sales calls. This is a critical missing part of most insurance agents day. To grow your agency, you need to spend a significant amount of time each day working with prospects, quoting and writing new business. If you don’t do this, you will get bogged down doing non-revenue growth activities.
18. Be charitable. Giving aid to those in need can come in many forms. If can be as simple as spending extra time with an elderly policyholder who needs help understanding changes to a policy. It can mean adjusting the work schedule of a producer with a sick child. It can mean working with a new producer to share you knowledge and expertise.
Resolving to do better doesn’t require a new year, a birthday or any specific life event. At anytime you can decide to resolve to improve the way you live and work. Making and keeping 18 resolutions is a bit much to do all at once. It is ok to work on 2 or 3 resolutions at a time before you take on others. The key is to get started.
Agent Ethan Kosmin Generated over $200,000 in premiums during first year in business thanks to Contact Concierge.
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