Rehumanizing the Strategic Plan Process It’s that time of year. Holiday decorations are going up and presents are being purchased. Business budgets and plans are being made for the new year. 2020! Let’s look at it as if were 20/20 – as in perfect vision. What does the future hold for your agency? Many of… Continue Reading
Don’t take a hands-off approach to year end planning As we head into the fourth quarter and year-end, many agencies will be preparing to work with their CPAs to produce year-end financial statements and tax returns. This time of year is usually filled with more dread than excitement as agency owners face up to the… Continue Reading
How your clients are disappearing before your eyes! One of the most talked about topics we come across is client retention. Agencies put so much effort into obtaining a new client and yet keeping them over the years is even harder. In fact, for some it’s absolute mystery. Because of the effort involved with tracking,… Continue Reading
Earlier this year, we were contacted by an agency owner who had heard us on a podcast. Little did we know how much that initial phone call would come to mean. There was something very special about this owner and we were intrigued to learn more. The organic growth rates his agency was consistently achieving… Continue Reading
Trajectory:The Forgotten Key Performance Indicator Imagine being a passenger on a flight to the moon… The command center is busy collecting and monitoring hundreds of dials, gauges and metrics. The pilots are reviewing the results to ensure all systems are “go.” Every last detail is scrutinized for potential dangers. As a passenger, we’re really unaware… Continue Reading
Would you recognize your next producers if you saw them? It may be one of the most talked about, stressed over and confusing topics in the world of independent insurance agencies: Hiring new producers. Progressive agencies can’t grow with out them but they seem to be elusive as a mythical creature. It is an issue… Continue Reading
Succession Plans are typically for a change in business ownership. As well as they should be – you want the business to continue on its path of success as you plan for succession. (Ah, see what I did there? Stay with me, there’s more). All too often we’re seeing the transfer of a business –… Continue Reading
Let me not keep you waiting for the punch line: “Manage Processes, LEAD People”. Do you know any producers who actually want to be managed? Most of the producers I know, especially the Rain Makers, don’t like being managed, in fact, they hate it. Now don’t get the wrong idea, I’m surely not advocating to… Continue Reading
“It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get up.” Vince Lombardi Face it: Life is tough sometimes. It can kick you in the teeth when you least expect it and there is no fairness to it. Even worse, many times there isn’t anything you can even do about it – especially in… Continue Reading
Sports teams know their individual stats as well as how they measure up against others – you should too! As an independent agency owner/executive, hopefully you know your top key metrics such as growth rate, sales velocity, EBITDA profit, client retention rate and compensation expense. Monthly, quarterly and annually, the numbers are produced, and business… Continue Reading
