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A
NALYSIS OF
A
GENCIES WITH
R
EVENUES
B
ETWEEN
$500,000
AND
$1,250,000
B
EST
B
USINESS
P
RACTICES
A
NALYSIS
C
USTOMER
S
ERVICE AND
S
ATISFACTION
The
Best Practices
agencies in this revenue category consider
customer service and satisfaction to be one of their key strengths
and competitive advantages. They typically enjoy high retention
rates, which are the result of delivering on the basics – accuracy,
quick response, technical competence, friendly staff, frequent
communications, good value for the dollar – and by matching
appropriate service with client needs and desires.
“We try to respond to each request, each
question, each contact like we were
employed by that client as their out-
sourced risk manager. We don’t want
our organization to appear to be a sales
organization to anybody we work with.
I would rather they consider us as their
employee. In fact, we refer to our
prospecting as job hunting.”
“Our renewal process for every account
over $10,000 in premium involves a total
review from top to bottom. We let the
client know what is happening in the
marketplace, talk to them about whether
or not they want us to market the
account, who we might market it to this
year and why we would recommend
marketing or not. Although we may
have been on the account for a number of
years, it is an opportunity to show the
client we know their business and to
make sure the competition doesn’t get in
the door.”
These agencies vary dramatically regarding their client bases. A
key practice, however, is to tailor their services for each customer
segment, looking for ways to create value-add in the client
relationship. This is accomplished by proactively addressing issues
that might affect the client’s business or personal lives. Examples
given included such things as reminding a client that his defensive
driving credit was expiring or alerting a construction trade client in
an area with a large Hispanic trades population to a construction
safety class taught in Spanish. By helping the contractor make his
workforce more aware and perform better from a loss control
standpoint, the agent/client relationship moves from transactional to
consultative.
H
IRING
, D
EVELOPING
,
AND
R
EWARDING
E
MPLOYEES
Many of the agencies in this study group worry about their inability
to obtain human capital. Smaller agencies find it difficult to “get a
fair shot” at really good talent and to attract new blood into the
business since they lack the resources to train inexperienced
producers. When they do make the decision to hire, the most
success comes when they have prior knowledge of the person they
are hiring. Most indicated that knowledge came through their
industry involvement that afforded them the opportunity to get to
know the person or hear of them by reputation.
“I pay my staff on the higher end of the
range for this geographic area, not the
highest. But every employee has the
opportunity through our incentive and
bonus plan to make far more than the
high end of the scale if they want.”
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