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Mgmt. Perspectives
Profile
Revenues
Expenses
Profitability
Employee Overview
Producer Info
Staff Service Info
Technology
Insurance Carriers
Appendix
2010 Best
Practices Study
Agencies
with Revenues
Between
$2,500,000 and
$5,000,000
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Analysis of Agencies with Revenues Between $2,500,000 and $5,000,000
Recruiting & Developing Talent
It is no surprise that talent recruitment and
development is the key performance indicator of the
most successful agents and brokers. This is true for
both the sales and service positions within the firm as
“almost everyone in the agency will have some sort of
interaction with a client at some point”.
In the top agencies the recruitment of sales talent does
not differ greatly from the recruitment of service talent.
Leveraging relationships is the most common means of
identifying potential candidates. While recruiters are
still used by many successful agents and brokers, the
experience and success with recruiters tends to vary
widely. Referrals from current employees are also a
great source of new hires.
Historically, agents and brokers have preferred to hire
people currently in the industry. This position has
shifted over the last several years. The most successful
agents and brokers now tend to hire from outside of
the industry and “train them in our way of doing
things”. Many find that the use of employment and
personality testing services helps to “give an objective
perspective” and “has proven to be dead-on in most
cases”.
In the most successful firms, training the new talent
runs the life of employment. External resources are the
most often used source of training. They include web-
based programs, insurance company classes, and on-
site trainers hired to conduct special sessions.
However, many successful agents and brokers have
developed customized in-house training and
mentoring programs to “train our way within the
agency”. Finally, the requirement of having employees
obtaining various professional designations has proven
to be a successful training tool.
Achieving Organic Growth
Insurance agents and brokers have been hit by a
perfect storm over the past few years -- a continuing
soft market and a depressed macroeconomic
environment. The most successful agents and brokers
have crafted strategies and plans to continue driving
organic growth in the face of the storm.
The most frequently mentioned organic growth
strategy is total account development, e.g. asking for
the personal lines business of a commercial P&C client,
cross-selling employee benefits to an existing
commercial P&C client, and upgrading existing
coverages. This activity is enhanced by more frequent
and personal interaction with current customers. Many
agencies are sending thank you post cards/notes with
every renewal, visiting clients on a more frequent basis
to discuss their business, and revamping to provide
exceptional service to existing customers.
Another strategy is the development of value-added
services. While this requires an investment by the firm,
successful agents and brokers are seeing the returns.
One principal stated that “We have created a workers
compensation auditing capability and employee
benefits compliance department. We do not charge for
these, but they are paying for themselves”.
Many firms have turned to better management of their
production team. As one principal stated, “We are
actively focused on sales management and sales
pipeline management”.
Keys to Recruiting Talent
(Top 5 Listed in Order of Frequency Mentioned)
1. Leverage Relationships
2. Employment and Personality Testing
3. Recruiters
4. Internal Referrals
5. Internal Talent Development
Keys to Organic Growth
(Top 5 Listed in Order of Frequency Mentioned)
1. Account Development
2. Leveraging Service Capabilities
3. Producer Accountability
4. Developing Value Added Services
5. Leverage Relationships
Keys to Developing Talent
(Top 5 Listed in Order of Frequency Mentioned)
1. External Training
2. Insurance Company Schools
3. In-house Training
4. Mentoring
5. Professional Designations