2019 Best Practices Study

The annual Best Practices Study ( BPS ) originated in 1993 as a joint initiative between Reagan Consulting and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”). For over a quarter-century, the goal of the BPS has been to provide member agents with meaningful performance benchmarks and business strategies that could be adopted or adapted for use in improving agency performance, thus enhancing agency value. The BPS provides important financial and operational benchmarks and is recognized as one of the most thoughtful, effective and valuable resources ever made available to the industry. Every three years, the Big “I” asks insurance companies, state association affiliates and other industry organizations to nominate, for each of the Study’s revenue categories, those agencies they consider to be among the best agencies in the industry. Nominated agencies are then invited to participate. Each agency must be willing to complete an in-depth survey detailing their financial and operational year-end results. Those results are then scored and ranked objectively to determine whether each agency qualifies as a Best Practices agency.

The 1993 Best Practices Study

2019 is the beginning of the current three-year study cycle. Over 1,000 independent agencies throughout the U.S. were nominated to take part in the Best Practices Study . Although participation took extensive time and effort, 267 of the nominated agencies qualified and were designated as Best Practices agencies. These top-performing agencies’ results serve as the foundation for the 2019 Best Practices Study . Benchmarks for these 2019 BPS agencies will be updated annually in 2020 and 2021. Participation in the Best Practices Study is a prestigious recognition of superior accomplishments. Agencies that believe they have the qualities of a Best Practices agency and wish to be nominated for the next Study cycle (2022-2024) can have their state association or an insurance carrier nominate them, or they can self-nominate.

The 2019 Best Practices Study is made up of three main sections:

1) Foundations. An examination of the fundamental elements and principles necessary for superior agency performance. 2) Executive Summaries. Key benchmarks and perspectives presented in summary form for each of the six revenue categories.

3) Cross-Category Comparisons. The entire spectrum of Best Practices benchmarks for all six revenue categories is presented in a side-by-side format that allows for a quick comparison of metrics across revenue categories.

Visit the Best Practices Gateway at www.reaganconsulting.com/research/best-practices for access to the annual Best Practices Study and other useful studies.

In addition to the annual Best Practices Study , other resources and tools are also available to help agencies improve their performance and enhance the value of their business via the Big “I” website, www.independentagent.com . Two of the

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