2020 Best Practices Study

2020 is shaping up to be the most tumultuous year in the history of the Best Practices Study . A year that started out with great momentum and promise has turned into one of anxiety and uncertainty. On March 1st, agencies were growing at the fastest rate in over a decade and agency valuations were setting all-time records. Life for agents and brokers was not just good, it was really good. Yet, less than a month later, the global economy began shutting down in the fastest reversal of our lifetimes with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. While most Americans were aware of the new novel Coronavirus, it had not yet upended their day-to-day lives. On March 11, that all changed:

Seemingly overnight, American businesses closed operations or transitioned to remote work arrangements, as stay-at- home mandates became the order of the day. Despite the identification of insurance workers as “essential workers,” and thus exempt from certain stay-at-home restrictions, most agencies sent their employees home to work remotely. By early April, a vast number of agents and brokers began applying for emergency Paycheck Protection Program loans to ensure they could continue to employ their staffs through the summer. And as of August 2020 (the Best Practices Study publication date), the majority of agencies are still working remotely.

Early returns on the industry’s navigation of the pandemic and transition to remote-work realities have been generally positive. Agencies remained “open,” employees have been retained, and clients continue to be serv iced.

Nonetheless, many in our industry seem to be operating under a yellow caution flag, as when an accident interrupts a NASCAR race. As the yellow flag waves and race wreckage is cleared, racers slow down, line up behind a pace car, and seek to hold their positions until a green flag signals the restart of the race. In 2020, many agencies find themselves under a yellow flag, ceasing to make forward progress – just trying to hold their own and avoid giving up their pre- COVID-19 positions.

 11