Customer retention has been trending negatively for the last ten years. Customer retention in recent years has averaged 87% and, while a few percent retention loss doesn’t seem like much, consider the following: If you have 1000 clients, the difference between the 94% retention of the best agencies and the 85% retention of the typical…
Even in trying economic times, smart agents understand the critical need for feet on the street, bringing new clients to the agency on a regular basis. Only one of every seven people on earth has the characteristics of a producer, and unfortunately, many of them do not end up in sales jobs. What are those…
This comprehensive article addresses the issues of building a successful sales organization, for outstanding customer service to the critical need for formal sales training. Al presents some startling statistics dealing with the “producer trap,” then goes on to present some solutions to the dilemma. Finally, he provides some practical tips that will enable small agencies…
In this article, I’d like to present six points that are the core of sales oriented insurance agencies that we encounter and assist as a consulting firm. If you are not yet a sales-oriented agency, follow these guidelines to become one. If you feel that these efforts are too strenuous for you to accomplish, acknowledge…
What do you do AFTER… …you have automated to increase efficiency… …you have eliminated functions and personnel… …you have cut your expenses to the bone……and you are still losing ground or earning less money yourself to keep the business afloat?
The title of a popular book is “Swimming with the Sharks.” It teaches you how to get along in the world of “sharks” – the voracious salespeople of industry. Well there’s a group of people who welcome circling sharks – The Shark Hunters – and you can learn how to compete and beat the price-shoppers…
Most agents who call us asking how to motivate their producers to sell more and retain more clients in this soft market are concentrated on only two things: getting into more prospects and getting them quotes that beat the incumbent. No matter how often we explain how relationships develop stronger, longer lasting clients, these agents…
Most agents have been conditioned to be exactly what the client suspects…salespeople trying to get them to change from their current insurance program to another similar program in order for the agent to earn commission. Most agents will spend their entire careers exchanging clients with other agents as pricing changes in the companies they represent.…
We often encounter agents whose growth goals require them to penetrate new geographic territories. They open offices, hire or move employees and expect a flow of business. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Here’s why and what you can do about it….
The primary value of an insurance agency is its book of business. The solicitation of an agency’s accounts represents THEFT, pure and simple. This theft is worse than the burglary of jewelry from your home. In the case of jewelry, you have lost the value of the pieces once (and any emotional attachment you may…
