Today may not be the day your agency changes hands, but it can be the day you’re ready. It’s never too early to prepare for insurance agency perpetuation. No matter how much you try to control it, life is unpredictable, and you may be met with a perpetuation decision sooner than you thought.
It’s difficult to get a return on the lifelong investment that is your agency without displaying its value, especially if perpetuation comes at an unexpected time. This is something you can, and should, get started on now.
37% of agencies surveyed named maximizing agency value as the most difficult part of perpetuation – read more.
Chances are, you’ve already started recording your agency’s value. Your agency management system is built to keep track of your agency, so it contains all the information you need to display its value. But, it’s up to you to use your system to its fullest and illustrate value to potential buyers. Here are a few tips to get you started on recording and showing your agency’s worth.
How to Record Agency Value in Your Agency Management System
Use your system to capacity. Take advantage of integrated systems, personalized workflows, document management, and other efficiency-wielding capabilities. The more you put into your system (i.e. documents, syncing emails, financial information, etc.) the easier it will be to get a record of your agency’s worth out of it.
Stay on top of provider updates. This relates to the previous tip: you need to have the most up-to-date system to maximize its use. And, the age and usability of your agency’s tech have a bearing on agency value. [bctt tweet=”The age and usability of your agency’s tech have a bearing on agency value.” via=”no”]
Get integrated accounting. Syncing your financials with your agency management system makes it infinitely easier to produce an accurate book of business. Integration ensures that every penny spent and collected is recorded. Though you will need to add adjustments when determining final value, a set record of income and expenses will make it that much easier to determine when the time comes to sell.
Planning to perpetuate to a family member? Check out our eGuide on How to Make the Switch.
Track annual revenue with reporting. Again, integrated accounting comes in handy here. Use reporting features to set up reads on your revenue each year, so you don’t have to dig back later. Showing steady revenue (or growth) over the years adds to your agency value in a big way.
Get on the cloud. Take advantage of your system’s cloud-based abilities. Cloud storage keeps your records secure, saving you from starting at square one if disaster strikes. This type of data protection also adds to agency worth.
Audit for E & O compliance. Go through your system regularly to check for duplicates and other errors. A clean system will boost your value. Stay ahead of issues with capabilities like email integration and mobile access.
Don’t Recognize These Capabilities?
If capabilities like secure cloud storage, integrated accounting, and personalized workflows sound unfamiliar, it’s time for you to reevaluate your current agency management system. Get in touch with us today at [email protected] to see how you can upgrade your management system, boosting your final value.
Strategic Insurance Software (SIS) is pleased to announce that our next Regional Learning event will take place in Nashville, TN on October 19th. We will be co-hosting the event with professional independent insurance agency organization Insurors of Tennessee. (more…)
Texting has quickly become one of the most popular and efficient pieces of insurance tech. Almost 90% of consumers say they’d like to be able to text businesses. It improves communication by making it easier to get in touch and get a response from customers and prospects, streamlining outreach with automation and integration into agency systems. Studies show that 98% of text messages are read, compared to 20-30% of emails and phone calls.
Texting is one of the tools all your team members can use, from producers to CSRs, as it speeds up communications and helps your agency move.
Social media marketing is nothing new in the larger marketing industry but may be novel for independent insurance agencies. This tool is something all agencies should include in their insurance agency marketing strategy for several reasons. Social media can help your agency show off your expertise, build trust with customers and prospects, and help you better engage your customer base. For independent agencies, social media is an excellent tool to amplify their valuable local and personal connections with their communities.
Whether your agency is on social media or not, you’re being discussed in the social media space. Join in that conversation! Get your agency started by following a few simple dos and don’ts in the social media sphere.
The insurance industry isn’t known for embracing change quickly: maintaining the status quo can seem easier than adapting new insurance tech. Despite this, insurance agencies tend to face a greater cybersecurity threat than other small to medium-sized businesses due to the sensitive and valuable data they collect from numerous avenues.
With cyberattacks on the rise, and the COVID-19 pandemic forcing many agencies to leave the traditional way of doing things behind, the need for insurers to maintain cyber regulation and compliance has never been greater.
With this in mind, here are four ways insurance agencies can secure their insurance tech to protect their business, employees, and clients.
