Independent Insurance Agencies Must Plan for Future Growth
Right now, there are many factors affecting the growth and success of insurance agencies. Factors such as the internet, generational differences, legislation, case law, the economy, the soft market, and the vast fortune carriers have made the last five years have placed many insurance agencies at a disadvantage. From increased technology to a focus on identity fraud protection, there are many angles to consider when thinking of the future of your agency.
Recently, an article titled 5 Ways Agency Principals Can Seize the Future was published by the chair of ACT’s Agencies of the Future initiative Peter van Aartrijk. In this article, Aartrijk provided 5 insightful ways that an Agency can seize the future and in turn grow a successful agency. In this article, Aartrijk not only discussed the 5 ways an agency can seize the future, he also provided helpful links to additional resources covering each point.
The 5 points included in Aartrijk’s article were:
- Brand – Aartrijk emphasizes the understanding that “a brand isn’t tangible”. It is a result of the actions that you take and the customer service that you provide that resides in the minds of your owners, employees, customers, prospects, business partners, and opinion leaders.
- Leadership – Here Aartrijk discusses the need for both transformational and transactional leadership in order to succeed. A successful agency leader must be willing to gain new information and insight from a multitude of sources.
- Staffing – “Smart agency owners invest in people and training.” Aartrijk states that within the next 10 years, nearly half of the individuals working in the insurance agency will retire. If you do not embrace the next generational leaders that are currently ready to get involved now, your agency could be stuck with a minimal work force that is lacking the skills that could be passed down from tenured agents.
- Social – Aartrijk emphasizes the importance of not sitting on the sidelines of the current consumer revolution. To ensure a strong future in the insurance business, agencies need to be “fully engaged, year round, in online and social networking activities”. He stresses that relationships are very important to the industry, and building these relationships with digital media is imperative to success.
- Metrics- Finally, Aartrijk stresses the need for agencies to focus on the effectiveness of the marketing and sales efforts. “Knowing your numbers is a key differentiator between the growing agency and the one that is not.”
To review the full article, 5 Ways Agency Principals Can Seize the Future, written by Peter van Aartrijk, please click on the link below.
5 Ways Agency Principals Can Seize the Future
