Most independent insurance agency owners today understand that they should be leaning into change and adopting new practices to meet transitioning consumer demands and increasing competition. Yet, the day to day realities of running an agency, selling policies and servicing clients can make a transformation of your business seem out of reach.
Recognizing time as the most valuable commodity, there is ONE thing every agency should focus on right now – their Agency Management System. In order to maximize an agency management system, there must be quality data entered into the system, making that data available to help you better manage your agency.
Having the right data allows the agency principal or manager to establish and review KPIs (key performance indicators) to assess the performance of their producers and business overall:
- Policy retention
- New business close ratio
- Mix of personal/commercial lines business
- Policies per customer
- Account size distribution (premium or commission)
Are you maximizing your agency management system, or are you using it as a high-tech Rolodex? Independent agents MUST be downloading from their appointed carriers. They MUST have their data in their system. If you cannot and do not use the basic technology available today, how will you use the technologies rapidly entering our industry tomorrow?