Bringing new business in the door regularly is what separates high growth agencies from average performers, according to MarshBerry’s 2018 Organic Growth Check-Up. Agencies should aim for a low leakage rate, or the impact that rates have on the current books, which MarshBerry recommends they can offset with more intentionality around the sales process.
There are many ways to lose revenue from existing accounts – a client goes out of business, shuts down locations, terminates employees, or is susceptible to market downturns in their industry, among others – that, in combination with swings in P&C rates, can have a negative impact on an agency, explained Nick Kormos, vice president of organic growth solutions at MarshBerry who has already divulged key recruiting and training strategies agencies can implement on their way to high growth performance.
“All those things are outside of the control of the broker. The only thing they control is the level of service,” he said, adding that many agencies are likely not losing business because of their product offerings or customer service.
To reach an organic growth rate of 19.5% and match top performers in the industry, agencies can improve producer accountability by making sure that everyone in the organization has goals to hit and incentives to reach those goals as well as clear consequences when targets aren’t met.
“Whenever I’m working with an organization, I really have to try to gauge what is their willingness to hold people accountable and what accountability really means,” said Kormos. “What are they willing to do if people don’t meet that expectation going forward? Are they willing to change the way that they do business to enable those people to go out and sell new business, because sometimes it’s not the salespeople’s fault – it’s the infrastructure that doesn’t allow them enough time to have a book and grow it at the same time.”
There are a lot of different things that motivate people besides money – recognition, self-worth, competition, and team building. However, at the end of the day, when all else has failed to change behavior, there are only two things left: more money or less money, according to Kormos, which will be the very definition of producer accountability in your firm.
“Without a negative consequence for failing to meet expectations, you are virtually powerless against complacency,” he said.
Defining each producer’s role in the sale can likewise help agencies attain new business. Some people are good at opening doors to new accounts, others excel at qualifying accounts, and some employees are great closers. Not everyone has all three skills, and MarshBerry is seeing forward-thinking organizations place people in different roles within that sales process to take advantage of producers’ unique talents.
With technology already transforming agencies, these solutions are also important partners in achieving higher growth rates.
“Technology is integrated in the ability to prospect and to get more information about your prospective customers,” said Kormos, listing LinkedIn and pipeline managers as examples of platforms that allow agents to aggregate information about potential clients so they’re better informed about their needs, which makes the sales process easier, as do investments in technology that enhance an agency’s value proposition.
“If you have a process that you can use to take prospects through the sale and it’s built into a technology platform so that you can always understand where they are in the process, and what the status is and where things are going to go next, it makes the sales process so much more efficient and everyone understands where you stand.”
Agencies can then add perks like 24/7 service via an online platform or data and analytics tools that can differentiate them from competitors.
“If you can help people make better decisions and see better results, they’re going to be that much more engrained into the partnership with your firm,” said Kormos.
