Survey your Clients, Before they Leave

"Our retention is 90%", he said proudly.

Not being a math major in college, and only getting in to the insurance business because his father wanted out, Larry didn't realize that at this rate he would lose 1/2 his business in 7 years.

If retaining your clients is something you'd like to do for your personal book or your agency than you'll like this post. 

"The only time we lose clients is if it's political", she said in a comfortable & well rehearsed tone.

You're right, it couldn't possibly be anythings else, right? But how do you know?

You need to talk to your clients more.

Implementation Survey

Congrats! You've followed my instructions from previous posts, you picked up the phone, and you've differentiated yourself to win a new client. Now what?

You and/or your AE need to understand if your clients want/don't want additional help. Examples could be help with Compliance, assistance with your internal Claims department, Analytics to understand their losses, or maybe even certificates.

Ask them in a survey. It gives you the ability to:

• Track their answers (for Stewardship & Renewal)
• Position additional products (example: Are you unhappy with your current Benefits broker?)

Mid-Year Survey

It's July and your office is a ghost town because everyone is on vacation. This is a great time to get survey responses because your clients are most likely slow too. 

You could take this opportunity to learn about their satisfaction with your service team. 

You could run a utilization report to see how often your clients are engaging in your SaaS tools. Then survey them about what they like/don't like about their SaaS tools. 

A clever survey might ask, "Would you like assistance surveying your employees?".

The "10% That Left" or Exit Survey

A new CFO came in and brought her broker with her.  Sounds like a political situation.

Or maybe the HR person can't stand your AE. Or maybe they never received the invitation to your expensive golf outing and got insulted. How do you know? Send them a Exit Survey to understand what REALLY happened. Maybe you can BOR them back.

New Business Surveys

I've totally buried the lead. New business is what producers want to hear about! Because you've lost a client you must send an Exit Survey.

Guess what? We can also use surveys to help us win new business. 

This could be it's own post (Winning New Business with Surveys) but here are a couple of ideas. They all tie in to your overall marketing strategy.

1. Market Research
2. Optimization of Marketing
3. Thought Leadership
4. Internal Communication

Shut Up Already, I Get It

If you want to start surveying your clients then good for you. I think that's great! Here is what you need:

1. Accurate client data 
2. An Email Service Provider (ESP)
3. A survey tool (I use Survey Monkey)
4. Execution (set clear deadlines, inspect what you expect, and hold people accountable)

So what do you think of this month's blog?

-R

The Best of Errors & Omissions: 2015

Let's be honest. Most of what you read here is crap. 

But that crap takes a lot of time and passion to write. And every once in a while I get it right. 

Thank you to those of you that clicked, read, and shared my views this year. Next year will be new and exciting for all of us in the insurance industry.

And I promise you plenty of more crap in 2016. 

Here are the Top 3 posts of 2015:

Is your Sales Presentation better than PayChex, ADP or Zenefits?

Sep 3, 2015         929 views       18 Likes        6 Comments    

Best Comment:  

"Very good article. I would add to the legal pad point of: Understand what their challenges are - why wait until the actual appointment. Do some pre call planning - look at their website, LinkedIn, etc and show up proving to them that you are the SME in their industry. You instantly start off one step ahead of the rest of your competition."  - Rob Tiernan

Cold Calling IS Dead, If You're an Idiot

Jul 17, 2015         794 views        46 Likes       12 Comments

Best Comment:

"I have spent a lifetime in sales at various levels and one of my main differentiators has been, from my days as a 18 year old sales rep to my current role of Director of business development, whilst the farmers maintained the status quo, I went and caught myself lots of new fish mainly by targeted cold calling. No great science behind it just find a need, make connection and get some momentum. A sales team without a pipeline is a sales team without a future."  - Stephen Dobson

The 3 BEST & WORST Ways to Ask for a Referral

Nov 12, 2015         241 views        18 Likes        1 Comment

Best Comment:

"Great stuff Rob Erfurt! I love your offer to pray for the misguided souls. ; ) You are spot on with the standard it takes to earn the privilege of asking for a referral. However, even after having met that standard, if the ask includes, "do you know anyone . . ." your efforts will most likely fall short. You have just given your client a job to do, your job. Instead of putting a "blank page" in front of the client and asking them to fill it in with names, the producer should have done his/her homework, identified relationships the clients has to whom they want SPECIFIC introductions, and already have the names filled in on the referral page. Now, all the client has to do is make the introduction. The producer has to make it easy for their client to help them. Lack of client referrals is the single biggest lost opportunity being suffered by producers/agencies."  - Kevin Trokey

Thanks for reading and if you see me at MSG tonight say hello.

-R

Will Your Agency Survive?

"In auto parts you're either growing or you're dying. There ain't no 3rd direction."  - "Big" Tom Callahan, President, Callahan Auto Parts.

While this isn't the auto parts industry I think there's a ton of relevance.  Here's why:

Mergers & Acquisitions have been and will continue be top stories in 2016. Especially when these transactions range from the millions of dollars to the billions of dollars. 

Why are "mom & pop" to "hometown" to "Regional player" and even "National" agencies handing over their keys?

How about 4 to 8 times EBITDA, depending on the operation. 

You might be surprised to learn that the payout isn't the primary motivator for principals interested in selling their business. Think about the business challenges that today's agency owners must address:

Internal Staffing

Take a look at your agency's payroll. While payroll is one of your biggest costs you still may not have enough people to service your clients.

When it comes to your most important accounts you may not have the right people servicing them due to budget.

You also need to consider who will be retiring and how you plan on replacing them. 

When you partner strategically you can slash your expenses while leveraging additional benefits to attract and retain the best talent.

Growth Components

If you're like the other brokers I speak to you work with dozens of carriers. If you're like them you also have revenue requirements you must fulfill. 

What happens if you don't have enough premium with a particular carrier? Bye-Bye, carrier. 

It can also work in your favor. If you exceed your premium requirements it gives you leverage negotiating a claim or even getting something written.

With the right partnership you've got strength in numbers.

Spread of Risk

In October of 2010 Hurricane Sandy made landfall. What followed was $18.8B in claims. 

This story is being told all over again in the Midwest today with the severe flooding.

How will the a fore mentioned "Mom & Pop", "Hometown", and in some cases "Regional" agencies be able to manage the carrier loss ratios?

With a larger, national partnership you're able to spread your risk across the country.

Tommy Boy

To those of you who have perpetuity on your mind, ask yourself this. Can your son or daughter pay you and themselves at the same time in tomorrow's insurance market?  

If not, how are you going to give them the business AND retire the way you planned?

Remember Tommy Boy? He only needed to sell a half a million brake pads.

-R

Built to Last

If you're like Andrew Bloom and I, "Built to Last" might conjure images of the Grateful Dead's final studio album. I prefer "Blues for Allah", an album hanging on one of Bloom's office walls. 

If you're a serial entrepreneur or Self-Helpist (yes, I made that word up) you may be thinking of Jim Collins' book Built to Last. This is the Sophomore follow up to Good to Great. Again I prefer the earlier effort.

If you're an insurance agency owner you're probably well aware of the evolving market place.

The disruption that is taking place started with PPACA and it has shaken insurance to the core. It has also created new competitors that have been wildly successful at answering the needs of your clients.

Consolidation of insurance companies and insurance agencies has changed how and where you place premium. 

If you're even more concerned with the future you may be like Warren Buffet. He sees a "Real Threat" when self-driving cars hit the road. The liability shifts from the driver to the manufacturer. Goodbye auto insurance. 

And what happens when your customers can buy all of their insurance from Google?

Are you built to last?

The demand for solutions like payroll, Human Resource services, and more technology require brokers to spend more money.

The insurance companies are also lowering commissions. This is creating a critical business moment for many agency owners. 

Look at your Year Over Year Over Year net revenue. See if it is growing and at what rate then ask yourself, "Is this sustainable?"

Is price "King"?

If that is true then you better have enough revenue with your carriers to get the best rates.

If you can't get the best rates then what is keeping your clients from leaving you to save 10%-15% with larger agency?

Insurance companies will continue to show favor to the large agencies. 

I have the relationship.

You have the relationship today. You went to college with the business owner. You belong to the same country club as the CFO.

Like you these owners want to sell there business one day or give it to their kids. The CFO may go somewhere else. 

Will you have the relationship tomorrow?

The Answer

There is an adage "Safety in Numbers".  

That could mean a large surplus of cash.

It could mean having many clients diversified by industry and location to distribute your risk.

It could mean all of your premium with just a couple of carriers.

It could mean joining a larger agency.

-R

Change NOW For 2016

Congratulations on another year in the insurance industry! Did you thrive or barely survive in 2015? If you want better results in 2016 than here are 3 things you must do.

Now 2015 should have started with an analysis of your baseline revenue. Then you should have set some quantifiable goals for yourself. Finally, you should have evaluated your performance relative to these goals.

Did you do that? If the answer is yes, then you can stop reading this and go read The Challenge Sale. Because you already know where I'm going with this which puts you on the path to sales enlightenment!

If you didn't do that this year then I've got good news and bad news. The good news is you're not the only producer who didn't set sales goals for themselves.

The bad news is SHAME ON YOU. Really. You're an adult and you have responsibilities to your family, yourself, and your agency. Get organized and take this amazing career opportunity seriously.

Here are what top producers are going to do to win new business in 2016:

1) What you did in 2015

At a minimum know your net commissions. Other great data points to consider are:

• New commissions
• # of accounts quoted
• # of accounts written
• The "how?"

This data can tell you your Closing Ratio, revenue per policy, and will be your baseline for next year.

The "how?" answers the question "how did you get this business?" or "who called who?"

• Lost commissions
• # of lost accounts
• The "why?"

This tells us churn & revenue per lost account.

The "why?" tells us why they left. This is very important because many producers make excuses for why they're losing business to avoid the reality.

By addressing this reality of "why?" you have the ability to change the future.

2) Where you want to go in 2016

At a minimum set a net commissions goal. If you want to be strategic, then also set goals for:

• New commissions
• # of accounts quoted
• Closing Ratio
• Retention Ratio

 3) How you will get there

If you want a different outcome from 2015 then you need to change your behaviors. I've given you plenty of ideas this year. 

If you don't have the resources and need your hand held then reach out to a top consultant.

If you need motivation read Joel Osteen's new book, The Power of I Am. Basically it's positive thinking to empower yourself. 

Combine that with Darren Hardy's The Compound Effect on repetition and you've got a New York Times Bestselling road map to success. 

And this comes with a guarantee.

The guarantee is if you choose not to change. It's like Roger Sitkins says:

IF YOU ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU ALWAYS DID, YOU'LL ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU ALWAYS GOT

-R