Take Charge of Your Destiny in 2021

 

Setting the Vision

It sounds profound, but if you don’t know where you’re going – you can’t make a plan to get there. It’s easy to get in a rut of daily work, wandering aimlessly without true purpose for your agency. Set a meeting on your calendar to sit down and think about what your ideal agency would look like in one year, five years, ten years and so on. Then, focus in on what growth you want to see by the end of 2021.

Planning the Steps

Once you have nailed down what you want to see your agency accomplish, make a list of what needs to happen to reach that goal.

1. Ask questions to identify obstacles to reaching your goals:
   1. Are we staffed adequately to propel our vision into reality?
   2. Are we using technology to our advantage, especially in a flexible and sometimes virtual workplace?
   3. Is our agency management system being utilized to its highest capacity? Does it meet our needs?
   4. Are my current operational processes efficient?
   5. Do our marketing efforts enable us to reach our target market and align with our goals?
   6. Does our online presence represent the vision of our agency?
2. Outline the most important changes needed and rank them by priority.
3. Spread out smaller initiatives throughout the year to avoid getting overwhelmed.
4. Share the end goal and project timeline with your staff. Be sure to demonstrate how these changes will help them, too.
5. Write your timeline in a communal location as a visual and subliminal reminder.
6. Add incentives to increase motivation and accountability. With your employees’ support, these goals will not only be attainable, but sustainable.
7. Set quarterly meetings to reflect with your team on implementation and execution of your plan.
8. Celebrate each step of the way!

Maximize Tools and Training

Now that you have a vision, a timeline, and your staff’s support, make sure you have the tools to get the job done well. There are several vendors well-versed in the insurance industry that can help you get the most out of lead generation, building your website, training your staff, and much more.

Operations and processes:

With operational support from the tools below, you can focus on your clients first.

• Start with EZLynx or another agency management system to streamline your agency’s workflow.
• Consider investing in consulting and management resources like PeopleSense offer as well.

Sales and Marketing:

As technology advances, its increasingly paramount to make sure you can be found on the web.

• Look into industry leading partners like Code & Color, Agency Revolution, and Zywave to promote your agency online.

Training and Development:

The people in your agency will be your most valuable investment.

• For self-paced online training consider WebCE for exam prep, excellent industry training, and corporate training.
• The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research sets the gold standard for specific insurance business training.
• Find commercial lines designation opportunities through the Hartford School of Insurance, and other monthly classes offered by our strategic partner carriers.

As an Assure Alliance member, we have special pricing with all the above vendors and even more training opportunities with our Business Insurance Advantage and Premier Families programs through SIAA. Most importantly, with over 300 years of collective experience helping independent agencies develop and grow, we support your success just as much as you do!

Prepare for Change

The road ahead may look daunting, but we are only limited by our own dreams. With your BIG dreams laid out for the next year, brace yourself for the highs and lows of change. By the end of the year, reward the hard work that you and your agency have put into reaching your goals and of course, be sure to continue setting planning meetings each year.

No matter how you go about reaching your goals, it’s not all on you. We’re here to help!