They say that you can never be too rich or too thin. I’m not sure I believe in either statement, but I do believe in self-improvement. When I talk about self-improvement, however, I’m not suggesting going to a gym. I believe in doing things that help you to reach a better place in your life, and doing things that improve your agency.
In many of our first conversations with clients we ask them about their plans and the ways they have been preparing to sell their agency. The answer is almost always the same; they have done nothing. When you run an insurance agency, there are so many other factors to manage that you don’t have time to look at the bigger picture.
Instead you focus on the day-to-day running of the business and make decisions as problems come up. You’re just like the cliché of the executive living in the city who has no time to cook or exercise and sits at a computer all day long. The exec can only deal with his or her day-to-day life and never thinks about their health. Over time their waistline becomes a bigger issue. That’s where traditional self-improvement plans come in.
As an insurance agency owner, you can implement your own agency-improvement plan.
Eat Better
Your agency doesn’t really eat, but it does encounter fat in other ways. As time goes by, and technology and market conditions change, new procedures come along that can allow you to be more efficient in your working day. Insurance agencies, though they are getting better, tend to be slow adopters of new working techniques and new technologies. They tend to get stuck in their ways and do things, “because that’s how they’ve always been done.”
Breaking free of that ethos and implementing more efficient work practices can have a real impact on the long-term prospects of the business and make the agency far more attractive to prospective buyers.
Get More Exercise
How you work is just one factor that affects the efficiency of your agency. You can also boost your revenue and improve your salability by improving what you know. Greater education and training will help you and your employees to build credibility when you speak to clients and may add to your value as a potential acquisition. While many roles within an agency require little or no formal education, a highly skilled staff is a much more attractive proposition than a group who are qualified at the bare minimum level.
Set Goals
Everyone who advises you on exercise, self-improvement or dieting offers the same advice, ‘set clear, achievable goals’. We give all of our clients the same advice. Before you can really improve anything, you need to know what improvement you are looking for. Think about what you want to get from your agency and what you would like to do in the future. When you understand those goals, it will be a lot easier to understand how to get there.
Monitor Them
Goals are only useful if you measure your success in achieving them. Without regular monitoring, your goals are just things you’d like to do. Set criteria for each goal and keep a record of your progress. Within those criteria, set short, medium and long-term targets. Make sure these targets are realistic and achievable. Reassess them on an ongoing basis.
Self-improvement or agency improvement should always be about positive improvement. I would offer the same advice to both; you can never be too efficient, too skilled or too prepared.
You’ve set some goals, worked hard and then achieved them, now it’s time to measure the rewards. Download our What is the Value of my Agency whitepaper to evaluate how far you have come.
