Most agents want to make more money. You aren’t just running this big business for the fun of it right? You want to GROW! You want to hire more people and be able to enjoy a little more time off. But all of this requires money.
So today, I’ll share with you five things to look at it right now that will increase your agency revenue as soon as you implement them.
Get More New Clients – Okay, I know what you’re thinking. “Duh, Robyn, thanks for that mind bending revelation.” I know it’s obvious, but it is one way that you make more money! You have to be selling more policies on a regular, consistent basis. You don’t have to be the #1 producer in the state to be successful. You just have to keep selling more than you’re losing every single month.
Increase Retention – Doesn’t matter if you’re scratch or 20 years established, you need to be putting measures in place to protect and increase your retention. This includes everything from being highly available to clients, doing regular reviews, having policies in place to protect (as much as possible) from rate increases, and just plain having great customer service and rapport.
Highest Possible $$$ Per Client – Once you sell someone a policy, you need to be focused on how you can make the most possible revenue off each individual client. We discussed this briefly in last week’s insurance marketing challenge about doing a cross sell audit. Once someone has committed to you, then you want to be their one-stop shop! By creating these well multi-lined VIP clients, you ensure higher retention, higher referrals, more loyal clients, and a higher dollar revenue. Create this with consistent cross sell procedures, annual reviews, and awareness.
Sell Supplemental Policies – You might make the bulk of your revenue through your regular auto and home sales, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a WHOLE LOT MORE by selling other polices too! Things like life insurance, disability, accident, and cancer insurance. Even things like boats, RV’s, jet skis, golf carts, personal umbrellas, etc can be a great source of not only cross selling and increasing revenue.
The trick is that you have to actually make a plan to sell this stuff. Yes, occasionally people will call about life insurance but you don’t want to leave your business (and your money) to chance. You want to build the business that you want NOW. Which means marketing for these products and actively working to make sales.
Payroll – Payroll is typically the biggest “bill” in your budget. You spent thousands and thousands of dollars each month on paying staff to manage your agency. But are you getting the best return for your dollar? Sadly, many times the answer is no.
Begin your mission to making higher revenue by trimming the fat. Start actively reviewing your staff and seeing who is pulling their weight and who is just collecting a check.
Make sure that you’re only spending the minimum necessary to fulfill your goals and actively manage your agency. I’m not saying that you need to understaff, but even if you spend the same amount of money – maximize it so that you get the optimal return!
As you can see, there is not magic ‘secret’ that will suddenly bring in boatloads of cold hard cash. You KNOW this stuff. But just because you know it, doesn’t mean you’re doing it!
- Start small. Make sure you have at least one process in place for each item.
- One goal for selling new policies each month.
- One retention process in place.
- One cross sell process in place.
- One marketing strategy for a supplemental product.
- And regular tracking and monitoring of your staff.
Then add new items as you get more confident and in control of these. And watch your revenue increase each month!
