Do you ever feel overwhelmed by data? I had one of those days yesterday and found myself going down a rabbit hole of numbers.
We started using EZLynx as our agency management system and comparative rater in August. I’m really wanting to make the most of this tool to help us keep accurate data. But right now, it’s missing a LOT of our past info. So I’m trying to start from this point to improve the data and do the best I can with the first 8 months worth of information.
There are SO many numbers that are important to an insurance agency. Here are some I’m obsessing about right now...
Tracking Leads
In our independent insurance agency, we have leads and we have quotes. (Or at least, that’s what I call them, you may use different terms.)
Leads are people who filled out a lead form on one of our Facebook ads. This usually includes their name, email, and phone number.
We take that info and follow up to get all the quote information. Then they become a quote.
I keep a spreadsheet with a daily total of Facebook leads and how much we paid for them. I update this every morning for the day prior. (I do this for all the client’s ads I manage also.)
This allows me to easily see the total lead volume for the month and the amount we’ve spent. I also have the spreadsheet calculate my average cost per lead. Then I can quickly see if leads are slow or if we’ve beginning to pay more than we planned.
Information Gap
Here’s the problem…we’ve received over 1000 Facebook leads in the past 9 months. But I didn’t keep a specific list of the individual leads anywhere. (Insert Facepalm emoji.)
We had a process for following up with leads, so I didn’t really feel like I needed a list UNTIL I realized that I did need it! (Isn’t that how it always works?)
While I have a general idea of how many leads convert to full quotes, I don’t have the specifics to help me create better leads.
I don’t know the different in conversion for leads that fill out an online form or that get a quote over the phone.
I don’t know if specific ads have a higher conversion rate than others.
These are all things that can be improved on and quickly improve profitability.
How I’m Fixing It
Every new lead is now getting added to a spreadsheet as it comes in, along with any specifics on the kind of lead it is or what ad it came from. I went back and created a spreadsheet for all of the leads in September (which took a while!). And now I have the process in place going forward to improve upon.
Tracking Quotes
This is where EZLynx is really helping. I can run a report with specific dates and see a list of quotes that were run (including who ran them, lines of business, premiums, etc.)
Before I was totally in the dark on this because it was a HUGE pain to find all the information from multiple company sites.
I’ve also made sure that our management system is setup correctly to track our Lead Sources. That way the quote reports show exactly where each quote came from and gives overall more useful data. I’ve included things like call ins, referrals, Facebook leads, website, etc.
All of this can be done with a spreadsheet too, if you don’t have a management system.
New Business Tracking
And finally, the best kind of tracking – new business sales! We have the management system for reports….PLUS the old-school white board!
We have a big white board hanging in the back room of the office and add every new policy that is written, with the carrier name and premium and commission. It’s almost written in code to make it all fit.
For example: Martin – A – P – 1000 (100)
That’s a client whose last name is Martin. We wrote an Auto with Progressive for $1000 premium and $100 commission.
We also keep a running total of premium and commissions on the board. We take a picture of it at the end of the month as a visual easy-to-reference record and erase names as we see them on the commission reports.
This probably sounds extremely basic, but it’s fun to have it up in the office at a glance and to track goals. We do not include renewals, endorsements, or charge backs on the board, so it’s not 100% accurate. It’s really only for New Business.
Now this post does not even begin to cover all the numbers. There are still closing ratios, loss ratios, retention numbers, etc. It’s insane!
But the key is to keep finding ways to easily get the important information in front of you so you can make strong decisions. I’m going to start working with these and keep you updated if I find a better system!