Kids are back to school, Pumpkin Spice is everywhere and the leaves are changing. For our area it’s the most perfect time of year. While all may be distracted by football, we should be getting serious about how we want to end the year. What are all the little projects, goals and details you wanted to tackle in 2016? Write them down and get ready to knock them out.

Next, be brutally honest with yourself. What are things that quite frankly you just can’t get done this year? Maybe it’s budget or bandwidth; set an honest plan that is attainable. Let’s face it, once Thanksgiving hits we are all in a Christmas Party haze. We only have a few weeks to make sure that 2016 goes down as the best year ever.

Once you have your list, then it’s time to delegate. Yes, delegate to all the people who tell you how busy they are. Sounds crazy right? Nope, even the busiest of people will find time for a special project from an agency owner. It helps give people ownership of special projects and breaks up the day. Start getting your team involved so you can move efficiently through your last dash of the quarter.

Also, look for the best vendors in the business. If someone has perfected something then investigate it, learn about it and budget for it. You should not have to re-create the wheel. Your time could be better spent growing the agency doing things like revising websites, training, and carrier training work with a great team to help you get the job done. Partnerships with vendors are critical in insurance. When you find your dream team that becomes an extra set of hands then you can spend more time to focus on growth.

You also need to communicate your plan. Getting everyone’s buy-in can seem like an over the top endeavor but it all starts with communication. Tell people your passion, your dream for the agency. Share with them your vision for success. Set the goal and set the deadline. Force yourself to update the team weekly on the progress. It can take some time but the more you meet and work with the team the greater depth you will have!

The final step is the best step. Determine in great detail how you will hold yourself accountable to getting the job done. As the leader of the organization there is no one else but you. When your agency has a blunder, it’s on you to find out what happened, and why and how to prevent it. Also, when something doesn’t happen to execution the finger can only point right back at you. There are so many great ways to hold yourself accountable but I have three favorites. First, tell everyone you know, I mean everyone. Staff, spouses, kids, your pet, your trainer, everyone. The more people remind you, the more likely it gets done. Next, break it all down into very specific steps. You eat an elephant one bite at a time and you do the same with big goals, projects and tasks. Finally, plan for the worst. Think of the worst thing that can happen and have a plan for it. For example, if the worst thing that can happen is your team doesn’t buy in, plan today on how you will make it work. What will you do? Are you willing to terminate someone? Know now what you will do!

Here are some common end-of-year items our clients are working on:

Evaluate your current marketing strategy, build one for 2017
Tracking retention
Looking at carrier books to maximize commission
Change management systems
Build processes
Hire producers
Build an agency brand
Determine a sales process
Find an acquisition
Start video marketing
Set goals
Get proactive

What’s Your End-of-Year Plan?

Kelly Donahue-Piro