Selling insurance. It’s what we do every day, right? For some agencies, yes—for others it seems like taking out the trash and selling insurance are at about the same level. Why do so many agencies put sales to the back burner? In our experience, there are several reasons why sales may be second to everything else under the sun but the main driver is the agency’s leadership. When agency leaders never mention sales, good or bad, the team goes about servicing accounts as the priority. Now, service is incredibly important especially if it’s strategically designed to drive referrals, account rounds, upsells and new opportunities. But changing a vehicle without reviewing the need for additional coverage…well that is simply completing a transaction but not delivering a customer experience.

So if you are an agency owner feeling like you need a little tap on the bum to get sales reinvigorated in your agency, where do you start? Where you always need to start—with yourself. Take a look at where you have been spending your time. Is it sales and marketing? If it’s not, then let’s be honest and focus on what agency leadership actually focuses on. You have to turn over a new leaf and dedicate time yourself on agency sales. Now this may be different than what you’re used to. If you are an agency owner with a high sales drive, you most likely have been focused on sales for yourself. If the agency’s biggest investment every month is payroll, imagine if you can get your team to sell even two, three or four policies more per month. You now have the power of scale.

You want to start by pulling production. Yes, this means opening the good old management system and finding out for the past six months how much revenue, premium and policies were sold, as well as who sold them. Every management system has a new business report. Don’t be shy, embrace it. Now set a goal for the next sixmonths. Can you do 10% more, 15% or 20% more? Be reasonable, you can always increase the goal if you are doing too well.

Next, start talking to your crew. You will inevitably hear a whole lot of excuses. Here are a few of our favorites:

I’m too busy
No one ever sends me their dec pages
Quotes are on average three-to-five business days out
I email the quote and never hear back
I’m not a sales person

What people are sharing with you is twofold. First, many people in America hate the S word: sales. They think it’s slimy, arrogant and persuasive and are totally uncomfortable being labeled a salesperson. Let’s be honest. When someone calls in to get a quote, that’s not true sales, that’s inbound lead generation. We need to share with them a better way to approach new business mentally. Next, what you will most likely also hear is a lack of true processes and procedures. In no agency in America should a standard personal lines quote not be completed same-day. Too often the team lacks the right processes and priorities, so they chase their tails following up on cancellation paperwork for a client leaving you, rather than quoting insurance. Like a hamster on a wheel they are taking payments, sending out ID cards and doing transactions rather than account management. In your agency, you must decide and define everyone’s roles for success. Really look at your processes to determine if they are built around a strong sales customer experience.

Once you are armed with a strategy, it’s time to have bi-weekly meetings to discuss sales. I know, what will you say and do? It will be okay! We recommend the following meeting format:

Everyone shares a success
Everyone shares a lesson
Review Metrics
10 Minute Training
Discussion on any bottlenecks
One word close

This keeps the meeting on track, positive and moving. Also, easy on you to run and not spend too much time preparing.

The key to converting into a sales culture is to stay consistent. You can’t sometimes run the numbers or sometimes have meetings. This shows the team you don’t care and that they can get away with slacking. If you want your team to be committed, you have to be committed as well.

If this all seems too much, don’t worry—we understand. Fifty-two percent of agents have never had sales training (yikes!). We created a new APPX Six-Month Sales Program. This includes two onsite training days, Video Training, Bi-weekly Sales Training, and Tracking of Your Team’s Metrics. Learn more here: https://www.agencyperformancepartners.com/services/appxsales/. On average, clients see 44% increase in written premium in just three months!

Selling Insurance

Kelly Donahue-Piro