"Strictly Sales" is written by the faculty of the Dynamics of Selling program. This month's column is from Tom Barrett, CIC, AAI.
AS MANY agencies begin dealing with a softening market, they focus on keeping their annual written premium at its current level, even if renewal premiums decrease. The following steps will help ensure your agency develops the fundamental processes needed to reach its goals.
1) First, know your numbers:
- What is your hit ratio?
- What is your average commission per account on new business?
- What is your commission per account on renewal business? Has this number gradually increased over the last five years?
- How many days are available for sales?
- What are you spending to acquire a new account?
- What can you do to change the numbers?
These basic numbers tell you where you are and what you need to do to change things. If you start pre-qualifying, and not just qualifying, your average commission should increase, and your closing ratio should be north of 75%.
2) Focus on how many days you have available for selling. Many producers say they don't have time to get out and make sales calls. They may be spending too much of their valuable time on servicing tasks, even though they have professional staff that can perform the work better than they can.
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