Another year is winding down, which gives us a minute to think about what lies ahead. 2014 could easily be a turning point for many insurance agencies, including mine–a Main Street agency in the heart of Middle America.

Here's a short list of the top challenges and opportunities I see at my agency.

1. Automating our processes. I want to take every one of our agency's major processes and record all the steps required to make that process happen. It's worked beautifully for the auto manufacturing industry. Why can't insurance agencies adopt a similar mentality? I'm not talking about turning everyone into robots, just making us better at what we do. The challenge is in actually taking the time to figure it out; it's not fun or flashy, so there's not much joy involved in the process. But there's tremendous opportunity from this approach because the end result will be greater efficiency and productivity and more E&O protection.
2. Integrating marketing with our processes. Along with developing written, consistent steps for our major processes, I also want to make certain marketing activities an integral part of the process. Here's an example: gathering testimonials to place on our website. When we contact customers at renewal, we want to include steps to send and receive a testimonial request form. We can no longer trust our memory to do this step for us; it must become second nature via the process.
3. Increasing use of mobile devices to locate and do business with a customer. I'm like everybody else: if I need to find something, I Google it, often on my smart phone while I'm on the run. My agency already has a mobile website, and usage is skyrocketing. I'm also strongly considering a mobile app which will integrate with our agency management system. This will allow customers to access policy information, display ID cards, and even submit claims from the accident scene. We're a very mobile society and need to be able to communicate no matter where we're at. Agencies need to figure out how they will respond to this trend.
4. “Proving” insurance agents have value. I'm not saying you should waste energy trying to convert the masses that find no value in what we do (they do exist and that's OK). But for the people who are interested and want to do business, you must bring something to the table beyond merely taking and fulfilling orders. For example, we offer a free monthly email newsletter to our customers. The content is never “selly-sell,” and we include a monthly promotion/coupon from a local business. Anyone can get the newsletter and any business can offer a promotion, and it's a win-win for all of us.
5. Developing a niche. My agency has specialized in health insurance for years. We still do, but considering the train wreck that is Obamacare, it seems that picking an additional specialty would be prudent. At first blush, I think a new niche should revolve around independent, family-owned businesses. My agency shares many of the same characteristics: we're independent and family-owned. Shared experiences always allow a great opportunity to develop deeper connections.

Those are my plans for 2014. What are yours?