No doubt, you have a strong business plan that is clearly seen in the mind’s eye. But, unless you organize and write down how you will get things done, the plan can quickly get out of control. What you need are “formal business processes.”
Processes are the activities and tasks used to achieve the overall goals of your business. They should be written down in such a way that any member of your staff can study the processes, follow them, and accomplish the same results.
For some agents, the thought of laboriously recording details of common business tasks is anxiety inducing. Good processes, however, are the key to a successful agency, and not all that difficult to achieve. The trick is to create and implement one process at a time. Begin with the most business-critical processes, and over time, implement others that further support the growth and smooth running of your agency.
The following essential business processes will help ensure that running your agency does not become uncontrollable. You’re also likely to see a significant boost in productivity.
Sales
As one of the core functionalities of your business, sales should have clearly identifiable systems and milestones. You need a documented approach for your team to convert opportunities. A well-defined sales process will make salespeople and the sales pipeline more manageable.
Of course, not every sales opportunity is the same. Some flexibility must be given within the framework so that the salesperson can adapt to each opportunity. With that in mind, there are a few key questions to consider when shaping your sales process:
- Does your process encourage salespeople to identify the needs of each prospect?
- What tools are necessary to make the process more streamlined and efficient?
- Will the use of scripts help or hinder your sales team?
- Will it be beneficial to have different aspects of the sales process handled by different members of your team?
Social Media
To achieve social media success, you need a defined strategy. Taking action on that strategy requires a robust, yet flexible, process. You need strong processes to guide things like the frequency and nature of your social media content. But, because social media best practices change frequently, you need to adopt a flexible, fluid approach to your processes.
To a large extent, your audience will dictate your social media strategy and processes. If you have done sufficient market research, you should have a good idea how often they want to hear from you, what type of content resonates with them, and the social media channels where you are most likely to locate your target audience.
With a good understanding of your audience, you can create processes for things like where to find high-quality, shareable content, complimentary marketing methods, and how to handle comments. Also, you need to establish the level of flexibility your social media management staff will have – i.e. are they free to post content and interact with customers at will?
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Employee Hiring and Training
Key to the success of an insurance agency is the ability hire, train, and retain quality staff. That means everything from the job posting to interviewing, hiring and training needs to be guided by a process. You need a set of procedures that will make things like finding job candidates and assessing their qualities a more straightforward process.
During the creation of your hiring and training process, you will need to address common aspects such as the qualities you value most in potential employees, best places to advertise job vacancies, and the most suitable application process.
Implementing processes at this stage will also help ensure that new hires integrate easily into your office. Things like culture, expectations, and professionalism should all be strongly portrayed in the processes document so that new hires can read, understand, and act.
Content Creation and Distribution
In this the digital era, content is the foundation on which most businesses are built. Companies able to master the art of content creation and distribution command the lion’s share of consumer attention. But, it requires a concerted and sustained effort; it requires the input and performance from your entire team.
Having a process for content creation and distribution will help you to establish and maintain a high level of quality and regularity. A defined process makes a seemingly complex and overwhelming task much simpler. To begin with, you need to ask yourself some key questions, such as:
- How can you get your entire office involved in content creation and distribution?
- What are the overall objectives for the content you distribute?
- Will you need to run each piece of content through a separate approval process?
- How will you keep track of results?
The answers to these questions will help lay the foundation for a process that is unique to your agency.
New Customer
The New Customer Process is one which determines how you will take a new client from purchaser of insurance to someone who is now part of the family. That feeling of belonging helps with the development of customer loyalty. If after a client buys, they never hear from you again, until the next premium is due, they are less likely to stay loyal to your agency.
If on the other hand, they are made to feel like special members of a new club, you stand a greater chance of earning their lifetime business. To do that, you need a process that sets out things like the appropriate times to follow up with a client after a new signup, potential areas for service dissatisfaction, and steps you can take to ensure the client feels confident they made the right choice of agent.
One example is to include in your process steps for introducing each new client to your entire team. Familiarity is one way to encourage customer loyalty.
Conclusion
Processes are essential to the smooth running of an insurance agency. They can make complex tasks simpler and more manageable. With proper processes in place, you can be assured of a productive office. Your employees will no longer have to depend on you for a decision on certain actions; they can simply act based on well-documented processes.
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