Each quarter Agency Performance Partners releases a new client case study to clearly share with you our work and results from agencies who consistently and passionately follow our strategies and lessons learned in our training sessions. For this quarter, we are sharing with you the results of Sheets, Forrest & Draper from Marion, Iowa.
When we first met SFD they were in a state of transition. Over the previous few years they had been in high acquisition mode purchasing three books of business right in succession. The agency was faced with new people, markets and customers. The agency owner was looking to retire and wanted to make sure his agency was performing at optimum level for acquisition to her already defined perpetuation team.
In the Winter of 2016 we performed our Agency Assessment which included:
- Anonymous Team Survey
- Secret Shopper Calls
- Individual Team Interviews
- Review of Core Agency Metrics
We quickly realized that the retention was the main area we needed to focus on. With an average retention rate of 88%, the agency was losing roughly 300 accounts (not policies) per year. In order to refuel the losses a strong sales and proactive retention processes needed to be evoked.
As we were coordinating our plan the market changed and a few carriers began taking above average rate increases. We worked quickly and got the team on track to call every customer at renewal once per year. Initially, the team was resistant; giving push back on being too busy. As APP went through their training, tracking and 90 day program the entire team hopped on board. Today each month all renewal calls are made and the team can honestly say the approach and program has helped. Don’t take it from us you can review their comments from the 6 month survey we released:
“They were great and always so positive with all of us and willing to help to get over the initial hurdle of how to approach customers.” Cindy Quinlan Account Manager.
After just 6 months on the program SFD started to see real results:
- 1.1% Increase in retention
- Average of $3,200 in account rounding sales per month (4 CSRs contributing. Note: Iowa has low premiums on home and auto)
- Cancellations have a net decrease of $170K for the year
When you coordinate a strategy with training and tracking you can stimulate change and growth in your agency. If your interested in learning how we can assist your agency contact us to set up an appointment! Or you can download our case study by clicking here!
