Lofton Wells Insurance

Overview:

As a Memphis, Tennessee insurance agency with over 32 years in the industry, Lofton Wells Insurance works to provide quality insurance products at competitive prices. Their knowledgeable staff not only strives to develop the perfect policies for their clients, but they understand a friendly face and lasting relationship built on trust is the foundation for best serving each of their clients. With those principles in place, they work with the top carriers to provide policies uniquely tailored to best protect their clients’ families and businesses. 

Location:

Lofton Wells Insurance is located on Stage Road in Memphis, Tennessee. 

Name of President:

Pamela Lofton Wells has been the owner and chief manager of Lofton Wells Insurance since 1997.

Number of Team Members:

Twelve agents participated in the AppX Retention program. 

Types of Insurance Sold:

Lofton Wells is a full-service agency that writes and services policies for any personal or commercial line their clients need. 

Reason Why They Purchased:

Lofton Wells was making the transition from being a Nationwide captive agency to an independent one, and they knew they needed to make changes to help keep their book.

AppX Retention Overview

Employing AppX Retention training for your team has been proven to increase client retention, account rounds and remarketing numbers. This six-month program will encourage everyone to be on the same page with being proactive in calling clients annually to review their accounts. It will also train agents to ensure thorough documentation and work to increase referrals and account coverage, all while boosting retention and decreasing workload. These training workshops and bi-weekly calls will teach your team to be in better control of client communication and reduce the number of re-shops, inbound calls, complaints and questions. Additionally, annual client calls personalize the insurance relationship, fostering trust and loyalty. Let AppX Retention show you the difference a great retention rate makes to your overall business. Learn more about how AppX Retention has improved retention rates, decreased remarketing and increased coverage numbers for its clients here: https://www.agencyperformancepartners.com/services/appx-retention/

AppX Retention will provide you with the following once you’ve signed on to the program:

• Training
  • Two Onsite Training Days 
  • Designed Content
  • Interactive Session
• Tracking
  • Bi-Weekly Tracking
• Tools
  • Scripts
  • Role-playing 
  • Worksheets
• Coaching
  • Bi-Weekly Coaching Calls
  • Workbook
  • Plan of Attack

Results

The team at Lofton Wells should be very proud of their accomplishment. They worked hard throughout the duration of the 6 month AppX Retention program and achieved some ridiculously amazing results! Check out these impressive numbers:

• The team achieved 226 increases in coverage!
• 29% of account round attempts were successful 
• 32% of remarket attempts were successful

Team Feedback

Initial Responses: 

The reactions from the Lofton Wells team before starting AppX Retention were mixed. While two of the agents were excited to try something new that could improve their clients’ experience, five of the agents were apprehensive about another change to their way of doing things. Three of the agents didn’t think they would have the time for the new process. It’s completely normal to be nervous about time management with having to alter the way you’ve been doing things. Reactions after a few weeks of AppX Retention training, though, were overwhelmingly positive! 

How They Felt a Few Weeks Later:

All the agents felt that the process got easier and they were able to find the time for the renewal calls after they’d been making them for a few weeks. Five of the six agents surveyed thought they were providing a better experience for their clients with the AppX Retention process. The majority of them were also finding more opportunities for increasing coverage and account rounding. They worked hard to adapt to the new process, and it didn’t take long to start seeing positive results!

What Was the Hardest Part?

The hardest part of the new process for the agents was having to adapt to finding the time to complete their checklists. However, with diligence and perseverance, they powered through the difficult times and ended up having better time management and organizational skills using the AppX Retention program. 

• “Getting in the habit of making time for the calls.”
• “Adapting to completing checklists and getting the calls out.”
• “Implementing a new process and allowing it the time to work out all the kinks while still being overwhelmed with calls.”

What Was the Best Part?

The agents at Lofton Wells were delighted by how appreciative their clients were at receiving the renewal calls. On top of improving relationships with their clients, they were encountering more chances for increasing coverage and cross-selling by making a renewal call to each of their clients. They also thought that the team’s organization and morale had greatly improved. 

• “A lot of customers are very appreciative that we called. It gives us the opportunity to discuss/explain coverage that could be increased for their benefit.”
• “Calling to educate our customers so they know and understand what they are paying their premium for and hopefully making less premium complaints calls in for the agency.”
• “We have had some good responses from people that were very pleased we had reached out to them and started working on relationship building, especially with people we did not speak to as often. This is also going to help even more down the line with cross-selling.” 
• “We’re more organized and able to help each other out since we’re all following the same process.”

Recommendations to Other Agents Starting the Program:

The Lofton Wells agents had some great advice for anyone starting the AppX Retention program. Along with guidance on not getting overwhelmed, they had very helpful tips about time management and handling talking about premium increases.

• “Be patient with the process as it can be very overwhelming in the beginning.”
• “When reviewing, start with benefits and features of the policy, then follow with any increases. Say, ‘premium change.’”
• “We take 2 hours out of the week strictly for checklists.”

Working with the AppX Team:

The Lofton Wells team loved working with Agency Performance Partners and Kelly Donahue-Piro. They appreciated her helpful tips and recognized that working through the AppX Retention program benefited both the agency and its customers.

• “It was a great learning experience, and APP has a lot of great tips to make working with customers less stressful and more beneficial to the agency and agency processes.”
• “Kelly was a delight! She had some great tips on dialogue and how to make use of your time efficiently.”
• “It has really benefited our agency and customers in a good way.”

Thoughts from Lofton Wells Insurance’s Leader at the Completion of AppX Retention

• “I remember when Kelly came in for the first training and the team was skeptical that they could actually call everyone. They had the common concerns: remarketing, time and did anyone actually want to hear from us? Quickly we realized the opportunity in our book, and our team has gotten stronger, more confident and convinced they aren’t going back to a reactive model.” —Pamela Lofton Wells