Will Insurance Agencies End Up Like Blockbuster Video? Do Insurance Agencies Need Locations?
We’re up to our last post in our series about insurance agencies becoming like Blockbuster, or becoming outdated and out of business. This one might be a little difficult, especially if you’re in small towns. Do insurance agencies need locations? We have a lot of agencies with multiple locations in small towns, who are fearful of what will happen if they pull a location.
“I think over the next five years, every agency needs to consider a consolidation strategy to survive and thrive because staffing is worse than ever. It’s so hard right now to staff and hire and train, it’s the hardest I’ve ever seen it. So, we make it harder by having this fragmented process, where if we can consolidate, we are in a winning situation.”
Why’s that? There is this fear that if you pull a location, the town is going to hate you and everyone is going to leave. Firstly, there is some truth to the fact that pulling a location might cause some disruption. But in our experience, the costs associated with the extra locations, the chaos of staffing, the different bank accounts, and everything else, detracts more than it adds.
When all of that goes away, and the cost of rent goes away, and you put everything into one location, you start to really win. Here’s why else you should consider if your insurance agency needs locations:
- You need to run your business, not situations
When we think about keeping locations, much of the time it’s because of certain situations. It’s like: how will so-and-so pay her policy without this location? But that person needs to figure it out. You can’t lose money on locations and add stress to your agency, just to be ready for certain situations.
- You need other things besides locations
There are plenty of things your agency needs besides locations. Most people transact over the web and over phone calls, so you need a voice on the line instead of locations. If there are good people at these locations, you need a plan and a process more than anything. And remember that those people might retire, or might be willing to work from home, or want to come into another office that has more stability.
- You need to consolidate
Much of the time, we’re overstaffed but still stressed out, because there’s no consolidation. With everyone working in different places and on different things, you can’t easily share work together. We think over the next five years, every agency needs to think about a consolidation strategy to survive and thrive, because staffing is worse than ever. It’s so hard to hire and train, and we make it harder by having a fragmented process.
Deciding if insurance agencies need locations can be tough. But when we get rid of locations we don’t truly need, we’re consolidating our efforts, gaining efficiency, and reducing costs. And that way, we don’t have to worry about becoming just like Blockbuster.
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