Top 5 Playlists: Simplified Planning for Growth

Agency Business Planning That’s Easy to Do

If your agency hasn’t developed a working strategy for 2011, relax; it’s not too late. And if you take the “play-list” approach, it’s surprisingly easy to create a simple working plan for your firm.

Essential Top 5

In the audio world, there are playlists, short lists of carefully selected songs, authorized for airtime by radio station management. The classic top 40 playlist has been a staple of radio since the days of Marconi. You can use this same basic tool as an agency planner: just cut the top 40 down to the top 5. Use the resulting fiver to evaluate key aspects of your business, as a compass for the future, and as a brainstorming device. With a series of such playlists, you can break down what would otherwise be a complicated agency plan into its most basic elements. This simplification process permits you to make clear decisions about your future, one building block at a time. These blocks can then be assembled into a cohesive strategy.

Multiple Playlists

More than one top 5 playlist is required to build your ultimate plan. Below are 20 potential topics from which to choose. On the surface they are almost deceiving due to their ease of creation, yet many offer multiple dimensions. Use them to cull hidden facts, to spot current problems and avoid new ones, to build new avenues for growth and to widen existing ones. For instance, a Top 5 Favorite Commercial Accounts List reveals more than whom you like working with, it may also disclose your preferred account size, target industries, policy types, underwriting standards, and more.

Planning by Fives

Initiate the planning process by selecting the playlists you wish to complete from our starter set [below]. You can easily build more, covering such vital areas as employees, financial management, perpetuation, etc.

Create and complete as many as you reasonably can. Keep in mind that you don’t have to flesh them out all at once. They may be done over a series of weeks, with various managers (and staffers) pitching in. Ideally, each list is viewed as a single page in an overall agency planning workbook, but it can also operate as a standalone document. Either way, certain ones are bound to interact with others. If you act thoughtfully on your analysis, you can improve both your operations and sales productivity.

Minimal Drama

Realistically, most P/C agencies will never schedule a formal offsite planning retreat, regardless of the potential benefits. The reasons for this typically include the time, expense, and political drama involved. Top 5 playlists offer a digestible alternative that helps the average insurance office to consider their present condition, make basic adjustments, and plan ahead, at least to some extent. And that’s significantly better than meandering through the marketplace with no plan at all.

20 Examples of Top 5 Playlists

Personal Lines…
Top 5 types of policies sold over the past year.
Top 5 age groups that we insure (within 10-year brackets).
Top 5 cross-sell opportunities we need to explore.
Top 5 ways to resolicit desirable lost policies.
Top 5 ways to gain viable referrals.

Commercial Lines…
Top 5 types of businesses written, by industry.
Top 5 largest insureds (measured by commissions).
Top 5 types of businesses we want to go after, but haven’t yet.
Top 5 opportunities for association endorsements.
Top 5 referrals received from our business clients.

Carriers…
Top 5 favorite underwriters (or field reps).
Top 5 company marketing support services available to us.
Top 5 companies (measured by premium volume).
Top 5 companies (measured by percentage growth over past year).
Top 5 companies (measured by profit-sharing checks).

Marketing…
Top 5 most effective agency promotions of all time.
Top 5 failed marketing programs.
Top 5 ways we can utilize social marketing.
Top 5 ways we can improve our website.
Top 5 ways we can earn co-op marketing funds from our carriers.