Once every three years, the Big I asks its insurance company partners, state association affiliates, and other industry organizations to nominate those agencies they believe to be among the most efficient and high performing agencies in the industry for each of the study’s revenue categories. These agencies are asked to submit operational information in many areas. This information is carefully evaluated and ranked, culminating in the choice of the top 30 agencies in each revenue category. These agencies earn the status of “Best Practices Agency.”
Overall, this year’s study shows that agencies are doing much more with fewer people, and organic growth rate is much stronger than expected. When asked the reason for their success, the new crop of Best Practices Agencies said, overwhelmingly, regardless of agency size, “the quality of our people.” This quality can be defined as a strong work ethic, expert knowledge in agency products and services, as well as high ethical standards and dedication. These factors, coupled with advanced proficiency in agency technology, allowed the 2008 Best Practices Agencies to push productivity levels higher than ever.
Although positive revenue growth was difficult to achieve, Best Practices Agencies continued to invest in new production talent. The majority of agencies with revenues over $2.5 million hired at least 1.5 new producers during the last fiscal year, with the largest agencies hiring an average of 9.4 new producers.
The average starting salary across all revenue categories ranged from $52,000 to $95,000. The largest agencies, those with revenues over $25 million, tended to hire more experienced producers, while those in the lower revenue categories tended to hire producers with less sales and/or insurance experience.
The study and a listing of the 2008 Best Practices Agencies can be accessed at www.independentagent.com, www.reaganconsulting.com, or at bp.reaganconsulting.com.
Through this site, you can also view an HTML version of current and past executive updates, download a Best Practices comparison spreadsheet to compare your agency’s year-end results with the study’s results, and access other Best Practices studies, tools, and products and download order forms.
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