22 posts found
05/06/2026 · 6 min read
Before flipping on an AI dialer, check two lines on your lead vendor's TCPA consent form: whether your agency name appears (not just the aggregator and marketing partners), and whether the form authorizes AI-generated voice, not just artificial or prerecorded. Miss either and class actions already hit $14M to $450M.
02/14/2022 · 5 min read
Better insurance agency hiring comes from building a pipeline before you are desperate, screening for activity tolerance and coachability, running behavioral interviews and role play, then moving fast on the offer once you have decided. Slow in screening, fast in close.
02/09/2022 · 5 min read
Drive Florida production by mixing referral partners (realtors, mortgage brokers, closing attorneys) with fast-contact internet leads and direct outreach to new homeowners. Track contact rate by source, quote-to-close by agent, and voluntary retention separate from carrier non-renewals.
11/08/2021 · 7 min read
Real urgency in P&C sales is concrete risk tied to the prospect's actual situation plus a clear next step, not fake deadlines. Inside the agency, real urgency means naming the one issue you have been deprioritizing for weeks, assigning a 30-day resolution date, and treating it like a client commitment.
10/30/2021 · 6 min read
Documented agency processes drive profitability through four mechanisms: lower error cost, faster onboarding, scalable service quality, and recovered owner time. Start with the highest-frequency transactions (quoting, binding, renewals, claims), write the steps, have someone else test them, then iterate on a quarterly review cadence.
10/27/2021 · 5 min read
Net Promoter Score gives an insurance agency one number that predicts retention and referrals better than any long survey. Ask one question on a 0-10 scale, follow up with detractors inside 48 hours, ask promoters for reviews and referrals, and run it after onboarding, renewals, and claims.
10/25/2021 · 5 min read
Prevent E&O claims by building four QC habits into daily operations: random file reviews on a regular schedule, written checklists for new business, change, renewal, and claims work, mandatory coverage adequacy review at renewal, and file notes on every coverage conversation.
10/11/2021 · 6 min read
Sales scripts work for insurance agencies because every top-producing agent already uses one. They have just internalized it. Build the framework from your best conversations, drill it to fluency in role-play, and deploy it on live calls. Close rate, training speed, and coaching precision all improve.
10/09/2021 · 5 min read
Lackluster leadership kills agencies through four quiet failures: abdication dressed as delegation, inconsistency that erodes trust, a feedback deficit that makes good work invisible, and pure reactive firefighting that never lets strategic work happen.
10/07/2021 · 6 min read
Delegation sticks when the owner debriefs instead of intervening, makes performance metrics visible, and builds redundancy across the team. Kirk Baker also flags the hard call: when a team member won't take ownership, the long-term cost of keeping them is bigger than the transition out.
10/06/2021 · 6 min read
Real delegation transfers ownership, not just the task. Kirk Baker sorts agency work into three tiers, points the owner only at tier-one decisions, and uses an explicit authority map so team members stop bouncing every question back to the top of the org chart.
10/04/2021 · 6 min read
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) transform insurance agency goal-setting by translating ambitious targets into three to five measurable Key Results per Objective, reviewed weekly. A solid agency OKR set covers production, retention, pipeline, and team metrics with clear baselines and targets.
09/27/2021 · 6 min read
Seven staff principles that separate well-run agencies: clarity beats motivation, real-time feedback beats annual reviews, recognition isn't optional, culture is what you tolerate, hire attitude train skill, weekly one-on-ones, and exit promptly with grace.
09/06/2021 · 5 min read
Two moves this week that move the needle: call your last 30 monoliners with a relationship check-in, and ask your three best clients directly for one referral. Both work the book you already have, which is where the highest-ROI premium in most agencies is sitting unused.
05/20/2020 · 7 min read
Build a time architecture: three protected hours per week for strategic work in 90-minute blocks, reactive tasks batched into set windows, a 15 to 30 minute Friday review, real delegation, and a regular practice of saying no. Time does not appear. It gets engineered.
05/06/2020 · 6 min read
Stay clean by documenting every material conversation, knowing your state's specific rules cold, training your team on compliance like it's their job, building a culture where questions are welcome, and self-auditing quarterly. One violation creates a record. Records compound into terminations.
03/11/2020 · 6 min read
Most P&C agency underperformers are misplaced, not bad hires. Sort your team into hunters, farmers, and operators using behavioral signals: what they gravitate to, where they outperform, and what energizes them. Move them into roles aligned with their wiring and watch the numbers move.
02/26/2020 · 6 min read
Always Be Recruiting because a bad hire costs an agency $50K to $150K and an empty producer seat costs $5K to $15K per month. Build a candidate profile, run behavioral assessments before interviews, keep a bench, and systematize the pipeline so you hire from strength, not panic.
11/15/2019 · 7 min read
Laura Harris built her insurance agency on process, not personality. Her proven service framework turns chaotic operations into a repeatable machine that delivers consistent results and frees the owner from being the bottleneck.
10/09/2019 · 6 min read
Teach the team, do not rescue them. Document the process first, then demonstrate, observe, and release. Accept 80 percent of your quality from a team that scales over 100 percent from a bottlenecked owner. Coach with questions when things break instead of grabbing the wheel.