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Do you 'throw away' too many referrals? A producer I was working with was ecstatic one hot summer day because he had just obtained 10 referrals from a client. I was excited too and the producer was going to begin working those new referrals right away. Well, in tracking the success of those 10 referrals, only one got written. Is that good or just normal? Let's just say, both of us felt it should have been better. So, analyzing what took place led to the following results: * 2 were not reachable; the producer never connected with the decision-maker. * 2 were messy businesses that the producer realized would be declined if submitted * 3 had strong to severe loss issues * 1 failed to provide all the needed information * 1 was presented, but not sold * 1 was sold Could this one out of 10 scenario have been prevented? That is what we took it upon ourselves to evaluate. The first evaluation made was really there were only three the producer was either able to, or wanted to, quote. So, of that group, he was really one for three. But, what about the rest of the referrals - the ones not quoted? Preventable? In our analysis, many of those were preventable so that you wouldn't end up with 70 percent being "thrown away." The two that the producer was unable to reach were determined to be a problem based on the "introduction" he got from his client to those two prospects. (Note: You do ask to be introduced, don't you, when you obtain a referral?) The person calling their customer (our prospect) from the business was not someone known to them and thus, the call carried little weight. It was not a powerful introduction; it wasn't even a lukewarm introduction, so it was not surprising the producer couldn't get an appointment following that call. The five that were either messy businesses or had heavy losses weren't quality businesses. Was that the luck of the draw and he just accepted that when he asked for referrals, or could

Producer Financing Program Iroquois insurance group is committed to stimulating growth for its Member Agencies and Carrier Partners. One strategy for stimulating growth is the Iroquois Producer Financing Program (PFP), whereby Iroquois group co-invests with select Member Agencies in the cost to hire and train new producers. This program is designed to benefit all parties involved: the Member Agency, new Producer, Carrier-Partners and Iroquois services. See your Iroquois insurance Representative for more details. Note: This program is available to members at levels 1, 2 or 3 of the PartnerPlan.

Is there a Sales Personality? Yes. That's why it takes a charismatic person to become a good salesperson. And, unfortunately, some sales personalities don't end up in sales roles in their lives. What that means is that most of the salespeople we encounter do not have the unique set of traits that would only make 14 percent of them successful. How did they get into sales? Translate that into our profession. We have a difficult time finding good producers for our insurance agencies. We advertise and interview. We look at resumes by the hundreds. We entertain anyone that the personnel recruiters bring to us.

Producer Agreement with Opportunity for Ownership

The AM Best Underwriting Guides are very helpful to new commercial producers or experienced ones who want to learn about a new class of business. Each guide provides the appropriate lines of coverage for the desired class with Best's Hazard Index; SIC codes and Classifications; Related Classifications; Risk Descriptions; Materials & Equipment; a Narrative on the Lines of Liability; and an Underwriter's Checklist.

The Iroquois Group® has promoted Kevin McKay to Regional Vice President of its Northeast Region. McKay is a 30-year industry veteran who was a successful producer and agency owner prior to joining Iroquois in 2006. His promotion was in recognition of his expanded role in a seven-state region that recently incorporated New York.

Sometimes insurance agency owners get frustrated by what appear to be unexplainable acts on the part of prospects, customers or employees. Why don't more young business owners buy from us? Why did that longtime client leave us? Why did that producer quit? If you have ever experienced that kind of frustration you may be suffering from failure to assess your WIIFMs (What's In It For Me) from the perspectives of others.

Many agency owners don't realize what a "gold mine" their personal lines business can be for them. The market is huge, with over $230 billion in premium recurring each year. The profit potential for agencies is also huge. Personal lines can be an agency's most profitable business segment because well trained customer service agents can service the accounts with little or no producer involvement.

Agencies that need to hire new producers should consider more than luck and their own interviewing ability if they want the best available candidates on their payrolls. That's the advice that Ken Fields and Diane Masterson of PaceSetter gave in the four-part webinar presented recently by State Auto Insurance Companies.

What is a Prospect Pipeline Iroquois groupA prospect pipeline is the term loosely used to describe all the contacts a producer is actively working on and moving from one stage in the sales process to another. It typically resides in some form of software program the agency has or is kept in a manual list form. Stages in the sales process are defined differently by different agencies, but generally include terms like "initial contacts, qualified leads, initial diagnostic appointments made, solution proposals delivered, sales won, or sales lost." The prospect pipeline usually shows the potential revenue expected from each sale, the products potentially to be sold, the probability of the sales (as a percentage), the date and explanation for the latest status, and the timing for the next step in moving towards the sale.

In most agencies, holding customers accountable seems to be one of the bigger frustrations. Have you ever thought or said "why is it always our fault when a customer has a loss that is not covered? They knew that they didn't have that coverage." For agents serious about minimizing the potential of their agency facing an E&O claim, achieving a high level of customer accountability is a great goal to strive for. To achieve this goal may require some hard work and some new initiatives. Documentation is a key but documentation is more than just words in the system. Any agency will be hard pressed to hold their customers accountable without a file that is well documented. However, documentation by itself will not get it done. Agents need to fully understand that when an E&O claim happens, the E&O carrier will look to secure the actual file in question (paper or electronic) to see what it looks like and what it contains. Solid documentation that is handled promptly, is accurate and professional will make the E&O carrier's job much easier. Conversely, a file with sketchy documentation could prove to be a problem in an E&O matter. Effective handling of client interactions is very important. Every day, customers are asking questions, modifying coverages, etc. The questions (and the answers provided) should be fully documented in the agency management system. In addition, requests to delete or decline coverage or to modify coverage in some manner should be documented as well. But documentation only in the system may not be enough. The agency should have a procedure for confirming / memorializing the discussion. Without this, mistakes can occur. Possibly, what the agency heard is not what the customer requested or possibly what the customer advised is not what they really meant. Let's take the scenario that the agency has provided a personal lines umbrella proposal and the customer calls to advise your agency that they are not going to purchase this coverage. W

We are often called an "Agency Network," one of the largest of its kind, but we are quite different from our competitors. We are not an MGA. In the most general terms, we are a licensed agency with a large network of sub-producers/Members.

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