Archives for Agencies

Hiring for the Company You Want

July 20, 2011

According to Inc. Magazine, a critical step in improving employee retention is having policies in place that attract candidates who are a good fit for your company.

At iMGA we do not want to attract and retain just any type of employee. We’re looking only for people who really stand out, particularly in the insurance world. The more clear we can be about what we want the better the chance that the current team and any new employee are both happy with the result.

So, we publish the following “iMGA Philosophy” (inspired by this great work at Gaspedal):

At iMGA we believe that every day at the office should be exciting, interesting, challenging, rewarding, and fun! You work too hard for it to be unfulfilling, and life is too short to not have fun at work, where you spend most of your waking hours.

At iMGA we do:

  • Put our employees and their well-being over everything else. We take care of our people first, second, and third. They’ll be better positioned to care for each other, our agents and policyholders from a position of confident security.
  • Work that has meaning. We literally help put peoples’ lives back together after tragedies. If that’s not a worthwhile calling for you we strongly encourage you to work elsewhere.
  • Create great moments. Look for opportunities to make everyone stand up and clap, cheer, and open a beer! Be able to shout to the world, “I really CHANGED how we do what we do.”
  • Make mistakes. No one is perfect. If you’re not making occasional mistakes you’re not trying hard enough or making enough decisions. When you make one, own it, get whatever help you need to fix it if possible, and make sure everyone learns from what happened so it isn’t repeated.
  • Have fun at work. If you’re not enjoying yourself, you should find something else to do. No job is worth long-term suffering.
  • Take breaks. Great work comes from clear, well-rested minds. Naps are encouraged. At least two weeks of vacation each year is required, preferably at one time. Every few years take your two month sabbatical, do something completely different, and bring a fresh perspective back to the office.
  • Require improvement. From everyone. So help “the boss” and your peers out and let them know where they need to get better. They’re required to do the same for others – return the favor.
  • Deal honestly with everyone. Messing with this is the fastest track to no longer being employed here.
  • Want you to make a lot of money. We’re red-blooded capitalists through-and-through, and the more valuable you are the better off the company will be. We’ll find as many ways as possible to spread the wealth.

At iMGA we don’t:

  • Continue to do something “just because”. If you see – or are doing – a task that seems to have no purpose, or seems like “there must be an easier way” – speak up. If there’s no purpose, we’ll kill it. If it can be done more easily, we’ll help make that possible.
  • Miss out on life. Time with family and friends is critical. You’ll regret missing your kids’ games or your parents’ visit a lot more than some meeting. Don’t even consider it.
  • Mess around when it comes to office politics.  We are on the same team and act like it.  If you are the backstabbing, taking credit for the work of others, promoting personal agendas over the common good, foot-dragging, whining, gossiping, complaining, mean-spiritedness, pettiness, self-important type, do not apply.  You’ll have a very short stay here if you do.
  • Repeat mistakes. If we repeat a mistake it means someone didn’t own it the first time and/or didn’t spread the learning. A mistake’s not a problem. A coverup is.
  • Care “how everyone else does it”. Saying those words or thinking that way is a fast road to a short tenure here. We want to do everything better than everyone else, not the same.
  • Deal with dishonest people. It’s not possible to make a good deal with a bad person. Don’t be tempted. You’ll have our full support.

We believe that being clear about our philosophy will make it more likely that we’ll be able to work with the kind of people we really want to have on the team. More importantly, we believe this kind of team is most likely to make us successful for the long term.

Is turnover an issue for you? What do you make clear to your staff and prospective employees? Could/should you do more?

 

P.S. We have a great opportunity available right now for someone in the Austin area who’d like to be a part of an environment like ours. It’s a paid internship – starting at $10/hour but with the opportunity to increase – and with strong support and the chance to learn a ton about systems, user experience, user interface design, and game theory. If you know of anyone who might fit the bill, please have them contact us via the form on the iMGA Careers page.

 

 

Categories: Agencies Tags: , , ,

What’s the second most important ad for your agency?

June 22, 2011

For decades yellow pages ads were the leading source of new customers for most insurance agencies.

How many times in the past twelve months have you picked up a yellow pages to look up who to call? The same goes for your prospects. Searching on the internet has replaced yellow page usage for those prospects, so it’s critical that you are found when they do that search.

Being found in the yellow pages was relatively straightforward – you paid to be found. The more you paid, usually, the more likely you were to be found.

Being found on the internet works in much the same way

No, there’s not an “internet salesperson” who’ll let you pay them more to be found more easily, but the more you “pay” in terms of time and effort, the more easily prospects will find you when they search online.

The better the content on your website, the more content you have on your website, the more unique the content on your website, the more likely yours will be the listing near the top of the page when they search.

There’s obviously a lot to learn and do to maximize all of that, but there’s ONE really easy, straightforward step that you can take TODAY.

Complete your Google Places listing

Go to google.com and search for your city name plus the word insurance. What do you see? Here’s the result for “Wichita Falls insurance”.
Google results for "Wichita Falls Insurance"

The top 3 listings and the ones under the map on the right are companies that have paid Google to appear in those spots. Their ranking in the display is determined by how much they offer Google multiplied by how often people click when they see that ad, so you need both money and skill in ad writing to do well with those.

That map, though, and the agencies that show right under the paid ads – those are Google Places results, and you can have that for FREE and with only a little effort. That Google Places listing is the second most important ad for your agency (the first is your web site).

Simply go to Google Places and click on the link under “Get your business found on Google”.
Get your business found on Google
You’ll need a Google account, but that’s free and easy to create if you don’t already have one.

Getting listed in Google Places takes only a few minutes’ effort and will pay off for years. Please, if you have not already done so, complete/claim your listing – you’ll be glad you did.

Categories: Agencies, Marketing Tags: , , , , , ,

The Texas PIA Convention at Moody Gardens in Galveston

June 10, 2011
Agents Learning About Social Media and SEO at the PIA TX Convention

Agents Learning About Social Media and SEO at the PIA TX Convention

We’re at the convention for the next couple days meeting with agents. Our own Mike Gibbs is teaching courses tomorrow morning comparing Texas Homeowners and Dwelling Fire policy coverages with ISO Homeowners and Dwelling Fire policy coverages.

If you’re here please say hello. If you’re not, we strongly encourage you to sign up with the PIA – it, like the IIAT, is a great organization where you get a lot for your money – including free admission to the annual Convention! 🙂

Categories: Agencies Tags: , , ,

Is Your Agency a Member of the PIA or IIAT?

May 10, 2011

iMGA is a proud member of both the Texas Professional Insurance Agents and the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas.

Both organizations have conferences coming up soon, and so we thought this would be a good time to see how many of our agents are members.

UPDATE (as of 5/13/2011 at 3:10CST): 89.0% of respondents are IIAT members, 12.3% are PIA members, 5.5% will be attending the PIA convention, and 26.0% will be attending the IIAT Convention.

Please let us know YOUR affiliations by choosing the appropriate answers below and clicking on “Send My Answers to iMGA”:

Categories: Agencies Tags: , , , , ,

The Lesson Behind Osama bin Laden’s Death

May 2, 2011

Last night US forces found Osama bin Laden and he and several other of the people with him are now dead.

The brave, well-trained armed forces members who carried out this mission have our sincere gratitude.

For many years people assumed that Osama bin Laden was in a cave in Afghanistan somewhere. That was the conventional wisdom.

As usual – when it came to something really important – the conventional wisdom was wrong.

Fortunately our forces didn’t only listen to “everyone”. They did their own research, and instead of in a cave in Afghanistan, they found him in an estate in a high-end neighborhood in a city in Pakistan less than a mile from a military academy.

If they had listened to conventional wisdom he’d still be alive and well.

What conventional wisdom are you following in your agency?

When was the last time you really thought about what your agency considers the best way to provide a quote, submit a policy, prospect for customers, hire new personnel, etc.? How many of your procedures have you truly analyzed in the past few years?

Many of the activities we do each day are fine as-is. In some cases it’s completely reasonable to do some things the way they’ve always been done.

The huge opportunities, though, lie in finding the ones that we should change. Where customers, markets, and/or our own staff would be significantly better off with a small tweak. Best yet, those tweaks frequently make things easier on ourselves as well.

So, as we celebrate the justice reflected in yesterday’s departure of the planner and organizer of the death of thousands of innocents, take this moment to plan the extinction of some out-of-date conventional wisdom in your agency as well.

You’ll be glad you did.

Categories: Agencies, Politics Tags: , , ,

Do you have a “hook”?

April 14, 2011

Every business needs a “hook” . A great hook is something worth talking about. Better yet, it’s something worth driving out of your way to get.

Snuffer’s restaurant in Dallas has a hook. It’s their cheese fries. In my case it’s their cheese fries topped with bacon, chives and jalapenos.

For $8 or less they’ve come up with a dish that is truly noteworthy. It’s special. It’s unique. It made Snuffers our choice for lunch over the thirty other choices we had within 5 miles that day. It’s remarkable in the sense that it’s worth remarking about.

What’s your agency’s hook? What’s the one really unique thing you give/offer/do for your customers? What makes doing business with you special?

At iMGA our hook is that we go crazy making things easy for agents. To do a homeowners, vacant, rental or mobile home quote with us takes well under 2 minutes. We look up the protection class for you. When possible we look up the square footage, construction type and year of construction for you. We don’t ask a single question or require a single piece of paper we don’t have to. We keep our focus on easy in the application and underwriting processes also.

Our goal is to be so easy that it’s noteworthy. We’re obsessive about it because we know it’s our hook. We’re not the biggest or oldest market you have – those spots are taken. But we know we can be the easiest – and we’re determined to be – and as a result agents are telling their friends about us.

How about you? What’s the thing that makes your clients tell their friends about your agency? Please tell us about it in the comments so we can help you spread the word.

Categories: Agencies, Marketing Tags: , , , , ,

Creating a Backup Plan for Your Insurance Agency

February 10, 2011

As insurance professionals we should be acutely aware that emergencies can and do happen very frequently. Recent storms and power outages have reminded all of us in Texas about how true that is.

It is critical that every agency have a contingency plan to deal with such emergencies. Fortunately, developing a basic plan is not that difficult.

List Your Critical Systems

If you’re like most agencies you need access to:

  • phones,
  • your agency management system,
  • your accounting system,
  • email,
  • the internet (to access carrier and bank web sites),
  • a scanner or fax machine for documentation from clients or to carriers,
  • etc.

You may also depend on any number of other systems. Just list them all out.

This doesn’t have to be fancy. It’s much more important to think through everything in advance and be prepared than it is for this to be a fancy, formal process. The end result can even be a simple table that might look something like this:

System Location Vendor Name Backup Remote Access?
Email Offsite Google Automatic Yes
Quickbooks Mary’s Computer Intuit None No
Fax Machine Onsite Verizon Another at Home After phone number is forwarded

Review the List

It will probably become very obvious quickly where your weak spots are. If your agency were flooded, or if power were out in your neighborhood, or if a storm prevented anyone from getting to your office, what would you not be able to access? It’s quite likely that just like in the simple example above, the areas that you must fix are very clear.

Plug the Holes

Use backup software. Switch to a laptop the next time you need a new computer in the office. Change systems to one that is hosted for you so that it can be accessed remotely. Change phone companies or upgrade to a Voice-Over-IP system that you can use as if you are in your office from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.

The options are many.

In many cases if you make the changes systematically you’ll actually save money at the same time that you improve your ability to recover from a disaster.

Is it really that easy?

Like anything else worthwhile it takes a little work. But with some advanced planning it can sure make you glad you did it.

How do we know?

We’ve had critical equipment stolen, weather shut down access to the office, and transformers explode. Thanks to automatic continuous backup, data security plans, a Voice-over-IP phone system, offsite hosting of all of our core systems, we didn’t miss a beat.

Do you have a contingency plan for your agency? What is in it that we forgot to mention? Please add your thoughts in the comments below.

Categories: Agencies, Systems Tags: , , , , , ,

Does Your Insurance Agency Have a Groundhog?

February 2, 2011

In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania every Groundhog Day up to 40,000 people gather to see if Punxsutawney Phil, the world’s most famous groundhog, will see his shadow. If he does, then tradition says we’ll have 6 more weeks of winter and people can prepare accordingly.

A large crowd on Groundhog Day.
Do you have a “groundhog” in your agency? An early indicator that lets you know what to expect – and how to prepare for the future as a result. If not, think back over the last few years. When has your business gone up? When has it gone down? What preceded those changes?

Have a Groundhog

Managing a high-growth independent insurance agency is much easier if you have just a couple specific leading indicators you always watch. Not your sales or cash (those are lagging indicators – by the time they’re dropping there’s already a problem somewhere much earlier in your sales funnel). For many insurance agencies it might be something like the number of incoming phone calls, number of new quotes issued or number of inquiries via your web site. Whatever it is, make sure you have one. It can make the difference between having the time to prepare and being caught by surprise.

In our business there are several, but a couple that are much more reliable than others. Which brings us to the other important step.

Make Sure Your Groundhog is Accurate

Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow nearly 100 times, has not seen it 15 times, and nine years are unaccounted for, but his prediction as to whether there will be six more weeks of winter or not only has an accuracy rating of 39 per cent. That’s not very reliable. In fact it would make more sense to see his prediction and do the opposite.

So, look for those leading indicators in your agency, but always test the results against expectations. Otherwise you may find yourself in for a very long winter.

Photo courtesy of Aaron E. Silvers.

Categories: Agencies, General, Marketing Tags: , , ,

Professional Insurance Agents of Texas

November 30, 2010

PIA Texas LogoAt iMGA we’re proud to support our independent insurance agents and the organizations that help them grow and succeed. The Texas Professional Insurance Agents association is strongly in that camp, and as such we are pleased to have joined as Associate members.

We look forward to working with Texas PIA members to grow their agencies and strengthen their association.

If you’re a member of PIA and would like to offer our Texas Personal Property products to your clients please complete the iMGA New Agent Interest Form.

Categories: Agencies, Texas Personal Property Insurance Tags: , , , , ,

Who helps you think about your business?

November 18, 2010

At iMGA we’re extremely fortunate to have an incredible Board of Directors. Each member of the board has many years’ experience in running a wide range of insurance businesses. On Monday most of the board was here, and we had a couple extra days with our Chairman.

During those two days we talked about the business: what’s been working (great agents, a system we all love, products that are meeting unique needs), and what still needs more work.

It’s amazing how much clearer things are now. Our Chairman didn’t point out things that were new ideas. Yet the advantage of both an understanding of our business and the ability to look at it from a little distance, helped him ask the questions and make the comments that helped reinforce and refocus our plans for the rest of the year.

Who helps you do that for your agency? If you don’t already have such a person, I highly recommend finding one. If you do, please tell us about your experiences with them in the comments.

Categories: Agencies Tags: , ,
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