Agency sales goals for the New Year

Sales success is crucial to your agency’s survival. The New Year is almost here and you’ve likely been evaluating how successful your agency’s sales strategy has been this year. It is important to review both successes and failures when making sales goals for the upcoming year. What worked and what didn’t? Here are some points of consideration.

New business premium

To be successful, agencies must go after new business premium dollars. Prospecting is a key element of writing new business. If you are looking for ways to grow your book of business, make sure your producers are keeping track of their prospects including making effective sales presentations, following up with prospects, and closing the sale. Of course, the producer’s job isn’t over after the sale is closed. The best way to grow your new business is through evaluating each customer’s needs and cross-selling multiple lines. Does your customer have auto insurance? If so, where is his home/rental insurance? What about life insurance? Bring customer incentives into the conversation such as multiple policy discounts. There is great potential for sales through cross-selling to existing customers.

Renewal retention

Not only do you need to go after new premium, you must also look at renewal retention. What can you do to keep existing customers happy and not look to place their business elsewhere? Schedule a renewal meeting with the insured well in advance of the policy renewal day to review concerns and make suggestions of ways the customer may be able to reduce his insurance premium. Your customer will appreciate your attention to detail and feel secure in knowing you have his best interest at heart.

Sales technology tools

New technology can assist you in reaching sales goals for your agency. If you haven’t invested in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, it’s time to give it some consideration. With the right CRM program, you can track a sale all the way from the initial contact to the completed sale as well as follow-ups after the sale. Don’t let outdated technology be the reason you don’t meet your sales goals this year.

We hope this information will help you in establishing sales goals for the upcoming year. Here’s wishing your agency a very happy and prosperous New Year!