How To Scale an Insurance Agency

The Key Phases You Must Reach as You Transition from a Solopreneur to Hiring Your First Staff

Here at lava automation, we’re not just in the business of creating successful software and integrations. We’re also in the business of creating thriving, well-rounded insurance agency owners. today we’re going to dive into what to expect and what to look for as your insurance agency grows. Let’s take a look at what’s needed to scale an insurance agency!

We believe it’s not enough to tell you how to get more leads. Follow this framework to achieve more peace of mind as you’re building your insurance agency.

Growing at Scale on Your Terms

Let’s start by saying growth is going to look different for each agency. Much of this growth is dependent on your goals and mindset. I’m not here to tell you need to visualize the biggest team or all of the money in the world. Unless that is your goal, then by all means, do your thing!

As you’re starting out, we’ve found it helpful to set a measurable goal that’s juuuust a bit more than you think you can actually achieve. The reason for this is your goal does need to be reasonable at first, otherwise you’ll quit from the overwhelming mountain in front of you. However, your goal also needs to be bigger than what you know you can do so you’ll be inspired. You want to set a goal that causes you to win big and grow as an individual.

As I mentioned, growth will look different for everyone, but the keys to scale an insurance agency are relatively similar no matter what your goal is. For the rest of this blog, we’re going to look at what it takes to go from a team of 4 to a team of 20.

Maybe you started out as an independent agent. As you grew your book, you started needing help managing leads, claims, and everything else. You’ve got a solid team, managing current and short-term future business. Sweet!

Started From the Bottom, Now we WHERE?

As you’ve grown, it’s probably been one part luck, many parts hustle. Let’s face it, that’s kind of how you have to start. You’re out there every single day meeting new people in an effort to get your name out there. After a year or two, you’ve gained some recognition and have repeat referral sources.

Referrals start coming in too, so that’s nice. Keep that same passion up. Nothing can replace a good work ethic and solid leadership. Unfortunately, what got you HERE will not get you WHERE YOU WANT TO BE!

Built on a Foundation of Stone

To successfully scale an insurance agency with minimal stress takes new skills and responsibilities. It’s not as simple as recruiting and hiring. You  have to have all of your processes so dialed in that you can repeat them without much effort.

This means first and foremost, your ability to make money needs to be unlimited. And what makes unlimited money-making ability? That’s right, a constant flow of leads. You’ve no doubt heard that leads (and revenue) are the lifeblood of any business.

Without new prospects, you’ll never grow. Sustainable, dependable income is the only way you can make any plans. Without that, the best you can do is dream. Seriously. How are you to know your new hire will have a job in six months if you’re not certain the money to pay him or her will be there?

Not IF, but WHEN

Once you have an unlimited lead source, with a decent conversion rate, it’s no longer a matter of if you can expand but when you’re expanding. Think of your leads as a garden hose. The first step is to get the plumbing set up in a way that supports the hose. Having the right structure in place with pipes going from the water source to the spigot is vital.

As you get that in place, you’ll install the handle of the unit. This is like your ad spend. Want more water, turn the handle. Want more leads, increase ad spend. This will determine how quickly you can scale your operation. Of course you need to make sure you can pay office rent, payroll, your own insurance, etc. But paying for more leads is the quickest and most efficient way to grow your business.

Once the obstacle of where the next customer comes from is behind you, you’ll be well on your way to planning future growth. Don’t forget to consider a Virtual Assistant to accelerate not only your growth, but profits as well. As we’ve talked about in the past, Lava Automation will also help you find the best VA’s to help you scale your insurance agency.
Have any questions on what we covered today? How about any other processes for explosive insurance agency growth? Send an email to info@lavaautomation.com with your questions. We’d love to chat and see what you should do next. Even if that doesn’t involve our services…yet!

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