Common Questions for D.A.D. (Director of Agency Development)

When I meet with members or run into them at events, they often all start out conversations by asking me one of a few common questions. There are a few categories these fall into, hiring, workflows, technology, automation, agency branding and goal setting. Let’s tackle the most common questions! 

Hiring  

How do I write the job description? 

My first piece of advice regarding this question is to look at the top performers in your agency. What skills do they have that make them top performers?  One way you can take this a step further is to use a personality assessment like the Kolbe Index to determine what skills and strengths make them so good at their job.  

Then, when it’s time to write your job description, you know the exact skill set and personality you are looking for. During the interview process you can have candidates take the same assessment, so when you make your hire, you know it’s someone who is just like your top performers. 

How do I attract the right candidate for my agency? 

The average applicant spends less than 30 seconds reading your job description. The first thing that your job description should highlight is your agency culture, followed by the skill set you are looking for and the benefits offered with the job. This strategy will hook candidates by allowing them to picture themselves in your agency.  

Once they have applied, be sure to have them take the assessments mentioned above to make sure they are the right fit for the job, but also are the right fit for your agency. Another way to measure this in the interview process is by asking them behavioral-based questions like “Tell me about a time you went above and beyond”. These questions will give you a good idea to see how they handle certain situations and will demonstrate their skillset in action.  

Workflows & Processing  

How do I determine what benchmarks my agency should be operating at? 

There are many different factors that go into determining the benchmarks each agency should be operating at. The two main factors to start with are agency revenue and number of accounts. Then, look at other agencies in your area, around the same size, with the same structure and number of staff. This will give you a rough idea of where your agency should be operating. 

My staff doesn’t look busy but say they’re at capacity, why? 

The main problem that I normally see in this situation is that staff is getting stuck doing busy work, constantly putting out fires that a simple automation could take care of. The first piece of advice I can offer in this area is to clean up the process and workflows and determine who is responsible for what in the processes. This will help you determine where you can plug in automations and what piece of tech you need to help reduce that busy work.  

Client onboarding can be completely automated, your staff can click one button to start the process, then put it out of their mind with a simple email automation. This automation can send a series of emails, from the staff member of your choosing to the customer, that looks exactly like it's coming from the staff members themselves. When I build client onboarding automations, I follow this outline: Thank them for becoming a customer, expect notice of the contract coming through, introduction to the rest of the team, google review and referral request, then renewal notice & cross selling.  

The renewal process can be completely automated, making the overall process easy for your account managers. I normally like to start 90 days out from renewal by letting the customer know when we will be starting the process and making sure their needs are met. Then, about 60 days out from renewal, they will get another to confirm that they do not need to change anything in their policy and offering to set up a call if they do. Last, 30 days out they will get an email saying that their renewal will be coming in the mail with instructions on next steps.  

Goal Setting

How do I set goals for my producer?  

This depends on the experience level of your producer. If they are experienced and you have data on their past performance, use that to your advantage. See where they are excelling and set their goals at a 10-15% higher rate so that they are growing each year. It's also important to give them tools and resources to achieve those goals. If they are not experienced, you can meet with them to outline their desired income, amount of time they will spend prospecting, and number of policies they want to sell. Then, work backwards from that to set goals that are appropriate for their level of experience.  

How do I incentivize staff to cross sell?  

The most effective strategies I have seen make it fun! It doesn’t have to be crazy outrageous or expensive, but just a fun incentive for the staff. Be sure to make the incentive crystal clear and give everyone an equal chance to get the incentive. Use the mindset that you WANT to hand these incentives out, and make sure you follow through with doing it!  

Some fun ideas that I have seen are cross selling bingo cards for Starbucks, cash or gift cards for meeting goals, or a chance to spin the Jeopardy wheel where each section is a different reward. It is also fun to set team incentives like a company outing, catered lunch or an extra agency day off around the holidays.  

Company Branding  

Where do I start?  

There are a few steps that you can take to discovering your agency’s brand.  

Step 1: Determine who you want your agency to serve, your mission and vision statements.  

Step 2: Determine where you see yourself and how you want your clients to see and feel about you in 10 years. 

Step 3: Use marketing & social media to connect with people in your community. Set some goals for yourself on making connections with groups or people and follow through to make it happen. Make sure you are posting about your achievements and the work you’re doing to connect with others, you can’t do it quietly and expect it to become your brand.  

How do I use social media to grow my agency? 

Once you determine the community you want to serve, play into their interests. Identify where they like to hang out online (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, ect) and get active in interacting with them. Give them content, knowledge, and support to work on building a strong relationship with them! Then, wait for them to come to you, hold off on giving them a sales pitch so that when they’re ready they will come to you. 

If you have any other questions that I can answer don’t hesitate to reach out to me at jsabo@iianc.com.