Over the past 8 years, I’ve spent time in more than 600independent agencies as a consultant or vendor. Seventeen years ofinsurance production gave me a ton of experience, yet there’s stillso much to figure out. Early in my career, the one thing that keptme interested in the business was the ability to learn everyday.

Insurance agencies are like snowflakes, no two are alike.However, after spending lots of time with agency owners inhyper-growth mode, I learned that there are several traits theyhave in common. Below are five that stand out, and duplicatingthese tips can help your firm become a high-performing agency.

1. Culture: Top-performers have a culturethat’s focused on production. When we talk about building a salesfocused culture, people often assume that we’re dismissing theimportance of great service. This is not the case. In fact,agencies with the best sales culture tend to have the best serviceteams as well. Keep in mind: You can’t flip a switch to create aworld-class sales culture. It takes communication, training,charisma and an owner that’s laser-focused on their people,processes and tools. You’re slow to hire and quick to fire but topperformers love working in your agency. Not only are they growingprofessionally and personally, they’re having fun doing it. You’rea leader not a manager and employees know that they have yoursupport every day.

Your attitude, not your aptitude will determine youraltitude.

(Photo: Shutterstock/violetkaipa)

2. Technology: Agents experiencing hyper-growthunderstand that technology can scale a business quicker than manualprocesses. When they invest in new technology it’s implementedproperly and everyone in the agency buys in. I can’t tellyou how many times I’ve seen agents invest in the latest andgreatest technology then expect it to be a magic bullet.Unfortunately, it sits on the proverbial shelf and collects dustbecause they can’t culturally adapt.

It's not faith in technology, it’s faith in people.

(Photo: Shutterstock/docstockmedia)

3. Sales and Marketing: Agency owners at thehelm of fast-growing agencies view themselves as sales andmarketing organizations that happen to offer insurance products.They’re active on social media, e-mail marketing and have atop-notch website. They add to their pipeline with purchased leadsand have a strategy for every prospect they encounter. They have asales process that everyone in the agency follows and it’s reviewedin meetings, trained to new hires and most importantly, it works!The term “sales” isn’t a bad word but is embraced in thehyper-growth agency.

Nothing happens in an insurance agency until something issold.

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4. Metrics: Agents that are growing knowhow many quotes they received today, yesterday, this week, lastweek, last quarter; well, you get the picture. They know how manysales, lines of business, premium and new commission is written,then celebrate when sales goals are reached or exceeded. They knowhow many cross-sells the service or sales team converted andchances are; bonuses are determined by these metrics. Whether theyhave 2, 20 or 200 people they know their teams closing ratios;which rep should get the next lead and have this data available inreal-time. Agencies that are data-driven can turn dials, pulllevers and make changes on the fly. This ensures a pipeline full ofleads that are being distributed to the right person with thehighest propensity to close.

Stop guessing! You can’t manage what you don’tmeasure.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

5. Change: How often have you looked at youragency and wondered what could’ve been? Change is a core principlethat every agency owner needs to embrace or risks being leftbehind. Don’t be afraid, you can be whatever you want, but it’s notgoing to happen unless you change. The world completelychanged outside of your agency, has it changed internally?Recruiting top talent, adopting a digital presence and developing asales process for the connected consumer is key to your success.These are changes that need to be made if you want to not onlysurvive, but thrive in 2015 and beyond.

If you’re not changing, you’re dying.

One of best things about our business is the ability to createwhatever type of agency you choose. You’re unique and there’snobody that can replicate what you do on a daily basis. You have achoice every day your feet hit the ground so maximize theopportunity and, lets get growing!

Stuart Ganis started his career as a producer in 1989 andlater co-founded an independent agency that grew to 20 million inpremium volume within 5 years. After the sale of the agency,Ganis started a consulting firm helping agents in areas ofsales, marketing, operations and M&A advisory services. Stuartcurrently serves as the VP, Strategic Partnershipsfor EverQuote. Follow Ganis onTwitter @StuartGanis.