Proven Growth Strategies for Your Agency

Growth is the goal of most businesses, whether that is an expansion of products and services, a larger geographical footprint, or dominance in a given industry niche. Insurance businesses are no exception. Insurance agencies rely on expanding their customer bases in order to grow. To achieve this insurance agency growth, there are several strategies that have been shown to produce real results. In this guide, we will explore insurance agency growth strategies that can help your insurance business thrive for years to come.

What is Insurance Agency Growth?

Growth in the insurance industry can mean many things. For some insurance agencies, growth simply means developing a larger customer base or opening new locations. Others wish to expand into new markets by offering a range of insurance products and services. Still others want to become leaders in a specific insurance category, such as commercial business insurance or homeowners products. Growth is an essential component of success. Failure to plan ahead for future growth can have damaging effects on business, with up to 65% of all new businesses failing within their first 10 years.

Whatever the goal, insurance agency growth requires a clear understanding of the goals desired. Often, this goal is a specific one: larger customer base, expansion of current service offerings, larger employee operation. With these goals in mind, it is then possible to explore growth options and to plan your course of action.

Insurance agencies must quantify their goals as well in terms of milestones and the time required to achieve each milestone. Imagine you want to expand sales by 30% over the next five years – that is your clearly-defined goal with a timeline and a target to hit.

Market Research: The Key to Insurance Agency Growth

Armed with growth goals and a plan to implement, how does an insurance agency begin leveraging its growth strategy? The process begins with detailed market analysis, which also includes investigating specific industry niches. Even the best growth plan cannot stand up against a market that finds such growth unworkable or unnecessary. Take a hard look at your industry to reveal trends; these trends can point toward areas where growth is not only feasible, but necessary.

Smart agencies use focus groups and customer surveys to reveal potential opportunities. These can be a valuable tool for gauging market interests and needs. With the responses, your agency is better able to plan your next steps, such as addressing a gap in product availability or adding a service that customers desire.

What Tools and Resources Will You Need to Grow?

You have a plan, a set of goals, and you have conducted detailed market research. What comes next? Insurance agency growth often requires specific tools and resources to achieve solid growth. These tools may include:

• Capital funding – either direct investments or budgeting for specific growth projects.
• Services – growth plans and marketing/sales strategies are often formulated by outside experts, particularly consultants and planners deeply familiar with the insurance industry.
• Technology – growth often utilizes technology in the form of software or similar resources to help keep projects on track. This technology may require investment in order to get the most out of the tools available.

Putting the Plan into Action

The homework has been completed, and it is now time to implement your insurance agency growth plan. There are several marketing approaches that can be used to stimulate the process, many of which revolve around offering incentives to customers. These approaches include:

• Viral marketing – encouraging customers to share information about your products within their social networks in exchange for incentives.
• Referrals – offering incentives for the number of direct referrals customers make to others.
• Word-of-mouth marketing – few grassroots marketing efforts have more power than positive word-of-mouth recommendations from existing customers.
• Customer outreach – hosting or sponsoring events, having meet-and-greets with customers, or setting up booths at community activities to get an in-person connection with potential new clients.

Finally, it can be of great value to position your agency as one that does something differently or better than its competitors. Offering products and services that help differentiate you from other insurance businesses allows for organic growth. An insurance agency growth strategy does not have to be complicated – rather, it requires you and your team to be creative in engaging with others. With these tips, your agency is ready to achieve new levels of success in the coming years.

About Agency Tsunami

Agency Tsunami is the digital marketing division of Neilson Marketing Services, who has provided the insurance distribution sector with innovative marketing and communication solutions for over twenty-five years. With our Agency Tsunami program, we have implemented an integrated marketing strategy that includes optimized, professional websites supported by high-quality SEO and Social Media for hundreds of insurance retailers and wholesalers. Our goal is to help your insurance business perform and generate new opportunities. Give us a call at (800) 736-9741 to learn more about how we can do that for you.