CEO's role in sales, The

Rough Notes, Jul 2001 by Sitkins, Roger

In this month's Winning Strategies article, I want to examine the role of the agency CEO as it relates to the overall agencies sales efforts and results.

One of my earliest mentors in this business, Don Eve, told me that all too often he saw agency principals who started off selling insurance and wound up running a business. How true! They started spending too much time in administration and gradually got away from what they really loved-selling insurance and dealing with their best clients.

With all the changes and challenges facing independent insurance agencies today, I believe that the lack of CEO involvement in the sales effort has become a greater problem than ever before. Now, this is not to say that CEOs shouldn't run their agencies. My concern is that they have drifted too far away from the sales and marketing part of the business.

What follows is my list of the various roles I believe the CEO should continue to play in the agency's overall sales and marketing game.

Agency sales meetings

In most agencies, the CEO also wears the "Head Coach of Sales" hat. It is crucial that someone assume this all-important role in the agency. Sales meetings should be held on a weekly basis, and the agenda should center on The Four Rs Focus(TM).

Each member of the sales team should be asked to report on what he/she has done in the areas of Results, Relationships, Retention, and Referrals. What results did you achieve in the past week? What did you do to enhance your relationships with clients, prospects, insurance companies, fellow team members, and your centers of influence? What did you do, what "exit barriers" did you put in place, to improve your retention? How many referrals did you earn and generate this past week?

The Seven CEO Letters

There are seven specific instances that I believe warrant a personal letter from the agency CEO. They are:

1. Thank You for the Opportunity This letter follows your producer's first visit with a new prospect. It lets the prospect know that you truly want to earn his/her business and that the whole team is behind the producer's efforts.

2. Welcome Aboard - This letter is sent to every new account the agency writes. It thanks the client for choosing the agency and emphasizes that everyone on the team is committed to meeting and exceeding the client's needs.

3. Pre-Renewal - This letter is sent to every "A" (top 5%) and "B" (middle 15%) account approximately 90 days prior to renewal. It explains that it is the goal of the agency's team to continue to earn the client's business and that the CEO personally wishes to maintain a relationship with the client.

4. Thank You for Renewing This letter is sent to every "A" and "B" account once it has renewed with the agency. During a recent series of seminars I conducted for my friends at Auto-Owners Insurance Company, I asked the agents in attendance how many of them sent "thank you for renewing" letters to their top 20% clients. I was amazed that only about 15% of the agencies were doing so! My question to you: Are you taking your renewals for granted and not even having the courtesy to thank your clients?

5. Renewal Lost Business - This letter goes to every "A" and "B" account the agency loses at renewal time. It says you are sorry you have lost the account and asks the client to complete a confidential survey concerning why he/she chose to leave.

6. New Account Lost Business If you have read these articles before, or have seen me in person, you know that I preach No Practice Quoting. I believe the best day to lose the sale is the first day. With this in mind, if a producer takes a prospect all the way through the selling process and the agency does not write the business, the CEO sends the prospect a letter asking for confidential feedback.

7. Claims Follow Up - This letter is sent on all claims (windshield claims, etc., excluded), asking for confidential feedback on the level of service the client received on the claim.

At first this may seem like a lot of work. However, all of these letters can and should be built into your word processing library. Depending on the particular situation, the producer, account manager, or other employee generates the letter. The CEO personally signs it with a handwritten P.S.

Visits to all "A" accounts

I firmly believe that the agency CEO should personally visit every one of the agency's "AT accounts, the top 5%. Why? These accounts normally generate 50% of the agency's commission income. They need to be over-serviced and over-wowed!

The CEO's visit helps make these accounts "Deep and Wide." Deep means we have relationships at as many levels as possible. Wide means we sell them all lines of coverage.

Visits to the agency's top 20 prospects

As you've read in this column before, each producer should make a list of the top 20 prospects to pursue this year. These accounts should then be placed in an MVP program - Mail, Visit, Phone.

The agency should create a list of the 20 best prospects for the agency as a whole. Next the agency should start a formal program of visits to each account by both the CEO and the producer who has "reserved" the prospect. The goal of these visits is to "wow" prospects, letting them know that they are a targeted account.