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Achieving Profitable Growth Through Operational Efficiency

By Christina Boussias, Communication Specialist


Although striving for profitable organic growth, most agencies frequently struggle to compete and grow in todays demanding and complex business environment. Clients and prospects have changed in their decision-making process, more value is a constant expectation, technology is continually evolving, and agencies that once functioned within simple markets are now facing fierce competition from unexpected players. There are a host of challenges to overcome, and principals and owners must assess their current models often to determine if their processes and structures offer a competitive advantage, or if it is time to adapt and make necessary changes. Instituting a systematic and repeatable sales process that fosters organic growth and drives producers to successfully perform is a piece of the puzzle, but most agencies are still spending too much time on processing activities that dont directly drive growth. They fail to leverage all of the resources available to deliver value and lose out on opportunities to gain new business. Resource Pro offers an innovative perspective and insight into operational efficiency. When analyzing the work done within an agency, they often find that much of what occurs is ineffective and inefficient. Consider these statistics:
w Top w Processing

consumes 20-30 cents of every revenue dollar

earned.
w 50%

of total processing costs can be eliminated through

standardization, delegation, workflow improvement, account segmentation, and E&O exposure reduction.
*

Statistics courtesy of Resource Pro

Resource Pro works with agencies to cut out routine tasks, align employees to their potential, and identify what activities need to be done in order to drive up sales and retention; they determine if an agency is doing what counts. For example, many agencies are over-processing data, overservicing accounts, or waiting for missing information, carrier approval or broker response. Top producers are spending too much time servicing existing accounts and losing time they could be spending driving new business. Servicing is often reactive, as opposed to proactive, and agency leaders are putting out fires and focusing on the day-to-day so that there is less time for process improvement or innovation. Consider how a combination of operational efficiency with a strong value proposition and messaging strategy, and a systematic, effective and repeatable sales process will maximize agency profitability and ensure sustainability. Increasing operational efficiency decreases wasted time and resources and allows for more captured opportunities. This graph represents how Resource Pro engages with agencies to eliminate unnecessary activities, better utilize employee strengths and develop a streamlined process to change the way an agency functions on a daily basis.

producers spend 52% of their time servicing and only

37% of their time selling.


w Service

staff members spend 52% of their time on processing,

23% on the phone with clients, and 7% cross-selling or negotiating with carriers.

16540 Pointe Village Drive, Suite 208 | Lutz, FL 33558 | 888-496-1117 | www.oceanuspartners.com

Oceanus Partners. All Rights Reserved.

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Achieving Profitable Growth Through Operational Efficiency

Relationship Maturity Model


Redesign workflows to minimize systemic/legacy costs. Free up resources to reinvest into core business. Proactively expand and coordinate improvements across functions to increase throughput and cost savings. Solve immediate operational challenges with low cost capacity to get quick wins.

Questions to Consider:
w

Are your workflows documented regularly and used as a basis for problem solving? Are your employees working to their level of expertise and are all roles clearly defined? To what extent are tasks standardized, metrics utilized, and quality assured? Are your goals specific, measurable, actionable, and time bound?

LEAD THE INDUSTRY

GET STRATEGIC


Process

SOLVE THE NEED


Function Task
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

*Favaro, Ken. "Getting Back to Growth." Harvard Business Review. 22 June 2012: Web. <http://blogs.hbr. org/cs/2012/06/getting_back_to_growth.html>.

According to Booz & Cos Ken Favaro* growing organically is a skill companies can develop, not an advantage they temporarily gain as a result of a hot product or successful business model. When companies put their minds to it, organic growth is the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly outcome of finding, funding, and acting on opportunities that are often hiding in plain sight.

Christina Boussias
Communication Specialist Oceanus Partners

About Oceanus Partners


Oceanus Partners, formerly The WorkComp Advisory Group, is a consulting and training organization for insurance industry professionals. Its primary objective is to assist clients in attracting and retaining business based on the value of improved business processes and outcomes rather than just the price of a product or service. Using a collaborative approach, Oceanus Partners leads clients through the process of identifying risks, threats and business opportunities for their business and then advises them on developing a utilizing a value proposition and sales approach that differentiates their offerings in the marketplace. Oceanus Partners business objective is to assist individual producers, agencies and insurance companies in gaining and leveraging both the technical capabilities and business relationships that drive profitable organic growth. To learn more about Oceanus Partners, engagement opportunities and our complimentary assessment, visit www.oceanuspartners.com or call 888-496-1117 ext 2.

16540 Pointe Village Drive, Suite 208 | Lutz, FL 33558 | 888-496-1117 | www.oceanuspartners.com

Oceanus Partners. All Rights Reserved.

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