What do you wish you knew before starting an insurance agency?

First, I wish I knew I wasn’t going to be paying myself for the first 18-24. Next, I wouldn’t always be selling insurance. Something I talk about a lot is relationships, so I spend a lot of time developing, maintaining, and establishing relationships and connections. Also, attention is key. Even though I may not directly see leads coming in from social media, getting my name out there is what matters. I am gaining attention about myself therefore people are remembering my name and thinking of me when it comes to insurance. I wish I knew to keep track of all the data I have including name, phone number, and email for all of my business partners, prospects, and more. Having all of that information is helpful when it comes to sending email blasts, looking up people, and keeping it all in one place. Big policies and small policies usually take the same amount of time and paperwork as each other. Knowing that now, it encourages me to go after some of the bigger accounts because it doesn’t require a bunch of extra time and energy. 

A big part of something I learned once I started is that customer satisfaction is extremely important because around 40% of our new business each month comes from current customers either purchasing more or referring their friend/family. Keeping customers happy continues to bring in more business and more money overall. Hire people to work for you and duplicate yourself. Find employees that you can delegate some of your tasks to and can help get your activity levels up. Along with customer satisfaction, you must keep your employees motivated and satisfied too. They are helping the business grow and they need to be able to speak their mind, get compensated correctly, learn, grow, and enjoy their job.