Life in a Day of a Top Producer

[P&CGuru]

Thanks for sharing. If you had to estimate, how much premium were you writing on your own before you hired your first employee?

I ask because it seems that as an agent builds his/her book of business that it gets to a point where servicing the policies takes up quite a bit of time and in order to generate enough new business someone has to be hired to service the policies. I know if varies by region but I saw you are in Virginia and was just curious as to how many policies or how much yearly premium before you got to that point....

I opened my agency from scratch in 2007 with me and two other licensed staff and everyone did sales and service so we really didn't have a designated CSR. I was personally selling about 17k-20k per month and my agency was doing about 35-40k per month. It was in 2009 that I decided to get organized and have defined roles for sales, CSR, and telemarketing. At that point my book was about $1.5 mill.

Had I not opened from day one with staff i seriously doubt that I would have been able to build a medium size agency (4.3 mill) in just 5 years. Granted, it took an investment and I wasn't able to pay myself for the first 2 years but the payoff has been great. Hope this helps

 

[nyc2phi]

Guru we're the two producers you opened your agency with on straight commission or did offer them a base as well?

Did you start off with a cluster or did you get direct carriers right away?

 

[P&CGuru]

Guru we're the two producers you opened your agency with on straight commission or did offer them a base as well?

Did you start off with a cluster or did you get direct carriers right away?

I started them on a variable comp plan, to date I have never hired anyone on salary...I do variable comp plans even for my CSR's and measure them on retention, bundling, and life. BTW i'm a Captive

 

[padthaiforlunch]

I opened my agency from scratch in 2007 with me and two other licensed staff and everyone did sales and service so we really didn't have a designated CSR. I was personally selling about 17k-20k per month and my agency was doing about 35-40k per month.

Interesting. What was your background/experience before you opened the agency?

 

[mangroveman]

Producers that consistently bring in 25-30K of new business a month for their agency.

I have not achieved this level yet and would like to know what others are doing that I may not be.

I think this is a matter of opinion as to what a top producer is. 30k a month in premium in my agency would equal termination. Top producers where I work bring in anywhere from 120-150 in premium a month. That being said, we are a largely commercial agency writing mostly commercial property with premiums that usually exceed this amount. So each producer only needs to write 1-2 accounts to be successful.

So, if you are a PL agent in Missouri or something, maybe 25k is good...I don't know, sorry.

That all being said, there is one thing that I see consistently in myself, and the other top producers...that is drive. We drive to effectively use our time, prospect in a manner that drives results, and essential, just 'fish where the fish are.'

 

[Sailfish1]

If you are a producer for p&c like me, I'd like to know what a typical day is like for you.

I believe time is the most valuable asset we have and I'd like to see how some of the great ones are spending it. What are your daily activities that are bringing in business for your agency.

From the moment you get in till you leave, what are you doing?

I don't know if I qualify as a top producer, but I feel like I do a good job of prospecting. My goal is $50,000 of GWP per month and I get it most months. I sell commerical lines and have found success specializing in niche markets. I have figured out my carrier's most competitive programs and concentrate on those. Start by finding and filtering prospects on Reference USA. Cold call them, go see them, figure out you know in common with them (LinkedIn) and ask for an introduction. Much more powerful than an internet lead. Internet leads are poorly qualified names and numbers. Let's say you decide to write auto repair shops. Once you write three or four of them ask those clients for letters of recommendation. This will give you instant credibility in that industry. I did this with day cares. I've insured 16 in the last fourteen months and have appointments with two more tomorrow. I realize there isn't a "one size fits all" solution for everyone, but this has worked well for me. Oh, this is very important...track your conversations and set reminders in Outlook or your CRM. I'm amazed at how much business I win from lead follow up and simply calling people back. Good luck!

 

[P&CGuru]

Interesting. What was your background/experience before you opened the agency?

I was one of the many Mortgage Brokers that scrambled into Insurance after the Sub- Prime KABOOOM, thankfully I saw this coming earlier than many and begin planning my exodus in 2006 when many of my pals laughed at me for wanting to get into Insurance over the glamorous mortgage biz. Best move of my career bar none

 

[JCK818]

I was one of the many Mortgage Brokers that scrambled into Insurance after the Sub- Prime KABOOOM, thankfully I saw this coming earlier than many and begin planning my exodus in 2006 when many of my pals laughed at me for wanting to get into Insurance over the glamorous mortgage biz. Best move of my career bar none

I did the same exact thing, but in 2007

 

[Dow15mill]

I think this is a matter of opinion as to what a top producer is. 30k a month in premium in my agency would equal termination. Top producers where I work bring in anywhere from 120-150 in premium a month. That being said, we are a largely commercial agency writing mostly commercial property with premiums that usually exceed this amount. So each producer only needs to write 1-2 accounts to be successful.

So, if you are a PL agent in Missouri or something, maybe 25k is good...I don't know, sorry.

That all being said, there is one thing that I see consistently in myself, and the other top producers...that is drive. We drive to effectively use our time, prospect in a manner that drives results, and essential, just 'fish where the fish are.'

Not sure if you feel comfortable answering this but what's that mean in income? Trying to narrow my scope on what to target. I am comming from wealth management industry and dont have much experience with commercial lines and considering making it a larger part after talking with a producer friend of mine in FLA. Ive done mostly personal lines so far. Thank you for any insight.

 

[nyc2phi]

commercial insurance typically higher percentage then personal lines, I have seen as high as 20%. One reason being is that it is less transactional and more consultative then personal lines, It also takes longer to get going in commercial since you will be doing a lot of ex-dating.