6 Steps to Breathe New Life Into the Agency’s Growth Strategy

Nothing works forever. Or at least it will not work as well as it may have in the past. This is especially true when it comes to a business’s strategy for growth.

The economic environment fluctuates and these shifts require business leaders to take action to maintain growth. New competitors entering a market or a variety of other factors can lead business leaders to re-evaluate their strategies to continue growing on a healthy trajectory.

Humans tend to believe what is happening to them in the moment will continue. This occurs when their businesses are enjoying robust growth, as well as when success starts to wane. But the fact is that things do change. So, a continued path of strong positive growth requires periodic, if not constant, adjustment. Let’s look at six steps you can take to ensure that your business’s growth will remain positive and not falter.

Step back and look at the last five years of your agency’s performance.

Ask: Where are we excelling? What have been the key drivers of our growth and profitability? What actions have we taken, what capabilities have we acquired, or what investments have we made that have been especially successful?

Analyze your answers carefully. Compare them to benchmark data like that available in the Best Practices Study published by the Independent Agents and Brokers Association. Rank your initiatives by results.

Calculate your return on investment on the different strategic initiatives based on this review. Ask yourself which ones have been the least profitable. Consider jettisoning one or more that don’t measure up to the most profitable. It’s often difficult to stop doing something that is making you money, but the question to ask here is: Can I increase investment in my winners to boost (or sustain) my growth and profitability? If the answer is yes, then the action needed is obvious.

Many years ago, we made a decision at my retail agency to give away our personal lines book. We also imposed commission thresholds for clients and terminated those who would not or could not meet them. That was temporarily painful but ultimately resulted in financial growth and increased team capacity enabling us to focus on our winning commercial lines business and fueling double-digit growth for the next decade.

No one can do everything they want or pursue every opportunity they have. Time and resources always limit us. So, the important thing to remember here is: What you say “no” to is often more important than what you say “yes” to.

This may seem like an odd step for creating continued success, but I think it’s essential. Recognizing your success, sharing it with your team, and intentionally acknowledging and celebrating what you’ve accomplished does two powerful things that fuel future progress.

First, it enhances your confidence. The future is always uncertain and courage is always required to move into it boldly. Recognizing and celebrating your success is a confidence-creating superpower. And confidence, I think, is the entrepreneur’s greatest off-balance sheet asset.

Second, celebration helps you avoid falling into what Dan Sullivan, founder of The Strategic Coach Program, calls “the gap.” The gap is created when we constantly measure ourselves against the future and how far we have to go. Driven business people are always moving the goal posts. This creates stress and robs confidence. It creates a gap between how we perceive our progress and what our progress really is. Turning around, measuring from where we came from, and celebrating that progress eliminates the fear, confusion, and frustration that the gap creates.

Now that you’ve weeded out your weaker initiatives, take the resources you have freed up and use them to increase your investment in your winners. Doing this will sustain your momentum during the next critical phase. While this is a necessary step, it is important to remember this doubling down will only sustain your growth arithmetically. In other words, it is not likely to power your future growth at the same percentage rates as in the past. Plus, it gets harder to maintain a given growth rate as the numbers get larger.

The Native Americans from the American Great Plains used a process called “the vision quest” to help their young warriors find a vision for their future. These brave young people had demonstrated success early on, and they now embarked on a deliberate process to determine their future. The results of their quest often became the experience that defined the rest of their careers as warriors as well as their lives.

In the same way, successful business people need to continually update their vision for their business’s future. Set time aside periodically after your review and celebration process to think about where you want to be in three, five, and 10 years—even 25 years. Describe, in writing, what the future looks like. Be as detailed as possible.

Now, look at your industry and ask: What opportunities are developing? What is changing? What are others missing? What capabilities do we have to capture these new opportunities, or what capabilities do we need to develop?

For example, should you be investing in artificial intelligence (AI) now to create results three years from now? Where should those investments be made? Should you be changing your mix of business to become more profitable or grow faster? Is there a community you should be adding to your footprint to stay in or move into the path of economic development?

Consider investing in complementary or ancillary products or businesses that can further leverage your capabilities or client relationships. An example here may be wealth management companies attempting to enter the insurance distribution business. While execution in this space has not been stellar, the idea is sound. How can you do the same with your business?

With success often comes the temptation to spend money on the things you’ve denied yourself while funding your growth. But the truth is that continued growth requires continued investment.

I am not suggesting you should not be rewarded with, and enjoy, the fruits of your labor. What I am suggesting is that, as a former business partner taught me long ago, you pay the business first. Determine how much of your current and future profits you will hold for investment, and do that in a disciplined way. This will result in greater personal rewards as the business continues to grow rather than plateau or falter.

As you make new plans, pivots, and investments, commit to measuring your progress quarterly and annually. As you manage the business through these periods, repeat steps one through five at least once a year. Soon the process of changing priorities or directions, abandoning mediocre results, and doubling down on successes while celebrating them will become as familiar and comfortable as changing your clothes.

If we step back and look at those who have achieved remarkable success over time, we usually see there was no magic involved and nothing remarkable about them or their physical resources. What they often have, though, is structure and discipline, as well as joy in how they operate. This is the path to extraordinary—and it only takes six simple steps.