How a Bad Attitude Can Harm a Good Agency

You can’t grow your agency without the right attitude. No, I’m not talking about a “proactive” sales stance. This cheerleading concept has been floating around the industry ever since the word was invented. Rather, I am referring to the attitude of one person to another. From CSRs to insureds and prospects, from producers to staffers, from agency principals to carrier personnel, from back room employees to vendors, etc. It’s interpersonal attitudes and actions such as these that determine whether an agency stagnates or grows.

Attitude Versus Marketing

Have you ever entered a retail store to purchase something of value and then walked out, empty-handed, due to the unprofessionalism or indifference of the staff?

Skillful marketing got you in there, but unacceptable behavior made you leave. A bad attitude trumps good marketing every time.

Consumers and businesses leave insurance agencies for similar reasons. Price is typically the primary cause for departure, yet attitude is an important consideration as well. Here’s how a poor one can manifest itself.

Service Versus Sales

Be watchful of the messages that your website, social media posts, mobile app, and voicemail deliver to visitors. Make certain that these communication tools don’t demonstrably prioritize new business over serving existing insureds. Of course you want to write new accounts, but it benefits sales in the long-run if prospects see that they’ll get priority attention after they buy from you.

For instance, some after-hours voicemail recordings provide a phone number to call for a new quote, while asking current insureds to leave messages or to call back the next day.

Hubris Versus Humility

Ego is an essential ingredient in the sales success mix. However, if it filters down from management, unfettered, into the agency as a whole, complications can arise. Possible attitude problems include:

• Treating new business inquiries from potential buyers as interruptions instead of opportunities.
• Producers dealing stridently with company underwriters and marketing reps, which can adversely impact agency- company relations.
• Failure to respect current clients by using voicemail as a call filter and not promptly replying to email and other online communications.
• Unnecessarily threatening vendors (such as management system providers and website hosts) can damage key supplier-buyer relationships, resulting in delays during emergency situations.
• Displays of attitude also can generate intra-office outbursts as well, creating friction between agency employees who need to work closely together.
• Failing to say or send thank yous when it’s business appropriate.

Negativity Versus Leadership

Policyholders seldom appreciate the amazing value of their contracts until a covered event occurs. Essentially, an unwanted bill requires an unwanted event to return the insured to their pre-event condition, all without financial gain. This profusion of negativity means that agency owners and employees must work extra hard on their attitude to avoid being swallowed up by it.

Superior service and multiple carrier representation are the dual pillars of the independent agency system. Without a business-friendly, agency-wide attitude, quality service is impossible, which in turn, slices your marketing advantage in half.

Everything filters down from the top, including perspective. A positive attitude, as cliche as it is, makes a real difference, especially in a negative-driven business like insurance.

Growing a property/casualty agency is as much about leadership as salesmanship. Use your position to influence and encourage enthusiasm throughout your office and don’t let a bad attitude ruin your day – or your business.