Every agency owner should be asking themselves “Howhealthy is my agency?  Am I really managing well? Do Ineed a professional checkup?” If your agency is a little under theweather, make an appointment with the doctor—an agency managementconsultant.

Before you pick a “doctor,” ask yourself these questions:

• Are you happy with your workflow, turnaround times, outputquality and ability to meet client service deadlines?
• Are your clients aware of the great job you have done for them,not only lately but over a period of years?
• How satisfied (or dissatisfied) are your clients?
• What are the best and least expensive ways to create employeejob satisfaction?
• If you pay bonuses, are they based on individual effort, teameffort or overall agency results? Are the bonuses motivating yourpeople?
• Do employee performance evaluations include salary discussions?Should they?
• Is new business production or retention more important? Doesyour operation reflect your decision?
• Have you implemented cross-selling strategies that reallywork?
• Do you use claims service as an image builder for new clientswho haven't yet had a claim?
• Are your business goals developed, measurable and communicatedto your employees?

Unless the answers to these questions are all positive, you needto contemplate how to make your agency operations better. Agencyimprovement can only be achieved by a concerted attempt to makethings better.

Read last month's For the Manager column, “Speedvs. Human Nature” by Lisa H. Harrington.

Do you need to see a doctor? Evaluate your symptoms and make aself-diagnosis:

1. Schedule an on-premises visit with key agency people toestablish trust, learn operations and create a positiveenvironment. Review perceived agency operations in detail withmanagement.
2. Conduct a confidential survey of all employees to elicitattitudes, feelings, thoughts and ideas about their jobs, agencyand supervisors. The survey can be customized to elicit feelingsabout specific agency initiatives.
3. Tabulate and evaluate survey responses and review for patternsof attitude, pointing the way toward strengths, weaknesses andareas of potential improvement.
4. Develop recommendations based on the survey responses, keyinterviews and management review. Prepare a report encompassing allareas.
5. Meet with management, either in person or via teleconference,to discuss the report in detail. Solicit management input andrefine recommended actions.
6. Begin a total or selected-step program to implement the desiredchanges.
7. Conduct periodic follow-up with management to track results andmake any necessary modifications.

After the initial meeting outlined in Step 1, conducting aconfidential survey is a key ingredient of the evaluation processand should be done with care. Here's one view of how toproceed:

1. Management delivers the survey to all employees, with a letterasking for participation. The letter outlines the process, makingclear to each participant that the objective is to initiate agencyimprovement.
2. The letter encourages honesty and confidentiality by assuringanonymity: No individual attribution and management will not reviewindividual responses. Survey responses are sent directly to thedoctor.
3. Employees are discouraged from telling the doctor what theythink he or she wants to hear. Rather, encourage employees to takethe opportunity to “make a difference.”
4. Ask employees to complete the survey in the quiet of their ownhomes and to return it directly to the doctor within one week.

After all of the responses are tabulated and the reportdelivered to management, proceed: 

1. Decide which areas of focus are a priority so that animplementation program can be designed and executed jointly withthe doctor; or
2. Advise the doctor which areas need immediate attention and thedoctor can design an implementation program, segment bysegment.

Agency improvement is an ongoing process, not easily achieved ina single stroke. Approach it intensively or more deliberately, butwith the goal to unlock the  potential forimprovement.

Fortunately, finding a good agency management consultant isoften easier than finding a good medical doctor. Start with theAmerican Assn. of Insurance Management Consultants. Thisorganization promotes professional standards for knowledge,experience and conduct amongst consultant-members and offers aframework of how to select a consultant and clarify key issues.

National, well-known consulting firms include Accenture andMarshBerry, but these often are more focused on agency financialevaluations or producer recruiting.

Smaller, more focused firms such as Agency Management ResourceGroup or Full Circle Agency Management concentrate on agencyoperational improvement, setting goals and designing methods toachieve them.

Related: Read “Training is the PITS” by PhilipLieberman.

Recognized leaders in the insurance industry include ReaganConsulting, which is known for its annual Best Practices study thatprovides key financial benchmarks against which your own agency'sperformance can be measured.

Aggregators such as www.agencyequity.com offer a variety ofmanagement consulting firms.

But as with medical doctors, the best source is referrals.Speaking with other agencies can unearth management consultantswith favorable referrals. Personal interviews should yield the bestpossible result.

Just like doctors, consultants can be expensive, but the cost ofa good one is negligible when compared with the significantpositive changes that can take place within your agency. Asuccessful consulting process goes beyond theory—it providespractical tools to help achieve desired results. A good consultantwill not only provide the tools but teach you how to use themeffectively.