An eye-opening fact: the top 25% of agencies outperform the bottom 75% by double. The good news is that being in the top 25% is within your reach. Agencies that are committed to reaching this level of growth are willing to take time away from their business to work on their business at industry events.
The FirstChoice In Motion Annual Member Conference, sponsored by Progressive®, brought together 500+ industry professionals for an intense three-day event focused on industry data and insights, and growth strategies for success in planning, hiring, lead generation, and agency ownership.
Here are the top themes from In Motion:
Factors that drive agency value
Multiple factors enhance the value of your business – profitability, client retention, growth potential, to name a few. To measure the strength of these areas, you must “know your numbers,” after all, you can’t manage what you don’t know. This might mean taking advantage of a Financial Snapshot tool to uncover the true financial health of your business and how you compare to peers. Or your team might start aiming for larger accounts in your commercial line to drive stronger revenue. Have you figured out how to grow organically 15% a year to stay competitive?
Once you have a clear understanding of your firm’s value, you can make a solid, written, executable strategic plan to tackle obstacles, close more sales, and create long-term value.
The difference between coaching and managing
Keynote speaker Nathan Jamail, a Leadership and Executive coach and best-selling author, spoke about the benefits of leaders taking time out of their schedule to coach their teams, not just manage them. Coaches get involved, focus on building a culture, not just accomplishing a task, and embrace conflict. Consider that most professional athletes spend about 90% of their time practicing and only 10% of their time playing the game. How often do your producers practice for a big presentation? Shift your mindset to be a coach who scrimmages with their team on key goals and ensures they have a consistent message for your potential clients.
Culture is key to long-term success
Internal culture is a powerful thing. It creates stronger relationships within your existing staff. It helps you hire the next generation of super producers. A toxic culture can also cause good talent to leave and nonproducing producers to remain stagnant.
To create a positive culture, apply the Ask > Analyze > Act framework. Step one is gathering feedback from current employees, including what’s working well and where there are gaps, confusion, or broken processes. Then, analyze those insights for common themes and priority issues. Perhaps most importantly, act on what you’ve uncovered. This could involve implementing new policies or procedures, clarifying expectations, or recognizing and rewarding top performers. Creating an attractive, intentional culture reduces turnover, increases productivity, and keeps clients loyal.
Technology continues to play a major role in insurance
The speed of technology and data means we can identify trends quickly and develop appropriate solutions at the fastest pace yet. Now is the time to explore tech if you haven’t already. To grow, sometimes you have to get uncomfortable and embrace new things.
Creating a technology stack that suits your firm’s needs involves finding a balance between spending more on technology solutions and using your current tech stack to its fullest. Start by auditing your existing technology before investing in additional programs, apps, or software. FirstChoice, a MarshBerry company, is vetting new technology partners on behalf of members, to uncover technology solutions that streamline processes, engage customers, and grow revenue.
Collaboration is a necessity, wherever you are in your journey
One of the reasons insurance is the greatest industry in the world is the endless opportunities to learn from high-performing peers, innovators, and experts. Asking for help can be uncomfortable, but even the top insurance agencies rely on peer groups and agency networks to find new ways of creating revenue and increasing profitability. Regional meetings, producer development training, and specialized events are no longer optional, they are a must. These connections go beyond education and can lead to benefits like reduced risk, access to carriers, exclusive data and insights, even increased client referrals.
Attendees of In Motion left the event with many actionable items that will help them to maximize revenue, develop strong strategic plans, and use data to make more informed decisions, thus evolving their business for the future. By taking time to learn, strategize, and challenge themselves, top agencies remain in control of their future.
In Motion 2025
If you are a FirstChoice member and missed this year’s In Motion conference, save the date for In Motion 2025 on October 23-25, 2025 in National Harbor, Maryland.
Is FirstChoice, a MarshBerry Company, right for you?
FirstChoice is your go to resource to build agency value through our investments in carrier relationships, increased revenue, education, and technology. There is a reason FirstChoice is the number one agency partnership two years running. Learn more about FirstChoice growth solutions if you are not already a member and are interested in the nation’s number-one agency partner.
