by Tom Doran, October 1999

National Underwriter

For seven years now Reagan & Associates and IIAA have partnered together to produce the Best Practices Study.  Hopefully, the Study has helped us to clarify the attributes that make successful agencies successful.  By doing so, it is hoped that average agencies can learn from the best and become better themselves.  In reviewing the preliminary results for the 1999 Study, I am particularly drawn to a question that we ask our Best Practices agencies each year: "what are the five most critical success factors to which you would attribute your success?"  What a great question: what makes you exceptional?  In a sense, this is the fundamental Best Practices question: why are Best Practices agencies exceptional and how can we (I) be exceptional, too?

The beauty of such a question is that it is simple.  We give you 18 responses to choose from (Employee Productivity, Profitability, Strategic Business Planning, Quality of Customer Service. etc.).  Check off your top 5 and we're done.

The danger to such a question is that it is too simple.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm still a management consultant with a love of benchmarks.  It's a great question, but I'm learning that there's much that lies beneath the surface of an exceptional organization (or person) that cannot be quantified and tabulated so easily.  You might (and hopefully do) look at the responses to this Best Practices question every year with great benefit.  Once you have wrestled with the surface answers to this question, here's another list of questions to ask of yourself and your organization.  If you (and I) honestly answer these questions, I think we'll see more clearly what it means to be exceptional.

1.   When was the last time a client called or wrote to tell you what an unusually great job you're doing for them? 

If no one ever calls or writes to say "great job," you're not delivering exceptional service and value to your clients.  Period.  If you can't differentiate yourself on the basis of service and value in the insurance industry (of all industries!), you're in the wrong business.

2.   When was the last time you stopped to take the time to send a thank-you note to someone who totally exceeded your expectations? 

Anyone! A boss, wife, husband, child, associate, God, client, vendor, employee, mailman, McDonalds cashier, whoever.  If you're thrilled with someone's work performance, be sure to tell their boss, too.

3.   When was the last time you left some money on the table as a sign of goodwill, either with an employee, a client, a competitor, or a vendor/supplier? 

Make sure you leave the pump primed for the next time you come for water.  Beat someone up for that last nickle and you'll likely live to regret it.

4.   When was the last time you fired a hopelessly misplaced employee that you knew would never succeed in your organization? 

Why do you feel like you're doing someone a favor by keeping them in a role where they'll never thrive?  That's no favor.  That's a crime ... to the employee, to your other employees, and to the organization.
 

5.   When was the last time you spent some time, money and attention in helping a recently-fired employee find a better career fit? 

Look, if you have to fire someone, recognize that you too made some mistakes in hiring and/or managing that person.  Accept that responsibility and do the right thing.  I recently came across a perfect Yiddish term for a wonderful character quality: mentsh.  It means a decent person, a good guy/gal.  Be a mentsh.

6.   When was the last time you convinced a really bright, young kid with a world full of potential, promise and options that a career in the insurance industry, specifically with your organization, represented an unequalled career opportunity? 

Quick test: You're 22 with a freshly minted college degree and no sense of your own "limitations".  Which option excites you?

a)   A job with an Internet company;
b)   Start your own business with some really smart friends;
c)   Go to work for an insurance agency / company (with a really progressive "Casual Fridays" policy during the summer)

This one hits us where we live.  I am still amazed that we (yes, we're in the insurance industry, too) were recently able to hire a very smart, young and talented Auburn graduate with a plate full of career options.  Now that he's here, we've assumed a huge responsibility to make good on the promises we made to get him here.  We also face the daunting challenge of continuing to evolve into the type of organization that will allow us to attract and keep the young talent that we'll need to succeed into the future.

7.    When was the last time you dove in way over your head at work?  When was the last time you tried something so hard and so ambitious it really frightened you?  Being exceptional requires a constant commitment to spending significant amounts of time outside the comfort zone.  A great question to this end is "what great thing would you attempt to do if you were sure you would not fail?"  If you can't point to at least one specific, ridiculous goal you're pursuing personally or professionally, you're probably not living an exceptional life.  Live an exceptional life.

Years ago, during my very first month with Reagan & Associates, I attended a "Top Agency" roundtable for agency principals.  An older attendee, who was by all outward appearances quite successful, prefaced his introductory remarks to the group with the following words:  "As I come to the conclusion of a thoroughly mediocre career..." His words make me cringe to this day.  I wonder if he ever asked himself any tough questions along the way about what it might take to be exceptional?

Tom Doran is a Principal and Senior Vice President with Reagan & Associates, an Atlanta-based management consulting firm that serves insurance agents, brokers and companies, as well as financial institutions.  Tom would appreciate your comments at tom@reagan-assoc.com.