by Kevin Stipe, January 2004

National Underwriter

Athough this week's Super Bowl will be the most widely-viewed sporting event of the year, not everybody appreciates the sport of football.  George Will, a lover of baseball notes that "football combines two of the worst things in American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings."

Regardless of whether you find yourself watching the Super Bowl for the competitive drama, or simply just for the commercials, you might consider the similarities in strategy between championship caliber football teams and Best Practices insurance agencies.

Solid defense is necessary for success, but cannot by itself win championships. Every year there are examples of teams that are great at keeping their opponent from scoring, but then lack the ability to score themselves.  Think of the Dallas Cowboys - they finished 1st in the NFC in total defense this year, but  since they were one of the league's worst offensive teams, they were bounced from the playoffs in the first round.

 Insurance agencies are no different.  An agency's defense is its customer service.  Many agencies we encounter possess a world-class defense, with client retention rates in the mid-to-high 90's.  These are agencies with well trained, technically astute professionals who rarely allow a competitor to take away a client.  But in terms of offense - which for an agency is proactive new business development - they themselves don't know how to score.  Sure, they can occasionally score when an opponent slips up and fumbles on the goal line, but in terms of consistent new business production, they simply aren't built for it.  They lack the personnel, and they lack a game plan.

Leveraging Impact Players is the key to success on offense.  There are two nearly-universal characteristics of great offensive teams: 1) they have one or more impact players and 2) they find a way to get the ball in the impact players' hands early and often.  Over the past decade, salaries for top players have skyrocketed as teams have recognized that a championship team cannot be built around middle-quality talent, particularly at the skill positions such as running back that are depended upon for scoring touchdowns.  And when a team steps up and spend tens of millions of dollars for a superstar running back, his coach won't then squander his talent by keeping him on the sidelines or asking him to play defense.

Producers are an insurance agency's Impact Players.  Every NFL coach knows the "gold standard" of performance for a great running back is to average 100 yards per game over the course of the 16 game season.  This year, as a group, the top 25% of the NFL's starting running backs achieved this time-honored benchmark.  What was the comparable "gold standard" of performance for commercial P&C producers?  The table below provides Best Practices Benchmarks for the industry's top salespeople.

IMPACT PLAYERS:  BEST PRACTICES AGENCIES' TOP PRODUCERS

How are these impact players achieving such outstanding results?  Aside from the obvious (they work hard!) they are properly equipped; they are surrounded by a supporting cast of professionals and organizational resources capable of freeing them to spend time selling. 

Interestingly, the Best Practices Study indicates that despite their already huge books of business, these producers consistently spend more than 1/3rd of their time on new business development.  The importance of this point cannot be overstated.  No matter what size your agency, freeing your producers to spend more time selling will probably have more to do with your future success than any other single factor.
 
Championship teams have leadership capable of inspiring teamwork, even when enormous egos are involved.  Two coaches who seem to be particularly effective in managing the egos of impact players are Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells.  Both coaches have won two Super Bowls, and their success has been due in large part to their ability to get the big-name, big-ego players functioning as team members.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their Super Bowl-winning head coach Jon Gruden demonstrated their understanding of this necessity when they shocked the NFL with the mid-season firing of star receiver Keyshawn Johnson, who had become a disruption to the team.  It was a gutsy move, but one that will likely pay off as other players (both current and future) recognize the organization's determination to build a true team.

Likewise, Best Practices agencies don't shy away from hiring superstars, but what makes them successful is their ability to get people working together as a team.  An impact player producer is ultimately only as good as the support team he relies upon, and the best ones recognize it.  We have encountered numerous agencies over the years that have simply not had the determination or the guts to deal with their Keyshawn Johnsons.  Over time, these individuals take a toll on an agency far greater than the value they bring to it.

In light of the similarities noted above, it isn't all that surprising that many Best Practices agencies are stocked with former athletes who thrive on competition.  They hate to lose, and despise the notion that "just being in the game" is enough.  They love competing against those who aren't as committed to winning as they are.  As age has caught up with them, they've been forced to trade in their cleats for a briefcase.  But although their "playing field" has changed, the thrill of winning never gets old.

Kevin Stipe is a senior vice president and principal of Reagan Consulting, Inc., an Atlanta-based management consulting firm that developed and produces the IIABA's Best Practices Study.  The Best Practices Study may be accessed free of charge at Reagan Consulting's website www.reaganconsulting.com.  Kevin may be reached at (404) 233-5545 or by email at Kevin@reaganconsulting.com