Is Your Agency Spinning Wheels?

Do you keep encountering the same problems in your agency? Do your producers, managers, and CSRs feel stressed with little to show for their effort? Has your team put a lot of energy into documenting processes only to discover the processes aren’t being followed? Do you add a few accounts, lose a major piece of business, and end up in the same place you started?

I lead a technology company that has struggled with many of these same issues. But it didn’t start that way. For years, our business grew without much difficulty. We were well-positioned to fill a need for many insurance agencies. Our clients sought really competent IT professionals who understood insurance agencies as well as they understood the technologies that serve them. That was us. And then we kind of hit a wall. Processes became overly complicated and roles were unclear. Our profitability and growth suffered. It was then that we discovered a toolset that helped us gain traction and address our pain points. It’s called EOS®, the Entrepreneurial Operating System.

EOS is a simple, yet powerful, methodology for achieving business success. It includes practical tools to bring tremendous focus, role clarity, and momentum to any business. When we deployed EOS, our leadership team raved about how it simplified our priorities and improved the effectiveness of our meetings. Naturally, the business results began to follow.

EOS is designed to strengthen the Six Key Components™ of any business:

1. Vision

The famed management guru the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland said
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” Any effective business management system needs to start with vision. By answering foundational questions that help you discern your agency’s purpose, passion, and destination you can clarify your vision for all your stakeholders.

2. People

Successful agencies start by having the right people in the right seats. The right people are those that share your core values. EOS shows you how to identify these right people to inform your hiring and performance management processes. Once you have the right people you need to get them in the right seats. This involves understanding their specific skills and passions relative to the roles in your agency.

3. Data

Successful agencies also keep score. They know the key measures that determine whether they are hitting their growth and profitability targets. They also understand and regularly track the lead measures that notify them quickly when they are getting off track.

4. Process

Effective executives understand they cannot scale their business unless they standardize their processes. Small agencies can get by using “muscle and feel”. But in order to grow, agencies need their team members to be working together in a consistent manner. Documenting processes does not need to be a tedious and painful experience. You can get maximum value from identifying the major steps to the most important processes and ensuring the processes are followed by all your members.

5. Issues

It’s not that successful agencies don’t have issues. In fact, success breeds change and change inevitably creates MORE issues. But the winners are the agencies that process issues most effectively. EOS provides a framework for identifying the most urgent issues and a simple process for addressing them.

6. Traction

The final component is the engine that ensures progress. It is called Traction™. It includes the planning and meeting rhythm processes that perpetually update your goals and priorities and keep your entire team on the same page. Traction is what ensures that your new habits will “stick” in your organization rather than become just another fad management initiative.

If you would like to learn more about how EOS can help your organization reach the next level, please visit our website. You can also visit the EOS Official Traction Library to learn about books that are available for every member of your organization.