It's April, it's springtime, and it's the time when young men's thoughts turn to...wait, this is a business blog. This is the time when agency owners’ thoughts turn to money and to profit-sharing.
It's profit-sharing season! Right now, many agency owners are dancing a jig with joy. They're counting tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of dollars in bonus income that they're receiving because of last year's outstanding performance with preferred carriers. They are reaping the rewards both for new business production, but also for profits that they've created for their best partners. Other agents are looking on with incredible jealousy. They may not have gotten profit-sharing at all, or maybe just a pittance.
What's the difference?
The difference is that the guys who are excited had a plan. All last year they worked to maximize the business they wrote with their best carriers. They also made sure that companies that don't pay them profit sharing didn't get any of their business. They compensated both their producers, and especially their CSR's, with bonuses to put business with the companies that pay them the most money. Maybe they even had disincentives in place for writing business with carriers who don't pay profit sharing. Those agents are making an enormous amount of more money in their agencies in April, and all year long, compared to agents who pay no attention to where their business is placed.
I hope you're one of the agents who is dancing for joy for the money that you've made, the business you've built, and the value you've created in your agency. But if you're not, don't despair! This is the year you can make a difference. You can change your behavior, and particularly your staff’s behavior, so that next year in profit sharing season, you, too, are dancing with joy.