Are you overwhelmed with monthly tracking statistics and numbers? Insurance agencies have a myriad of options when it comes to tracking information. This information, when used correctly, can help give you a greater understanding of your book of business. But how do you know which monthly agent reports will truly help you get a better understanding? While top CRM and AMS tools help organize and explain your data, even they offer an overwhelming amount of report options. Here we talk about some of the top agent reports in insurance you should consider each month to maximize your information.
Big data vs. smart data: Understand the difference
Insurance agencies collect unlimited amounts of data on every aspect of their business daily. This massive amount of data, known as Big Data, can provide a wealth of information but is unstructured. Filtering out the needed information for analysis is necessary. Smart Data occurs when all the Big Data collected is optimized and analyzed based on specific industry needs.
But how does your business access Smart Data and how do you know which monthly agent reports you need to evaluate to truly improve your business? The answer is an insurance-specific AMS or CRM tool. Here you can access detailed reports on data that is key to your business growth and success. All your Big Data collected is processed automatically, and you can access real-time reports every month. Many AMS and CRM tools offer a myriad of options when it comes to monthly reports. Still, there are a few that most insurance agencies should consider evaluating monthly to discover potential growth opportunities and make the necessary changes.
Which monthly agent reports really matter to you
Once your CRM or AMS converts all your Big Data into Smart Data, you must determine which agent reports to focus on each month. While many reports may become a monthly staple, you may find business changes or concerns have you running additional reports throughout the year. Below we have some of the top monthly agent reports that can truly benefit your insurance agency.
New leads report
The new leads report shows all the new leads your agency brings in during a given month. This helps provide insight into which marketing campaigns are successful and where your marketing efforts may not be working.
Average policies per client
Cross-selling boosts both new agency business and customer retention, so this report can provide valuable insight. The average policies per client are calculated by dividing your total policies by the total number of clients, with the average agency number sitting at about 1.6. If your numbers run lower than this, it may be time to consider changes such as improved internal training for cross-selling, targeted customer email marketing campaigns, or increased follow-up calls to increase your monthly metric.
Production report
A production report shows all the new policies your agency brought in during the month. This report can be further broken down to include policy sales growth defined by the number of new clients, number of new policies, or a combination of both.
Close ratio
The close ratio represents the number of sales you make compared to the number of quotes given to prospective clients. Tracking close ratio provides you with insight into the effectiveness of your leads. To break it down further, you can break close ratios down by category to see which policy referral types result in the highest number of new policies. This lets you focus your resources on generating high-yielding leads and not following those leads that rarely turn into sales.
Sales growth
Sales and growth are essential for the health of your agency, so this is an important metric to follow regularly. This report shows the sales growth for a specified period, such as monthly, by the financial quarter, or over a fiscal year. You can further break this metric down based on new policy sales and renewals. This will show you where you see the most growth and how you can make changes to increase your potential growth. For example, if you see growth in new policies but not in renewals, you may need to work on a new strategy that focuses on client retention and policy renewals.
Average client acquisition cost
The average client acquisition cost metric is a great way to monitor your marketing practices and helps you evaluate if it is working. It takes the amount you spend on marketing divided by how many new clients you obtained. For example, if you spend $3000 in monthly marketing and gain 250 new clients, your CAC would be $12. This is how much it cost on average to convince a potential new client to purchase a policy. If this number becomes too high, it may be time to consider a good CRM tool, as well as making marketing changes.
Commissions report
Commissions reports show both the received and paid out commissions through your agency each month. A commissions received report shows you all the commissions received from all carriers during the month. This report can further be broken down by specific carriers or specific policy types. A commission paid out report shows the commissions paid to each agent during the month. This helps you see which agents are performing above average and can help evaluations during annual reviews.
Claims report
Claims reports can cover everything from the average cost per claim report to the average time to settle a claim report. An average cost per claim report can help you assess the risks associated with each type of policy, allowing you to adjust policy pricing as needed. Monitoring the average time to complete a claim allows you to keep the time low as this helps with customer retention.
Running your monthly agent reports with a quality CRM
Tracking monthly data is essential for the health and growth of your agency. While all this data can be overwhelming, a quality AMS or CRM tool can help organize your big data. It can provide you with a wealth of smart data that can truly help you make necessary changes within your agency to help you reach your business goals.
For more information about our insurance CRM software and how it can make a difference for your business, contact Better Agency today.