Why You Should Participate in the Best Practices Agency Study

Since 1993, Reagan Consulting and the IIABA, “Big I,” have conducted the Best Practices Agency study to identify the top-performing agencies in the United States. Conducted on a three-year cycle, the study measures the operational performance of nominated agencies against critical industry and business benchmarks.

2019 marks a new cycle in the Best Practices Agency study. Agencies who believe they have the qualities of a Best Practices Agency and are interested in participating can now be nominated by Applied, as well as their regional IIABA association or insurer partners. To participate in the study, agencies are required to share key business practices and to complete an in-depth survey detailing your financial and operational year-end results. Results are scored and ranked objectively for inclusion based on operational excellence.

Reap the Benefits of Being a Best Practices Agency

As the Best Practices program has grown, being nominated and taking part in the study has become a prestigious recognition of the superior accomplishments of the top insurance agencies in the country. Best Practices agencies are viewed as the industry standard of excellence and looked upon for insights on how to drive superior operations and drive revenue among their peers.

If selected as a Best Practices Agency, your agency will receive:

• National exposure through ads in trade publications
• Invitation to the Best Practices Symposium, a multi-day event open only to Best Practices Agencies and study sponsors for networking and education
• Wall plaque and color copy of the media ad associating your agency with “Best Practices Agency” status
• Specialized media kit to announce status to clients, insurers, your community, including a “Best Practices Agency” logo

The return on time is enormous with the survey being beneficial even for an agency that does not receive the status of Best Practices Agency. By taking the time to participate in the survey, your agency will receive a free Agency Performance Analysis from Reagan Consulting which compares your results to those of your industry peers who are of a similar size in revenue. This provides invaluable data to your agency for its own future strategic, operating and financial planning. It provides the ability to critically assess and enhance your practices to improve agency performance beyond what a traditional internal review might stimulate. There is no better tool for an agency to use in clearly defining and communicating its goals to its staff than the directly applicable benchmarking data.

Participating in the Best Practices Agency Study Is Easier Than Ever

Submissions will now be managed through an online portal, significantly reducing the time to prepare the data workbook to less than a day. Additionally, Applied offers helpful guidance as part of our commitment to your success to streamline the submissions process. This includes a nomination submission, a step-by-step guide to quickly pull information you need for your submission directly from your agency management system, and access to a dedicated Applied Support resource to assist your agency through the reporting process.

If you question whether participating is worth the effort, we would unquestionably say yes. Even if you feel like you are not big enough or have not been in business long enough, apply anyway – you will create the internal procedures that will get you there in the future. Ultimately, the program provides great goals and diligent practices to enhance your agency’s performance and value.

For more insights on the Best Practices Agency study and the benefits this program can provide your agency, watch the Become a Best Practices Agency webinar we recently hosted with Reagan Consulting.

Best Practices, 2019