Agency of the Month: Rough Notes Feature
Recently, our organization was featured as “Agency of the Month,” in the Rough Notes Magazine which is a publication for independent insurance agency professionals.
In the publication, the focus was on how our organization was attracting talent with an emphasis on personal growth along with agency growth. Building a successful agency is difficult, but the roadmap that the leadership team has paved led us to where the agency is today. Here are a few things our organization has implemented to get the agency to the level of success it’s at today:
- Focus on Personal Growth
Building an organization that is focused on creating a culture where you can grow both professionally and personally is key. Producer Eric stated, “Once I started at Snellings Walters, it became clear very quickly that I had made the right decision. At my previous job, work was separate from home, but that wasn’t the case here. That was transformational. The work/life balance is paramount here. Results are important, but balance is maintained.” If team members are crushing their goals at work, but failing at home, it’s a loss. Emphasizing a powerful work-life balance is what brings success. When your people are fulfilled, remarkable results for clients will follow.
- Alignment with Core Values
Within your organization, you should try to align your people with your core values. Developing a “why” for your organization and finding people who are on board with your company’s vision will make your business come to life. Principal Steve Harmon mentioned, “And eventually, we reached a level where alignment was achieved and where our business growth and personal growth occurred together. But there’s no denying that, for a while, it was challenging.” Once you have the right people in the right seat and are aligned with your vision, that’s where growth follows.
- Using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)
When our organization began to use EOS, a business management framework/model, everything in the agency changed. The organization finally had a tool for leadership to use to find out if they were doing a good job of keeping everyone aligned with our core values. CEO, Billy Potter, stated, “We started by creating an environment of accountability. We track everything that matters and have a metric on everything that we do.” Having a tool to use to keep us accountable later produces quality results for our clients.
Running an agency for over 70 years is a challenge, but finding tools and strategies along the way is what has kept us going. Our success is also attributed to the people that have come into our agency and have changed us for the better. Read the full Rough Notes feature here.
For a behind-the-scenes sneak peek of our Rough Notes photoshoot, watch the video below: