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How to actually get better results: Closing the Capability Gap in Middle Market Insurance

February 27, 2024 – 4 min read

Randy Schwantz in Insurance Agencies

Randy Schwantz in Insurance Agencies

Unlock the secret to closing the Capability Gap in your team with actionable insights and key metrics. Learn how to measure and boost your producers’ effectiveness for unmatched success in middle-market insurance.

Read this statement for me: 

 

“ Good leaders don’t blame tools for poor performance. If your team is struggling, the first place to look is in the mirror. How are you coaching them to use what they know, fill in what they don’t, and apply it all in a way that beats the competition? It’s about accountability, strategy, and execution. ”

 

That’s a decent pep talk right?

But it doesn’t actually help make things actionable for leaders. 

 

So I’ll do you one better. I’ll explain how to close the Capability Gap. 

Closing the Capability Gap means having numbers to look at first

I already introduced you to the Capability Gap in my previous article. If you haven’t read it yet, find it right here. 

 

To close it, we first need to identify and control what the variables are that drive the outcome we want. And to do that, we need to get our hands on some numbers. Not numbers on the outcome, but on the effort. 

How do you measure the capability gap?

“What gets measured gets managed”. That’s what they say right? Well when you think about it, every producer should be very clear on what they should be doing, and how often they should do it to make more money.

 

Every producer should have a scorecard. 

 

That way you can actually answer the key question: “How effective are your producers?”

 

Being able to read the metrics is going to tell you a lot and, and here’s the deal, we need to do this with our core producers because that’s where the mass is for most of you. 

 

So what metrics do we want to evaluate to win in Middle-Market Insurance? 

Here’s the metrics I identified for you:

Real Strategies for Real Results

If you can put a number to each of these variables, you’ll know exactly how effective your producer is. It will show you the gap between where they are now, versus where they should be.

Capabilities Producer's Scorecard

It’ll tell you where they are now compared to what their capability is.

How to read the numbers to identify the Capability Gap

This is an actual example of a report that comes right out of Bignition. 

How do you measure the capability gap

Let’s break this down:

This person has 88 prospects and 97 suspects. Suspects are just research, prospects are actual people. 

This dude should be calling to set appointments.

Look at those 88 prospects

  • 74 have revenue but 14 don’t. 
  • 41 have a renewal date but 47 don’t. 
  • 17 of the primary contacts have an email address, 71 do not.
  • 16 have a phone number, a bunch of them don’t.

So you think about this, look at these measurables. How’s this dude or dudette gonna be effective prospecting this? This is truly their prospect database and most of this information is missing.

With those variables and with those metrics, look how big the gap is. It’s massive! And it’s clear what they should be doing to close – that – gap.

You want to win in middle-market insurance? Then you should be able to get this insight for every variable. 

It all starts with identifying what your producers are actually capable of. How? Read about it in this article:

How to get your producers to become more effective overnight: using the Capability Gap to identify their true capabilities

 

Want to have direct access to those variables at your fingertips? Apply to work with Randy right here.

How The Wedge Sales Culture Drove New Business Growth

The Wedge Sales Culture is credited as the engine of this growth, and this case study explores how the agency has implemented and benefited from this process.

“Hire Producers with Confidence” Use Our Evidence-Based Interview Process to Eliminate Candidates Who Don’t Have GRIT

With my evidence based interview process you can be sure that your next hire has the GRIT to fight through walls and achieve success selling commercial insurance.

 

Growing Your Agency Just Got Way Easier

Do you want to work with me to grow your agency?

Take 90-seconds to complete this application

to see if you are eligible for a Growth Session.

How the Wedge Sales Culture Drove New Business Growth

The Wedge Sales Culture is credited as the engine of this growth, and this case study explores how the agency has implemented and benefited from this process.

“Hire Producers with Confidence” Use Our Evidence-Based Interview Process to Eliminate Candidates Who Don’t Have GRIT

With my evidence based interview process you can be sure that your next hire has the GRIT to fight through walls and achieve success selling commercial insurance.

Growing Your Agency Just Got Way Easier

 

Do you want to work with me to grow your agency?

Take 90-seconds to complete this application

to see if you are eligible for a Growth Session.

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