The Great Reinvention
2 min read
I was on a video podcast last week discussing, “The Great Reinvention” with Craig Picken and the response from viewers was astounding on both LinkedIn and in my website comments.
We cited three case studies of my insuring clients reinventing their firms. Here are the summary highlights:
Three Results occurred:
· Client #1: Grew from 13 to 75 staff in less than ten years.
· Client #2: Has achieved 91% retention of employees hired after three years.
· Client #3: Grew top line sales by 20% + annually over the past two years after five years of flat growth
How did they do this?
Client #1:
This is a client from Northern Virginia. They actually have an “Academy Awards” type ceremony each year to recognize and reward their employees. I have been invited and saw for myself the excitement. You simply cannot put a price tag on the goodwill generated amongst the troops!
- They invested in collaboration software to enable staff to work remotely BEFORE the Pandemic.
- They invested in Top Talent by recruiting from out-of-market areas to bring in top talent at reasonable compensation levels. Proven remote work environment technology enabled them to do this.
- They are totally client-focused and NOT producer-focused. The account management team appreciates this focus and the clients love them for it.
Client #2:
- Uses a state-of-the-art interactive online assessment tool to test prospective hires – at the beginning of the hiring process NOT at the end as most do.
- The assessment benchmark targets are calibrated on current peak-performing staff to ensure the candidates have attributes, skills, and traits that are in direct alignment with peak performers in similar roles already in the firm.
- They enlist the services of an outside consultant to identify which attributes, skills, and traits go with each individual position.
Client #3:
- Enlisted an executive to come in and brainstorm with the sales leaders on staffing issues, resource constraints, and other obstacles preventing sales growth.
- Problems uncovered were continuous sales commission structure changes, lack of direct marketing technology, no activity benchmarking, and lack of ownership on the part of the Sales VP. The sales commission structure was reset and made permanent.
- Activity benchmarks including calls, emails, meetings, proposals, closing ratios, social media postings, etc. were mutually agreed upon and measured, and posted on a weekly basis.
- A culture of extreme ownership was adopted by both sales leadership and sales agents.
Much like people, it’s never too late for your firm to reinvent itself!
