Yep. It’s that time of year again where all we hear about is goal setting, resolutions, and ambitious plans to achieve them.
Instead of going over “SMART” goals (because let’s face it, while it's helpful information, we’ve all heard it countless times since grade school), I’ve scoured the internet for some unique goal setting tips.
In the process of my research, I actually found a lot of articles that are super helpful for me in my personal and professional life!
So let’s get into it!
2 types of goals that are vital to success
The End Result Goal
The first type of goal is pretty standard - it’s an end result goal. (Insurance Splash)
For example, your agency might have a goal that by the end of 2024, you’ll have increased your retention rate by 4%.
These end result goals serve as a vision for your agency and help you determine what you should be spending your time and resources on.
Short-Term Behavior Goals
The second kind of goal is for the short-term. We’ll call them behavior goals.
Daily, weekly, and even monthly behavior goals are there to support and ultimately make it possible for you to reach the big end result goal. (Insurance Splash)
These two types of goals work hand in hand.
For example, if your end result goal is to increase retention by 4% by the end of the year, you’ll now break that down into shorter term goals.
Maybe the way you’ll get there is by holding regular customer insurance reviews - so how many appointments do you need each month? Each week? What does that look like from day to day to keep appointments on the calendar?
Desmond Tutu once said,
“There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time.”
Setting the end result goal is easy - however, without breaking down the goal into smaller, bite-size pieces, your end result goal will likely become a mere wish.
(It should go without saying that your goals should be specific and measurable - vague goals bring vague (if any) results.)
Incentivize your goals - (in the long-term AND the short-term)
Just as there are long-term goals and short-term goals, there should be long-term incentives AND short-term incentives.
In a study done by Harvard Business Review, they found that short term incentives/rewards are more influential than the long term incentives or benefits received by reaching the goal.
“People overestimated how much delayed benefits influenced their goal persistence…”
“We found this pattern - immediate benefits are a stronger predictor of persistence than delayed benefits - across a range of goals, in areas including fitness, nutrition, and education . . .Caring more about the delayed health benefits of their exercise, such as “staying fit”, did not affect how many minutes they spent on the cardio machine.”
“By making the experience more rewarding in the moment, you’ll have a better chance at success.” (Harvard Business Review)
It’s important to incentivize yourself and your team with long term rewards, but make sure you’re also getting rewarded for the smaller milestone goals - this will keep the momentum moving forward to success!
Regularly Check-in
Regularly checking in on your progress is a must.
Maybe you’ll see after some time working toward your goals that the goals you’ve set aren’t stretching you far enough, or maybe the reverse could be true.
Don’t be afraid to adjust your goals as you see fit.
We learned through the pandemic that most business meetings can just be emails, however, a regular, straight to the point meeting to evaluate the week or month will keep everyone on the same page about how things are going.
Over the past years at Engagex, our executive team has been really effective with monthly “Growth Update” meetings.
Carter, our CEO, goes over our growth (or lack of growth) from each month, the broken down metrics from each department, our bonuses(shorter term incentives), and what the next month will look like.
We leave the meeting knowing exactly what we should be aiming for in the next month from marketing leads, sales, names collected for appointment setting, appointments set, new employees needed, etc.
That brings me to my final point.
A united front is essential for success
Help each of your team members see their role in the big picture - “different roles, same goals”. (Go Nectar)
Including your team in goal setting will also help you see what’s realistic vs. what might not be.
Once your team members start taking ownership of these goals as their own, there’s not a whole lot that can get in your agency’s way of success.
Setting Goals for Your Annual Insurance Review Program
I’m willing to bet that holding customer insurance reviews with your current clients will help you to reach whatever your 2024 goals are.
As you’re probably aware, these meetings give you cross-selling/multi-lining opportunities, referrals, and increased retention.
A common goal among insurance agents is to invite all of their customers in for a customer insurance review over the course of about a year.
But what does that look like from month to month, week to week, and even day to day?
Luckily, we’ve actually done the work for you in this aspect!
Fill out the quick form here to get your own customized Customer Insurance Review plan based on the size of your book of business.
We’ll let you know how many of your customers should be contacted each month, how many phone calls should be made, how many dials per hour you’ll need to get there, and how many calling hours you’ll need per month to reach that goal.