AGENCY MANAGEMENT
THE PROBLEM WITH SILENCE In the midst of the most active M&A marketplace that our industry has ever experienced, often times there is still a cloud of secrecy that exists inside an agency about the agency’s future. That silence can often times lead to unintended and unfortunate outcomes especially in the case of talented and high performing staff members. Often times agency owners keep their plans and the plans that they have for their agency’s future to themselves. On one hand, this is understandable as some agency owners are uncertain about their plans. For those agency owners that do have an idea of what their future plans are, they may choose to keep that plan to themselves to either keep their options open or to avoid impacting their business in the form of lost accounts or carrier relationships. Many times, that silence can be detrimental to the agency. Buzz in the Industry Any person in our industry who is paying attention knows that the opportunity to sell at a high multiple has never been greater especially for well run, growing agencies that are over a million dollars in revenue a year. In some instances, the opportunity exists for smaller agencies. You can open any insurance magazine, look on social media or listen to industry podcasts and learn about agencies that have sold almost on a daily basis. In addition, there is a lot of buzz and conversations that occur about this activity and the impact it has on the staff and culture of agencies that have sold. 32 | APRIL 2022 |
wisconsin INDEPENDENT AGENT
This creates a level of uncertainty and concern for the staff that works in an agency that has an aging owner and the future plans are unknown, which describes the majority of agencies. How Do I Fit? When you combine silence with uncertainty, human behavior kicks in and causes many to form a story or prediction in their heads with the information that they have available to them. Some may start to ask more questions and if those questions go unanswered, they will look for signs, pay closer attention and fill in the gaps with the clues they see. An agency owner may interpret the questions as being nosey and avoid the question which may create even greater uncertainty. If viewed from the employee’s perspective, the agency owner will realize that the questions are being driven by the need to know what their future is and how the future of the agency may impact the employee directly. Understanding the generational differences goes a long way in understanding and interpreting these questions and anticipating the needs of your staff. For many, being a part of something is important and providing them with information that eases their minds and provides them with the reassurance that their environment is safe, predictable and provides them with ample opportunities is key. Silence accomplishes none of those things.
