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For over 30 years, Iroquois has helped its Members take their agencies to the next level in growth, revenue and agency value. We do this by tailoring our services and benefits to meet the needs of each Member Agency. The following is a list of services available to Iroquois Members.
In 2010, Iroquois introduced a new analytical process to help Member Agents and prospective Members identify their short- and long-term goals, the Success Strategies needed to reach those goals, and the Stress Points that must be managed or overcome so they don’t prohibit success. The new process is called the Agency Accelerator Assessment, or A3 for short.
The A3 is prepared by an Iroquois Regional Manager through a series of discussions or interviews with the agency principal and at least one other member of the agency staff (i.e. a producer or CSR). The first part of the A3 is a current Carrier Evaluation, whereby the agency evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of its current carrier partners and determines if additional or different carriers are needed to foster long-term growth and profitability.
The A3 also includes an assessment of the agency’s Human Resources and Training, Marketing and Sales, Benchmarking, Technology and overall agency Challenges. At the end of the process, Iroquois provides the agency principal with a Summary Report of the answers to the Assessment questions and the strategies or tools that Iroquois can provide to address those needs. The A3 analysis gives an agency principal a consultant-quality analysis of his or her agency, at no charge and with no obligation to implement any of our recommendations.
Iroquois’ Market Optimization process involves analyzing an agency’s current carrier relationships and carrier needs to help determine the most beneficial, productive and stable assortment of carriers available. Optimizing markets will allow the agency to profitably write and retain more business over the long term, for its benefit and that of its current and future clients. (It isn’t about more or less markets, but about identifying the right ones.)
Once the optimum market mix has been identified, then we can help the Member Agency develop a plan to transition from their current markets to the optimum mix. Some agencies only need minor fine tuning to reach their optimum mix, while others may need to make significant changes. Either way, Iroquois is willing and able to assist its Members with this process and to help them maximize the upside potential and minimize the transition downsides.
When transitioning to the optimum market mix, an agency must sometimes eliminate weak or broken carrier relationships. Often, agents are hesitant to end a carrier relationship -- regardless of how unproductive it may have become -- due to concern for the short-term disruption and cost to staff and clients. Iroquois’ Market Alignment Program (MAP) and ReMarketing Program were designed to address these concerns. Through these programs, Iroquois representatives help manage the entire process; minimizing the resulting disruptions and expense to clients, the agency and its staff; and maximizing the benefits of the change for all concerned. In many cases, Iroquois can provide financial incentives to move or consolidate books to one of our core carrier partners.
Iroquois is committed to helping its Members improve their financial results. One financial tool available to Member Agents in the top 2 levels of the PartnerPlan is the Agency Financial Benchmarking Analysis. This complimentary service involves a highly confidential analysis of the Member’s latest full year Income and Expense Statement, comparing the Member’s income and expenses to those of average peer agencies and to those of top performing peer agencies. Meaningful differences between the Member’s actual results and those of their average and best-performing peers are noted and, where appropriate, recommendations are provided on actions that may improve the Member’s results. Agencies benefit by knowing that their advertising or vehicle expenses, for example, may be out of line with comparable agencies, but as with all Iroquois programs, the agency principal is under no obligation to make changes or act on any recommendations.
Iroquois provides a special service for its Member Agents who may be interested in either buying or selling an agency. Interested Members may confidentially register for the EXCHANGE Program, which features a database of enrolled Members and the parameters of their desired purchase or sale. (This is NOT a listing that other Members will see but rather a confidential, “behind the scenes” matching service.) Iroquois will notify participants when we identify either a prospective buyer or seller who meets the Member’s pre-determined specifications.
Iroquois is committed to stimulating growth for its Member Agencies and Carrier Partners. One strategy for stimulating growth is the Iroquois Producer Financing Program (PFP), whereby Iroquois co-invests with select Member Agencies in the cost to hire and train new producers. This program is designed to benefit all parties involved: the Member Agency, new Producer, Carrier-Partners and Iroquois. See your Iroquois Representative for more details.
Note: This program is available to members at levels 1, 2 or 3 of the PartnerPlan.
Iroquois’ more than 1,800 Member Agents share a common need to find, hire, train and develop the right employees to help their agencies grow and thrive. To help its members with this critical function, Iroquois worked with insurance consultants George Nordhaus and Virginia Bates to introduce Iroquois Hiring Systems (IHS).
IHS is a web-based Human Resources portal, providing valuable tools and information on the candidate assessment and hiring process. IHS takes you beyond simple resume review and standard interviewing, enabling you to focus on objective assessment techniques to learn who a candidate is and what they do, not just what they say.
Iroquois Hiring System assessments help:
• Zero in on a candidate’s thinking style, behavioral traits and insurance skills all at once.
• Insure that candidate interviews are incisive and productive.
• Remove the uncertainties of the selection process.
The assessment tools are available to Iroquois members at a discounted price.
Iroquois Institute:
In 2010, we introduced The Iroquois Institute, a source of valuable training information and materials for Iroquois Member Agencies. Noted industry experts act as “Professors” in providing our Members with training and information to improve the productivity, efficiency and profitability of their agencies.
Under the auspices of The Iroquois Institute, qualifying Member Agencies can send producers to carrier-sponsored training programs at little or no cost. (Ask an Iroquois Representative about the Iroquois Training Program.)
The Institute also makes available additional tools and resources to help both new and seasoned producers write more new business.
First Friday Webinar Series:
In October 2010, The Iroquois Institute began a series of 12 monthly webinars by noted agency owner and trainer Scott Addis. Each webinar is part of a coaching and training process developed by Addis Intellectual Capital (AIC) to differentiate and elevate Member Agencies in the marketplace. As Members move through the First Friday Webinars they will gain confidence, clarity, simplicity, purpose and passion. They will begin to see themselves and their eam as consultative, diagnostic trusted advisors, much like that of a CPA, attorney or physician.
Addis, the developer of the Beyond Insurance® First Friday Webinars has already put these strategies to work to create a hugely successful agency. His concepts have been “game tested” in over 1,500 engagements covering over 75 industries. Addis has personally produced over $100 million of premium using these strategies, with a 95 percent new business hit ratio and 99 percent retention.
The Iroquois Group is a service provider for independent property and casualty insurance agencies. We are currently supporting over 1,800 agencies in 37 states. We don’t fit into any easily defined categories. The label most often applied is "Insurance Network," but we are very different from our competitors.
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Iroquois Group, Inc.
35 W Main St.
Allegany, NY 14706
Phone: 716.373.5511
Fax: 716.373.5516
©2010. All Rights Reserved To The Iroquois Group.
