How Great Culture Can Drive Sales in Insurance

How can a great workplace culture drive sales in insurance? When we think about measuring success in sales, it can be easy just to consider concrete factors like numbers. However, it is also incredibly important to consider how the culture at your agency can drive sales in the long run. A great work culture pushes agents to take ownership of their roles and promote innovation and hard work. On the other hand, a toxic culture can be costly, especially if it causes burnout and high turnover. 

What are the traits of a great culture?

Each agency has its own unique culture that works best for their people. However, a great culture that drives sales consistently usually has several of the following characteristics:

• Clear vision: Agencies with a clear vision of who they are, what they value, and how they plan to achieve those values have a clear sense of direction that drives sales.

• Trust/Empathy: Agents and managers feel that they are able to trust one another.

• Inclusion/Ownership: Every agent feels included and like they are an important member of the team, leading them to take ownership of their own goals, which drives their engagement with their work and causes natural innovation. 

• Competition/Energy: A sense of friendly competition creates energy within the team. 

In contrast, if you see the following traits in your team, it may be a sign that you need to improve your company culture:

• High turnover: If agents are constantly leaving after a short time, this can indicate an unsatisfactory culture.

• Poor attitude: If agents constantly are in low spirits or unmotivated, this will naturally cause a decline in productivity.

• Tension between agents: A culture of unhealthy competition that causes too much tension between agents can actually be counterproductive to your bottom line.

If you haven’t before, now is a good time to reflect on your own company’s culture. What words would you or your team use to describe your company? Do you feel like you have a clear sense of the company’s vision, or does it feel indistinct and confusing? Answering these questions will help you understand the baseline from which you are working before you try to improve the culture.

Why do these traits matter in driving sales?

In general, the above list of traits drives sales because it leads to happier, less stressed employees. For example, Great Places to Work found of the top companies to work for, companies with high levels of trust and great culture led to half the rate of turnover. Because turnover is so expensive, retention is a great goal to keep in mind. Workplace culture directly impacts retention, which in turn directly impacts sales and overall costs. 

A great culture also can prevent quiet quitting and burnout. Unlike regular quitting, which is covered by retention, some employees in a toxic culture may choose to stay at the job but put only the bare minimum effort in, otherwise known as “quiet quitting.” This can happen when they become burnt out or don’t feel appreciated for the work that they do. Creating a culture that fosters inclusion, energy, and trust can prevent this and keep productivity up. It can also foster innovation – according to Great Places to Work, “when employees trust their employer, they work harder, contribute more, and drive higher levels of innovation and productivity. The highest levels of innovation occur when every employee is empowered to participate. For companies where higher numbers of employees report innovation and inclusion, median year-over-year revenue growth is more than five times higher than companies in the bottom quartile for connecting employees to innovation.” A great culture isn’t just a nice-to-have: it’s one of the pillars predicting your success!

How can you create a better culture to drive sales in insurance?

A few ways you can implement a culture that drives sales among your insurance agents include fostering friendly competition and showing appreciation for your team. Rather than pitting agents against each other, consider setting team goals or trying to beat your record from last year. You may even consider making the challenge fun in some way, such as having agents ring a special bell each time they make a sale! This can both build energy in the office as well as boost camaraderie among agents as they work toward a common goal. As long as everyone on the team feels the goal is fair and doable, this can be a great way to improve your culture. 

Another important aspect is making sure each team member feels important and appreciated. If you are the manager, you can do this by giving positive feedback and planning fun team appreciation events. This will promote motivation among your agents, allowing them to continue to drive sales!

Overall, it's up to you and your team to figure out what works best. We hope you use this article as a steppingstone toward building an even better culture that drives your sales!