4th Quarter Activities

4Th Quarter Activity

Everyone understands the concept of spring cleaning and the activities associated with renewal after winter. In our business, Fall, or the 4th quarter represents a period in our business cycle where we engage in specific activities required to finish the current year strong, and prepare for the next.

Traditionally, the 4th quarter is extremely busy for producers. We get pulled in many directions, and juggle new business production and renewals with holidays, vacations, and school breaks. If we’re not careful, the end of the year comes quickly leaving us short of our goals, with shrinking renewals and lackluster pipelines. We start off the new year under the gun playing catch up.

This blog is a short list of three major activities to focus on in the 4th quarter to help a enjoy a successful 4th quarter, the Holidays, and the start of a new year filled with opportunity and promise by focusing on the following:

Protect

• Visit top clients and perform stewardship activities
• Determine your clients level of satisfaction. If they are happy, they should not be shopping agents, just markets, and you’ll do the shopping for them.
• Solve any lingering issues, before the competition exploits them and gets in the door.
• Conduct a market analysis. P & C producers get BOR’s for markets you want to approach.

Prospect

• Assess opportunities – Clean out old prospects from pipelines
• Review all old prospects, evaluate and reload for 2011-2012.
• Ask clients and Influence centers for introductions
• Find key markets who are behind goal with your agency. Partner with them to write business before year end.

Plan

• Prepare your business plan for next year
• Set personal growth, retention and financial goals
• Review and contact 2011 -2012 opportunities
• Establish plan & back into activities required to hit goals
• Choose 1-2 areas of focus/ program/affinity
• Pick top 25 prospects you want to work on in 2012 and begin your marketing campaign now.

Simple? Yes. But aren’t most of the activities that create success? It’s in the doing that counts. Especially this time of year. It’s easy to get mired down in the minutia and we forget to look at the big picture. We’re driving 100 miles per hour and we blow by opportunities and forget to plan, prepare and execute. Pull the car over, survey the landscape, and plan for your success in the 4^th Quarter.

If you need help, contact us at info@iqsalescoach.com.

Good luck, have a great 4^th Quarter, and good hunting!