Automation in small business has been a hot topic for a while now but it still tends to bring more questions than answers for a lot of small business owners.

The truth is we all experience the same struggles in small business. We’re overwhelmed with:

  • marketing and generating new business
  • Sales, lead follow up and staying on top of our opportunities
  • Service, support and keeping our customers happy
  • Taking care of our team
  • Systems! All the systems. So many systems.
  • The list goes on…

So adding another thing to the table can further the SBO overwhelm.

But it should help alleviate some of the stress you feel just looking at that list.

So you know you should be automating things in your insurance agency, but what and how and where do you start?

This article isn’t a deep dive but more of an overview of the ways automation can actually help you run your show and stay on top of it all so you can evaluate your business and make the right decisions when it comes to finding a starting point.

3 ways automation actually helps your insurance agency.

1. Duplicate Yourself

“But I’m the best at it.”

I know I know I know. YOU are the only one that can really do that one thing really well. And that other thing. And the other one, too. It’s true. YOU are the best in your business because it’s your business.

Nobody else is ever going to care about, give to, or love your business the way you do. So the first value of automation is that you get to clone yourself.

You want things done and said your way. With automation, you can have it your way by automating your communications with leads and clients and even with your internal workflows.

For your spouse, maybe not, but for your business more of you IS a good thing. ;)

2. Put hours (and days) back on your calendar

After putting in 60-80 hours a week for long enough, you realize that time is the most valuable asset you have and that you can’t actually keep that pace up forever.

Even though there is an investment of time (or money) to make up front with automation, the payoff is incredible. After being able to save time with automation, you get that, “I could never go back to the old way” feeling about your business. It’s such a powerful experience to eliminate the tasks that used to weigh you down and drive you crazy.

Brandon Ream, VP at Stewardship Insurance in Gilbert, Arizona puts it best. You can see his take on automation here.

Cut down on your hours in the office and spend more with your family or actually, like, take a vacation.

3. Level up the whole team

You, insurance agency owner, are not the only one that gets frustrated with time-consuming tasks. Your team and their morale take a beating when everything is too manual, too.

Automation actually makes their lives better at the same time it gives you more control of your business.

Imagine how much happier your producers would be if they could walk in tomorrow morning with a calendar full of sales appointments they spent zero effort actually scheduling. With a dialed in sales system backed with automation, this can be the new normal for your agency.

Your team is spending less time following up and more time developing new business and have revenue generating conversations.

You know what that means, right?

Less Time + More Producing = Happier and more Valuable Employees. #math

– Real text from Brandon Smith at GiiG

We’ll dig in on this in the next few posts but hopefully, this gives you a little more understanding of the value automation can bring your business.

If you have questions, ask away in the comments!

If you already automate things in your business and want to further enlighten your peers, comment below!