Do your "small accounts" need to remain small?
As an insurance business, you likely have a wide array of client accounts you work with on a daily basis. You probably have a few key accounts that take up the bulk of your time: they’re the large accounts that might include a full family of policies and require vigilant servicing. You likely also have a number of small accounts, which require less frequent servicing but still deserve the same level of high-quality service as large accounts.
Your small accounts don’t have to remain that way—there may be untapped potential revenue in your book of small accounts. Read on to learn how insurance BPO can help you improve service and increase revenue for your book of small insurance accounts.
Before you can begin increasing revenue from small accounts, you need to have a full picture of how your book of business stacks up. Every insurance business has a unique definition for small insurance policies. For some, small accounts are P&C policies under $500. For others, it might mean an employee benefits group client under $10,000. We find small accounts most commonly defined as policies and groups with a value under $2,500, but we can support whatever you call small.
When it comes to servicing, your internal team can only service so many accounts during the workweek. The “Big I” Best Practices report offers annual benchmark data for insurance businesses, segmented by revenue size. In 2019, the survey found that in most agencies with revenues under $10 million, the ten largest accounts are responsible for anywhere from 41.1 – 85.6 percent of total revenue, while agencies with more than $10 million in revenue received anywhere from 21.2- 34.6 percent of their total net revenue from their top ten accounts.
Those numbers are staggering: just ten accounts can bring in anywhere from a fifth to more than four-fifths of an insurance business’s total revenue. When just a handful of accounts are bringing in that much revenue, it means two main things:
- Those ten accounts likely require a lot of attention from your team.
- There are a large number of accounts that could potentially benefit from additional servicing and might not be living up to their full revenue potential.
To begin your journey to increasing revenue from small accounts, it helps to audit your existing book of business and identify which accounts are bringing in the bulk of your revenue, and which might present opportunities for improved service or increased revenue. A good BPO partner will help you conduct this audit as part of the initial setup process.
Once you’ve categorized your accounts by size, it’s time to determine a course of action. You likely want to keep your largest accounts in-house where you can keep a watchful eye on them and offer face to face service. Meanwhile you can safely move your smaller accounts to a BPO partner with no interruption of service or noticeable change for your customers.
When choosing to outsource your small accounts to a BPO partner, it’s important to keep in mind that they remain your accounts. Patra team members will work within your existing agency management system for servicing and renewals, and accounts can be easily transferred back in-house with a quick recoding in your agency management system.
Depending on your specific needs, you have options when you configure your Patra engagement for either P&C or Benefits: you can remain Broker of Record or have Patra become the Broker. Your agency goals will determine which option meets your needs. No matter which option is right for you, moving an account back to agency management is simple.
By focusing exclusively on your small accounts, our licensed agents can offer the highest quality service to these accounts without having to take your team away from key account servicing, admin tasks, or operational needs such as training or company meetings. Patra has more than 200 licensed agents in all 50 states, and as part of your BPO plan you’ll work directly with a designated account manager and backup account manager to ensure consistent, continuous support.
In addition to talented people, insurance BPO from Patra includes strong carrier relationships and proven processes that work directly with businesses of all sizes. Implementation of new technologies, onboarding of new carriers, and overall improvements to efficiency might not be immediately visible to your small accounts, but they will appreciate the timely, detailed service, including comprehensive quotes for both standard and non-standard business.
With demands on individual agents and CSRs constantly increasing, it’s difficult to retain your existing clients, let alone sell and onboard new business. The Patra model generates increased insured retention rates and enables more relationship development while significantly increasing client satisfaction. With comprehensive service from a licensed Patra agent, your small accounts are more likely to remain with your agency and request quotes for other insurance needs.
Patra offers a guaranteed return on commission for small account services, meaning increased margins on your books of small business, improved retention rates, and opening up your business to new opportunities. We make it easy to start small and adjust your partnership with us to meet your specific business needs. No other provider matches our scalability.
About Patra
Patra is a leading provider of technology-enabled outsourcing services and software solutions to the insurance industry. Patra powers insurance processes by optimizing the application of people and technology, supporting insurance organizations as they sell, deliver, and manage policies and customers through our PatraOne platform. Patra’s global team of over 6,500 process executives in geopolitically stable and democratic countries that protect data allows agencies/brokerages, MGAs, wholesalers, and carriers to capture the Patra Advantage – profitable growth and organizational value.
