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Read insights from future-thinking independent insurance agents to learn about the strategies and tactics that helped their agencies grow and thrive.

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Passing the Torch: Agents Share Their Advice for Succession Planning

When it comes time for agency perpetuation or succession planning, many independent insurance agency owners want to keep the business in the family.   According to the Liberty Mutual 2023 Agency Growth Study, internal perpetuation – or transferring agency ownership to a family or…
2021 AFTF Award 1 Dargan Thompson
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Want To Sell Your Insurance Agency? What’s Your Why?

One of the great mysteries I have found through my tenure is that no one tells a business owner what happens after selling their shop. It doesn’t matter if it’s an insurance agency, candle manufacturing, or beauty salon – selling brings some hard realities that you as a business…
Kevin Wheeler, CIC, CPIA, CFI
Article

3 Ways to Make Your Staff (and Clients) Happier

At Insurance Management Group (IMG), we experienced a radical transformation when we began giving extra attention to building a company culture of appreciation and inspiration. Our mission statement is to protect and inspire our clients, communities and co-workers one interaction at a time. We aim to live true to this…
Trent Dailey
Article

5 Tips to Drive Revenue and Efficiency Using Data

As the director of innovation at Insurica, one of the largest privately held independent agencies in the nation, I am a leader on an incredible team that harnesses data to push our people and revenue forward. We let the data tell us how we can drive efficiency and improve the…
Kylie Hubbard
Article

Two Strategies that Can Grow Women’s Careers in Insurance

In the two decades since I started my career in insurance, a lot has changed for women in the insurance industry, and some things are still a work in progress. While women outnumber men in insurance agencies, they are still underrepresented in agency leadership. Some women struggle to grow their…
2022 Agent for the Future Award Winners 5 Dawnyel Smink
Article

4 Tips for Selling Cyber Insurance in 2023

I started in the insurance industry right out of high school, and here I am 52 years later – an agent, risk consultant and overall insurance maven at L. Calvin Jones in Ohio. The last thing I ever thought I’d do was add “cyber diva” to my list of roles.
Mercy Komar, CIC, CyRM, MLIS
Publication: Agency Nation Radio

AN Radio: Women Blazing the Way in Insurance

Liberty Mutual VP of agent engagement and technology, Crista Walker, joins Agency Nation Radio to talk about the state of women in independent agencies and how the insurance industry, at both the individual and industry level, can support more women on their path to leadership.
Agency Nation Radio
Article

Meet the 2022 Agent for the Future Award Winners!

For five years now, the Agent for the Future Awards have honored the most future-thinking, growth-focused independent insurance agents and agencies. This year’s winners are making data-driven decisions to improve their agencies, giving back to their communities, using technology to drive efficiency and much more. Here are…
Agent for the Future™ Staff
Publication: Rough Notes

Digitally Savvy and Data-Driven

Agent for the Future Award media partner, Rough Notes, interviews the 2022 agency winners about innovation and how they stay ahead of emerging trends.
Apply for a 2020 Agent for the Future™ Award! 2 Dave Willis
Article

Success and Impact: 5 Questions with Jeff and Eboné Granger

“Success is one thing, impact is another.” This quote from former NFL linebacker Ray Lewis serves as a sort of mantra for Jeff and Eboné Granger, the husband-wife team at the helm of Granger Financial.  Click here to learn more about the Agent for…
Agent for the Future™ Staff
Article

The Past and Future of DEI in Insurance: 5 Questions with Joshua Morey

Joshua Morey is excited about the future of the independent insurance agency channel. But for the second-generation agency owner, the values of the past inform the path forward. For more than 40 years, the J. Morey Company has served Japanese American communities in Southern California. Under Joshua’s leadership, the company…
Agent for the Future™ Staff
Article

Leading a Third-Generation Agency: 6 Questions with Dana Dattola

 Click here to learn more about the Agent for the Future Awards As a third-generation agency principal, Dana Dattola knows that she can’t settle for the status quo. In the midst of her transition to full ownership of Weaver & Associates (in 2025, she…
Agent for the Future™ Staff
Article

Taking Action: How an Award-Winning Agent Embraced Change and Learned to Lead

This article is a repost of Rough Notes’ article about the winner of the 2021 Agent for the Future Emerging Leader Award. What happens when a health-only agency decides to branch out into the world of P-C, with the assistance of the agency owner’s son who has a background in…
Rough Notes Christopher W. Cook Christopher W. Cook
Article

How One Award-Winning Agency is Perpetuating Minority-Owned Agencies

This article is a repost of Rough Notes’ article about the winner of the 2021 Agent for the Future Award, Outstanding Agency Overall. For the past four decades, The J. Morey Company, Inc., has maintained a clear focus on growth. Established in Cerritos, California, in 1980 by John, Jack and…
Apply for a 2020 Agent for the Future™ Award! 2 Dave Willis
Article

From CSR to Agency Owner: One AFTF Award Winner’s Journey

This article is a repost of Rough Notes’ article about the winner of the 2021 Agent for the Future Award, Outstanding Female Agency Principal. Surprised … grateful … proud … and determined to be worthy of the honor she achieved. These words describe the emotions Kristin Garlow experienced upon learning…
Elisabeth Boone
Article

Changing the Narrative: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome and Getting More Women into Sales Roles

As a woman in insurance, I’ve often fought to overcome my own self-doubt as well as correct others’ perceptions of me. In the area of the Midwest where my agency is located, I can only name five or six agencies that are owned by women. Leadership in most agencies is…
Starting Conversations About Diversity in the IA Channel Raina Walton
Article

Women, to Grow Your Career in Insurance, Find a Female Mentor

I always knew I wanted to own my own business, but my path to being owner and president of Mountain State Agency Alliance (MSAA) was a long one. I star­ted my career in insurance as an intern when I was still in high school. After graduating college, I took a job at MSAA,…
2021 Agent for the Future Award Winners 4 Kristin Garlow
Article

Meet the 2021 Agent for the Future Award Winners!

For the past four years, the Agent for the Future Awards have recognized the most forward-looking and digitally savvy independent agencies. Click here to learn more about the Agent for the Future Awards This year’s Awards featured new categories dedicated to celebrating agencies and individuals…
Agent for the Future™ Staff
Article

How to Find, Build and Succeed in an Insurance Niche

Finding and building a specialized insurance practice can be challenging. In a recent PC360 webinar, Finding Success in a Niche Market: Building Blocks for Agents & Brokers, sponsored by Safeco Insurance, agents and industry experts shared their tips for building a brand as a niche expert. Here are some…
Agent for the Future™ Staff
Article

6 Hiring Tips from Independent Insurance Agency Leaders

Struggling with hiring and staffing in your agency? You’re not alone. Finding and hiring top talent can be tough. The insurance industry is facing a talent crisis. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 400,000 insurance employees are set to retire within the next few years. And younger generations…
Agent for the Future™ Staff
Article

Human-Centered Agencies: How Caring for Your People Benefits Your Business

Several years ago, I was shocked to learn that only around 30 percent of U.S. employees felt engaged at work. In the years following that realization, I set out to increase employee engagement in my agency, and I shared some of my tips for doing so with Agent for…
The Future of Culture in the IA Channel 1 Ashley Whitney
Article

To Attract and Keep Top Talent, Provide a Clear Career Path

Like many independent insurance agents, I started out in the captive world. For a long time, that was just how it worked. Captive companies offered training and resources, so aspiring agents would start there, then go independent after they learned how to sell insurance. Instead of hiring and training new…
The Future of Talent in the IA Channel Jack Hoedeman
Article

How to Build an Award-Winning Agency Culture

Applications are now open for the 2022 Agent for the Future Awards! Click here to learn more. At RISKSOURCE Clark-Theders, we have a plan for everything, including our workplace culture. Every year, we create an annual culture plan, based around a theme. For…
Jonathan Theders
Publication: Rough Notes

Working Her Magic: A Young Refugee Builds an All-Virtual, 100%-Remote Agency and Wins Raves from Her Clients

Majda Baltic runs a fully virtual agency. Read about how her digital approach earned her rave reviews from clients and recognition as the 2020 Agent for the Future Emerging Leader Award winner in this Rough Notes feature.
Elisabeth Boone
Article

AFTF Emerging Leader Discusses How High Digital Adoption Led Her Agency to Grow by 4x

Majdas Touch Insurance won the 2020 Agent for the Future Emerging Leader Award. Here, the agency’s founder shares her journey of launching a fully digital agency.  Click here to learn more about the Agent for the Future Awards From the beginning…
Section 2: High Adoption = High Growth 1 Majda Baltic
Article

2020 Agent for the Future Award Winners Highlight How Agencies Are Evolving

Now in its third year, Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance’s Agent for the Future Award celebrates the most forward-looking, digitally savvy independent insurance agencies. This year’s award winners have cultivated new capabilities, accelerated their digital presence and pivoted to find new ways to attract and retain customers – all during…
Agent for the Future™ Staff
Publication: Rough Notes

RiskSOURCE Clarke-Theders Nabs National Honor for Innovation and Forward-Thinking Strategies, Tactics

Rough Notes editor Dave Willis talks with the 2020 National Agent for the Future Award winner, RiskSOURCE Clark-Theders to learn more about what sets the agency apart and why it earned the coveted title.
Apply for a 2020 Agent for the Future™ Award! 2 Dave Willis
Article

How One Award-Winning Agency Is Accelerating Its Tech Investments

Excalibur Insurance Group’s tech innovations earned them the inaugural National Agent for the Future™ Award in 2018. Here, Excalibur CEO Jeff Roy shares how his agency is continuing to adapt for the future. This year has driven changes in the independent agent channel faster than…
Apply for a 2020 Agent for the Future™ Award Jeff Roy
Article

How We Focused on Digital and Rebuilt Our Commercial Business Niche by Niche

POWERS Insurance & Risk Management is a niche-focused agency. This year, we had planned to focus on four different niches: private client, cannabis, construction and hospitality. Historically, hospitality was our largest niche for premium. This year has been challenging, to say the least. However, POWERS, is on track to turn…
Agency Success Stories 4 Tim Davis
Article

Caring for Your Team in the Era of Remote Work: 3 Crucial Components

Culture has always been extremely important in our agency. Our team is constantly doing fun things together in and outside of work – monthly team meetings, potlucks, happy hours, barbecues, basketball games, Christmas parties, birthday celebrations. We volunteer together at least four times a year and support various nonprofits in…
Future of Workplaces for Insurance Agencies Sara Hoffman
Article

Digital Marketing Personas: How to Reach Your Ideal Customer Online

The days of taking a “spray and pray” approach to marketing are long gone. Focused digital marketing is the new norm, and customers have come to expect marketing content that is customized to their needs and interests. Digital tools have made it easier to reach the people you want to…
Digital, Accelerated 2 Dshanya Reese
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Digital, Accelerated: How Digital Tools Helped My Agency Grow

Historically, Castell Insurance has been a very brick and mortar, traditional agency. As a family agency in a small town, we are hyper community-focused and local. Until recently, we did nearly all of our business in-person. Every client had to come into the office even for simple tasks like signing…
Digital, Accelerated 1 James Castell
Article

Digital, Accelerated: How to Use Video to Connect with Customers

In a society where people are surrounded by images everywhere, video can be a powerful tool for agents to build personal relationships with clients. People like to do business with people they know, like and trust, and video gives clients a sense of an agent far beyond what they can…
Opportunity of Video Ashley Abrams
Article

Digital, Accelerated: A Quick Guide to Getting Digital

Imagine if your independent insurance agency was on fire – what would you have to grab on your way out the door to make sure your agency could still function? As a digital agency owner, my answer is simple: I wouldn’t need to grab anything. I would still be…
Home 2 Erin Nutting
Article

Starting Conversations About Diversity in the IA Channel

By 2060, racial minorities will make up more than half of the total population in the U.S. This shift has already happened in younger populations – Brookings found that 44 percent of millennials are nonwhite. When I heard some of the statistics about race and diversity…
Starting Conversations About Diversity in the IA Channel Raina Walton
Article

Going Rogue: Ryan Hanley’s New Venture

Many people in the independent insurance agency space know Hanley from his time at Agency Nation and TrustedChoice.com – where he hosted podcasts, created videos, emceed Elevate conferences and much more. After leaving Agency Nation in 2018, Hanley worked at insurtech company Bold Penguin. But when a family member got…
Agent for the Future™ Staff
Article

Agent for the Future™ Regional Awards Identify Growth Trends for Independent Insurance Agents

Independent insurance agents from across the country share their strategic initiatives for a chance to win a $5,000 donation to a nonprofit of their choice in first-ever regional awards.
Agent for the Future™ Staff
Article

How Finding Our Niche Led to Our Agency’s Explosive Growth

It’s been almost 10 years since my business partner Zack Gould and I started G&N Insurance. Since then, G&N has grown around 30 to 45 percent each year. We now serve 15,000 clients, and we’re on track to finish this year with about $30 million in written premium.
Matt Naimoli
Article

Meet the 2019 National Agent for the Future Award Winner: Paradiso Insurance

We’re honored to announce the winner of the 2019 Agent for the Future Award: Paradiso Financial & Insurance Services.
Agent for the Future™ Staff
Article

3 Ways to Increase Employee Engagement in Your Agency

A few years ago, I heard a workplace statistic that shocked me: only 31 percent of the American workforce felt engaged at work.
The Future of Culture in the IA Channel 1 Ashley Whitney
Article

The Customer Experience Blueprint: How We Mapped Our Moments of Truth

Independent agents work hard for our clients, but much of it is behind the scenes. Clients are often unaware of our efforts.
Bob O'Brien
Article

Running a Lean, Mean, Digital Agency Machine

I didn’t set out with the intention of creating a completely digital insurance agency.
Home 2 Erin Nutting
Article

3 Predictions for the Future of Insurance Technology

One of my earliest experiences with insurance technology was helping my dad set up the first computer in his agency when I was a teenager. Using a computer for insurance quotes was very innovative back in 1989.
Apply for a 2020 Agent for the Future™ Award Jeff Roy
Article

Meet the 2018 National Agent for the Future Award Winner: Excalibur Insurance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE EXCALIBUR INSURANCE WINS SAFECO’S® 2018 AGENT FOR THE FUTURE™ AWARD “I believe growing up in a community of dedicated farmers reinforces a culture of resilience, innovation and a help-your-neighbor attitude. There’s no question that it’s elevated our team’s ability to continuously innovate and champion…
Apply for a 2020 Agent for the Future™ Award Jeff Roy
Success and Impact: 5 questions with Jeff and Eboné Granger 1

Agent for the Future
Success and Impact: 5 Questions with Jeff and Eboné Granger

2021 Agent for the Future Award winners Jeff and Eboné Granger of Granger Financial share their path from captive to independent agency and how their community involvement helps their agency succeed.

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