"Improving Your Business Plan for 2018 and Beyond Making New Year’s resolutions is a familiar part of life, but few agency directors consider applying this strategy to the improvement of their business planning. In fact, making a clear and specific business plan at any time of year can be a serious struggle to accomplish. Many agency directors and independent agents simply do not know how to make a business plan and so fail to maximize the various opportunities for excellence and growth that come along. This year, implement these strategies to begin planning for the upcoming year. You can make 2018 the most rewarding year you have ever had. Hit the Books and Learn More About Marketing Unless you happened to study marketing in school, you probably have not been exposed to formal ideas about marketing and promotion. Marketing is a lot more complicated than developing some advertisements and putting them out into the world. You have to consider factors such as:

• Demographic information of your target audience
• Identifying unserved segments of your target population
• Tracking marketing efforts and pinpointing areas needing improvement
• Developing sales tactics that match your business objectives

You can learn a lot about the very latest developments in the world of marketing by simply reviewing some recent publications, including magazines. A dedicated study of new marketing research can help you refine your approach to doing business. Get Better at Talking to Yourself Your sales conversations have the power to close the deal – or send a customer running the other direction. Past learning a few basic talking points, many agents fail to continue to work on their sales conversation. This leaves you at a pretty elementary level of conversation; if you think about it, this might be why your business is failing to see the success that it really deserves to have. You can get better at having sales conversations by practicing them with greater frequency. Talk to yourself in a mirror to pinpoint the little tics and quirks that you naturally exhibit; strive to smooth these over so your conversation flows easily and naturally. Many business coaches use similar exercises to help their clients gain confidence in their speaking ability. You can consider working with a coach to give yourself an extra level of skill in this regard. Update That Old Website Has it been a couple years since your website was last updated? If so, you are overdue for a website overhaul. Those old graphics should be replaced with something sleeker and the website architecture itself should be examined for compatibility with all current devices. Website compatibility is a major concern since more and more people are using their mobile devices as their primary portal to the internet. If a website cannot display correctly on a mobile device, users are cut off from everything you have to offer. A good developer will be able to identify any compatibility problems and provide relevant solutions. Working with an experienced web developer, especially one that specializes in creating websites for insurance agencies, are capable of giving your online presence a sleek new look that draws people in, educates them about what you do, and urges them to contact you for more information. Get Busy on Social Media Social media is used by virtually everyone; whether it’s photo sharing on Instagram or following the news on Twitter, social media platforms command lots of attention. Your insurance agency should be represented on social media accounts so current and prospective customers can find you easily. Revitalize Your Insurance Agency A great business plan gives you guidance when the going gets tough and helps you stay on target when growth starts to accelerate. Your plan should be a coherent reflection of where you are current at and where you want to be. Let Superior Access help you develop an effective business plan in 2018 and beyond."