As agency owners and principals, you are driven to grow your businesses while finding ways to motivate and hold your employees accountable. At the same time, it feels as if you are tackling issues that are unique to your agency, and many of you are going it alone. Indeed, the old cliché that goes ‘it’s lonely at the top’ rings particularly true to many of you reading.

1. A MarshBerry Publication | Volume VI, Issue 8 AUGUST 2012
Authored by Jared Roy, Consultant | 440.392.6560 • email: Jared.Roy@MarshBerry.com
and Josh Morgan, Consultant | 440.392.6579 • email: Josh.Morgan@MarshBerry.com
Can Peer Networking Really Drive
Agency Performance?
As agency owners and principals, you are driven to grow your businesses while finding ways to motivate and hold
your employees accountable. At the same time, it feels as if you are tackling issues that are unique to your agency, and
many of you are going it alone. Indeed, the old cliché that goes ‘it’s lonely at the top’ rings particularly true to many
of you reading.
To address this, many agency leaders take an active role in networking by joining peer groups and associations hoping that
these groups will deliver on promises to improve their businesses. Most, however, find these groups lacking accountability
components and real solutions needed to take their agency to the next level.
Examples of peer groups include carrier meetings, associations and technology groups that are available to agency
owners — all of which claim to help you as a leader to nurture and grow your business. After facilitating peer groups over the
last 20 years, MarshBerry has found that truly successful peer groups share the following characteristics to ensure results:
• C-level decision makers are present and active at all meetings
• No more than 10 organizations in the room
• Professional Facilitation by someone not part of a participating agency
• Recording and tracking commitments in order to review and hold each other accountable
• Sharing measurable financial benchmarks captured, verified and reported by a third party
We maintain that agency owners who participate in a peer group and follow the above guidelines will see their performance
improve. As noted below, the top 25% of our clients who are part of a MarshBerry peer network outperformed the field
in every major growth category. These agencies are benchmarking their performance, sharing key strategies and taking
advantage of the experiences others offer to drive agency value. This forum is not ideal for every agency, but for the ones
who commit to making change, there are great financial rewards to be gained.
BEST 25% OF MARSHBERRY
NON-NETWORK PARTNERS NETWORK PARTNERS
Total New Business as % of Prior Year’s Commission 12.0% 20.5%
Leakage (Lost Accounts, Rate Reductions, etc.) lowest is best 12.2% 8.2%
Total Commissions and Fees Organic Growth % -0.3% 12.3%
EBITDA% 13.8% 29.0%
Weighted Average Owners Age 50 41
Total Commissions and Fees Per Employee $130,905 $195,950
*Source: MarshBerry Proprietary Data
If you have interest in learning more about MarshBerry’s Peer Networks, please contact Jared Roy at 440.392.6560 or
Josh Morgan at 440.392.6579.

2. SA L E S M A N AG E M E N T S E M I N A R O C TO B E R 2 01 2
We are at the crux of driving growth
on the back of a hardening commercial
market and an unknown healthcare model.
Thus every agency/broker needs to build a higher sustainable and predictable growth
engine. At the core of every high-growth engine is their sales management infrastructure.
The interactive session will unveil characteristics of proven high growth agencies that a Principal,
Agency Partner or Sales Manager can implement into their organization.
Attendees of this session will master the steps to building a high-growth sales management model:
Topics covered include:
— PRESENTED BY JUSTIN BERRY
• Producer Compensation Modeling including Rewards and Recognition for Driving Growth and Profit
• Identify Solutions for Revenue Shortfalls in 2012
• Getting Producers on a Selling Cycle that Fosters Continuous Prospecting
• Effectively Bring on New High-Performing Producers
• Consistently Identify Recruiting Needs
• What to do with Non-Producing Producers
• Build a “Validated” Budget Model for the Next 3 Years
• Learn How to Drive Your Organization into a True Sales Culture
• Building a Profitable Resource Allocation Model
• omparing Your Agency to our Database of over $1B in Agency Revenue to Deliver Proven Sales
C
Management Metrics
Who should attend? Monday October 15th
This session is designed for any executive in an 8:30-9:00am • Breakfast Provided
insurance agency trying to build a high-growth 9:00-12:00pm • Training
organization.
12:00-1:00pm • Lunch Provided
Pricing? $975 partners/$1250 non-partners 1:00-4:00pm • Training
6:00-10:00pm • etworking Dinner Cocktails
N
Hotel Information (Optional — Dinner Drinks Not Included)
The Westin Kierland Resort Spa
6902 East Greenway Parkway Tuesday October 16th
Scottsdale, Arizona 85254 8:30-9:00am • Breakfast Provided
Phone 480.624.1000 9:00-11:00am • Training
Toll Free 800.354-5892 11:00am • Adjourned
Note for APPEX partners, this seminar does not conflict with the network meetings. The network meetings will begin in the afternoon on Tuesday, October 16.
Reserve your spot today!
http://www.MarshBerry.com/TrainingSessions