01 Aug Acquiring an Agency Is a Lot of Work!
There is a lot of truth to this statement. Acquiring an agency requires a lot of work, and attention to detail is critical. Preparation and planning are extremely important to ensure a successful outcome. One issue I have encountered with a number of the E&O Plus agencies over the years is, “When do you tell the staff?”
There may not be a one size fits all answer to this question, but I encourage management to consider what fits your situation. With few exceptions, your staff is actually super busy, and giving the key individuals involved in integrating the new agency some advance notice should be considered. Depending on the negotiation stage, they may have some questions that management may want to consider in determining whether this new agency will be a good fit.
Based on feedback from agencies involved in M&A, a best practice involves having a transition team comprised of the same individuals representing HR, IT, Operations, Business Development, Legal, Marketing, Finance, and Accounting. The team would meet weekly from the beginning to the end of the process. In addition, periodic meetings were held as needed throughout the first year or so of the transition. Each leader for these functional areas should be responsible for connecting the new team (or individuals) with the appropriate resources and key contacts for infrastructure support and business development/pipeline management.
Since acquiring an agency is a lot of work, E&O Plus has worked with some of its members that have been active in acquisitions to develop a list of the key issues that should be addressed. The information is in Passport with the path of:
Briefcase / E&O Plus Program Portal / Operations Guide Documents / Mergers and Acquisitions / Sample Acquisition Task Plan
The Task Plan document is an Excel spreadsheet that addresses many (hopefully all) key issues within that section. The categories noted are:
- Mail, Corporate Insurance, Accounting
- Branding, Marketing, Announcements
- Carriers, Contracts, and Appointments for both P&C and Life, Health, and Benefits (Licensing for the carriers and the staff, Out of State Licensing)
- Client Communication (Reception Function, Talking Points and FAQs for questions coming from outside the organization, Written Notice to Customers, Notice to Customer if Account Reassigned)
- Physical Facility
- Consolidation of Client Data (Conversion of P&C Data, Conversion of Life, Health, Benefits Data, Distribution of Workload (if any), Manual Entry of P&C, Manual Entry of Life / Health / Benefits, Download, Updated Renewal Lists, Hard Copy Files (if any)
- Talent (Staff welcome and Interviews, Systems Training, Corporate Procedural Training)
- Computers, Telephone, Switchboard (Computer and other Office Equipment, Data Center Migration, Employee Access – logins/passwords, etc., Telephone / Switchboard)
With all of its sections, this document will hopefully play a key role in ensuring all of the key issues have been addressed. A team dedicated to specific sections could assist in achieving the integration by the desired date. A strongly suggested best practice is for the buyer and seller to have a point person to ensure that issues are addressed and resolved. After all, acquiring an agency is a lot of work!