When I look back at my career in the business, one thing that sticks out to me as a key part of my success was what I now know as outsourcing expertise. This was something I learned early on, in the form of joint work when I was a brand new life and health agent in 2009. I was taught to leverage the senior agents in the office to help present and close my appointments, in return for splitting commissions with them.

Yes, I “gave away” commissions, but the experience I learned was priceless. Even as I stopped using joint work partners for my core life and health products I was selling, I still leveraged the idea of joint work at scale to the point of placing more than $25M of inforce life insurance premiums.

This article will walk you through my mindset and how I was able to use outsourcing at scale in my agency, and hopefully you can too.

Driving Revenue with Outsourcing Growth Strategy

Part of my growth strategy was leveraging specialized skills as an avenue to diversify revenue at scale in our business, and the primary tactic was outsourcing.

After more than fifteen years in the insurance industry, I have learned that most insurance agencies aren’t stalling due to competition, but more due to capacity. How do I know this, because it’s what happened to me and I’ve witnessed it numerous times.

You get buried in underwriting challenges, service work, renewals, and the constant pressure to bring in new business to protect what’s cancelling and walking out the back door. Meanwhile, your client needs continue to expand, and the insurance market keeps changing the rules.

As insurance agency owners, we all want long term success and increasing year-over-year residual commissions. We want profitability, stronger client retention, and a steady flow of referrals to keep our acquisition costs controlled. But in my opinion, most independent insurance agencies typically rely on one or two growth strategies, and that is why they ultimately plateau.

What helped me cross my plateau was studying two things.

1. The basic fundamentals of how any business increases revenue. This exercise provided me a baseline for how I can begin to apply those same principals to the insurance business. I strongly urge you to go through this same exercise and see how it applies to your agency.
2. Researching market statistics on business growth as well as what helps and hurts.

Here’s what I found.

How Do Businesses Drive Growth and Revenue?

Every business, whether it is a large firm or an independent insurance agency, grows through a small set of levers or varying combinations.

Below are the areas I focused on and still revisit to this day when helping agencies scale their sales and revenue. In fact, I focused heavily on retail growth strategies when I first went through this exercise.

Here are 6 obvious ways to increase revenue in most businesses that can also apply to your insurance agency in many cases.

1. Add new product lines / inventory
2. Increase your customer’s purchase frequency (usually the most effective from my experience)
3. Increase average price per transaction
4. Increase your prices
5. Increase your customer retention
6. Reduce operational expenses (usually the least effective)

Lets take a look at each one.

Add new inventory or product lines.

This is where most agencies have the greatest opportunity and the greatest blind spot. So, don’t beat yourself up over it.

When you look at these levers honestly, you realize that expanding your product offerings is the most effective way to drive growth without adding more pressure to your team. This is due to already having a customer base that trusts you, making adding new products much easier.

But, most agencies never do it.

Why Most Agencies Never Expand Their Product Lines

Independent insurance agents want to help their clients with more, but they run into the same roadblocks.

• Not enough time
• Not enough training
• Not enough staff
• Not enough compliance support
• Not enough desire to take on another certification
• Not enough bandwidth to service another line

So they stay focused on their niche markets. They rely on the same marketing strategies, the same content marketing, the same social media platforms, and the same targeted marketing efforts. They try to upsell or implement cross selling where they can, but they avoid the product lines that feel complicated or time consuming.

Newsflash! If it was easy, everyone would do it! That’s why you’re likely still performing at average levels vs. extraordinary.

The problem is that client needs do not stay in one lane. For example, if you’re are financial advisor or p&c agent and you cannot help with Medicare, health plans, or other senior market products, your clients and potential clients go somewhere else. They are buying these products from someone, just not you.

That is the moment you lose the relationship. And once you lose the relationship, you lose the renewals, the referrals, and the lifetime value that comes with it.

Increase purchase frequency.

Newsflash! If you add more products, you can increase purchase frequency with your customer base.

Insurance policies renew annually. You cannot force more frequent purchases, but you can have proactive discussions on risk management and the changes that are occurring in their life.

Also, you are their insurance agent, they expect you to be prepared to bring solutions and concepts to help them think through how prepared or unprepared they are.

Increase your prices / increase average price per sale

In our world, carriers control most pricing, but it’s important concept to understand regarding knowing your target customer and their true needs.

For example, if you’re selling supplemental health in a demographic known for heart disease, could you start adding a rider to every quote that supports future heart disease diagnosis? Yes, and what does adding that rider do? It increases the price of your core product.

Why aren’t agencies doing it?

I have no clue, but it’s a huge miss and I shake my head every time I have this discussion.

Increase customer retention.

This is one of the most powerful levers in the insurance industry. Losing existing clients is far more expensive than acquiring new clients.

You would be shocked how many agencies aren’t allocating a percentage of each commission to retention! This could be as simple as twice a year customer appreciation picnic if you have a local brick and mortar office.

I probably need a full article just on this topic, but the thing to remember here is that doing nothing returns a negative ROI, not neutral!

Reduce Operational Expenses

Let’s just cut expenses and put that to the bottom line.

In theory this works, but what is the opportunity cost of doing this? If you’re considering cutting an expense, you should probably reconsider why you invested in the first place.

Your hires need to be intentional and have a clear path to profitability or sustainability of your book of business. Everything else can usually be outsourced.

Market Research – What Helps and Hurts Business Growth

Now that I understood the revenue levers to drive growth, I wanted to see what I was actually up against. Here is what I found and some standout statistics.

• According to McKinsey, 1 in 8 companies grow more than 10% per year. Most insurance agencies plateau not because they lack talent, but because growth naturally slows unless you intentionally expand your value and product offerings. If I was going to impact double digit growth, I had to get very calculated on my core value proposition.
• You cannot grow without having your core business absolutely nailed. Scalable processes and laser focus on your target customer and how you communicate your value. This exercise will immediately help you see the complimentary areas you can begin to consider finding an outsourcing partner for.
• Look beyond the core, McKinsey found that 20 percent of growth comes from adjacent offerings. This is exactly what outsourced Medicare, health, annuities and other senior market products represent, especially to P&C agents and financial advisors.
• McKinsey used the word “prune”. In insurance terms, this means agents should stop trying to master every product line and instead outsource the ones that drain time, energy, and resources.

The Growth Strategy That Changed My Insurance Agency

I doubled down on outsourcing expertise.

Hopefully you’re thinking about your growth strategy a little differently based on the revenue levers I just outlined above.

When I say doubled down, I mean it. The growth strategy that changed my agency was embracing outsourcing at scale, even with products that were already in my “core” because I knew there was one thing I was extraordinarily better at executing than my competition.

I am better at controlling my relationships than my competitors.

Feels obvious looking back at it now, but once I latched on to that, everything changed for me. I immediately stopped thinking that I had to sell every product myself and that our agents needed to do the same.

I began outsourcing not only the product lines that were outside my focus and expertise, but also the product lines that were inside my product focused, but outside my comfort zone.

Those products at the time consisted of Medicare, group health insurance, and advanced market life insurance solutions such as high net worth solutions.

Instead of trying to become an expert in everything, I built partnerships with specialists who already were. I took my joint work playbook when I first started in the business and applied it to our business and the relationships I had spent years building.

Benefits of Outsourcing Partnerships

• My retention increased because even if we didn’t place an additional product, we provided a valuable solution which proved to our customers we were their trusted resource.
• Average revenue per customer increased. This was due to changing our customer presentation which became heavily focused on holistic solutions vs. an isolated product solution. At it’s core, we changed our mindset of life and health insurance risk management to what are the levers that impact our prospects earnings power over time which directly impact their ability to support themselves and their families. The change in how we presented our services was likely the most impactful of everything as it completely reframed how our prospects viewed us as their trusted advisor.
• My workload as an owner decreased and opened my mind to begin focusing on more impactful ways to scale the business. This was due to the outsourcing of activities that were previously bottle necking growth and taking my attention away from being a leader.
• Our agency became more resilient. As we were able to increase revenue in new lines of business such as Medicare and more advanced life insurance solutions, the industry swings in one line no longer threatened my entire book.

This is the power of outsourcing. It is not about giving business away. It is about keeping your clients close and trusting your circle.

Why I call it Outsourcing vs. Cross Selling

Cross selling sounds great in theory, but doesn’t this require me to be the expert in everything? Yes, but everything in my core services, not every insurance solution on the planet.

I have always sold the bundle from the day I started, but any peripheral opportunities would immediately get outsourced to relationships that I built and nurtured over the years.

In practice, cross selling fails for most insurance agencies when it comes to products that are outside of your core competence, and here’s why.

Cross selling requires:

• new training
• new certifications
• new carrier appointments and rules
• new compliance requirements
• new service work
• new messaging
• new follow up
• new expertise
• new management system requirements
• It’s a long list that goes on for a long time!

Most agencies simply just can’t do this without hurting their core business.

Outsourcing solves all of this instantly, even more so when you can rely on the quality of the relationship with your outsourcing partner.

Said another way. You keep the customer relationship. Your partner handles the product. Your client gets exceptional service from both of your, and you both get the credit and commission for the sale.

This is how you streamline your operations, improve the customer experience, and drive growth without adding more work or staff.

What insurance products should you cross sell vs. outsource?

What worked for me may not work for everyone, but this is what I would suggest based on my personal experience.

Cross Sell

If you aren’t already, you need to present cross selling solutions in 100% of your customer interactions as long as the products are complimentary solutions to your core offering.

• P&C agent should be cross selling umbrella coverage and flood insurance. Probably others too, but I’m not a P&C agent. 🙂
• Financial advisors should be cross selling assets under management with life insurance.
• Final expense agents should be cross selling Medicare.
• Medicare agents should be cross selling under 65 health insurance, both private health insurance as well as ACA marketplace plans.

Outsource

Outsourcing requires large amount of personal humility. What’s that mean? It means you have to check you damn ego and trust your partners to do what they are good at. However, when executed correctly, it has a massive impact on your revenue and trust level with your prospects and customers.

• P&C agents should have an outsourcing partner for Medicare, under 65 health insurance, Annuities, and life insurance. If you’re a P&C agent and you already have a life and health license, I would suggest cross selling term life insurance and outsourcing Medicare, under 65 health insurance, annuities, and hospital indemnity insurance.
• Financial advisors should absolutely have an outsourcing partner for Medicare and under 65 health insurance. Referral fee structures can make this worth while and your clients will be thrilled to trust a referral from you.
• Final expense agents should be outsourcing annuity solutions to an experience annuity advisor they can learn from and split business. Additionally, having an outsourcing partner for auto insurance to help your customers save money is an added bonus.
• Life insurance agents selling term insurance should secure an outsourcing partnership with a life insurance agent with deep expertise in advance case design for concepts such as multi owner keyman or buy-sell agreements, premium finance, or other uses for permanent life insurance such as charitable gifting of executive deferred compensation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to vet an outsourcing partner for my insurance agency?

Choosing the right outsourcing partner is sometimes the hardest part.  Here’s what I suggest if you’re just getting started.

• Check their industry expertise.  Make sure the partner specializes in the product lines you want to outsource (e.g., Medicare, annuities, advanced life insurance). Ask for case studies or examples of past success and failures.  You want to understand how they support their clients and prospects not just when cases are easy, but when underwriting gets tough.
• Ask about their compliance standards. Confirm their compliance protocols and ask if they have systems in place for data security, licensing, and carrier requirements. This is important because if you plan on going on the application, you are now on the hook for the E&O.
• Technology. In a perfect world, you want to look for partners who use CRM systems and automation tools that can integrate with yours. This ensures smooth communication and most importantly, tracking conversions.
• Check their credibility. If you don’t know them, or weren’t referred, ask them for references from other agencies that have worked with them in the past. Look for reviews or testimonials online that speak to their reliability and professionalism.
• Understand their service model. Clarify how they handle client interactions, good and bad. Do they represent themselves as part of your team or a stand alone entity? This impacts client trust if you don’t button it up at the onset of the relationship.

How to structure insurance commissions splits for referral arrangements?

Common pitfalls to avoid in referral partnerships

Here are some of my more memorable pitfalls from referral partnerships over the years.

• Failing the customer experience. Good outsourcing relationship comes with rock solid boundaries. You have to Ensure the partner understands you own the client relationship. You need to have a zero tolerance policy on the customer experience.
• Ignoring compliance. Outsourcing without verifying licensing, carrier appointments, and data security can lead to regulatory issues.
• Price based solutions.  The cheapest partner isn’t almost always never the best. Prioritize expertise, reliability, and client experience.
• Lack of agreements. I know first hand how verbal agreements lead to misunderstandings, I learned the hard way. You always need a written contract outlining roles, responsibilities, and commission splits. If it’s not written down, it doesn’t exist.
• Not Keeping score. Agree on target KPIs and review on a regular cadence. If the partner isn’t meeting expectations, address it quickly.  This is where automation between CRM systems will be extremely helpful.

What Is a Good Profit Margin for an Insurance Agency?

Most agencies operate with profit margins between ten and twenty percent. I have found the agencies that outperform this range do a few things exceptionally well:

• They are laser focused on tracking their customer acquisition costs.
• They have better than average client retention levels. This usually due to streamline automation solutions triggered in from their CRM and email marketing platforms.
• They increase life time value per customer through additional product lines with complementary coverage options.

How to Grow Your Insurance Business in 2026 and Beyond

Technology speeds things up, but your client’s need to feel supported hasn’t changed. They just expect expect more solutions and expect it fast! Industry trends are shifting toward specialization, making outsourcing more important than ever.

My prediction for the insurance agencies that grow in 2026 will be the ones that:

• Offer more insurance solutions complementary to their core offerings.
• Build trust through exceptional service and consistent communication.
• Use automation and CRM tools to stay organized and streamline communication.
• Leverage social media to reach potential clients at the top of the sales funnel.
• Make data analytics to track metrics a non-negotiable.
• Form lasting partnerships that expand their value and trust.

Again, in my experience, outsourcing is the fastest way to check every box.

Next Steps

If you want to grow your insurance agency, you have two choices.

1. You can try to do everything yourself and raise your stress levels even higher.
2. Or, you can protect your book, deepen your client relationships, and grow your revenue by outsourcing the product lines that are slowing you down.

The agencies that thrive in the next decade will not be the ones who try to master every product. They will be the ones who build the right partnerships based on proven expertise.

If you are ready to see how much better your agency can perform with the right referral partner, please reach out.

I would love to discuss if our team is a fit to serve as a Medicare referral partner for your organization. You will be surprised how much opportunity you have been leaving on the table.