The new year is finally here, and hopefully, this one will be much better than the last couple of years have been. As you kick off the new year, you probably have a few resolutions in mind for the success of your business in the new year. If you do, great! But you need to do more than just keep your goals in mind: to be fully prepared for the year ahead, you should have an actionable checklist for all the ways you intend to grow your business and sell more insurance. It’s always helpful to create a checklist and check everything off as you complete it, to help give you the drive to move on to the next things on the list. Your checklist will be unique to your business, but when it comes to selling insurance, there are a couple of things you definitely need on your list for a successful new year.
![tax papers and a calculator and pens stacked on top of each other](https://www.benepath.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/income-tax-g44a9563b7_1280-300x200.jpg)
Prepare Any Financial Documents
Now that we’re into a new year, tax season is coming up again. In order to be ready for this time of year, make sure that you prepare all of your financial documents from the previous year and the new year. Not only will this give you a jump on tax season, but it will also give you a better understanding of how well your business did last year, and what you can/should aim for this year in terms of sales and marketing.
Evaluate Your Relationships
Take the time to really examine your vendor relationships as well as your customer relationships. Are you getting what you need from the insurance carriers you’re working with or do you need to seek out and work with other insurance carriers? Should you renegotiate your contract with the ones you currently work with?
And how is your relationship with your customers? Did you lose any last year? Did you gain some? Take the time to review what went wrong with the customers who left. Were you not as helpful as you thought? Should you have checked on them more often? Now is the perfect time to assess your relationships, see what you can improve, and take note of what you want to accomplish by the end of this year. Make a note to deepen relationships this year!
Assess Your Website![illustration of a hand pointing at a computer screen with a website on it and gears all around the computer](https://www.benepath.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/web-gb9fd518b1_1280-300x174.jpg)
When was the last time you took a look at your website and did an in-depth assessment? Your website is how people find you, so you want to make sure that it is not only still in full working order, but that it is kept up-to-date. Does it have links that don’t work? Outdated content? Typos? You should also make sure that your site is optimized for both desktop and mobile. In addition, take the time to think about what you want on your website and update it for the new year to reflect your business’ strengths and values.
Assess Your Marketing Plan
After you think about how you want your website to function and make sure it is all up-to-date, the next step is to think about your marketing plan. Just how do you plan on stepping up your marketing so you can reach more people? Will you be joining more social media platforms? Engaging more in social media? Think about where you want to take your business and how you want to market it better. Create a list of platforms you want to use, and create a social media calendar you can follow to help you stay on track.
To better prepare your business for success this year, you will need to come up with a plan. Write your goals down for the new year and put your list somewhere you can see it every day to help you remember your goals. Reflect on the direction you want your business to go in, and your end-of-the-year mission statements, whether you want to keep up with current customers, reach more leads, or make appointments with more direct carriers. Whatever your goals are, use our checklist to be better prepared for the new year and help your business get on the right track and grow.