What is a SWOT analysis?

SWOT analyses are used to find ways to improve businesses and sell more products or services. These analyses require that you look at four categories that relate to your business: its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Doing so will give you a better understanding of the internal workings of your organization, as well as a better understanding of how you compare to your competition

Strengths:

Your business’ strengths include the things you feel set your agency apart from other firms, as well as things like:

• All of the obvious positive aspects of your business, like its financial strength, its location, and its size.
• Positive aspects that might take a little more creativity to see.
• Any collaborative efforts between other insurance agencies and your own.

Weaknesses:

Might not necessarily be negative aspects of your business; rather, you should be thinking about factors that might need improvement in order for you to increase sales. For example:

• If you have not been in business very long, or if your company is new to the area, you might have trouble bringing in clients, so you will need to present more information about the services you offer that set you apart from agencies with a long history.
• Include any weaknesses related to products and pricing, so you can be open and honest about these issues with your customers, and they can understand exactly what they are getting.
• Address any weaknesses regarding your agency’s structure, such as staffing levels or lack of office space.

Opportunities:

Look at external factors: the opportunities and threats facing your business. First, take a look at any opportunities that are present in the market. For example, are there any new companies moving into your area that you could sell to? Are competing agencies closing or retiring soon?

Your SWOT analysis should also include notable events in the market that could affect your agency in a positive or negative way.

Threats:

Your SWOT analysis should include any factors that could affect your agency’s sales and the steps you can take to counteract them.

• Threats can come in the form of a changing marketplace: for example, a new highway bypassing your town and cutting into the residential area you serve could be detrimental to sales if it causes some of your customers to move out of town.
• But threats can also come in the form of a good old-fashioned competitor: a competitor opening up across town might be a more serious threat than a change in customer demographics.

If you’re looking to boost your sales, using a SWOT analysis to determine how you can improve your business and sell more insurance policies is a great step to take. Your analysis can be as simple or complex as you need it to be, and should only take a few minutes of your time.

After you have taken the time to conduct a SWOT analysis, you can then begin focusing on how you can bring in more leads and what needs to be done to do so. In the meantime, if you need to grow your customer base, Benepath can help. We offer exclusive leads who are ready to buy – all you have to do is tell us when you are available to work with them. Benepath will provide you with better tools, more guidance, unsurpassed sales training, and techniques from the most successful agents and trainers in the industry, not to mention the best leads available.