Five Questions With: Melanie Loiselle-Mongeon

"I WOULD like to think that we have earned this respect through various methods." / COURTESY LOISELLE

Pawtucket-based Loiselle Insurance Agency recently announced it earned its status as one of the firms participating in Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s Best Practices Study for the 16th time.
The study is joint undertaking by the association and Atlanta-based Reagan Consulting that looks at the country’s leading agencies in six revenue companies. The agencies participating in the study groups are selected every third year through a comprehensive qualification practice and all earn a Best Practices Agency designation.
It’s a prestigious group; last year, more than 1,100 independent agencies were nominated to part in the annual study, but only 217 qualified.
Melanie Loiselle-Mongeon is vice president of fourth-generation Loiselle Insurance Agency. She recently spoke to PBN about the designation means for the company.

PBN: What does being named to the IIABA’s Best Practices study mean to the agency?
LOISELLE-MONGEON:
Being named to the Best Practices study is an affirmation to us that everything that we do everyday and all the decisions that we make are paying off. It also gives us recognition within the industry, both with our agency peers and our company partners. Lastly, being named to the Best Practices is a testimony to our agency management team and our staff, all of whom work hard to contribute to the agency’s success.

PBN: If you were to pick one reason that Loiselle Insurance Agency has been asked to be part of the Best Practices study group 16 times, what would that be? And if not for one reason, why is the agency so well regarded by this trade group?
LOISELLE-MONGEON:
I think the one reason is probably that we are well-respected among our agency peers and our insurance company partners alike. I would like to think that we have earned this respect through various methods, including but not limited to, our consistent performance with carriers, our visible and engaged agency leadership team, and our strong involvement in our local trade association, Independent Insurance Agents of RI-IIARI (both myself and my father, Bob Loiselle, are past presidents of IIARI).

PBN: Since Best Practices study groups document and disseminate Best Practices, have you seen any of the practices your agency puts into practice every day highlighted over the years? What were they?
LOISELLE-MONGEON:
The Best Practices report includes detailed analyses of many agency performance markers, but two that are consistently highlighted for us are profitability and productivity. Our agency seems to out-perform others in both of these areas year after year.

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PBN: Have you taken something that you saw in the study from another agency and put it into practice here in Rhode Island?
LOISELLE-MONGEON:
As you can probably imagine, we study the numbers and statistics that are disseminated via the report each year so that we can better understand how we compare to our peers. We use the information to help us refine our current practices wherever we see room for improvement. In the past several years, we have been particularly interested in watching the technology trends of other agencies. We have used the information provided to help us make decisions relating to technology upgrades at our office. We actually have plans to switch to a new agency management platform in early 2015.

PBN: The study divides the Best Practices groups into six revenue categories. Can you share which of those you are a part of? And even if you can’t, what do you see as the major differences between big and small agencies?
LOISELLE-MONGEON:
I can’t share which of the revenue categories we are in as that is proprietary information that we go to great lengths to keep confidential. However, I will tell you that it is actually quite interesting when you compare results from agencies in different revenue categories because relative to an agency’s size, the results are similar in almost all categories. Essentially, an agency’s size isn’t necessarily a determination of an agency’s success as it relates to the categories within the Best Practices study. That being said, larger agencies do tend to have more direct appointments with insurance company markets. Larger agencies also tend to earn more contingent commissions (as a percentage of revenue) than smaller agencies.

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