Meet 7 Best Practices Agencies

• By: Will Jones
• January 1, 2026

Best Practices agencies continue excellent organic growth and profitability, according to the 2025 Best Practices Study by the Big “I” and Reagan Consulting.

The Best Practices Study is the first of a new three-year cycle, examining the firms that have newly qualified as 2025 Best Practices agencies. The annual study, conducted jointly in a longstanding partnership between the Big “I” and Reagan Consulting for the past 32 years, provides critical performance benchmarks across agency revenue categories ranging from under $1.25 million to over $100 million.

This year’s study includes two new revenue categories to replace the largest revenue group, which exceeded $25 million in previous years. The study now categorizes results by agencies with $25 million-$100 million and those with over $100 million.

“Despite some market headwinds, Best Practices agencies delivered another year of excellent results,” says Charles Symington, Big “I” president & CEO. “We extend our congratulations to these cream-of-the-crop agencies for their outstanding operational success. They are the best examples of the resiliency and strength of the independent agency channel.”

The Best Practices Study provides benchmarks and insights for all independent insurance agencies to strengthen their foundations as the market may present challenges in the coming years. “All agencies can look to these results and learn from the best,” Symington says.

The Best Practices Study analyzes takeaways from nominated Best Practices firms throughout the nation that have been recognized for outstanding management and financial achievement in categories such as income and expense distribution; revenue and profitability growth; staff compensation and productivity; technology expenses; and property & casualty and life-health carrier representation.

“The new Best Practices class continues the growth the independent agency channel has seen since 2020,” says Tom Doran, a partner with Reagan Consulting. “The new revenue category adjustment was made to account for the remarkable growth that has taken place at the top end of the market. This year shows strong organic growth results and profitability, with our metrics indicating the industry has never been healthier.”

Independent Agent magazine speaks with an agent from each revenue category about their experiences with the Best Practices Study and how their business operates.

• Under $1.25 million.
• $1.25 million—$2.5 million.
• $2.5 million–$5 million.
• $5 million–$10 million.
• $10 million-$25 million.
• $25 million-$100 million.
• Over $100 million.

Under $1.25 million

Most important metrics to you?

I focus on the return on investment of what we choose to invest in. That includes marketing campaigns, retention programs and other tools. When you’re a smaller agency, you have to make sure every investment makes sense.

Overall, I track metrics like profitability and growth. It sounds simple to say, “Can you earn more than you spend?” but it’s more complex when you break down every expense. At its core, the study is really about earning more than you spend while providing good service and retaining clients. If you can do those things, it works.

Most efficient processes?

As agents, we really try to stay out of the billing game. Everyone has to be on an automatic payment plan. There are a lot of new tech-driven players in insurance, and their systems aren’t negotiable—you pay their way or you don’t. We don’t have time to stop and process payments manually.

We also try to stay out of claims. We trust our carriers and their claims teams, even though clients often want to involve us. One quick email can handle most situations. The key is to focus on automation and avoid areas that slow us down.

“2024 was brutal. Major carriers pulled out of markets with almost no warning. Then, the rates were all over the place. It felt like being hit with a baseball bat every day.”

Educating clients?

After recent storms, we reached out to clients to warn them about roof inspectors who aren’t affiliated with their insurance. We tell clients not to give their policy number to anyone or sign anything. If someone insists, we step in. To most people, a roof inspection sounds important, but they shouldn’t just sign papers or let strangers on their property. It’s common sense, but it prevents a lot of unnecessary risk.

Your sales culture?

We focus on team revenue and sales, not individual performance. If someone isn’t present, another person can handle the client. I tell our clients we’re a team—you can take your policy from anyone here. We’re all licensed and we all care. I like to think of it like a volleyball team: set, set, set, spike—it doesn’t matter who touches the ball. It seems to work. I ran track and field in college, so the team mentality comes naturally to me.

How did you handle the hard market?

2024 was brutal. Major carriers pulled out of markets with almost no warning. Then, the rates were all over the place. It felt like being hit with a baseball bat every day. Clients needed help, walk-ins were coming in with their declaration pages, and we had to prioritize who to service first. I called it a “sink or swim” market: people either failed or thrived. We decided we’d thrive, treat our team like a swim team and grow together.

We educated clients about coverage options, higher deductibles and cost-saving strategies. We talked to 70%-75% of our book of business, helping them understand that staying with a carrier, avoiding claims and using discounts improves their insurance score. We worked through a crazy market, stayed positive and focused on growth, client education and teamwork.

Advice for an agency considering applying to the Best Practices Study?

Participate—because one of two things is going to happen: Either you realize you’re doing better than you thought, or you see areas for improvement. Even if your metrics don’t look great, you’ll learn from the process and gain access to a ton of useful information. What I’m most excited about is learning from people who run much larger operations.

Retaining talent?

I’m big on benefits. With a smaller team, we’re like a second family, so I really care about them. We pay 100% of healthcare. That’s something measurable and meaningful. I used to cover 50%, but I promised that if we grew in 2024, I’d cover 100%. To me, that’s the ultimate way to show appreciation. Telling someone, “I’ve got your healthcare covered—go take care of yourself,” that matters.

Currently, I would never hire anyone as a 1099. Everyone is W-2, so their income is counted toward Medicare, and they’ll receive the benefits they’ve earned when they turn 65. Every year I add an additional perk or benefit. We just added a 401k for 2025, in 2026 we are adding employer sponsored vision and dental.

$1.25 million—$2.5 million

How long have you been a Best Practices agency?

Our first year as a Best Practices agency was in 2001, and we stayed in the program through 2012. Then we took a short break because of Superstorm Sandy. As a coastal agency, we faced a large number of claims and challenges to manage, so we needed to pause our Best Practices process for a few years to take care of our clients who were going through tough times. We were nominated again in 2019, and we’ve been part of the program ever since.

Advice for the application process?

At the outset, the application process can feel challenging as you learn how to compile the necessary metrics and data accurately. It’s important to approach each question carefully, as overthinking can sometimes lead to incorrect responses. Fortunately, the agency’s agency management systems (AMS) has greatly improved the ability to generate the required reports that answer the questions in the application. Ultimately, the process hinges on accurate data entry.

“Long-term success requires strong, trust-based relationships with your core carriers.”

Most valuable metrics?

I place the greatest emphasis on analyzing our premium relative to the commissions we earn. Although I don’t personally handle the direct-bill reconciliation—that’s managed by our bookkeeper—the deeper breakdown of those figures is incredibly revealing. It provides a clear picture of our true commission revenue and highlights just how much business must be written to achieve meaningful commission results. It’s an important metric for understanding both productivity and profitability.

Learning from the metrics?

The metrics provide a reliable baseline for evaluating our performance and monitoring year-over-year growth and expansion. They also highlight areas where spending or resource allocation may have fluctuated. For example, identifying a significant increase in IT expenses and assessing whether that investment was strategic or requires adjustment. Reviewing the data in depth keeps me engaged in the operational details and ensures I remain focused on the areas that most directly impact the agency’s efficiency and long-term success.

Retaining top talent?

Although we do not operate like a traditional corporate environment, we function as a closely knit, family-oriented office. We recognize birthdays and anniversaries with team lunches, and I do not scrutinize minor schedule adjustments when employees need to attend medical appointments or address family matters. I strive to be flexible and collaborative and, as a result, we maintain a positive and supportive working relationship.

The hard market?

This past year has probably been the most challenging for us as we have had to move some of our longtime clients from one carrier to another due to renewal pricing versus new-business pricing. The carriers want new business, so they give that the best price, but our loyal renewals—clients who’ve been with us for 10 or 15 years—aren’t getting the best price.  We’ve definitely had to do a lot of client maneuvering this year, more than any other. As a result of this hard market, we have been consulting with our clients, outlining available options, evaluating deductibles, verifying replacement values and we ensure each policy is comprehensively underwritten.

Company relationships?

Taking on every available carrier with the aim of blocking markets is not a sustainable strategy. Long-term success requires strong, trust-based relationships with your core carriers. When issues arise—whether related to a claim or new business—you need to know exactly who to contact and have confidence that they will support you. Without those established carrier relationships, the process becomes far less effective and far more difficult to manage.

Advice for becoming a Best Practices agency?

While the survey can feel overwhelming at first, it becomes much more manageable with clear communication and the right support—particularly from Reagan Consulting and your AMS provider. The results themselves are an invaluable tool, offering meaningful insight into an agency’s performance and opportunities for improvement.  If agents were better equipped to use their AMS to produce the necessary metrics, or had more directions on which reports to run, I believe participation would increase significantly.

$2.5 million–$5 million

Why apply?

This is our first year. I knew it was a big deal—the best of the best—so when the time came around, I wanted to submit our information and see where we stacked up.

How was the application?

I divvied it up among my team to make it less daunting. We each took a portion and knocked it out, so it wasn’t too bad. I’d also say that, because we’re only seven and a half years old, we’ve built everything very tech-forward and data-driven. Pulling data isn’t difficult for us—we’re not dealing with legacy systems or old data. Doing things a certain way from the beginning makes it much easier.

Most meaningful metrics?

For us, sales velocity is really what sets us apart—I personally think that’s why we won the award. If you look at our sales velocity, it’s extremely high for our category and even higher than other categories. I had known that for some time, so I always keep an eye on it. We also look at metrics like EBITDA and revenue per employee.

“Qualifying every deal properly saves time and ensures the team works on better opportunities. In theory, you’ll close more deals because you’re focusing on the right ones.”

How are you facilitating growth?

Our model is a little different. Of course, we want to be profitable, but in insurance, it’s hard to grow and be very profitable organically. For example, we were investing a lot in producers. We have nine full-time producers, which is uncommon for an agency of our size. You have to sacrifice some profitability to generate a lot of new business, and that’s what we did.

Keys to sales success?

One, I’m a firm believer that agency owners and sales leaders aren’t setting big enough quotas or goals for their sales teams. The Best Practices Study shows the average new production for a producer, and I think a lot of people are still using outdated goals. If you push those goals higher, you’ll be surprised how many people meet them.

Two, what I spend the most time on with my sales team is the qualification process. We all know time is finite, so we have to make the most of it. Qualifying every deal properly saves time and ensures the team works on better opportunities. In theory, you’ll close more deals because you’re focusing on the right ones.

Recruiting talent?

I don’t meet with anyone until they’ve taken a personality test. The reason is simple: I tend to like most people I meet, and if I meet them first, I’ll justify whatever the test says just because I liked them. So, we’ve structured the process to know what we’re looking for. If someone matches the pattern—or comes close—then we bring them in for an in-person interview.

From there, I rely on two other factors: a gut feeling, which I think is crucial as a leader to read and guide with emotional intelligence, and references.

Handling the hard market?

The hard market created opportunities. You can either be complacent and let your current book of business grow just because rates and premiums are rising, or you can be proactive. For us, we chose to hire more producers, set aggressive goals and grow organically. The agencies that grow intentionally, regardless of market conditions, are the ones that surpass expectations. Whether it’s a hard market or a soft one, your sales strategy shouldn’t change.

Takeaways from your results?

I want to improve our profitability. It’s challenging given how aggressively we hire producers for a company our size. Our biggest takeaway was that we’ve achieved significant growth, and now it’s time to focus on converting that growth into higher profitability.

$5 million–$10 million

Why did you apply?

We were founded in 2015, and we’ve been a Best Practices agency since we became eligible in 2018. That’s who we want to be as an agency, and that’s how we plan to grow. We aim for Best Practices in everything we do—for our clients and for how we operate the organization.

Meaningful metrics?

I think most people probably focus on value creation—the Rule of 20—as the top metric, and it is. It’s about returning value to the organization through growth and profitability. However, we also have a few areas where we operate a bit differently.

For example, our service team payroll is slightly higher than Best Practices average. We see this as a reflection of our commitment to having highly skilled individuals in these roles, and we recognize we probably need to pay a bit more. Another key metric is the new unvalidated producer payroll (NUPP). There’s only so far your existing producers can take you, so you need to find new producers and invest in them to grow.

“One of the best things you can do with Best Practices is figure out how you’re going to be different—where is your agency going to be deliberately different to give you a competitive edge?”

Approach to using technology?

You don’t have to be at the forefront of technology, but you do need to implement the tools that are out there. Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving past cutting edge into mainstream use. It can help with policy analysis, claims analysis and policy comparison. There are third-party software platforms for policy checking as well. You don’t have to be on the absolute leading edge, but you do need to pay attention and be proactive.

Advice to other agencies?

One of the best things you can do with Best Practices is figure out how you’re going to be different—where is your agency going to be deliberately different to give you a competitive edge? For us, one goal is to have highly skilled personnel handling complex risk. That means we expect to pay more on the payroll side and invest in growing the company. We intentionally aim to be slightly above Best Practices—not by a huge margin, but spend 10%-15% more on payroll than our peers.

Biggest challenge?

Hiring. There’s a lot of discussion about how many people are retiring, with not enough new talent coming in to fill the gap. The disappearing workforce in insurance is a real issue.

Most of our organization has been built by bringing in people from outside the industry and training them. While that sometimes means we don’t have the level of experience we’d like, we can bring in bright, motivated individuals who are willing to learn, grow into their roles and stay with us long term.

Approach to the hard market?

A hard market requires having difficult conversations with clients. Some agents hide from it until the last day before renewal, while others get in front of it—120 days out—communicating with clients about what’s actually happening so they’re prepared.

When the hard market hit Florida in 2022 and 2023, it really impacted us. The following year, we received more broker of record letters than ever before, simply because we kept our clients informed with early discussions and that word spread. Nobody liked the increases, but at least they were prepared compared to other insureds. We grew significantly as we took referrals and broker of record on accounts just by showing we communicate.

Maintaining carrier relationships?

Carrier relationships aren’t that much different than insured relationships. Be transparent and communicative. It’s about building trust and helping them understand what’s going on with the market and your particular submission. If you can help them when things are difficult for them, they can help you when things are difficult for you. You have to meet with them or call them and explain why a deal did or didn’t go through.

$10 million–$25 million

Why apply?

This is Windermere’s first time participating, but I’ve been through the process before. The agency where I started my career was a Best Practices agency. The Best Practices designation is a great way to level set with the industry and have an objective measure of what it means to run a professional organization. It’s not just us saying we’re good at what we do, it’s a third party recognizing that we’re operating at a high standard.

How was the application process?

At the previous agency, I restructured our entire general ledger to match Best Practices definitions. When I joined this organization, I did the same thing. We already review our financials monthly using those same categories and key performance indicators (KPIs) that the Best Practices Study tracks. Because of that, the application process was easy.

“We want producers, especially our top performers, to have a voice in how their teams are structured.”

Most valuable metrics?

We’re very focused on organic growth. That’s a key metric for us. We haven’t made any acquisitions—other than a producer who brought a small book of long-time clients—so everything we’ve built has been organic. Beyond that, efficiency is also a major focus. We want to pay our team competitively, which means our revenue per employee and spread need to be strong enough to support that. If we’re hiring top talent and paying more, then we need to operate at a higher level of productivity and performance.

All of that ties into the Rule of 20, which helps us balance growth investments with profitability to ensure our return on equity is where it should be for our market—our partners especially appreciate this metric.

Learnings from your results?

As a team, we needed to focus on efficiency. I could see it in our profitability. We’ve gone through several technology transitions, all while growing quickly and hiring new people. But we hadn’t really paused to make sure we had structured training plans in place to help everyone reach their full potential. Using the Best Practices data made the picture clear.

Our revenue per employee is well above the Best Practices average—but so is our compensation, which reflects our model of paying for top talent. The results showed us that we need to review our team structures and develop more specific performance expectations to realize the full value of these talent investments.

What changes have you made as a result?

We’re setting the groundwork to work with each team individually to build development plans and move everyone along their growth path. We want producers, especially our top performers, to have a voice in how their teams are structured. We’ve been reviewing setups and asking tough questions: Do we have the right mix of roles? Are we missing a producer or support role where one is needed? Could we shift some responsibilities to better balance workloads?

Finding talent?

We’re very upfront in interviews about who we are as an organization. We’re growing quickly, we make changes fast and we have to stay nimble—that’s part of our competitive edge. We don’t have layers of bureaucracy slowing us down, and that makes it an exciting place to work. People get to specialize, really hone their craft and continue advancing through the organization.

Company culture?

Culture is something we take seriously—not just as a buzzword but as a real investment. About 15% of our team works remotely, and we bring each team together quarterly. When they’re here, we make sure they have a place to work and connect. We hold all-team meetings where we share financial results openly, and every non-sales employee participates in a bonus program tied to both their department’s success and the agency’s overall performance. It keeps everyone aligned and motivated toward the same goal: serving clients exceptionally well and driving growth through strong retention.

$25 million–$100 million

Why apply?

For us, it’s all about constantly benchmarking ourselves against the best. The designation is meaningful, but it’s really the journey that matters—striving for excellence and maintaining a mindset of continuous improvement. Earning the designation has been phenomenal, and we’ll keep applying because it helps us measure ourselves against the top performers in our industry across the country.

What have you learned from the study?

As head of revenue, I’m always tracking the same financial KPIs everyone watches: sales velocity, organic growth and client retention. What this process has reinforced for us, though, is that culture drives performance. That means we monitor people metrics just as closely as the financial ones.

Most valuable metric?

Luckily, as a hyper-growth agency, our sales velocity is very strong. Getting the Best Practices validation confirmed that we’re bringing in talented producers and investing in our teams, which positions us well for organic growth and sales performance.

“Instead of waiting until we’re overwhelmed with new business, we plan ahead and work with service team members to ensure there’s enough capacity to handle growth.”

Any room for improvement?

Client retention. To address that, we’ve put programs in place to break down silos between sales and service and empower teams to take ownership of retention. It’s not top-down measurement, it’s about giving teams pride and joy in driving high retention. One initiative we’re rolling out is a bonus pool tied to improved client retention across practice groups. This aligns everyone toward a common goal and provides a financial incentive to succeed.

Approach to hiring?

One thing we’ve done really well is hire ahead of revenue. Instead of waiting until we’re overwhelmed with new business, we plan ahead and work with service team members to ensure there’s enough capacity to handle growth.

This proactive approach has allowed us to support high-performing producers before their revenue fully ramps up. It’s created strong producer satisfaction, especially since producers are involved in the hiring process and get to have a say in building their own teams.

Identifying top talent?

When we recruit talent, one thing that sets us apart is how we incorporate our five core values into the interview process. Our core values are curiosity, collaboration, creativity, care and celebration. Candidates meet with multiple people at C3, and everyone has to agree that they demonstrate these values. They need to add to our culture, not take away from it. This is especially important as we grow quickly and bring in new people.

Adapting to the hard market?

We saw it as an opportunity. In a challenging market, trust becomes your currency—especially for clients in California, where the auto rate environment is extremely tough and workers compensation is starting to shift.

This environment allows us to move beyond transactional relationships. Clients want advisers who can explain why rates are rising and provide real insight. Agencies that invest in developing their people as true students of the business—understanding macroeconomic factors like inflation and tariffs—can step into that role. We ensure that producers, client managers and executives have the knowledge to advise clients confidently, so every interaction adds value and builds trust.

Fostering strong carrier relationships?

Having spent most of my career on the carrier side, I know how critical broker-carrier trust is. Just as transparency, honesty and strong communication are essential with clients, they’re equally important with our carrier partners. In a hard market, we need to have difficult conversations early and openly so we can collaborate on the best approach. In California, that means plenty of tough conversations. The good carriers are willing to meet with us.

Key takeaways?

The process confirmed that a lot of what we’ve been investing in is working, which is really exciting. Instead of seeing areas where we’re not as strong as a negative, we view them as opportunities to improve. It’s all part of our mindset of continuous improvement and striving for excellence.

Over $100 million

Why participate?

For us, it’s about benchmarking against our industry peers and seeing how we stack up across various survey metrics. While we track our performance year over year internally, this gives us an outside-in perspective, which is valuable. This process is our opportunity to gather that view.

Running an efficient organization?

A lot of our work has focused on defining a clear way of doing business—how we sell, service customers and deliver our products and solutions. Once that framework is in place, we can connect technology to the framework and achieve efficiency in hiring, training, delivery methods and client service and experience.

Approaching everything through the lens of the client has allowed us to move forward in a structured way. It helps us identify risk sooner, reduce costs faster and deliver a consistent value proposition. A clear understanding of our clients also guides our training, recruiting and other internal processes, making our efforts more focused and effective.

“Holmes Murphy uses the Rule of 20 as our benchmark, which combines the organic growth percentage with half the profit percentage.”

Addressing the talent crunch?

We have a three-tier approach to attracting and developing talent at Holmes Murphy. At the entry level, we run a robust internship program. Last year we had 83 interns, mostly college sophomores and juniors. The best of those interns are invited back full-time, and we see tremendous success in this young talent pipeline.

The second-tier targets mid-level professionals: those with three to five years of experience who may not have had ownership opportunities elsewhere. We offer a clear path to ownership for both production and service roles, with measurable metrics for advancement.

The third tier focuses on senior leaders we attract —either from inside or outside of the industry—to fill critical capability gaps within Holmes Murphy. This three-pronged approach and strategy is key to attracting, developing and retaining game-changing talent.

Approaching the hard market?

It has been a great opportunity to demonstrate value to our clients and showcase our creative approaches to managing risk and cost. We didn’t make any dramatic changes, but last year was exceptional for growth. Like many growing companies, Holmes Murphy found that we were behind on staffing, so alongside focusing on clients, we had to ramp up hiring and retention. We were particularly aggressive in the first half of the year to strengthen our bench and team.

What makes Holmes Murphy unique?

The industry has seen a lot of consolidation over the years, and whether you’re public or private equity-backed, the landscape has shifted dramatically. Among the top 100 agencies, the private, non-family-owned segment is now very small. Holmes Murphy is probably the largest privately held, non-family-owned agency in the country. Taking in outside capital often changes how companies evolve, so it’s useful for us to see how we measure up against our peers on growth and profitability metrics.

Key metrics?

When running the business, we focus on two main areas: top-line revenue growth—how fast we’re growing compared to peers of all sizes—and profitability. The industry has become more profitable over time, but we aim to maintain a balance rather than just following the average margin.

Holmes Murphy uses the Rule of 20 as our benchmark, which combines the organic growth percentage with half the profit percentage. Our goal is steady, balanced performance: double-digit growth with the right margin—not too high or too low—so that we can compare confidently against the industry, maintain sustainable growth, and retain a vibrant culture.