The challenge
Harlow & Vance, an 8-location independent P&C and life agency, ran nearly all of its marketing budget toward new-business quote volume — PPC for 'car insurance quotes near me,' lead-form campaigns, the usual. Nobody was tracking what happened at renewal. A policyholder acquired at real cost eighteen months earlier would get a generic renewal notice, shop three competitor quotes, and leave — and the agency had no visibility into it happening until the book of business was already smaller. Renewal commission requires no acquisition spend at all, which made it the highest-margin revenue in the business and the most neglected.
What we did
Built a renewal-risk model from data the agency already had
Policy tenure, claims history, premium change at last renewal, and contact recency predicted shopping risk well before the renewal date. We didn't need new data — the agency's own management system already had it, unused.
Moved outreach ahead of the shopping window
High-risk policyholders got a proactive review call 45–60 days before renewal, timed before the point most people start comparing quotes elsewhere. Reaching someone before they've started shopping converts completely differently than reaching them after.
Fixed local search for the 'near me' moment that still matters
New-business search — especially for auto and home insurance — is still heavily local-pack driven. We rebuilt Google Business Profiles per location, fixed NAP inconsistencies across directories, and built a structured post-close review request that lifted review volume and rating together.
Built compliance into the ad and content review process
Every state has different rules on how an independent agency can reference carrier relationships and rates in advertising. We built a compliance checklist into the creative workflow so campaigns didn't need a rewrite after legal review — they passed the first time.
The result
Policy retention rose 22 percentage points over eleven months, which did more for agency profitability than any plausible new-business campaign could have — retained policies carry no acquisition cost and compound year over year. Blended CAC fell 38% as the marketing mix shifted from pure acquisition toward a blend of acquisition and retention. Local pack visibility rose 184% across the eight locations once the Google Business Profile and review cleanup was in place.
“We'd been an insurance agency for thirty years and had never once modeled what a retained policyholder was actually worth compared to a new one. That conversation changed where every marketing dollar goes now.”