Case Sample: I was once contacted by an insurance agent who was looking for someone to support him in his practice. Nothing unusual there since one of the target markets I focus on serving is the insurance profession. What became immediately clear, however, was that he was operating under several misconceptions, primarily that Administrative Consultants are a form of cheap employee labor you don’t have to pay taxes on.

He was definitely surprised when I informed him that the average rate range in our industry is between $35-$70 an hour. When I asked what his expectation was, he explained that even at $35 per hour, he wasn’t in any position to afford $72,000 a year for someone to assist him 40 hours a week.

Whoa! Hang on there! Let me clear up this misconception.

When you work with an Administrative Consultant, you are working with an independent professional – not an employee. Therefore, how and when you work together isn’t going to look anything like the way you work with a staff member. You aren’t “employing” us for a part-time or full-time work week. Rather, Administrative Consultants offer strategic support delivered on a monthly basis.

An Administrative Consultant is the best fit for solo and small practice insurance agents (or any small business or independent business owner) who don’t have the time or space for in-house staff. Unlike project-oriented secretarial services and freelancers, Administrative Consultants work with clients in an ongoing, collaborative relationship, with a typical commitment from the client of between 10-30 hours per month.

An Administrative Consultant’s support will allow you to focus your efforts on your main income-generating activities such as client work and marketing. Using average figures, let’s say you decide to retain an Administrative Consultant for 20 hours a month. If paying a simple $900 retainer each month allowed you to be more focused, get more efficient, increase the number of billable hours you have available, and at a minimum could potentially increase your revenue by even $50,000 a year, wouldn’t you think that was a pretty worthwhile investment?

So how can solo and small practice insurance agents afford to have the help they need? I say, how can they afford not to? Because mark my words, your practice will never grow beyond where it is today by trying to do it all yourself.