Tyler, a manager of a commercial lines insurance team, just saw yet another sales team member depart the firm. Already, three capable people had left this year. Between hiring, onboarding, and covering the duties of those who quit, he’s barely holding it together. And he knows the whole team is in the same boat. They’re always 10 steps behind where he wants them to be, with no way to catch up.
Sound familiar? In my industry, 50–70% retention is typical. But at ia Blueprint, we’ve achieved a 90% retention rate for the virtual assistants we place with companies. That means 90% of the VAs we place with clients stay with them for at least five years.
That’s a really big deal. For our clients, it’s the difference between treading water and leveling up.
In this post, we’ll first look at how improving retention affects client success. Next, we’ll look at a couple of case studies from clients who have achieved truly impressive results by hiring and retaining the right people. Then, we’ll explore retention strategies that really work.
Lets start with the Benefits of High Employee Retention
Achieving a 90% employee retention rate doesn’t just cut down on time and recruiting costs — it helps the whole business run more efficiently. Let’s look at the benefits of employee retention in more detail.
One benefit is Lasting Client Relationships
When you keep talented people on board, you build stronger relationships with clients. Why? First, individual employees build a strong rapport with the clients they work with. Second, clients view your team as more stable, consistent, and approachable. So, by reducing employee turnover, you gain more touchpoints with your clients, along with better follow-through — all of which creates more trust.
According to Reagan Consulting, every 1% increase in personal lines client retention can bring up to a 5% boost in revenue over a five-year period. So, strengthening client satisfaction will pay big dividends.
Another benefit is Enhanced Productivity and Stronger Results
Higher job satisfaction and retention leads to increased engagement and motivation, which ramps up productivity. That means teams move more quickly toward goals, fulfilling their core mission. According to Gallup, Highly engaged teams achieve 18% higher sales and 10% greater customer loyalty. Altogether, these benefits can boost profitability by 23%.
Growing Employees Alongside Your Company
When employees feel satisfied in their roles, they can grow along with your business. Since they get to do meaningful work that leverages their core strengths, they feel good about what they do every day. In turn, this boosts engagement further, filling teams with a sense of purpose and motivation.
Case Studies of Companies with High Retention
Now, let’s jump into a couple examples of how a boost in retention has improved business outcomes for our clients.
Freedom Insurance Group
When Freedom Insurance Group in Oklahoma partnered with us, their retention increased from 81% to a whopping 91%. This brought dramatic improvements across the business.
Previously, staff had a daily backlog of 30 tasks, which dropped to less than 10. After they hired a VA, producers on the team gained over 15 hours per week to focus on generating new business. In the process, cross-sells increased by 28%. Hiring and retaining great people allowed them to deliver consistent service, enhancing client satisfaction and loyalty.
Elevate Leadership Group
Elevate Leadership Group, a consulting firm in California, saw impressive results from partnering with us as well. The virtual executive assistants they hired became a valued part of the team, sticking around for the long-haul. Through their skill and dedication in handling crucial admin tasks, the company gained back 15–20 hours of executive time per week. These skilled staff achieved a 95% same-day response for emails. In turn, their client engagement score rose by 30%. The VAs also prepped for all meetings 24 hours in advance, making these sessions more productive while saving leaders’ time.
I want to emphasize, too, that these VAs weren’t just completing paperwork or taking care of tedious tasks. Rather, each of them was a highly competent taskmaster who could anticipate leaders’ needs — often before the leaders themselves did. They actively found ways to help the team function more efficiently every day.
Among the commercial insurance lines companies we work with, improving efficiency by hiring virtual assistants typically boosts new business income by $200K–500K annually. In personal lines, we see an increase of $100K–$250K. But it’s not just about who we place with a company — it’s about how long these talented people stick around. They become a trusted part of the team, handling high-level tasks. In turn, this lets other employees focus on using their core skills, bringing greater fulfillment and retention across the team.
So, How to Achieve High Retention
Increasing employee retention starts with hiring the right people — those who are poised to grow with your company. They’re truly excited about the work they do, they fit your culture, and they’re always striving to improve.
Another thing that is important, is hiring good managers. A manager plays a central role in shaping the experience of every person on the team. So, when promoting or hiring someone for this role, make sure they have what it takes. Do they communicate well and often, give feedback clearly, and stay calm and emotionally balanced during tough conversations?
Second, you need to put people into roles that use their main strengths. Redesign roles to center on specific skill sets, instead of expecting each person to handle a laundry list of tasks. This can seriously boost efficiency.
Third, give them plenty of guidance and encouragement. Embrace the philosophy of servant leadership, which holds that you’re there to support them. Check in at least a few times a week to make sure they stay on the right track and feel connected to the team. As I shared in a recent post on our hiring process, one of our core staff members, Hannah, helped us realize the vital importance of holding regular check-ins with VAs. By coaching both our team and clients on how to do this, she played a key role in boosting retention of virtual employees.
Once Tyler’s company took the above steps, people stopped leaving. He made sure to delegate the right tasks to each person, clarifying roles and expectations. And he persuaded leaders to hire a couple of virtual assistants, who took the burden of admin tasks off other employees’ shoulders. Customer service and sales staff then had the chance to focus on working with clients, using their key strengths. As a result, their team built stronger relationships with their clientele. Like the companies described above, they dramatically grew the volume of business they could handle through solid employee retention strategies.
What could your company achieve with 90% retention? Let’s set up a call to discuss how IA Blueprint can help you hire the perfect people for your team — and people who want to grow with you over the long-term. We’ll also share pointers on how to integrate virtual assistants onto the team, boosting retention by keeping everyone connected and working together effectively.