Discussing Seasonal Revenue Changes at Renewal

A landscaping company that doubled its spring crews looks nothing like the file from last year's renewal. If the account notes still describe a smaller operation, the carrier is rating a business that no longer exists. As a commercial producer, you are the one who has to close that gap, and the way you ask about it determines whether the renewal reflects reality or just repeats last year's guesswork.

Why this conversation goes wrong

Most producers open with something like "how has business been." The owner says "busier than last year," and the producer writes that down and moves on. That answer feels like progress, but it gives the renewal file nothing to work with. No month range, no headcount, no locations, nothing a carrier can rate against. Months later, an audit turns up unclassified payroll or a missed location, and the account holder wonders why the renewal did not catch it.

The conversation also goes wrong when producers overcorrect and start sounding like they are deciding coverage on the call. Saying something like "that should lower your rate" sets an expectation you cannot back up, and it puts you in the position of promising an outcome that belongs to the carrier's underwriting process, not to you. The goal on this call is not to price anything. It is to gather facts specific enough that someone else can price it correctly.

How to prepare

Pull the prior renewal file before you call. Look at what months and headcount were on record last time, so you know exactly what has changed and what has stayed the same. A seasonal account's file is often a year out of date the moment growth happens, since most clients do not think to call their producer just because they added a crew.

Know what you are asking for before you dial. For a seasonal operation, that means peak months, the type of work added, where the crews work, and who keeps the payroll records. Write these down as actual questions, not a mental checklist, because it is easy to accept a vague answer when you are also taking notes and thinking about what comes next.

Decide who owns the records before the call starts. An owner can describe headcount from memory, but a renewal file needs a document behind that number. Ask who handles payroll, whether that is the owner, an office manager, or an outside bookkeeper, and plan to request the report from that person directly rather than relying on a secondhand estimate.

What to say

Open with a specific question instead of a general one. Ask something like this, "Which months did you add crews this year, and where do those crews work." That gives the owner something concrete to answer, rather than inviting a summary like "we grew a lot."

The owner answers, "April through July. They rotate across three counties depending on the contract." Now you have a date range and a geography, both things the renewal file was missing.

You follow with, "I will note those dates and locations. Can you tell me who handles payroll, so I can request the report that shows headcount during those months." The owner says, "Our office manager runs it, but they are out until Monday." You reply, "That works. I will send the request today so it is waiting for them, and I will call Friday to confirm they received it."

Notice what did not happen in that exchange. You did not tell the owner what this means for premium. You did not guess at a number. You asked for a name, a document, and a date, and you set your own follow up so the request does not sit unanswered.

Mistakes to avoid

Do not accept a vague description as the whole picture. "Business is busier" is a starting point, not an answer, and if you write it down as the final note, the file stays just as thin as it was before the call.

Do not characterize the new information as a premium outcome or a coverage decision. Rating and policy changes go through the carrier's own process, and your job is to hand that process accurate facts, not to predict what it will decide.

Do not let the owner report headcount from memory without naming a document behind it. A number with no source is hard for anyone downstream to verify, and it puts you in the position of vouching for a figure you cannot check yourself.

Do not end the call without a next step that has a date attached. "I will follow up" is not a plan. "I will call Friday to confirm the report arrived" is.

Do not assume one contact holds every record. A landscaping company might split payroll across an office manager and an outside accountant. Ask early who owns which piece, so you are not chasing a second contact after you thought the file was complete.

How to practice and score it

Run a mock call using a seasonal business with two separate payroll sources, one internal and one external, so the scenario forces a question about who owns which records instead of assuming a single contact. A manager listening in, or a practice tool scoring the exchange, should check for three things. Did the producer ask about timing, specifically which months changed. Did the producer ask about geography, specifically where the added work happens. Did the producer ask about the record owner, specifically who can produce a document that backs up the numbers.

A strong close on the call names the report needed, for example the payroll report covering the peak crew period, and states when the producer expects to receive it. A weak close just thanks the owner for the update and ends the call with nothing scheduled.

For more scenarios built around renewal accuracy, Insurance practice conversations covers a range of situations a commercial producer runs into beyond seasonal revenue. A similar kind of precision comes up in Clarifying Occupancy at a Second Homewhere the goal is also to replace a vague description with a specific, verifiable fact. Once a client agrees to send new figures, it helps to lock down how those figures will arrive, which is exactly what Recording a Secure Document Delivery Preference walks through.

Practicing this call with DealSpeak works best with a scenario that has more than one contact and a record that takes a few days to produce, since that is where real calls tend to fall apart. A single clean answer will not train anyone for the account with a bookkeeper on vacation and a number nobody can confirm yet.

The point of this call is not to guess at what the renewal will look like. It is to leave the file with dates, locations, a named contact, and a document on the way, so whoever prices the account is working from something real.