By Jamie Deapo, AAI-M, AINS
IIABNY Assistant Vice President of Membership & Member Programs
When I sat down to write this article I gave quite a bit of thought to previous articles I have written. I also thought about the enormous amount of unsolicited advice being put out by many well-intended industry folks preaching to agents about all the changes they need to make if they want to stay in business. If I was still an agent and on the receiving end of all this information, I would be overwhelmed and want to “stop the madness.”
Most, if not all, of you reading this piece are currently operating fairly successfully. You may have issues or weaknesses in certain areas of your agency operations, but you are most likely not going out of business in the next six months to a year. If you were, it’s highly unlikely anything I could write here would be able to turn your situation around.
By now, you all know the world we operate in is changing rapidly. Our business model has been slow to react to changes in technology and changing consumer demographics. Several established insurance companies (GEICO, Progressive, etc.) have been successful writing business direct. There also seems to be a groundswell of startup companies looking to heavily leverage technology and the preference of younger consumers and entrepreneurs to carve out a place in the insurance market.
As an independent agent relying heavily on personal insurance and small to medium commercial insurance this is the kind of competition that will keep you up at night. With the significant transition of experienced “Baby Boomer” staffs leaving independent agencies, it’s no surprise why so many agents are considering selling or becoming part of a large multi-state agent conglomerate.
If you’re not interested in selling or giving up, all is not lost. It is important, however, that you make the necessary changes to keep you competitive in the marketplace. Yet, it all doesn’t have to happen overnight. The first step is to diagnose what your biggest problems are and then prioritize them.
Whether you need to find staff, better train your existing staff to be effective, modify and automate your work flow, improve your marketing by using social media and the Internet or increase your sales effectiveness, there are many resources at your disposal that can help you. Don’t try to do it alone. Take advantage of the knowledge and resources available to you as an IIABNY member. We may not have everything you need, but we probably can direct you to where you can find it. Our purpose and goal are to assist you in more effectively operating your agency and helping it grow.
There is one issue each and every one of you shares as an independent insurance agent. It is successfully communicating the tangible benefit of purchasing insurance protection from an independent agency. All of you need to mount a serious campaign that educates consumers on the value of contract knowledge and claims handling experience that protect and meet a specific customer’s needs. Insurance is not a one-size-fits-all business. People are different and their protection needs are different.
Every agent needs to develop a campaign to educate consumers on the benefits of buying their insurance protection from you, an independent agent. We have a national brand called Trusted Choice®. It was developed for just that purpose. We’ve expanded the brand to include the TrustedChoice.com website where consumers can research insurance and get referred to an independent agent to fulfill their protection needs.
As a group we must work together to combat the irresponsible marketing of insurance protection as a commodity. We need to bring consumer’s attention to the pitfalls of that way of thinking. Insurance protects the financial security of the individual, his or her family and their business. It is intended to make them whole as they were before a loss occurred. Without the safety net insurance provides, life would be very different. No one wants to experience a loss and find out they aren’t properly protected, especially if the financial consequences are severe or devastating. The only way to avoid this from happening is to work one on one with a true insurance professional who can design a package of protection that meets the client’s needs and budget. They say ignorance is bliss but when it comes to insurance protection, ignorance could spell disaster and financial ruin.
Do you agree with the substance of this message? Will you take action on the things outlined? I wouldn’t be offended if a reader took exception to something and responded on it. It would confirm that the message was being read and considered. My hope is that what I have written will get you thinking and hopefully stir you into action. I’m especially hopeful that many of you will take up the challenge of educating consumers, steering them away from the unhealthy belief that buying insurance protection is like buying laundry soap. You can live with a stain or dingy clothes but losing your house, health or business is life changing. We need to educate and convince consumers before it’s too late!