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"Unless you have prepared yourself to profit by your chance, the opportunity will only make you ridiculous. A great occasion is valuable to you just in proportion as you have educated yourself to make use of it.”–Orison Marden
So it is true of our relationships with our carrier partners and underwriting teams. They all begin with talk of partnership, mutual commitment, long-term growth, and shared success. Yet, as soon as the nail is driven to hang the plaque, things begin to change. Appetites shift, submission standards
tighten, pricing becomes non-negotiable, and countless expectations and intentions are unfulfilled and misunderstood. Communication breaks-down, phone calls go un-returned and discussions once shaped in “we” terms become “they” and
“you” focused.
One thing for sure, none of the foregoing has enhanced business relationships which not so long ago, if not guaranteed were at least under-girded by a mutual value system of trust
and patience. Some of you might recall a time when an agency appointment was more like an anointment. Carriers and
agents stuck together through thick and thin, hard underwriting cycles and soft, underwriting profits and not. As a team they worked together to iron out the kinks. Friendship even entered the picture. Everyone, including our clients, benefited by the relationship. It was a true win/win/win partnership.
Current era agency-company relationships are of a different ilk, precariously balanced like a teed up golf ball on a windy day and frequently deteriorating into an adversarial who’s-doing-what-to-whom finger pointing exercise. Where’s the love gone? And what about our clients? Has the industry lost sight of the reason that we are all here? Are we so consumed by internal combustion that we end up neglecting the very people that we are committed to serving and protecting?
Yes. And here are a couple of reasons why. First, we have essentially de-personalized the business of doing business. We have become so systems focused, so technically driven, so algebraic in our thinking, so “model – conforming”, so consumed with moving files and paper, that we have forgotten that within each file we find The People. Unique people with unique needs, expectations, purchasing power, and insurance savvy. People who somehow get lost in the shuffle.
Second, our business models assume stability and permanency in a decidedly unpredictable world. Just read the financial press. It’s a topsy turvy no-guarantees business world, chock full of uncertainty spawned by cutthroat competition, fickled financial markets, nervous investors, dissident shareholders, anxious boards, disloyal customers, interceding regulators, and aggressive attorney generals. It is difficult to focus our attention externally on the individual needs of our clients when so much time and attention is being sucked away by industrial stress.
All that being said, we can overcome these rifts and revitalize the independent agency system. Quality client-agency-carrier relationships can be achieved, productively nurtured, and sustained. It’s all about effectively communicating and responding to the needs and expectations of everyone involved, and that communication must begin with our carrier partners. Here are six steps that you can use to convert carrier appointments into true partnerships:
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