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Ever driven through the Lincoln Tunnel from New Jersey to New York City? When you emerge from the tunnel’s eastern portal into the traffic gridlock of midtown Manhattan, someone inevitably appears from who knows where and gratuitously washes your windshield. Then that service provider hovers ominously over the driver’s side window of your gridlocked car and waits, and waits, obviously seeking payment for services rendered. But there’s a hitch. You the driver have no idea what the value proposition was. You really didn’t want the service to begin with and quite possibly the quality wasn’t up to snuff. The service delivery date and time were certainly not pre-arranged and besides that, there was no contract, implied or otherwise. So, the value exchange expectations were never in synch much less clearly laid out and accepted by both parties.
The image here is relevant: do you and the appointing carrier have value propositions which align? For an agency, the easiest way to fulfill the carrier’s value proposition is to first understand and digest their strategy, and then delineate in your agency’s business plan what you need to do to feed the carrier’s value creation expectations. Also, in business planning meetings with the carrier, lay out your agency’s value proposition. See how it plays. This is important because an alignment of value propositions leads to an ongoing fulfillment of the carrier’s strategy and underwriting appetite. Non-alignment is a windshield washed with nothing to show but mutual dissatisfaction.
J-Lo and Ben, while making one heck of a publicity splash, just couldn’t quite get to the altar, could they? For awhile magazines in every check-out isle in America tracked the progress of their “commitment” (albeit in nauseating detail): the proposal, the ring, the house purchase, the secret wedding plans, and the
pre-nuptial get-away. But in the end there was no marriage, presumably because there was no commitment.
Commitment is hard to describe. It is more of a sensation than
it is a tangible. Anybody can look and act committed but true commitment is enacted from within. It has much more to do
with how you feel about something than what you do about something.
Before taking on a new partner, go to your senses. Ensure that you are ready to go to the altar with a new company; ready to commit to their expectations, strategy, underwriting appetite, systems and business modes. To exponentially raise your chance of success, make a sensory check on your ability to commit. What you are looking for here is best described as cultural compatibility. If you cannot create and maintain equal levels of value, integrity, and trust – essential ingredients in every personal and professional relationship – then don’t take the ring . . . or plaque. Your best bet is to broaden and deepen the partnerships that you already have. Too often we see agents stumbling into an opportunity or two in a business class that is not favored by one of their existing carrier partners. Too often,
the decision is then made to pursue another carrier relationship that will accept the business. The search is often conducted with the belief that a new “specialty” or niche has been discovered and that where there is a little opportunity now, there will be a lot down the road. Then, reality hits home followed by mutual disappointment.
New appointments should be handled strategically and deliberately. Take the time to conduct the proper cultural compatibility checks up front and without reservation. In this case, “’tis better to have never loved than to have loved and lost”.
This step is the easiest and should be the most fun. As you contemplate entering into a carrier partnership, know that if things go well and expectations are met, a successful relationship is not guaranteed but it can be achieved.
To do more than compete within the established distribution system – to actually beat the system, you must first understand it. The truth is that the agent has more at stake in any relationship than the carrier partner does. Do the math. The company is represented by hundreds if not thousands of distributor “relationships” versus the count- them-on-less-than-two-hands number of carriers the average agent represents.
A relationship starting point is to establish a real time respect and understanding for your desk underwriter. He or she is your lifeline and they have a very difficult job. Go to their workplace, shake their hand and build a rapport. Make a point to be more than a voice on the phone. Gain an understanding of his or her values, background and career motivations. Work at the relationship just as you would anyone that you care about. And don’t forget special occasion days. The recognition, any recognition, will pay huge dividends.
Don’t forget also to build a personal bridge of understanding with the regional branch and underwriting managers, recognizing that different precepts apply. Think metrics here; what are his or her business goals and how can you play a role in helping them to hoist an annual victory banner?
John Wooden, the legendary Hall of Fame basketball coach from UCLA was so fanatically focused on fundamentals that he began the first practice of each season with a rudimentary lesson . . . teaching his athletes how to properly tie their shoes - the correct lacing technique; the right tension; even the bow tie knot. In the Wooden model, fundamentals reigned supreme and it all started with shoes and ended with championships.
The analogy here is this: the best agents in carriers’ eyes are not those that exert the most pressure on desk underwriters, nor those that generate the most submissions, and certainly not the loudest voice at agents' council meetings. Rather, the best agents are those that focus on the fundamentals of an agent-carrier relationship consistently by guaranteeing quality, mutually compatible underwriting opportunities on a day to day basis.
So, take a step back. Review your companies and decide which among them are best suited for a long-term, culturally compatible relationship. Actively court their participation based upon shared accountability and sound fundamentals. Be aware that there will always be business ebbs and flows, market fluctuations, and price-based competition and prepare to commit to riding out these distractions together rather than being separately overwhelmed. Be true to your partner, be true to yourself, and, most importantly, be true to your clients. Believe, as we do, that in constantly striving to do the right thing, in the right way, with the right people, for the right reasons, you will get the right result. That result, is success.
Scott Primiano is the President and founder of Polestar, the author of the industry best seller “Hard Market Selling – Thriving In the New Insurance Era”, and is nationally recognized for his inspiring and effective approach to producer development and agency management.
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