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How many times have we heard the phrase "The Good Old
Days" or somebody fondly says "I remember when"?
It is human nature to look back nostalgically with warmth
in our hearts and often moistness in our eye. These recollections
are pleasant respites to the chaotic reality of our daily
routines and so, for many, there's a near-spiritual
comfort in evoking the past.
Such holds true when insurance "old-timers" engage
us in "remember when" conversations about our
industry. It doesn't take long to discern that their
past doesn't equate to our present and what we're
hearing is oddly out of context; maybe even irrelevant. That
is, until we start listening carefully. That's when
we discover the significant price we've paid for growth,
innovation, and the techno-evolution that has occurred in
our business over the last quarter century. We also realize
that something very valuable has been left behind; something
intangible, immeasurable, and thought to be indispensable.
Something called relationships.
Don't be fooled. Relationships are not the carrier
and client business arrangements which presently exist. These
may be called relationships, but in most cases they are sugar-coated
versions of a de-personalized model for premium generation.
True relationships are personal and professional bonds that
were the time-tested cornerstone of the industry's business
model in the "Good Old Days". There were sincere
and caring linkages of interests of each party in the value
chain; client, agent, and carrier; walking and working together;
proudly delivering on our shared mission of providing personal
and financial security, allowing our insureds to sleep peacefully
at night.
What about your relationships with your carriers? At times
you may be feeling no more than a code number on somebody's
spread sheet. Your marketing rep has changed three times in
as many years and your underwriter is overwhelmed with file-load.
You've been though yet another cycle of "business
planning" but it's really only a repeat of last
year- "produce more and produce better." Even
with your best markets, it may feel like you've gone
from hero to zero with a turn of the calendar/accident year
page. Nothing can make up for the anonymity and lack of special
attention that you've experienced.
So what to do? One thing for sure, pining for the "Good
Old Days" is what NOT to do. Truth be told, these days
will one day be considered the good old days as well. What
we're suggesting is a proactive approach to re-personalizing
and re-energizing your partnerships.
Think about turf - that is getting off yours and onto theirs!
True, in the traditional business model you are their customer
and it's their obligation to come to you.
Maybe not. In a one-way customer service model, the foregoing
is true. In a two-way customer relationship model, it is a
give and take endeavor. It's about reaching out, thinking
peer-like instead of business-model like. So, make visits
to your carriers a regular event. It also helps on occasion
to go in unarmed; skip the thought of brandishing the file
to prove your point on the hotly disputed premium audit; or
for your underwriter the "can you take one more look
at this propane distributor file that you previously turned
down." This type of logic will kill the relationship-building
initiative faster than weed killer on freshly grown fescue,
so save the controversial discussions for another time.
Everyone has a comfort zone. Most underwriters are just not
leap-tall-buildings-in-a-single-bound folks and that's
good because that's what makes them terrific underwriters!
They are smart, intellectually inquisitive, disciplined and
dedicated people who probably feel most efficient in their
zone surrounded by skyscrapers of files. Their world is technocratic,
algebraic, algorithmic, and completely process driven. It's
safe, secure, and comfortable.
When they review a submission or renewal, they are only considering
the numbers and the business class and will not give a thought
to the people unless you intervene by introducing them to
the human element.
So, invite your underwriter on a "field trip" to provide
an opportunity to see the risk firsthand and to meet the people
and to learn about their world. When your underwriter views
the risk bearing landscape from the agent's perspective and
witnesses the personalized human stories that you experience
daily, the greater the probability that your collective risk
screening intuitions will coincide and not clash. Once they
know what you know and see what you see, they will truly begin
to recognize that each account is unique and that you are
truly a partner.
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