The demise of the Independent Agency system has been greatly exaggerated. There are plenty of growth opportunities and Independent Agents handle more types of insurance products, also do Commercial which many captives and online companies don’t. Let the captives and onlines like GEICO have their cell addict business and have them leave the next renewal for a dollar. We don’t particularly want them.
You’ve got it Agent. There is opportunity and plenty of it in the IA system. When we had a very hard market some time ago, my mentor gave me some very valuable advice. Sell what you’ve got and do it better than anyone else.
Personal lines is still our bread an butter at my agency with a growth rate of 20% yearly. That said, we’re starting to move into the small business market with a couple of really good BOP products. Use the soft market to your advantage folks!
The independent agency is definitely something that will decline in the near future. People do not like to go places to shop, especially younger people. They would much rather just use a service that aggregates quotes for them and lets them decide. If they do use an agent, like a business would, they would use it for advice on coverage, and there is no reason they need to use the services agents offer now, and pay the extra premium that goes with a middle-man. There can be fewer independent agents who act more as advisors on what coverage to get, and then they can shop online.
If there were really the price difference that you claim, we’d all be out of business now. What the IA system takes in commission is made up for in having fewer employees and less advertising expense to the carriers. There’s a reason that the majority of business at Progressive is still handled by IA’s in 2015.
Yeah, except those tools aren’t really in widespread use yet. As far as the price difference most commissions for larger accounts are 10%+, that is in the customers’ bills. The IA system can have fewer employees because they don’t handle the number of cases or the large number of cases as the other agencies. Having larger operations is more efficient in cases like that. A smaller organization is precisely what automation can eliminate quickly when it comes into use.
Mr. Solvent, they have been predicting the IA system would go away for many years, but we are still here and growing. We will let the young cell addicts shop online if they want. There are plenty of good customers out there who appreciate the services of the Independent Agent and business owners particularly like an agent who knows what they are doing and designs good protection for their business.
Bernie said insurance should be free for everyone, ya know like college. When it is free, indep agents are going to making a killing, ya know like college professors.
The demise of the Independent Agency system has been greatly exaggerated. There are plenty of growth opportunities and Independent Agents handle more types of insurance products, also do Commercial which many captives and online companies don’t. Let the captives and onlines like GEICO have their cell addict business and have them leave the next renewal for a dollar. We don’t particularly want them.
You’ve got it Agent. There is opportunity and plenty of it in the IA system. When we had a very hard market some time ago, my mentor gave me some very valuable advice. Sell what you’ve got and do it better than anyone else.
Personal lines is still our bread an butter at my agency with a growth rate of 20% yearly. That said, we’re starting to move into the small business market with a couple of really good BOP products. Use the soft market to your advantage folks!
The independent agency is definitely something that will decline in the near future. People do not like to go places to shop, especially younger people. They would much rather just use a service that aggregates quotes for them and lets them decide. If they do use an agent, like a business would, they would use it for advice on coverage, and there is no reason they need to use the services agents offer now, and pay the extra premium that goes with a middle-man. There can be fewer independent agents who act more as advisors on what coverage to get, and then they can shop online.
If there were really the price difference that you claim, we’d all be out of business now. What the IA system takes in commission is made up for in having fewer employees and less advertising expense to the carriers. There’s a reason that the majority of business at Progressive is still handled by IA’s in 2015.
Yeah, except those tools aren’t really in widespread use yet. As far as the price difference most commissions for larger accounts are 10%+, that is in the customers’ bills. The IA system can have fewer employees because they don’t handle the number of cases or the large number of cases as the other agencies. Having larger operations is more efficient in cases like that. A smaller organization is precisely what automation can eliminate quickly when it comes into use.
Mr. Solvent, they have been predicting the IA system would go away for many years, but we are still here and growing. We will let the young cell addicts shop online if they want. There are plenty of good customers out there who appreciate the services of the Independent Agent and business owners particularly like an agent who knows what they are doing and designs good protection for their business.
Bernie said insurance should be free for everyone, ya know like college. When it is free, indep agents are going to making a killing, ya know like college professors.
Source required on Bernie saying insurance should be free. Maybe you and Ben Carson can make up a source.
Jack – when you made your Bernie comment, were you referencing ALL types of insurance or just health insurance?
Wasn’t it Mark Twain who said, “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated”?