Yada, Yada, Yada. More words of advice from experts who, I would bet, have never tried sell an insurance policy or worked in an insurance agency. The list of recommended “services” do not reflect what an agent can do, legally. Most require additional licenses, or are activities that only an insurance company can perform. Workers comp claims management ?? Seriously ??!!
I can’t even get past the first paragraph. Insurance is not, never has been and never will be a commodity. Only those who don’t know much about insurance actually think this. All the services in the world don’t help if the coverage is lacking. So, the focus should be on exposure analysis and the coverages. Agents who focus on these issues are actually adding value.
When viewed or perceived as a commodity, clients will never get the coverages needed based on a price only view. The added value concept is nothing new and relies on the agent and agency to understand the client’s needs and provide the right solutions to fill those needs. A majority of our new customers who leave their policies for analysis find they are woefully lacking the coverages needed, including disability and life.
So the 2 writers of this article are “Consultants”. I guess that explains the fact that they clearly have no clue what a commodity is or they have no idea how insurance policies will never be a commodity. How sad that an industry publication would allow such dribble to appear in it at all. I am not in the group of naysayers that believe the agency force will fail to remain relevant. On the contrary I believe our best opportunities are targeting those poor folks that got sucked into a lousy product by the online carriers and were never offered the proper coverage because no relationship existed to determine the actual needs of the client. If insurance was a true commodity this wouldn’t be a problem but since there are many exclusions and optional coverage available, it is buyer beware. When they have an uncovered claim because they were never offered Flood coverage when they bought the homeowners online or they bought Geico and were offered a monthly price instead of the ability to actually select what coverages they wanted (don’t believe me, go get a quote and see how bad it is) Shame on carriers that “RECOMMEND” non stacked UM coverage when it only cost $1 more to stack it on the website. I might be a good idea not to publish crappy advice even if it comes from a consultant (most likely unlicensed). As far as value added services, that’s a no brainer. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to recognize you have to compete on something. Those that make it price, will suffer greatly down the road and so will their customers at claim time.
Wow! Where do I begin to refute this article. Insurance IS NOT a commodity. I put in forty-two years helping people protect their assets and explain the difference between coverage forms. I know the difference between what a good agent provides for their customers and how a bad agent selling on price alone can really hurt a customer. I have found that the public is more open to your help than many people think. When I would talk to a prospective account many times they would tell me that I asked a lot more questions than other agents. I would reply that my job was to ask questions and spend as much time with them as needed to help them with their insurance program. It worked well for them and me.
Insurance agencies (and law firms) will always be of value in the insurance ecosystem as long as insurance companies are allowed to base policies/coverage on highly complex, confusing language that requires “experts” to interpret; a condition perpetuated because the institutional parties benefit at the expense of consumers. This is underscored by agents stating that they are “helping” consumers by interpreting insurance documents for consumers because insurance is too complex to be a “commodity.” Wow! Circular logic at its best! Fortunately, Insurtechs are striving to change this dynamic.
Yada, Yada, Yada. More words of advice from experts who, I would bet, have never tried sell an insurance policy or worked in an insurance agency. The list of recommended “services” do not reflect what an agent can do, legally. Most require additional licenses, or are activities that only an insurance company can perform. Workers comp claims management ?? Seriously ??!!
I can’t even get past the first paragraph. Insurance is not, never has been and never will be a commodity. Only those who don’t know much about insurance actually think this. All the services in the world don’t help if the coverage is lacking. So, the focus should be on exposure analysis and the coverages. Agents who focus on these issues are actually adding value.
When viewed or perceived as a commodity, clients will never get the coverages needed based on a price only view. The added value concept is nothing new and relies on the agent and agency to understand the client’s needs and provide the right solutions to fill those needs. A majority of our new customers who leave their policies for analysis find they are woefully lacking the coverages needed, including disability and life.
So the 2 writers of this article are “Consultants”. I guess that explains the fact that they clearly have no clue what a commodity is or they have no idea how insurance policies will never be a commodity. How sad that an industry publication would allow such dribble to appear in it at all. I am not in the group of naysayers that believe the agency force will fail to remain relevant. On the contrary I believe our best opportunities are targeting those poor folks that got sucked into a lousy product by the online carriers and were never offered the proper coverage because no relationship existed to determine the actual needs of the client. If insurance was a true commodity this wouldn’t be a problem but since there are many exclusions and optional coverage available, it is buyer beware. When they have an uncovered claim because they were never offered Flood coverage when they bought the homeowners online or they bought Geico and were offered a monthly price instead of the ability to actually select what coverages they wanted (don’t believe me, go get a quote and see how bad it is) Shame on carriers that “RECOMMEND” non stacked UM coverage when it only cost $1 more to stack it on the website. I might be a good idea not to publish crappy advice even if it comes from a consultant (most likely unlicensed). As far as value added services, that’s a no brainer. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to recognize you have to compete on something. Those that make it price, will suffer greatly down the road and so will their customers at claim time.
Wow! Where do I begin to refute this article. Insurance IS NOT a commodity. I put in forty-two years helping people protect their assets and explain the difference between coverage forms. I know the difference between what a good agent provides for their customers and how a bad agent selling on price alone can really hurt a customer. I have found that the public is more open to your help than many people think. When I would talk to a prospective account many times they would tell me that I asked a lot more questions than other agents. I would reply that my job was to ask questions and spend as much time with them as needed to help them with their insurance program. It worked well for them and me.
Insurance agencies (and law firms) will always be of value in the insurance ecosystem as long as insurance companies are allowed to base policies/coverage on highly complex, confusing language that requires “experts” to interpret; a condition perpetuated because the institutional parties benefit at the expense of consumers. This is underscored by agents stating that they are “helping” consumers by interpreting insurance documents for consumers because insurance is too complex to be a “commodity.” Wow! Circular logic at its best! Fortunately, Insurtechs are striving to change this dynamic.