For the Greater Good?

This article has not been easy for me to write. Because of my deep feelings, I have rewritten it several times over the last few days. The problem is, I feel very strongly about what I am saying and hope that you will take my passion into consideration and not be offended. Independent agents and brokers and the independent agency system are under attack and I am frustrated with the response of many agents and brokers. The number of competitors for our business seems to increase daily. Consumers are now being courted by direct response companies, our own carriers, on a direct basis and by unlikely retail candidates like Walmart and others. Consumers are being brainwashed into thinking that insurance is a commodity that should be purchased based solely upon price. The need for an agent or broker to provide them with professional advice, service and claims advocacy is erased from their minds. Nothing could be further from the truth, but with an enormous amount of money and manpower being spent to convince them, they are starting to believe it (until they have a claim). I’m probably not telling you anything you don’t know, but my question is what are you doing about it? Our competition isn’t too worried about us because they see us as many separate businesses, spread out everywhere and working INDEPENDENTLY of each other. They like and count on the fact that we compete against each other for business. They believe that will keep us from mounting an organized effort to counter their advertising. Candidly, at this point in time it appears their assumption may be correct. Many agencies who deal primarily in commercial insurance have not taken this threat seriously because they were comfortable that commercial insurance was not susceptible to the same type of direct marketing. Current data is showing that they were wrong in this assumption and this same level of competition is mounting for small to medium size commercial accounts. So what is the answer? Independent agents and brokers need to set aside their differences and work together to educate consumers on the benefits and protections of purchasing insurance through an independent agent or broker. We have created a brand, Trusted Choice®, to promote the benefits of buying insurance from an independent agent or broker. Is it perfect? No, but it is a well thought out, organized attempt to reach out to consumers and tell our story. Some agents embrace the brand and become true advocates. Sadly, as I speak to many other agents and brokers I get feedback of different reasons why they don’t engage the brand. They don’t like the name, they think there is not enough money being spent to promote it or it may detract from their own brand. Some things they identify I agree with, others I don’t but most have a positive, legitimate reason (the name was consumer tested with high results, they are contributing a great deal of money to sponsorships and grant driven ad campaigns and it isn’t meant to compete with your brand but rather add the credibility of a set of values). The serious and unfortunate fact is that if we don’t set aside these issues and somehow work together to promote who we are and what we do to consumers, we very well might find ourselves being driven out of a substantial piece of the insurance marketplace. I live and work in Syracuse, New York; located in the heart of the Iroquois Indian Nation. For those of you who don’t know, back many years ago this area was inhabited by 5 powerful Indian tribes. Those tribes fought amongst each other and also were constantly fighting against outside invaders. The story is that Hiawatha, a great chief, brought the 5 tribes together with the intentions of uniting them so they could both protect themselves and expand their territory. It’s said he visually depicted his vision by taking an arrow and easily breaking it. He then took 5 arrows and tried unsuccessfully to break them. His message was that individually each of the tribes was capable of being defeated but working together they had strength in numbers and could defeat any foe. This story is very applicable to our situation today. As individual agents and brokers, or even in small groups, we can’t fight our competition and the misleading and harmful information they feed consumers. Working together we are strong and can bring the full weight of our resources to bear on this issue and our opponents. I urge every independent agent and broker to set aside your differences, to look beyond some of the minor issues and changes needed and make a commitment to aggressively promote the independent agency system with consumers.

• If we don’t reach out and grab consumer’s attention…

• If we don’t get them to see the fallacy behind buying protection focused primarily on price without making sure they have adequate coverage with a real partner to advise them and help them through a claim…

• If we don’t set aside our differences as independent businesses…

• If we can’t all get behind one message regardless of affiliation…

Well, I don’t want to think what the outcome might be. I have worked and earned my livelihood from, as and through independent agents and brokers for 40 years. I honestly believe ours is the best way for consumers to purchase protection. It needs to survive and thrive. We are at a crossroads and failure to act could mean slowly shrinking into an unimportant factor in the marketplace. Let’s pull together NOW to reclaim our place as a major provider of insurance protection to consumers. I hope you agree and are moved to take action!