Sounding an alarm for the future

For decades, I worked with a local alarm company that knew my home alarm system inside and out. Early this year, I received a letter from a different alarm company based in Wichita, Kansas, informing me that it had taken over my local vendor and if I had any questions or issues, I could call their 800 number for customer service. You know where this is going: Earlier this month, I had a problem with my alarm. I must have pressed the wrong button, and now every time I open a window or door it beeps. So, I called the company in Kansas. The young woman who answered told me she was unfamiliar with my particular system, but she would read the manual and get back to me about my alarm beeping. After an hour and a half, I was frustrated. I called back and said I wanted to talk to someone who could help me with my local system. She said she couldn’t do that. Now, two weeks later, I am still waiting.

Beep. Beep. Beep …

This reminds me of a concerning phenomenon taking place in our industry. Independent agents are selling their businesses to investment companies at a pace we’ve never before experienced. When relatively young agents give up the entrepreneurial life to provide profits to the investment company, they lose their autonomy, their local connections and their ability to work as they see fit within their communities. But, the most worrisome part of this trend is that as the economy cycles, the investment companies will expect a continued rise in profits without concern for the individual businesses or their clients. And, when that trend subsides (and we know it will), they will sell off, merge or close the formerly independent agencies. It’s not difficult to see the similarity to what happened with my alarm system: Our clients try to get the service and attention from a local agent with whom they originally signed up, only to find they are no longer there.

It makes me sad. Owning an independent agency is a good life. Admittedly, it is not easy, but the rewards are both financial and we get to choose our work and lifestyles for ourselves. We are captains of our own fates—a treasure worth working hard for. We can take pride in our success because it is ours, and we are responsible for it. No investment company or direct writer can claim it bailed us out.

One way to maintain control of our destiny is to establish strong communication with our carrier partners. So often, we complain that our companies don’t listen to us; that we see our marketing reps too seldom. Since when are professional independent agents the types to sit and wait for someone to come to us?

Another way we can take more control of our fate is to keep up with the times. Technology waits for no one. The investment we make in learning and using it usually pays for itself with efficiency, time saving and financial return. We need to work with our customers on their terms—or else we risk losing them to the direct writers. One initiative that can help every small independent agency do this is establishing the ability for an agent to bind a policy through the agency’s website. This would allow agents to compete with direct writers, auto dealers and others who are reaching out to our customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

PIA has been working with ACORD to develop a Buy Button—an agent website portal that would provide such access to customers any time, any place. Technology vendors say they are ready to go: the technology already exists to develop an interface with our agency management systems, but carriers say they have not heard their agents say they want it.

Beep, beep!

I believe the carriers are misguided. They aren’t hearing from their agent partners about this, so they are focusing marketing investments elsewhere. We agents need to use our strength as communicators to tell the companies clearly and strongly that we need a Buy Button.

As professional independent agents, we are great at talking to customers face-to-face. We can enhance this strength with the ability to bind a policy on site—from anywhere—while we are sitting with a client, with the simple click of a button. And, it would allow us to take back our weekends, which should not be left as an opportunity for direct writers to take business away from us. PIA’s Buy Button could facilitate all of this.

It’s up to us as agents to contact our carrier partners and tell them what we need through our marketing reps, at producer panels and at every opportunity we have. Use your communicative strength to sound an alarm: Tell them you want a Buy Button.

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End Note: N. Stephen Ruchman, CPIA, is a retired independent agent and founder of Ruchman Associates, Inc. the agency he started in 1961. A past president of the Professional Insurance Agents of New York State, Inc., he is an active supporter of PIANY, and he has sat on or chaired nearly every committee including the Executive Committee and the Long Island Advisory Council and PIANY’s Political Action Committee. He can be reached via email at: nsruchman@gmail.com.