Beyond Insurance asked more than 350 field marketing representatives and underwriters from several regional carriers what they want from their agents. Their response is:
- New business production
- Client retention
- Rising hit ratios
- High value targets
- Meet or exceed submission goals
- Risk profile improvement
- Advocate for the carrier brand
- Predictive, subjective assessment of customers
- Ability to trade on their relationship with the customer
So, how can you meet or exceed these expectations?
Start by Deepening Client Relationships with Stewardship Reviews
With trust and respect as the foundation, introduce your underwriter and field marketing specialist to your mutual clients. Your clients will feel your symbiotic relationship and gain enhanced confidence and security in building deeper relationships with its risk advisory team.
While there are numerous occasions to introduce your client to the underwriter and/or field marketing specialist, Beyond Insurance suggests the stewardship review at the six-month point of the renewal cycle for the following reasons:
- The stewardship review demonstrates your joint knowledge of the client’s business and risk issues
- It gives both you and the underwriter the opportunity to reinforce the quality and integrity of your work product
- You have a captive audience consisting of the executive management team
- The process is strategic, diagnostic, and consultative
Our experience confirms that involving the underwriter and a field marketing specialist has positive outcomes including deepening relationships, reducing outside competitors, and efficiency of the renewal process.
Implement a Differentiated Risk Management Process
Use factors other than price to differentiate and set yourself apart with clients and prospects. When your underwriter and field marketing specialist realize that you are practicing solid risk management fundamentals of identifying, diagnosing, and mitigating risk, your submissions will “rise to the top of the heap.”
To achieve this status, you must focus on fulfilling otherwise unmet customer needs. The path to business success is through uncovering and addressing risk issues that confront the insured, and establishing a defensible market position in the face of uncertainty and commoditization.
A process-driven approach leads to a fulfilling relationship with your underwriter and field marketing specialist because it enhances your credibility and differentiates you from your competition. The risk management process allows you to uniquely package and position yourself in the marketplace, giving you tremendous purpose and passion. Why? Because you are strategically uncovering risk issues, conveying implications, and establishing interventions that are valued and appreciated by your insured, underwriter, and field marketing specialist.