On Sept. 19, I moderated a roundtable discussion with the winners of our annual Commercial Agency of the Year Award. (No, I can't reveal the winners yet—you'll have to wait until next week, when we dedicate much of the issue to celebrating our champions and sharing their success secrets.)
Over the course of the 90-minute conversation, I peppered the three participants—each a principal at one of the winning firms—with the questions you might expect a business journalist to ask: their view on whether the commercial-insurance market is hardening, the strategies they use to secure new business (and attract new talent), the lines of business in which their clients have a growing interest, how their firms are using social media, etc.
Their answers were thoughtful, enlightening, full of good advice—reflective of their many years of industry experience and their time leading top-performing firms. (The roundtable was videotaped, and we'll be sharing excerpts of the conversation with everyone.)
But after an hour-and-a-half of responding to my questions, their eyes lit up—and I think I saw them move closer to the edges of their seats—when I gave them the chance to ask each other questions.
Not only did they seize the chance to glean insight from each other at the “official” roundtable, but their back-and-forth exchanges over business best practices continued in earnest over lunch (this time, at a literal round table).
And it pains me not a bit to admit (OK, maybe it stings just a little, but I'll get over it) that they were pursuing avenues of inquiry with each other that only executives who have been in the agency trenches for decades would know to ask.
Finally, I interrupted them with questions that I now also pose to all of you: “You're obviously finding huge value in the chance to engage in a peer-to-peer (and face-to-face) brainstorming session. Would you welcome the chance to connect online with groups of industry professionals who share your areas of interest? Or would you not even consider it? And if you wouldn't dismiss the idea out of hand, what are the tools and conditions that would prompt you to actively engage with such a virtual community? Are you already a member—and regular participant—of any industry groups on LinkedIn?”
From my small sample group of three, here's a summary of what I heard: The chance to brainstorm with/pick the brains of fellow professionals is, on its face, a highly appealing concept, but there was a strong emphasis on the need for any such community to have a high signal-to-noise ratio: Too much fluff, or the absence of some sort of quality filter, would dilute the potential value enormously. They also expressed a strong preference for being able to know the real identities of those with whom they were interacting—no “InsuranceJoe_1973,” but people with (verified) profiles.
What's your own input? If NU invested in the tools that would facilitate such online dialogue, would you see yourself taking advantage frequently? What are the features (and rules and safeguards) such a system would need to have to become a regular part of your workflow? Give me a call or send me an email.
Bryant Rousseau
Editor in Chief
[email protected]
201-526-2329
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