When you signed on for your career, you may not have realized that you accepted the enormous role of spokesperson for the insurance industry. Think about it for a second: When the insurance-buying public thinks of our industry, the experiences they have interacting with their insurance agents or brokers often come to mind. This highlights the need for agents and brokers to have training that focuses on technical insurance knowledge.
Creating value for clients through technical knowledge of coverages is a key responsibility for agents and brokers. You also need a strong focus on consultative approaches with clients to provide exceptional customer service and differentiate your services from the competition. This partnership with clients is like that of a business consultant (think enterprise risk management), in which the focus is on 365-days-a-year support—not just when it's time to renew.
Thinking about a client's enterprise risk and approaching solutions from that perspective differentiates you from other agents. This approach creates trust and brings value to the client relationship—crucial in today's highly connected digital world where potential clients use the Internet to compare price points.
Agents and brokers who understand that clients want to feel that their best interests are being served—in addition to having a good price point—have the competitive advantage. To instill this confidence you must have the technical insurance knowledge to recommend the proper coverages and help clients understand what they are buying. This helps avoid costly misunderstandings (and costly errors and omissions) when disaster strikes.
The underlying implication is that insurance agents and brokers, through high-quality education that focuses on developing technical knowledge and emphasizes the importance of consultative relationships, have the unique ability to enhance the image of our industry as whole.
Your role as the spokesperson of our industry is not easy. However, yours are truly rewarding roles—both professionally and financially. I encourage you to actively develop your technical knowledge. You have a unique opportunity to enhance your customer relationships and help move the perception of our industry back toward what it should be—an altruistic industry dedicated to protecting people and helping them in their times of need.
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