We spend a lot of time at Safeco thinking, reading, writing and helping to prepare independent agents for the future. Most of the advice I've written and read can be distilled into three simple notions:

Stop ignoring millennials. We must all face the facts: the eldest millennials are growing up. They're turning 35 and making major life decisions — getting married, buying homes, starting families. Already the largest segment of the U.S. adult population, they're the only one that's growing and will remain the largest until at least 2042. That means their preferences will drive the market for the rest of my career, and probably yours. The independent agent is in the best position to meet the evolving needs of these customers. If we don't take advantage of this opportunity, we may lose tomorrow's customers.

"Lean in" on digital. More and more, I'm seeing this as a distinct strategy from the one above. The new rules and tools of engagement are no longer particular to Gen Y. The rest of us have caught up — social media, email drip campaigns, mobile apps and 24×7 access to digital tools are markers of the "new normal" in business, even small business. Agents like Angelyn Treutel Zeringue, president of SouthGroup Insurance, Gulf Coast, are seeing three to five referrals a day with a smart social strategy. And so can you.
Play to your unique strengths. Independent agents offer a combination of advantages that no other distribution channel can match: ease of doing business, the widest array of choices to meet myriad customer needs, and the trusted counsel of an industry expert. Each one of these attributes, taken on its own or in combination with another, can be compelling to certain segments of policyholders. But the IA's unique ability to combine ease, choice and advice amounts to a "super power" that, according to our research, is actually gaining relevance in the personal insurance market.

No guts, no glory

If you ask any member the U.S. hockey team that won the 1980 Olympics, I'll bet not one of them would describe what they achieved as a "miracle on ice." They know that their victory was won long before those games began, in the countless hours of preparation, both mental and physical, on and off the ice. That's why every Rocky movie features a montage of our hero training incredibly hard, getting "the eye of the tiger" and all that. Deep down, the audience knows that winning doesn't happen — and wouldn't have any meaning — without work.

Special Reports /

Empowering the future for independent insurance agents

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