It is no "small" question: How do you sell insurance products to a company that doesn't understand its exposures, that doesn't have a lot of capital, and whose owner often doesn't want to do much beyond "point and click" when it comes to purchasing the coverage they do buy?

And why should agents consider trying to sell to these prospects, considering the amount of premium (and commission) to be gained versus the amount of work they may have to put into it?

Yet a number of major carriers — and many savvy agents — are currently targeting small business with renewed vigor, devoting extensive resources to this difficult-to-crack market. Some are using technology, social media, and predictive analytics; others are leveraging their relationship-building skills. Small business, they maintain, is the great untapped market that holds a bounty of promise for the P&C industry.

Small businesses underserved

"One of the largest and most positive opportunities is to write small business insurance in America," says Tom Barrett, president of the Midwest and Southeast regions of the Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA). He adds, there are thousands of businesses "overlooked by the insurance and broker communities that are totally underserved."