Four ways agents and brokers can capture growth in 2019

The year 2019 holds promise for expansion in the P&C space. Last year, 35 firms made the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies. The trend continues and momentum is building.

It’s mainly a matter of economics. As the nation’s GDP rises, the P&C insurance sector tends to move in-sync and expand. When the economy whirrs, construction companies build more properties and need additional insurance for their new projects. More people start businesses, which also require commercial insurance coverage.

Additionally, as new industries and businesses emerge, each presents opportunities for agents and brokers. One example is cannabis, which has evolved into a full-fledged industry. To date, 33 states and D.C. have legalized medical marijuana and 10 have legalized recreational marijuana. This sector is a moving target pursued by P&C agents. The same holds true for the gig economy, where agents and brokers are covering independent contractors and small businesses.

Agents and brokers can optimize these opportunities through several pathways. Here’s how. 

Related: Legalized marijuana: Opportunity or time bomb? – Part 1

Use technology to improve engagement and customer experience

Agents and brokers can make traditional enrollment and renewal processes less onerous for business owners by automating them. Transferring operations from paper to digital is the modern solution that helps agencies retain and enhance the satisfaction of their clients while also increasing efficiency.

The requirement of elevated customer experience extends beyond the retail and hospitality industries. Customers are beginning to expect this approach within B2B and service industries as well. Automation provides benefits to agents and brokers and their current and prospective clients. It simplifies the arduous manual processes of enrollment, renewal and updating. The time savings can then be used by brokers and agents to build their expertise to offer more personalized services.

For agents and brokers that seek to write coverage for young business owners, notably millennials who are accustomed to the online environment, technology is not a nice-to-have, but a must-have. Digital forms and e-signature solutions which remove the need to download, print, sign, scan, upload, fax or rely on mail, are a necessity when working with this generation.

Specialize to build business and differentiate

Resourceful agents and brokers are carving out niches for their P&C insurance brokerage. This strategy can take many forms, such as penetrating a geographic area or line of business.

For example, a commercial P&C brokerage may specialize in servicing restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area. These agents and brokers may develop and offer personalized solutions that address specific industry needs and also take into account considerations unique to the local area. Leveraging technology to become the go-to source for businesses in a particular space or industry enables brokerages to develop enduring customer relationships, which fosters loyalty.

Become less transactional and add value in other ways

All agents and brokers act as an intermediary between customers and carriers to get quotes. To differentiate in the marketplace and create an ever-larger book of business, the key is to do more. Go beyond fundamentals. Move up the value chain by devoting energies to higher level functions. Examples of higher-level services brokers can provide include revving up proposals by using advanced analytics and benchmarking, providing insurance industry insight relevant to their business along with greater options for policy protection and comparative statistics.

This is where technology comes in again. It streamlines transactions and imparts efficiencies. Basic processes become easier, faster and less prone to human error. Upgrading operations free agents and brokers to plan for and deliver compelling sales presentations as well as seek out new sources of revenue. This provides more bandwidth to volunteer in worthwhile community projects to build goodwill and meet prospects. More time spent on business development, be it through informative email campaigns or participating in groups and events, reaps rewards.

Focus on serving as a strategic advisor

As a corollary of the other strategies outlined, savvy agents and brokers can work with customers in the capacity of a trusted advisor. In this role, the conversations they have with those they insure help these clients optimize the businesses they run. They can propose suggestions that busy business owners, focused on the main aspects of running their company, haven’t thought about, such as changes to their automotive fleet or physical plant from a P&C coverage and financial perspective.

Agents and brokers can fully evaluate customers’ current and future insurance needs and then propose policy revisions along with innovative offerings. By doing so, the agent-customer relationship changes from enroll, update, renew to business partner.

Through organic growth or via acquisition, 2019 may be a banner year for agents and brokers. The drivers are there and so are the tools to make the most of it. 

Related: How agents can maintain personal client relationships and relevancy in the Digital Age

Michael Furlong (indio@n6a.com) is the CEO of Indio Technologies. The opinions expressed here are his own.