Client visits & inspections: Making sure your insureds feel valued
Agents who embrace in-person visits will see the benefits of more amicable, longer-term relationships.
The ability to build and maintain strong relationships is a defining trait of the insurance industry. We are an industry rooted in providing meaningful, critical support to insureds with the goal of helping them protect their homes, businesses and livelihoods. Establishing a good rapport with clients is the key to understanding their needs and addressing them effectively.
One of the best ways to build that relationship remains a tried-and-true site visit in cooperation with your insurer or program administrator. These visits can be invaluable, both in cultivating the agent-insured relationship as well as getting the coverage and terms just right with a consistent understanding among all parties.
On the commercial side, a great way for our agent partners to deepen their connection with clients is to accompany us on regularly scheduled site visits and inspections.
In person, invaluable
As a program administrator serving the winery, brewery and liquor industries for 26 years, we know the value of a boots-on-the-ground approach. This approach to risk management for breweries and wineries has proven essential in recent years, as several weather and safety risks have plagued businesses. Ideally, our valued agent partners coordinate inspections with clients where we can evaluate their properties for major risks, such as wildfires or equipment safety exposures.
In-person visits are crucial to helping a business owner protect their organization from potential exposures. While virtual inspections are a helpful supplementary approach, no substitute exists for the value of in-person site visits and inspections. They can provide essential insights into an insured’s risk profile while helping to build the relationship among the agent, policyholder and insurer.
Agents who embrace this approach will see benefits in more amicable, longer-term — and possibly more lucrative — relationships. Smoother transactions with less room for error can also occur. Without this in-person, three-way communication, larger room for error exists in ensuring the client has the coverage they need.
A view into on-site visits in the winery business
In our industry, clients can have extensive properties with numerous facilities. In a well-constructed agent–insurer/program administrator–insured relationship, the agent and insured will work together to ensure all buildings are consistently named, helping to avoid inconsistencies and confusion later.
We recently had an on-site inspection at a winery without the agent in attendance. During our walkthrough, we noticed our submission schedule had two buildings labeled “warehouse” with different limits. The winemaker had neither of these on record. In the end, the discrepancy required us to take more of the policyholder’s time to resolve the confusion. It wasn’t a good look for us or the agent. While it may not be realistic for agents to come to every visit, attending when possible can facilitate more seamless transactions. Additionally, attending a visit demonstrates to the client that the agent is committed and proactive where protecting the client’s property is concerned.
In another situation, a winery’s operations manager showed us two brand new 50,000-gallon stainless steel tanks they had purchased and installed before last season’s harvest. The agent confirmed the winery owner had informed him, and that the new tanks were reflected on the schedule and in the property limits.
Later in this same visit we found pallets of cased goods. The operations manager informed us that with the increased production they were experiencing, they were slowly converting the equipment warehouse to store cased products. At the end of the visit, the agent stopped by the owner’s office to discuss revised coverage and limits for the increased product. This streamlined the process and ensured the client would stay protected and demonstrated to the client the agent’s commitment to protecting the business.
Attending these regular inspections also helps keep clients, agents and insureds in accord when it comes to changing property values. Current property values allow agents and insurers to confirm policyholders have the right coverage and the right limits, making certain their property is insured to its current rebuild value. This can prevent sticker shock for the client and prepare them for possible price hikes as we navigate supply chain challenges and more.
For example, on that visit without the agent present, we also came across a new backup generator purchased about one year before. He did not know if it was insured. Again, we had to take the policyholder’s time to discuss the details and eventually circle back with the agent to determine if the generator was covered appropriately. This could have been avoided if the agent was onsite.
Building strong relationships for the future
In an industry built around relationships, agents who prioritize in-person inspections, regular visits and clear communications with insureds raise their value proposition in the relationship and help protect their clients.
While recent technological innovations may have made remote risk management more feasible and valuable, nothing can replace an in-person site visit. These visits not only remain important to ensuring all parties are properly communicating and working together to protect the insured’s business, but are also invaluable when it comes to maintaining and growing an agent’s book of business.
Larry Chasin is president and CEO of PAK Programs, which provides insurance programs for wineries, vineyards, breweries and other beverage facilities.
Opinions expressed here are the author’s own.
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