Reigniting resolve to navigate the hard market, unlock growth
A tough market presents an excellent opportunity to coach your team and uncover opportunities.
Last year, the American Property and Casualty Insurance Association said we were in the hardest market for property insurance in a generation. They were right.
A year later, the hard market for property insurance remains, compounded by difficult liability and auto markets. The stress related to navigating this hard has affected the attitudes and mental health of practically every team member in the independent agency system whether they are managing frustrated or angry clients or searching to secure coverage.
With seemingly unending challenges and problems facing agents every day as they operate as business owners and try to serve their clients, how can they find the resolve to continue to plug away in the current market day after day? With challenges of historic proportions threatening existing business, let alone new business, how can an agent find ways to grow? Below are a few motivational phrases to keep you going.
It’s not forever
Human beings tend to think that what they are experiencing currently will continue. Whether it’s a booming economy or a depression or high or low interest rates, trends do have a way of changing. Recognizing this we can see that the market challenges we’re currently navigating won’t last forever. Eventually rate adequacy, weather, a changing economic environment or all three will usher in the return of a softer market. In fact, I think it is likely we will see easier market conditions by the end of the year and my optimism has been reinforced in recent conversations I have had with senior insurance company executives.
Until then, hang in there. It may feel impossible to persevere when there is no end in sight, but this is a great time to coach your team on the likelihood of the market turning. Focus on the wins you have with clients and remind your team of how this extended rough patch has benefitted the agency, and them professionally and personally, with income growth and the chance to be of real value to policyholders and prospects.
Temporary challenges can fuel long-term change
When times get tough, people either fail or fold under the pressure or they pivot and change their approach. In the personal property market, carriers need supporting lines of business in many cases to justify writing an account. We all know writing monoline homeowners is generally not a good idea but it happens frequently anyway. Hard markets like this one can help you cultivate new habits among your team members that will yield benefits long after the market changes.
When you are struggling to find coverage for clients at affordable prices, it can be easier to recognize the clients you probably shouldn’t be writing anyway. It might make sense to jettison the unreasonable, the ungrateful and the unpleasant in times like this. Difficult clients create friction and stress in your business even in good times. Letting them go presents an opportunity to define your ideal client and get very clear on with whom you will and won’t work. I think to what or to whom you say no is far more important to your long-term success than to what or to whom you say yes. Tough times like these can provide clarity for the long-term.
Strength is formed with pressure
Forged steel is a much stronger material than cast iron because it is hammered under pressure until its strength is maximized. It will not shatter under stress the way cast iron will. In the same way, people and businesses become more resilient, tougher and better performers as they live through adversity. The old saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is true.
Your carrier relationships will be stronger than ever because of your cooperation if you work together to solve problems. Producers, who find new avenues to sell business in times like these will find these acquired habits and skills pay dividends when the market softens. In fact, they should be paying dividends now, as these agents should be able to take business from other agents who simply did not put forth the effort. Further, your service team can enjoy the benefits of stronger client relationships forged in this difficult period as grateful customers see the lengths they went to in order to serve their interests in tough times.
If you put your mind to it, these changes in approach can power your agency’s growth and success for decades beyond the crucible you have lived through for the last couple of years. Recognizing this fact can create an optimism about the future that can carry you through another tough day.
We are not yet through this incredibly difficult time for our industry. But we are close. When the storm passes, we will see higher rates and higher incomes. But more importantly, we will benefit from new habits, renewed commitments and stronger relationships if we work at it.
Tony Caldwell is an author, speaker and mentor who has helped independent agents create more than 250 independent insurance agencies. Learn more by visiting www.tonycaldwell.net or contacting him at tonyc@oneagentsalliance.net.
Opinions expressed here are the author’s own.
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