NU Online News Service, MAY 1, 11:09 a.m. EDT

WASHINGTON—Independent agents seeking new property and casualty markets are leaving money on the table if they don't aim to attract America's growing minority populations, says the head of an agent's diversity task force.

With this in mind, the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America is working to release a series of webinars focused on understanding how to market to the nation's “salad bowl.”

Saying it's a “tough nut to crack,” Juan Padron, the IIABA's Diversity Task Force chairman and partner in SafeGuard Insurance Agency, explains that the association has joined forces with Kelly McDonald of McDonald Marketing and author of the best-selling book, “How to Market to People Not Like You.”

McDonald spoke during the IIABA's Legislative Conference and Convention on Friday during the association's Diversity Task Force Luncheon here.

Padron, in an interview at the conference, says the membership feels it is “not making enough inroads into finding the solutions” for agents to sell to a diversified marketplace. The IIABA has partnered with McDonald to that end, feeling there is a need to have someone “who does this day-in and day-out to work with.”

With McDonald's help, the association plans to create a seven-step process on how agents should be reaching out to new and diverse markets.

“Agents are not thinking about this in their day-to-day life,” says Padron. “And agents need to realize that they are leaving a lot of money on the table.”

He says the webinar will lay out for agents and state associations the tools they need to use “to take on this marketplace.”

Currently, plans call for four to six webinars on the subject that will first be tested in New York and Washington State. An exact timetable has not been established, he says.

For her part, McDonald tells agents that “you can't serve your local community well unless you know your customer,” adding that with the changes in demographics over the years, the customers in their market “do not look like they did 10 years ago.”

She says America is no longer a melting pot where a homogeneous group of Europeans blended into the fabric of country. Today, America is “a salad bowl” of very diverse races and ethnicities.

She says according to the U.S. Census, for the first time in this nation's history one in three Americans is not considered of white nationality, and four states—Texas, California, Hawaii, New Mexico—and Washington, D.C. are “majority minority.”

That trend will continue, she notes, saying that these are agents' future customers and co-workers.

The attitudes toward race are also changing for the younger generation that is accepting differences and expects to see a diverse workforce where they work.

She cautions agents that while they need to adjust and hire people who are multi-lingual and diversify their workplace, they should not hire just anyone.

“Do not hire the wrong person for your needs,” advises McDonald. “Be selective and hold onto the talent you need.

“Understand the community,” she continues. “It is complex marketing, and you'll have to adapt.”

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IIABA to Launch Diversity Education Webinar

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