The digital age has forever changed the way consumers view insurance—and a lot of that is for the better. Today's consumers can better educate themselves about insurance products with a quick search on the Web, and that's a good thing for all of us.

Our research has shown that while agents believe the direct channel has had an impact on their current customers, they do not believe they have lost many customers to it. In the end, most people who do research online still choose to buy from a local agent. They value the guidance they can only get from their local independent agent—and what's more, these customers also tend to be long-term, multiline customers.

While independent agencies most definitely can compete on price, their value to consumers is far more associated with quality service. There are key human touch points not easily replicated in the online insurance environment:

• Policy purchase: A face-to-face conversation allows the agent to establish a strong sense of customer service and make sure no questions are left unasked or unanswered that might impact coverage for the client.
• New-customer follow-up: This is the first opportunity to demonstrate service beyond the sale by making sure the customer feels confident about their coverage and understands how to make changes in the future or to report a claim.
• Premium change: Whether their premium is going up or down, customers want to understand why—and have the ability to ask.
• Policy review: Lives change, so regularly scheduled reviews will prevent your customers from being caught under- or overinsured.
• Loss/claim follow-up: Large or small, clients want a familiar presence while a claim is being settled, ready to help if needed.

These customer-service realities support the argument that independent agencies are critical to personal-lines sales and are in a great position for growth in the commercial marketplace, where they write about 80 percent of that business in the U.S.