Brokers who know how to improve productivity, growth and marginsare the one's succeeding in today's dynamic insurancemarketplace. This is especially true in the small businessinsurance marketplace, where profit margins are often slim andbrokers are continually looking for ways to improve the efficiencyof their transactions and margins, while effectively serving theneeds of their policyholder clients.

To address the challenges of growth and productivity, brokersare implementing a variety of strategies to drive profitability,and they're actively measuring effectiveness and making adjustmentsalong the way.

According to a survey of more than 250 brokers commissioned byACE Commercial Risk Services, conducted in July 2014, a significantnumber of brokers have developed specific growth strategies fortheir specialty small commercial business portfolio, while othersare implementing productivity enhancement strategies and haveprofit margin improvement strategies.

While 48 percent of the brokers generated more than $1 millionfrom their small specialty commercial book of business, 20 percentgenerated $500,000 to $1 million, and 20 percent generated lessthan $500,000. Brokers generating less than $1 million fromtheir small specialty commercial book therefore may have anopportunity to increase revenues and profitability, provided theyhave the right strategies in place.

The survey asked brokers about the strategies they have in placefor their small specialty commercial book of business. More thanhalf of the respondents said they are increasing revenue byup-selling and cross-selling additional lines of business,increasing web-based rating and servicing to speed up transactions,and limiting the number of carriers they transact with to createbuying power for their small commercial clients.

The survey also found that 30 percent or more of the respondentbrokers are proactively consolidating small accounts to fewercarriers, negotiating favorable terms and conditions from carriers,and getting binding authority for small commercial accounts.

These results illustrate that brokers are thinking outside thebox and using creative approaches that have not typically been usedin the past. These innovative ideas are helping to generatesignificant revenue and growth opportunities for brokers across theboard.

In the quest to maximize productivity, brokers seek to work withinsurance carriers that can help to make the transaction processfast and efficient while providing competitive products and pricingacross a broad risk appetite.

In addition, more than 70 percent of survey respondent brokerssay that the most important characteristics they are looking forfrom insurers are underwriter responsiveness and pricecompetitiveness.

They also identified quote turn-around speed as another crucialquality. Other important qualities included: breadth of appetite(61 percent), pricing stability (41 percent), financialstrength/stability (40 percent) and placement efficiency (38percent).

Too often though, brokers see carriers only performing well inone or two of these categories, and they find that insurers areoften lacking a comprehensive solution for small business. For example, a carrier may offer quote turn-around speed andcompetitive pricing, but offer no flexibility in working with thebroker to solve problems and find creative ways to write businesstogether.

In today's competitive environment, brokers in the smallbusiness insurance marketplace are implementing strategies thatthey hope can help them not only survive, but thrive. They arefocusing on ways to simplify transactions with their carriers,improve productivity, and increase margins, all while maintainingpolicyholder satisfaction. Brokers want fast and efficientinsurer placement with choices to go online or work directly with aresponsive underwriter with whom they have a relationship. Mostimportantly, they need carriers to be flexible and willing to meetthem where they are in their efforts to grow small commercialbusiness and service their clients.

David Lupica is Division President, ACE Commercial RiskServices, based in Alpharetta, GA. David Charlton is DivisionPresident, Property & Casualty and Micro-businessDivision, ACE Commercial Risk Services, based in Malvern, PA. ACECommercial Risk Services is a division of ACE Group providingspecialty insurance products for small business in NorthAmerica through wholesale, retail, managing general agentand alternative distribution channels.