A number of commercial insurance giants–some of them global in scope–remain hungry for growth in the Main Street market. They compete with smaller and more specialized firms by offering broad coverage along with risk management tools and service options to support independent agents whose bread and butter prospects are small-business owners like themselves.

Each carrier queried for this article cited a common “secret” for success in the small-business market–the easier it is for agents to fill out applications, bind coverage and service Main Street accounts, the more successful both the carrier and producer will be. Carriers recognize that to be profitable in this tight-margin market, producers must spend a minimal amount of time on administration to maximize their sales goals.

All said they had built their small-business programs to a point where agents could quote and bind in a short period of time, and a few said that for many classes of business, the process would not even involve a live underwriter.