Independent agents need to be convinced of the value of a customer relationship management system–not always an easy task–if companies want them to adopt it.
That was the message delivered by Scott Weber, assistant vice president of marketing technology at PartnersFinancial/NFP Insurance Services, during the recent ACORD/LOMA Insurance systems Forum in Las Vegas.
"In the independent [agent] sphere, we can't dictate what our firms do," Mr. Weber said. "We have to build a level of trust with them."
PartnersFinancial/NFP distributes its products through approximately 200 independent firms, with between 1,200 and 1,500 producers. There is, he noted, "lots of variance" among them, with different-size firms offering a variety of products, with a varying level of technological sophistication.
Despite their differences, he noted that all the firms do have one thing in common–they all take a skeptical "seeing is believing" view of any solution brought to them by an insurer.
In addition, no firm is going to adopt a system, he cautioned, that would limit agents from spending time with clients and building relationships.
"Keep them in front of their clients," he said. "That's what they do best."
To convince an independent agency to adopt a new CRM system, Mr. Weber said, the focus should be on understanding how an independent agency works.
Insurers need to lose the "home office mentality" and instead look at what's important to the independent agency, he advised.
"They don't care if the CRM helps us in the home office," he said. "They care about their own firm."
As part of that, he added, insurers need to keep their emphasis off the technology of a new CRM system, and instead concentrate on making it work with the independent agency's operations. Understanding how agents do business is part of that.
"If you don't understand how the [independent agency] business works and how these guys make money, you're going to miss the boat when you try to communicate the value of a process," he explained.
As such, Mr. Weber said that CRM systems should work with an independent agent to manage the relationships they've built and help organize their business to show how those relationships have turned into clients.
"Create a system that brings these things to the forefront," he said, adding that a CRM system should not only show information on clients, but also how the agent came into contact with them, the referrals they've made and the resulting business from those referrals.
Additionally, insurers can help their case for a CRM program by promoting it as a compliance tool that can help track e-mail correspondence and other communications.
"A very good, well-designed CRM program can facilitate compliance," Mr. Weber said, adding that independent agencies should be made aware of that. "Turn it around and make it an opportunity to provide good service," he advised.
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