"What we have here is a failure to communicate." That famous quip–delivered by sassy convict Paul Newman to his cruel warden in "Cool Hand Luke"–captures perhaps the most important finding in the "Producer Satisfaction Survey" conducted by Deloitte, in partnership with National Underwriter.
Insurers love to boast about the "partnership" they enjoy with their independent agents and brokers, but the truth is that while almost all carriers talk the talk, apparently only a select few truly walk the walk.
That's the biggest conclusion I drew from the survey, which forms the basis of this week's cover story, starting on page 12.
The good news is that the majority of producers appear to be quite satisfied overall with their carriers in a number of key attributes that help agents and brokers determine which insurers to represent.
Frankly, I had expected more griping–especially in an anonymous survey of 1,596 agents and brokers of all shapes and sizes. Producers often complain to me privately about carriers failing to stand behind them through good markets and bad, not offering enough tech support, and never paying them enough for all the grunt work they do to get and keep clients on the books.
But before we celebrate, the fact is the vast majority surveyed by Deloitte feel left out of the loop on key carrier decisions and activities affecting their working lives–including biggies like product development, marketing and claims.
Of course, it's no surprise that the bigger the brokerage, the more likely the respondent was to report being sought out for feedback. With most insurers getting 80 percent of their business from 20 percent of their agents and brokers, one could forgive a carrier for connecting more often with their most important distributors.
However, that argument loses some of its power when you notice in the survey that even among those at the biggest firms, fewer than one-quarter of producers said they were "often" solicited for input on marketing and product development, while only 18 percent were queried on tech issues.
The numbers were far lower among smaller agencies, even though the business produced by such firms can quickly add up.
That doesn't sound like much of a "partnership" to me.
This situation can be easily corrected. Indeed, those carriers that take their partnerships with producers seriously should be able to capitalize on the failure of their competitors in this regard by establishing better lines of communication as part of their standard operating procedure.
Carriers that are more proactive and collaborative by including producers in strategic planning will have an easier time keeping their partnerships intact, as the Deloitte survey revealed that the more often agents and brokers are solicited for input, the more satisfied they are.
Those carriers that fail to seize this opportunity, or scoff at the notion that producers deserve a seat at their table, might find themselves on the outside looking in.
You see, the Deloitte survey also found that shelf space will be at a premium pretty soon, with 36.9 percent indicating they would be consolidating their books of business among fewer insurers. Another 42.8 percent expect to add carriers.
Either way, insurers that earn a reputation for making communication with their partners a two-way street will likely have a better chance of keeping their producers, as well as attracting new ones in this very competitive market.
So, what are you waiting for?
Sam Friedman
Editor In Chief
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