While insurers need to do a better job involving their producers in strategic and operational decisions, such communication must be a two-way street, with agents and brokers keeping their partners in the loop about where they stand.
This point came up during a webinar yesterday hosted by Deloitte, which examined the results and the implications of the "Producer Satisfaction Survey" the firm conducted last year, in partnership with National Underwriter.
If you recall, when we first published the results of the survey on Nov. 9, 2009 (see http://bit.ly/3FqjhO and http://bit.ly/4Ar6d7) I quoted the movie "Cool Hand Luke" and opined that "what we have here is a failure to communicate."
The survey found that while carriers tend to consult more frequently with their bigger producers than with smaller ones, even top producers rarely were "often" in the loop about initiatives in key areas such as marketing or claims. (See my editorial, "Can We Talk?" at http://bit.ly/aro2er).
Later on, in two separate live events, Deloitte and NU gathered together top carriers, big brokers and Main Street agents to hash out the results.
In one such roundtable discussion, I noted that some carriers shrugged off producer dissatisfaction as "the nature of the beast"–arguing that no matter what they did, producers would never be happy with them. (See my editorial, 'Keep Producers Happy," at http://bit.ly/a48GW4).
That's the wrong conclusion, I insisted at the time. Indeed, I pleaded with carriers not to take away from our survey that any dysfunction in the insurer-producer relationship was irreparable. "Producers! Can't live with them, can't live without them," is NOT the lesson carriers should take away from this survey.
However, in preparing for the Deloitte webinar on the subject–"Re-Energizing Agent and Broker Channels for the Next Growth Cycle," available at bit.ly/c3jKBw, I realized this message was not only directed at carriers, but at producers as well.
Allow me to correct that: Agents and brokers need to make clear where each carrier fits into THEIR marketing schemes.
No carrier likes to be used merely as leverage against other insurers. If carriers are expected to make a long-term commitment to a brokerage or agency, and to allow them to take part in strategic planning and be kept in the loop about underwriting, claims and other operational issues, the insurer needs to know that they truly are in a partnership.
In a soft market, of course, this is quite challenging, as it's hard for a producer to keep a client with a carrier that is charging more than another bidder. But if the company is sound financially, has been flexible on coverage and is reliable on claims, producers should do all they can to keep clients with their long-term carrier partners.
Carriers also point out that since they usually generate 80 percent of their business from 20 percent of their distribution force, they can't possibly include every producer in their inner circle.
But the fact is that with the distribution force aging and overwhelming white and male, carriers cannot afford to ignore the needs of smaller but younger producers who have the potential to become part of that top-20 percentile at some point.
That's why carriers need to scout the same way any good sports team does–looking for those who might be raw but talented, who could benefit from some education and professional development, and who could become a star producer in the medium-term future.
Looking to diversify the distribution force–not only by age, but by gender, race and ethnic background–could also pay dividends in an increasingly diverse consumer marketplace.
In attracting the best and brightest among the younger producers coming into the business, developing a top-notch social media policy could also be a big asset.
People are living virtual lives, and they increasingly depend on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and a host of other social media (around now and yet to come) to not onlykeep in touch with friends and family, but to conduct their business.
Those carriers who put in place best-of-breed social media platforms have the best shot not only of attracting and retaining young, Web-savvy employees, but the best producers–and customers–as well.
What do you folks think?
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