When insurance agents filled out the questionnaire for the 2020 NUPC/PIA Independent Agent Survey, respondents were offered a menu of potential choices when asked a broad question about what challenges their agency faces when it comes to adapting to new technologies and were told to check all that apply.
Since 2017, NU Property & Casualty has partnered with the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) to develop insights from the perspective of independent property & casualty insurance agents and brokers throughout the U.S. This year's analysis was conducted by the experts at ALM Intelligence (a division of our parent company ALM Media, LLC).
Is technology worth the cost?
Six factors showed little statistical difference, less than +/-3%.
That means these leading concerns are inter-related:
- Insufficient training;
- Insufficient staffing;
- Lack of financial or other support from my carriers; and
- Insufficient budget.
There are two broad strands running through these responses. First, concern about how much that necessary technology will cost, and what will be the measurable ROI benefit? Second, how supportive will carriers be?
"Agency owners do not have a clear idea where their carriers are going with technology and no clear idea of what they should be doing. While there are plenty of articles by InsurTech leaders about why the insurance industry needs to change and how it should do so, there is an absence of similar focus on discovering what carriers are doing. In the past, industry news reports would track where carriers are headed. That hasn't happened yet," said PIA National Executive Vice President & CEO Mike Becker.
When asked what elements of the agency-client experience are well suited to online service, two options received notably few responses: Establishment of trust; and discussions with clients that go beyond routine process and coverage questions.
"This comes as no surprise at all, as these form the core of the independent agent's relationship with clients," Becker said.
Competition, talent and growth
Three responses top the list by a significant margin when agencies are asked to rate their most significant challenges:
- Competition from online and/or direct-to-consumer providers;
- Attracting and retaining talent; and
- Finding business development opportunities/growth opportunities.
"This tracks perfectly with what we hear from independent agents regularly," Becker said. "Online competition, finding talent and growth are top-of-mind for most agency owners, scoring well ahead of other concerns."
There is almost a total balance when agencies are asked how concerned they are about online competition. About half say they are slightly concerned or not concerned, with another half saying they are very or extremely concerned. The rest are in the middle, saying they are moderately concerned.
Perpetuation planning, which is often cited by agents as an ongoing concern, scores only halfway on the list of challenges. It should be noted that despite many coordinated efforts to raise awareness, "Promoting diversity and inclusion at the agency" drew the lowest number of positive responses. When it comes to the support agents want from carriers, they are clear; according to the survey, the #1 thing agents want from carriers is marketing-sales support — 67.5% of agents rated this as very important or extremely important.
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