The Seventh Annual Independent Insurance Agent Survey indicates clients are relying on trusted advisors to help them navigate tough financial times. (fidaolga/Adobe Stock)
The Independent Insurance Agent Survey produced every year by NU Property & Casualty, ALM Intelligence and National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) is an annual checkup for agents and agencies. It takes the temperature of the sector, assessing the success of independent agents as it identifies business issues, concerns and challenges.
Here's some good news: Over the last 12 months, there was an increase in agency production and gross income, continuing a trend noted in last year's survey.
At the same time, the 2023 survey notes that clients have relied on their agents to help them navigate uncertainty in the economy. Some agents said many of their clients cut back on coverage, while others increased coverage for more protection.
Challenges persist
There are plenty of upbeat insights in this year's survey, but there also are concerns. For almost a decade, for instance, there has been an awareness that recruiting is one of the top challenges currently faced by the industry at large as well as by independent agencies.
Fully half of the respondents to this year's survey reported that attracting and retaining talent is their No. One challenge. Asked to describe their ability to attract professionals, more than 53% said such efforts were either "somewhat difficult" or "very difficult," as opposed to being "very easy" or "somewhat easy."
This year's survey indicated significantly fewer agents expressed concern about competition from direct writers. Overall, 57.7% of agents said they are only slightly concerned, or not at all concerned, about competition from direct and online markets. This number is growing. Last year, the number of agents saying they were only slightly or not concerned was just 40%. In this area, agents are expressing more confidence.
How agents stand out
Asked how their agencies differentiate themselves from their direct writer competition, responses and rankings were consistent between 2023 and the prior year. The top points of differentiation were: relationships [86.6%], service [79.3%], expertise [63.7%], and advice [54.5%].
The continuing success of independent agents and the growth of the agency distribution system, even in more challenging times, should not come as a surprise. Professional independent insurance agents are in a business built on relationships and provide service to clients that draws on their unique expertise.
PIA has partnered with NU Property & Casualty to survey independent agents for seven years. The results, while sometimes varied, have remained remarkably consistent since this survey's inception in 2017. It shows that agents are skilled at relationship building and adapting to change. As a result, the agency distribution system remains strong.
We live in a time of ongoing adaptation. The pandemic — which is still with us — along with economic uncertainty over the past several years, put agents in the position of having to rapidly adapt to changes such as the increased digital delivery of insurance products. Agency staff in many cases started working remotely early in the pandemic, bringing more change. Extreme weather events have increased the demands placed on agencies even further.
Agents have faced these rapid changes while maintaining a can-do attitude, and their positivity contributes to their competitive advantage. It also serves to demonstrate who they are: neighbors and friends, and members of the local community who help their neighbors use
Mike Becker insurance to protect their property, their health, their way of life, and their lives.
Agents are truly in a helping profession. And they are good people.
Mike Becker (mbecker@pianational.org) is CEO of the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents. These opinions are the author's own.
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