Twenty years ago, Time Magazine said insurance agencies were a dying institution. They’ve managed to hang on despite the prediction. However, like us all, the pandemic hit local insurance agents hard. 

An article in NU Property & Casualty Magazine noted: 

“Agents rely on building relationships rooted in trust with their clients. Every touchpoint between an independent agency and its clients is part of building the client relationship. The need for independent agents to build relationships has never been greater.” (Part 3)

So relationships of trust are the secret to the local insurance agent’s success and, let’s face it, their livelihood. This makes sense. If I myself am in a crisis situation, I don’t want to work my way through a phone queue pressing numbers anxiously hoping to reach a live person. I want to call someone I know will answer and help me immediately. 

Another NU Property & Casualty Magazine article said it well: 

“[Customers] want to feel valued and important, not like just another number.” (Top 5 Challenges)

How are local insurance agents differentiating themselves and staying alive in this time of digitization and call centers? The 2022 Independent Insurance Agent Survey found:

“Independent agents overwhelmingly rely on relationships, great service and coverage expertise to differentiate themselves from the competition. The most-cited points of business differentiation were relationships (84.5%) and service (83.1%).” (Part 1)

If you want to pursue local insurance agents for part of your business sales plan, you need to speak to this need agents’ have with their insureds: 1) building trusting relationships, and 2) offering phenomenal personalized service.

Are you ready to get direct and consistent referrals from your local insurance agents?