What An Insurance Consultant Wants

Here is a letter I wrote that was published in Agent & Broker Magazine in 2005. The points still hold true. Insurance agents need to improve their approach.

What an Insurance Consultant Wants

I just got an email note from Agent & Broker with suggestions on how to sell insurance with a laptop computer. To agents out there, I'm begging you! Leave the computer in the car!

I work with more than one hundred agents every year. My role is to help the insurance buyer with the insurance transaction. I bid coverage, work with agents on new policies and negotiate renewals for my clients. I never sell insurance. I only work for insurance buyers.

Several times in the past five years agents have brought their laptops into meetings. Some have used the computer for note taking. Several have made presentations. Every time the computer was used it caused some kind of disruption. The agent needs a plug or we have to wait while she boots the machine. Pull out a pad and paper! Take notes on a checklist form! Bring me a well thought out, complete proposal on paper. You don’t even need to bind the thing unless its more than ten pages long – a staple is fine. I want quality not glamour.

Think about the reader when you prepare a proposal.

I'm not impressed with your computer ability. I'm not astonished by your use of PowerPoint. In most cases it’s poorly done or the technology fails. My experience is that computer proposals waste time – yours and mine. Hand me the proposal and show me the value of doing business with you. Show me the exposures you identified and the unique coverage you have designed. That will impress me. Tell me why I should do business with you. Tell me why you are different and better than other agents. Lets have a detailed conversation about our client and how you can help.

By the way, I don’t care if your agency has been around since 1895! I want to know what you are doing for your clients now. What makes you and your agency valuable to me any my client?

Show me what a great insurance person you are by your knowledge of coverage and our client’s exposures and needs. Show me what a great agency you have by returning my calls quickly. Prove your value by replying to my emails. Promise me you’ll return my call in 90 minutes or return my email request in one day. That is something I can use!

If you want to wow me with technology put stuff on your website that provides useful information. I was on an agent’s web site the other day that didn’t even have the agent’s phone number on it! Dump the glitzy flash on your website and tell me the emergency after-hours contact info for your claims department.

Learn how to use the technology you have! Email is a wonderful tool. I still run into agents who refuse to use it! How much business am I going to do with them? Learn how to use spreadsheets so you can give me an analysis of our client’s property rates over the last five years. Learn how to use ModMaster so we can analyze our client’s workers' compensation experience modification. Figure out how to leave an intelligible message in voice mail.

Leave the computer at the office and get back to the basics of providing exceptional insurance service and value for your clients.

Scott Simmonds, CPCU Insurance Consultants Of Maine, Inc. Saco, Maine

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Insurance Issues of International Business

Traditional business insurance plans are inadequate for companies active outside the US and Canada. Here we summarize some of the coverage issues that need to be addressed for the international business.

Property Insurance Concerns

Standard property insurance policies have severe coverage territory limitations. Most policies cover property located only in the U.S. and Canada. Cargo policies should also be reviewed for proper protection. Computer equipment taken on business trips may not be covered overseas.

Liability Coverage Problems

General liability insurance policies provide only limited protection for events that occur outside of the U.S. or Canada. Products liability claims are covered anywhere in the world as long as the product was manufactured (or sold) in the U.S. or Canada and the product was intended for use in the US. Any suit must be brought in the US. Products liability actions brought in foreign courts are not covered by the general liability insurance policy.

Workers' Compensation Issues

Workers' compensation insurance policies provide coverage for citizens of the US and Canada that are temporarily outside of the country. Problems exist with the definition of the word "temporarily". Coverage is not provided for repatriation of employees who die while on foreign assignment or who require special transportation for injuries or illness that strikes while overseas. Endemic disease is not covered.

Auto Insurance Issues

Commercial automobile insurance policies provide liability protection in the United States, its territories and possessions, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Auto accidents that take place in any other part of the world are not covered.

The Solution

Any business who participates in trade or travel outside of the United States or Canada needs to analyze the unique exposures presented. A detailed review of the coverage provided by the current insurance policies is necessary to determine what insurance action should be taken. Special "International Insurance Plans" are available from many insurance companies at premiums that are quite reasonable. These policies can be tailored to meet the specific needs of the organization.

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Unclaimed Property Liabilities

What are your responsibilities regarding unclaimed property? -Uncashed payroll checks -Checks to vendors that are uncashed -Account receivable credit balances -Unused gift certificates Business Finance Magazine recently summarized the major points of a book by Tracey Reid, Unclaimed Property: A Reporting Process and Audit Survival Guide (Wiley and Sons, 2008). The book estimates that only 10% of US companies are compliant with various state laws. By some reports state auditors are going after businesses looking for unclaimed property as a source of revenues. How would your firm do in such a review? Can you say, "Fines and Penalties?"

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Documentation Documentation Documentation

-What did you know? -When did you know it? -What did you do? -What did they do? Lawsuits involve disputes of fact. Many professional liability lawsuits and employment practices allegations involve the answers to the above four questions. Immediate written documentation of events is your best line of defense against allegations of wrongdoing. The rule to follow is, in a lawsuit, it doesn't matter what you say in court. If you didn't write it down at the time of the event, it did not happen. An employee come in late for the third time in a week and you reprimand him, write down the facts and what was said by whom to whom. A customer asks for a change in the contract, write it down. You interview a job applicant or have a conversation with someone seeking a reference, write up the details. It only takes a minute to log events and conversations. The de-tails will save your tail.

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Disability Insurance For a Buy/Sell Agreement

Partners should consider disability insurance as a part of the funding of a buy/sell agreement. This is in addition the life insurance you are (hopefully) buying. What is the impact of the loss of a key employee to your company? Look at your most skilled staff. What happens if Joe is disabled for 6 months? How will your business be affected? Life insurance and disability insurance can ease the financial burden.

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