The Consultative Broker™ Briefing
Volume V, Number 15
A Free Publication of C.R. Ekern & Company
888.670.1177
www.crekern.com
Copyright, C. R. Ekern & Company, 2007

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"O’ Carriers, Where Art Thou?"

Well, there goes another one!  With the announcement of the St. Paul/Travelers merger, there is one less national carrier for you to draw from.  All this is happening at a time of supposed marketplace loosening.  Are you kidding me?

As the “shoulder” of the cycle broadens, the techniques of the past just won’t work.  As some of you “grayhairs” remember, it was your ability to market accounts that led the way out of the last hard market.  That is when many of us wrote our most profitable accounts.  We were able to do it by getting the jump on our competition by using a carrier that was more “competitive” than the incumbent (of course by competitive we meant cheaper!)

As agent/brokers we relied entirely on the marketplace to differentiate us.  After all, we had fifteen or so national carriers with an “A” rating or better.  Therefore, one carrier was essentially just the same as the others, and we had the ability to play one against the other.  Here were some of the Golden Oldies in our hit parade: Continental, Aetna (Big and Little), CIGNA, Kemper, USF&G, Reliance and Reliance National, The Home, American States and now the St. Paul/Travelers combo.

O’ Carriers, Where Art Thou?

Here is the lesson that we all must learn in the development and retention of quality revenue accounts.  You cannot expect to use the carriers to differentiate yourself in the years to come.  It just won’t work any longer.  Most of you represent the five or so carriers that have national capabilities.  To expect that you can snipe the competition by pulling one of these out of your arsenal is naive at best.  Sorry to burst your bubble, but when you and your competitors all offer the same product, it is not a point of differentiation.

So, do we through in the towel?  Do we give up on creating and developing new accounts?   Do we stop looking for growth?  Absolutely not.  No way.  Never!

The best and only way for true growth is for you to continue to learn and practice Consultative Brokerage techniques.  You must demonstrate to clients and prospects why your organization is the firm that should have the privilege of exclusively representing them in the marketplace.  Remember, a renewal is simply a project.  The firm that can provide the best Value Proposition is the one that should be awarded the insurance placement (and the income!)

So, if a broker is looking to prosper in the coming years, what should they be skilled in?  If it won’t be about the carriers, what will it be about?  Here are some key areas of emphasis that you must become skilled at:

1. Understanding and demonstrating you firm’s exclusive Value Proposition.

2. Demonstrating your impact on Total Cost of Risk.

3. Creating and presenting quality Stewardship reports.

4. Building client relationships based upon Consultative Value.

5. Prospecting based upon understanding and solving issues.

All of these and more will be the subjects discussed and taught by C.R. Ekern & Company in future briefings and through our training and consulting offerings.  Our firm has become the industry spokesman on large account development.  As we told you several years ago when our briefings began, if you keep reading, we’ll keep writing.

Happy holidays.  Oh, by the way, our next briefing will contain our annual year-end survey.  Please take the time to complete it, as it provides us valuable information and allows us to tell your Consultative Brokerage story.

Best regards to all Consultative Brokers,

Rob Ekern
President
C.R. Ekern & Company

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Consultative Brokerage® Techniques are utilized by agents and brokers across North America in the development and retention of upper middle market revenues.  The Consultative Broker Briefing is delivered electronically free of charge to selected agents, brokers, and other insurance professionals across North America.  To subscribe to The Consultative Broker Briefing, please click here.

Copyright 2007 C.R. Ekern & Company